4t 






HISTORY 



OF 



LOGAN COUNTY 



OHIO. 



CiHitdining a Ifhlnry of the fitafe of Ohio, from ilx enrliext settlement to the present time, emlirncing 
its loponrapliy, oeological, pliiisirnl and r/imitir features; its agricultural, stock-growing, rail- 
road interests, etc. ; a Hisforii of lAtgan County, giving an account of its aborigi- 
nal inhahitant.1, early settlement by the whites, pioneer incidents, its groicth, 
its improvements, organisation of the county, its judicial and 
political history, its business and industries, church- 
es, schools, etc. ; Biographical Sketches ; 
I'ortraits of some of the Earhj 
Settlers and Prom- 
inent Men, 
etc. 



ILLUSTRATED. 



CHICAGO: 

O. L. BASKIN & CO., HISTORICAL PUBLISHERS, 

1 86 Dearborn Street. 

1880. 

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PREFACE, 




|HE WORK that has ensr.igo(l our historians, W. H. Penin and J. II. Battle, for 
the pist three m )nths, is now clo.^ed. On tiiesi; |)a^es thi^y have traced the tedious 
journey of the pioneer from homes of comfort and refinement to the untouched 
wilds of the West ; they have noted the rising cabin, the clearing of the forests, the pri- 
vations of the early settlements, the heroic forlitude witli which the pioneer surmounted 
these obstacles, and the patient toil that has " made the wilderness to blossom like the 
rose;" they have marked the coming of the school-master, and that greater teacher — 
the preacher — the rise of the schooliio\ise and church, and their influence in moldino- 
society. This work we have undertaken, in the belief that there is a proper demand 
that the events which lelate to the early times should find a permanent record, and with 
what fidelity to facts, and with what patience of research this has been accomplished, 
we shall leave to tlie judginent of our patrons, in whose keeping the trailitions of that 
day remain, and for whom the work was undertaken. 

Advantage has been taken of such liislorical works as were found; but the chief 
resource for information has been the traditions wllicli have been handed down from 
one generation to another. These have generally been verified from other sources; but 
in some not essential particulars, our vvriters have been obliged to depend u])On 
tradit'on alone, and may thus have sanctioned some errors. These, we trust, will bt; 
found of trifling importance; and we ground our hope of the favorable judgment of 
the public upon the essential correctness and completeness of this volume as a history 
of Logan County. 

We desire, also, to thank the citizens everywlieio in the county, who have so 
cordially aided our writers in gathering the materials for this volume, and to acknowl- 
edge our special indebtedness to the gentlemen who have been associated with the 
various parts of the work; to lion. .Tajiks WAr.KKi:, of JJellcfontaiiio; Dr. T. 1,. M'niiiiiT, 
of Bcllefontaine; J. II. Sk Gueveuell, of Jett'ersun; and otliLMS whose names api)ear in 
the body of this work. 

October, 1880. l'i;iJL;....'a{.'5. 



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CONTENTS. 



PART I. 

HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 

PAOE. 

rilAPTER I. — iNTRonucTOR Y, Topography, Geology, 
Primitive Races, Antiquities, Indian Tribes H 

CHAPTER II.— Explorations in the West. 19 

CHAPTER ni.— English Explorations, Traders. French 
and Indian War in the West, i^ngli-sh Possession :!7 

CHAPThR IV.— P0NTiA<'s CoNSPiiiACV. Its Failure. Bou- 
quet's Expedition. Occupation by the English.. 48 

CH.\PTER v.— American Exploration, Duinnoie's War, 
ranii)aigu of George Rogers Clarke. Land Troubles, 
Spain in the Rovolution, Murder of the Moravian In- 
rliaiis -^2 

CHAPTER VI.— American Occupation, Indian Claims, 
Early Land Companies. Compact of 17^7. Organization 
01 the Territory, Early American Settlements in the 
Ohio Valley, First Territorial Ofl&cers, Organization of 
Counties 60 

CH.WTER VII.— Indian War of 179.1. Ilarmar's Cam- 
paign. St. Clair's Campaign, Wayne's Campaign. Close 
of the War 73 

CHAPTER VIII —Jay's Treaty, The Question of State 
Rights and Xational Supremacy, E.Ktcnsion of Ohio 
Settlements, Land Claims, .Spanish Boundary Ques- 
tion 79 

CH.\PTER IX.— First Territorial Representatives 
in Congress, Division of the Territory. Formation of 
States. Marietta Settlement, other Settlements, settle- 
ments in the Western Reserve.Settlemcnt of the Cen- 
tral Valleys, Further Settlements in the Reserve and 
elsewhere 85 

CHAPTER X.— Formation of the State Government. 
Ohio a State, the State Capital^ lA-gislation, the 
" Sweeping" Resolutions 121 

CHAPTER XL— The Wap. of 1R12, Growth of the State, 
Canal, Railroads and other Improvements, Develop- 
ment of State Resources 1*27 

CHAPTER XII.— Mexican War. Continued Growth of 
the State. War of the Rebellion, Ohio's Part in the 
Conflict 132 

CHAPTER XIII.— Ohio in the Centennial, Address of 
Edward D. Mansfield, LL. D., Philadelphia. .August 9, 
1876 138 

CHAPTER XIV — EnrcATioN. Early School Laws, Notes, 
Institutions and Educational Journals, School System, 
School Funds, Colleges and Universities 148 



paoe. 

CHAPTER XV.— Agrici'LTLire, Area of the State, Early 
Agriculture in the West, Markets, Live Stock, Nur- 
series, Fruits, Etc.: ('ercals, Root and (Jucurbitaeeous 
Crops. Agricultural implements. Agricultural Socie- 
ties. }*omological and Horticultural Societies \'A 

CHAPTER XVI.— Climatology, Outline. Variation in 
Ohio, Fitimate in Degrees, Amount of Variability 10;; 



PART II. 

HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 

CHAPTER I.— INTRODVCTORY, Topograi>hy, Geological 
Stirvey, Early Beginnings and Growth of the Agri- 
cultural .System, Physical and Material Resources of 
the County 16.'> ■ 

CHAPTER II.— Prehistoric Races. The Jfound Builders. 
Indian Tribes. Early Wars with the Whites. Lewis- 
town Reservation, Prominent Characters during the 
Indian Domination IS.'i 

CHAPTER III.— The Miami and Mad River Valleys, 
Incentives to Immigration. The Course of Empire, Set- 
tlements within the Limits of Logan County. Organi- 
zation of Civil Divisions. Institution of (^Jitverinnental 
Functions, Public Buildings, Political 223 

CHAPTER IV.— The MEDICAL PBOFES.SION, the Legal 
Profession 251 

CHAPTER v.— Religious History. Pioneer Preachers, 
Schools, Statistics, The Newspapers, their Advantages, 
Railroads 273 

CHART I- R VI.— War History, The Early Conflicts, 
Mexican War. The Late Rebellion, Sketches of the 
Different Regiments -291 

CHAPTER VII.— Lake Township, Descriptive, Its Organi- 
zation, Settlement, Pioneer Industries, Early Priva- 
tions. Schools, etc 321 

CHAPTER VIII.— Bellefontaine, Beginnings of the 
Village, Advance of Civilization. Business Prosperity. 
Growth of Internal Improvements, Schools, Benevo- 
lent Societies, Churches ....vrj 338 

CHAPTER IX.— Miami Township, Organization, Terri- 
torial Changes, Pioneer Civilization, Prominent Char- 
acters of the Early Community. Churches and Schools. 357 

CHAPTER X. — McAethur Township, Introduction, 
Settlement, Villages, Churches, Geneva College 378 

CHAPTER XL — Jefferson Township. Topography, 
Organization as a Civil Division of the County, Promi- 
nent Citizens, Churches and Schools 389 



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PACK. 

CIIAPTKR XII.— ItKHi.AND Township, Genernl Chni- 
ai'teristirs. Settk-mciil, Villages, Churches, Casualties 43-' 

f'llAI'TKK XIII.— Rush Ckkek Township, BoundaiK'S 
and Topography, The Cominj; of the Whites, 
Churches rioneur Preachers, Schools, etc -H4 

CIIAPTKR XIV.— Pleasant Township, The Early Settle- 
ment, Social Life in the Backwoods, Industries, Ke- 
ligioiLS, etc 456 

CHAPTER XV. — Zane Township, Early Settlement. 
Life in the AVoods, Pioneer Industries. Growth of 
Society, Churches and Schools 464 

CHAPTER XVI.— Harrison Township, Indians, Settle- 
ment, Pioneer Schools. Churches, etc 48.*) 

CHAPTER XVII.— Monroe Township, Descriptive and 
Topopraijhical. Pioneer History, Early Industries, 
Schools, Churches, Villages, etc 4yi 

CHAPTER XVIIl— Bloomfield Township, Incidents. 
Settlement, Pioneer Hardships, Churches, etc.. the 
Lost Child .501 

(JIIAPTER XlX.-BoKEs' Crkek Town.ship, Descriptive, 
the Whites. Schools and Churches. Villages, etc iiOC 

CHAFFER XX.— Union Township, Physical Features, 
Early Settlement. Incidents of Prominent Pioneers, 
Churches and Sch'x>ls 519 

CHAPTER XXL— Washington Township, Introduction, 
the LewUtown Reservation, Settlement, Schools, 
Churches, etc 527 

CHAPTER XXII — Pekkv Township. Topography and 
Description, Settlement, Early Improvements, Re- 
ligious. Educational, Towns, etc 535 

CHAPTER XXIIl.— STOKES Township, The Lewislown 
Reservoir, Pioneer Settlement, the Wanvick Colony, 
etc MS 

CIIAI^ER XXTV. — LinERTV Town.ship, Topoprraphy. 
Pioneer Schools and Preachers. Geological. West 
Liherly 54S 



PART III. 
BIOGRAPIIir.VL .SKETniES. 

PAGE. 

Biographies Too Late for Alphabetical Insertion .'iS^ 

Bloonilield Townsliii 72a 

Bokes Creek T(n\nshii> 6511 

Harrison Township 619 

Jefferson Township 739 

Lake Township 587 

Litterty Township 704 

Me Arthur Township 816 

Miami Township 773 

Monroe Township 666 

Perry Township 64.5 

Pleasant Township 835 

Richland Township 797 

Rush Creek Township 6S2 

Stokes Township 627 

L'nion Township "86 

Washington Township 'i^' 

Zane Township .■ f'.Hi 



ILLUSTR.^TIONS. 

PdRTRAlTS. 

•Boggs. William ^•'l 

•Easton. .Inlin **** 

-Easton, Charlotte ^ 

^Folsom. Ccoi-ge 225 

-Iloge..!. H *^^' 

•Inskeep, .lohn ,. 279 

VIEWS. 
'Logan County Court House 171 




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'-it. 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



INTRODUCTORY 



CHAPTER I. 

-TOPOGRAPHY -GEOLOGY —PRIMITIVE-RACE? • 
TRIBE8. 



-ANTIQUITIES -INDIAN 



THE present State of Ohio, comprisintr an i 
extent of country 210 miles north and soutli, 
220 miles east and west, in length and lireadth — 
25,57(i,n(59 acres — is a part of the Old Northwest 
Territory. Tliis Territory- emliraced all of the 
present States of Ohio, Indiana. Illinois, .Miehigan, 
Wisconsin and so much of Minnesota as lies ea.st 
of the Mis.sissip])i Kiver. It became a oorponite 
existence soon after the formation of the Virginia 
Colony, and when that colony took on the "dignity 
of State government it became a county thereof, 
who.se exact outline was unknown. The county 
embraced in it.s iimit.s more territorj- than is com- 
prisinl in all the New England and Middle States, 
and wa.s the largest county ever known in the 
I'nitcd States. It is watered by the finest system 
of rivers on the globe; while its inland .seas are 
without a parallel. It.s entire southern boundary 
is traversed by the beautiful Ohio, its western by 
the majestic JIi.s.sissippi, and its northern and a 
part of it.s eastern are bounded by the fresh-water 
lakes, whose clear waters preserve an even temper- 
ature over it.s eiitin! suffice. Into these reservoirs 
of commerce flow innumerable streani.s of limpid 
water, which come from glen and dale, from 
mountjiin and valley, from forest and prairie — all 
avenues of ln>alth( commerce and prosjjerity. 
( Hiio is in the best part of this ten-itory — south 
of its river are tro|iical heats; north of Lake Erie 
are polar snows and a polar climate. 

The tenitory comprised in Ohio has always re- 
mained the same. Ohio's hi.story ditfers somewhat 
li-nm other State's, in that it was never under Ter- 
ritorial government. When it was created, it was 
made a State, and did not pass through the stage 
incident to the most of other States, /. c, exist as 
a Territory before being advanced to the powers of 



a State. Such was not the case with the other 
States of the West ; all were Territories, with Terri- 
torial Ibmis of government, ere they became States. 

Ohio's boundaries are, on the mulli. Lakes Erie 
and Michigan ; on the west, Indiana ; on the south, 
the Ohio River, separ.itiug it from Kentucky; 
and, on the east, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. 
It is situated between 38° 25' and 42° north 
latitude ; and 80° 30' and 84° 50' west longitude 
from Greenwich, or 3° 30' and 7° 50' west from 
W;>shiugton. Its greatest length, from north 
to south, is 210 miles; the extreme width, from 
east to west, 220 miles. Were this an exact out- 
line, the area of the State would be 4(),200 sipiare 
miles, or 21l,5(i8.000 acres ; as the outlines of the 
State are, liowever, rather irregular, the area is 
estimated at 3!),!tG4 sipiare miles, or 25,570,!'f)0 
acres. In the last censu.s — 1870 — the total inim- 
ber of acres in Ohio is given as 21,712,420, of 
which 1 4,4(10, 132 acres are improved, an<l (),883,- 
575 acres arc woodland. B}' the la.st statistical 
report of the State Auditor, 20, Olio, 3711 acres are 
reported as taxable lands. This omits many acres 
untaxable for various reasons, which would make the 
estimate, 25,57G,9G0, nearly correct. 

The face of the country, in Ohio, taken as a 
whole, presents the ai)pearance of an extensive 
numotonous plain. It is moderately undulating 
but not mountainous, and is excavated in places by 
the streams coursing over its surface, whose waters 
have forced a way for themselves through cliffs of 
sandstone rock, leaxing abutments of this material 
in bold outline. There are no mountain ranges, 
geological ujilifts or ])eaks. A low ridge enters the 
State, near the northeast corner, and crosses it in a 
southwesterly direction, emerging near the inter- 
section of the 40th degree of north latitude with 



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12 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



the western boundary of the State. Thi.s '' divide " 
separates tlio lake and Ohio River waters, and main- 
tain.s an elevation of a little more than thirteen 
liuiulred feet above the level of the ocean. The 
hif;he.st |)art i.s in Richland County, at the south- 
ea.>it corner, where the elevation i.s l,liil(( feet. 

Xoi-th of tlii.s riil^ie the .surface is generally level, 
with a p'ntle inclination toward the lake, the ine- 
i|Ualitie.s of the surface being caused by the streams 
which empty into the lake. The central ]iart of 
Ohio is almost, in jieueral, a level jilain, about one 
thousand ieet above the level of the sea, slijihtly 
inclining snutliward. The Southern jiart of the 
State is ratlu'r hilly, the valley.s firowing deeper as 
they incline toward the great valley of the Ohio, 
which is .several hundred feet below the general 
level of the State. In the southern etumties, the 
surface is generally diversified by the ine(|ualities 
produced by the excavating power of the Ohio 
River and its tributaries, exerci.sed through long- 
periods of time. There are a few ])rairii'S. or plains, 
in the centnd and northwestern ]iarts of the State, 
but over its greater portion originally existed im- 
mense growths of timber. 

The " divide," or water-shed, referred to, between 
the waters of Lake Krie and the Oliio River, is 
le.ss elevated in Ohio than in New York and Penn- 
sylvania, though the dift'erence is small. To a per- 
son jia-ssing over the State in a balloon, its surface 
presents an unvarying plain, while, to one sailing 
down the Ohio River, it appears mountainous. 
On this river are bhitFs ranging from two hundred 
and fifty to six hundred feet in height. As one 
iisceiids the tributaries of the river, these bluffs 
diminish in height until they become gentle undu- 
lations, while toward the sources of the streams, 
in the central part of the State, the banks often 
become low and marshy. 

The jirineipal rivers are the Ohio, Muskingum, 
Seiotci and Miami, on the snutberii slope, emptying 
into the Ohio; on the luirthern, the Maumee, 
Sandusky, Huron and ("uyalmga. emptying into 
Ijake I'Irie, and, all but tlie first named, entirely' in 
Olii.i. 

The Ohio, the (rliief river of the State, and from 
whii-h it deprives its name, with its lribularies,Mrains 
a country whoso area is over two linndred tliou.saiid 
.square miles in extent, and extending fmni the 
water-shed to Alabama. The river was first dis- 
<-overed by l^a Salle in llillll, and was by him liav- 
ig;iterl as tiir as the l''alls, at linuisville. Ky. It is 
Ibrmed by the juni-tion of the Alleghany and 
Monongahela rivers, in Pennsylvania, who.se waters 



unite at Pittsburgh. The entire length of the 
river, from its source to its mouth, is fISO miles, 
though l)y a straight line from Pittsburgh to Cairo, 
it is only (115 miles. Its current is very gentle, 
hardly three miles p(T hour, the descent being only 
five inches j)er mile. At high stages, the rate of 
the current increases, and at low stages decreases. 
Sometimes it is barely two miles per hour. The 
average range ln'tween high and low water mark is 
fiftj' feet, although several times the river has ri.sen 
more than sixty feet above low watt^r mark. At 
the lowest stage of the river, it is fi>rdal)le many 
places between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. The 
river abounds in islands, some of which are exceed- 
ingly fertile, and noted in the history of the West. 
Others, known as "tow-heads," are simply deposits 
of .saTid. *► ■ 

The Scioto is one of the largest inland streams 
in the State, and is one of the most beautiful riv- 
ers. It rises in Hardin County, flows southeast- 
erly to Columbus, where it receives its largest 
affluent, the Olentangy wr Whetstone, after which 
its diieelion is .southerly until it enters the Ohio at 
Portsmouth. It flows through one of the rich- 
est valleys in the State, and has for its coin])an- 
ion the Ohio and Erie Canal, fiir a distance of 
ninety miles. It,s tributaries are. besides the Whet- 
stone, the Darby, Walnut and Paint Creeks. 

The Muskingum River is formed by the junc- 
tion of the Tuscarawas and W'aldhoniug Rivers, 
which rise in the imrthern part of the State and 
unite at Coshocton. From the junction, the river 
flows in a .soufhea.stern cour.se about one hundred 
miles, through a rich and po|iulous valley, to the 
Ohio, at Marietta, the oldest settleuu'iit in the 
State. At its outlet, the Muskiugiuu is over two 
hundred yards wide. Hy im]]rovement,s, it has 
been made navigable ninety-five miles above jMari- 
etta, as fiir as Dresden, where a siile cut, three 
miles long, unites its waters with those of the Ohio 
Canal. All along this streiun exist, in a1>undant 
jirofu.sioii, (he remains of an ancient civiliza- 
tion, whose history is lo.st in the twilight of aiitii|- 
uity. Kxteiisivo mounds, earthworks and various 
foitilications, are eviiywliere to be found, inelosiiig 
a mule history as .silent as the race that dwelt here 
and led these traces of their evi.stene<'. The sanie 
may be said of all the other valleys in Ohio. 

The Miami River — the .scenes of many exploits 
in |iii>neer day.s — rises in Ilainlin Countv, iii'ar the 
hi'adwalei's of the Scioto, and runs southweslerly, 
to lh(! Ohio, pa.ssing Troy, Dayton and llaniilloii. 
It is a beautii'ul and ra)iid stream, flowing through 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



13 



a highly productive :md populous valley, in which 
limestone and hard timber are abundant. Its total 
length is about one hundred and fitty miles. 

The Rlauuiee is the largest riv<'r in tiie uorthem 
part of Ohio. It rises in Indiana and flows north- 
ea.sterly, int« Lake Erie. About eighty miles of 
its c(mrse are in Ohio. It is navigable a.; lar as 
Perrysburg, eighteen miles from its mouth. The 
other rivers north of the divide are all small, 
rapid-ruiming streams, affording a large amount of 
good water-power, much utilized by mills and mau- 
ufactories. 

A remarkable feature of the topography of 
Ohio is its almost total absence of natural lakes or 
ponds. A few very small ones are found near the 
water-shed, but all too small to bo of any jinietieal 
value save as watering-places for stock. 

Lake Erie, which forms nearly :dl the northern 
boundary of the State, Ls ne.\t to the last or lowest 
of America's " inland seas." It is 290 miles long, 
and 57 miles wide at its greatest part. There are 
no islands, excc|)t in the shallow water at the west 
end, and very few bays. 1"he greatest depth of 
the lake is off Long Point, where the water is 312 
feet deep. The shores are jirincipally drift-clay or 
hard-pan, upon which the w-avcs are continually 
encroaching. At Cleveland, fi-om the first sur- 
vey, in 1796, to 1842, the encroachment was 218 
feet along the entire city front. The entire coa.st 
is low, seldom rLsiiig above fifty feet at the water's 
edge. 

Lake Erie, like the others, has a variable sur- 
face, rising and falling with the se.i.^ons, like great 
rivers, called the '' annual fluctuation,'' ami a gen- 
eral one, embracing a series of years, due to mete- 
orological caases, known as the " secular fluctua- 
tion." Its lowest known level was in February, 
1819, rising more or less each year, until June, 
1838, in the extreme, to six feet eight inches. 

Lake Erie has several excellent harbors in (5liio, 
among which are Cleveland, Toledo, Sandusky, 
Port Clinton and Ashtabula. Valuable improve- 
ments have been made in some of the.se, at the 
expense of the General Government. 'In 1818, 
the first steamboat was launched on the lake. 
Owing to the Falls of Niagara, it could go no 
farther east than the outlet of Niagara River. 
Since then, however, the opening of the Welland 
Canal, in Canada, allows vessels drawing not more 
than ten feet of water to pass from one lake to 
the other, greatly facilitating navigation. 

As early as 183(;, Dr. S. P. Ilildreth, Dr. John 
Locke, Prof. J. H. Riddle andlMr. I. A. Laphaui, 



were appointed a committee by the Legislature of 
Ohio to report the "best method of obtaining a 
complete geological survey of the State, and an 
estimate of the probable cost of the simie." In the 
preparation of their report. Dr. Ilildreth examined 
the coal-iyeasures in the southeastern part of the 
State, Prof. Riddle and 31r. Lapliam made exam- 
inations in the western and northern counties, 
while Dr. Locke devoted his attention to chemical 
analyses. These investigations resulted in the 
presentati(m of much valuable information con- 
cerning the mineral resources of the State and in 
a plan for a geological .survey. In acconlanie 
with the recommendation of this Committee, the 
liCgislature, in 183", jiassed a bill ap]ir<ipriating 
.?I2.I>(H( fbr the prosecution of the work during 
the ni'xt year. The (ieological Corps appointed 
consisted of W. W. Mather. State (Jeoloi;ist. with 
Dr. Hildreth, Dr. Locke, Prof J. P. Kirtland, J. 
W. Fo.sUt, Charles AVIiittlesey and Charles Rviggs. 
Jr., As.si.stants. The results of the first y*ar's 
work a|i]ieared in 1838, in an octavo volume of 134 
pages, with ccmtributions fi-om Mather, Ilildreth, 
Briggs, Kirtland and Whittlesey. In 1838. the 
Legislature ordered the continuance of the work, 
and, at the close of the year, a second report, of^ 
28(5 pages, octavo, was issued, containing cfjutribu- 
tions from all the mendiers of the survey. 

Succeeding liCgi.slatures failed to provide for a 
continuance of the work, and, save that done by 
private m(>ans, nothing was accomplished till 
18()9, when the Legislature again took up the 
Work. In the interim, individual enterprise bad 
done much. In 1841, Prof Janu-s Hall pa.'^sed 
througli the State, and, by his indentificatiou of 
several of the formations with those of New York, 
for the flr-st time fixed their geological age. The 
nest year, he is.sued the first map of the geology 
of the State, in common with the geological maps 
of all the region between the Alleghanies and the 
Mi.ssi.ssip]ii. Similar maps were published by Sir 
Charles Lvell, in 1845; Prof. Edward Hitchcock. 
in 1853, aud by J. Mareon, in 1850. The fii-st 
individual map of tlie geology of Ohio was a very 
small one, ]mblished by Col. Whittlesey, in 1848, 
in Howe's History. In 185(5, he published a 
larger map, and, in 18(55, another was issued by 
Prof Nelson Sayler. In 18(57, Dr. J. S. Newberry 
]iubli.shcd a geological map and .sketch of C)hio in 
the Atlas of the State issued by H. S. Stebbins. 
Up to this time, the geological knowledge was very 
general in its character, and, consecjuently, errone- 
ous in many of its details. Other States had been 



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14 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



uciurately surveyed, yet Ohio remained a kind of 
tirnt incoffiiitd, of T\'hich the fjeology was loss 
known than any part of the Rurroiindin.tr area. 

In 18(UI, the Legislature a))]iro]iriated, for a now 
survey, $13,900 for its su]i])ort during one yi'ar, 
and a]]]iointod Dr. Newberry Chief Geolojiist ; K. 
B. Andrews, Edward Ortoii and J. H. Klijijilart 
were appointed A.s.sistants, and T. G. \Vorniley. 
Chemist. Tiie result of the first year's work 
Wixs a volume of 104: pages, octavo, published in 
18-0. 

This report, aeeom]ianied by maps and charts, 
for the first time accurately defined the f;eolo<;ical 
formations a.s to age and area. Evidence was given 
which set at rest ((uestions of nearly thirty years' 
standing, and established the fact that Ohio in- 
cludes nearly double the nundaer of formations be- 
fore supposed to e.xist. Since that date, the sur- 
veys have been regularly made. Each comity is 
being surveyed by itself, and its formation ac- 
cuftitely determined. Elsewhere in the.si' pages, 
these results are given, and t4i them the reader is 
referred for the sjiecific geology of the county. 
Only general results can be noted here. 

()n the general geological map of the State, arc^ 
two sections of the State, taken at each northern 
and southern extremity. These show, with the 
uia]i. the general outline of the geological features 
of Ohio, and an; all that can be given here. Both 
sections show the general arrangements of the 
formation, and ])rove that they lie in shoots resting 
one upon another, iiut not horizontally, as a great 
arch traver.ses the State from Cincinnati to the 
lake .shore, between Toledo aTid Sandu.sk^y. Along 
this line, which extends southward to Nasiiville, 
Tenn., all the rocks are raised in a ridge or fold, 
once a low mountain chain. In the hqi.se of 
ages, it has, however, been extensively worn 
away, and now, along a large ]iart of its course, 
the strata which once arched over it are re- 
moved from its summit, and are found resting in 
regidar order on either side, <lip]iing away from its 
axi.s. Where the ridge Wiis highest, the erosion 
hits l)e(m greatest, that being the reason why the 
oldest rocks are exposed in tin? region about Cin- 
cinnati. By following the line of this great arch 
from Cincirniati northwaril, it will be .seen that the 
lleldcrb(ig limestone ( No. -l ). midway of tlu> State, 
is still nnlirokcu, and stretches from side to side ; 
while the Oriskany, the Coriiili'rous, the Hamilton 
and llic! Huron formations, though generally rt^ 
moved from the crown of the arch, still remain 
over a liuiitvd area near Bellefontaine, wliere they 



form an island, which proves the former continuity 
of the strata which conipo.se it. 

( )n the east side of the groat anticlinal axis, the 
rocks dip down into a basin, which, for several 
hundred miles north and .south, occuiiies the inter- 
val between the Na.shvillo and Cincinnati ridge and 
the first iiild of the Alleghany Mountains. In 
this basin, all the strata form trough-like lajcrs, 
their edges outcropjiing eastward on the flanks 
of the Alleghanies, and westward along the anti- 
clinal axis. As they dip from this margin east- 
ward toward the center of the trough, near its 
ndddle, on the ea,stern border ()f the State, the 
older rocks are deeply buried, and the surface is 
here underlaid by the highest and most recent of 
our rock fiirmations, the coal measures. In the 
northwestern corner of the State, the strata dip 
northwest from the anticlinal and pass under the 
Michigan coal basin, ]irecisely as the same forma- 
tions east of the anticlinal di]p beneath the Alle- 
ghany coal-fi(;ld, (jf which ( )liio's coal area forms a 
part. 

The rocks underlying the State all belong to 
thre4; of the great grou])S which geologists have 
termed " systems," namely, the Silurian, Devonian 
and Carboniferous. Each of these are again .sub- 
divided, for convenience, and nund)ered. Thus 
the Silurian system includes the Cincinnati group, 
the Medina and Clinton groups, the Niagara 
grou]\ and the Salina and Water-Lino groups. 
The Devonian system includes the Ori.skany .sand- 
stone, the Carboniferous limestone, the Hamilton 
group, the Huron shale and the Erie shales. The 
Carbonilerous sy.stem includes the Waverly grouj), 
the Carboniferous Conglomerate, the Coal Meas- 
ures and the Drif^. This last includes the surflice. 
and has boon divided into .six ]iarts, luimbering 
from the lowest, viz.: A glacialed surface, the (ila- 
cial Drill, the Erie Clay.-', the Forest Bed. the lee- 
bei1>; Drift and the Terraces or Beaches, which 
mark intervals of stability in the gradual recession 
of the water surface to its present level. 

'The history we may learn from the.si' forma- 
tion.s," says the geologist, ''is sometliini; as fol- 
lows: 

. "First. Subsefpient to the Tertiary was a period 
of continual elevation, during which the topog- 
rajihy of the country was much the same as now, 
the draining streams fbllnwing the lines they now 
do, but cutting down their beils until they flowed 
sometimes two hundred feet lower than they <lo at 
present. In the latter ]iart of this ]ieriod <pf ele- 
vation, glaciers, descending from the Canadian 



HISTOKY OF OHIO. 



15 



islands, excavated and occupied the valleys of the 
givat lakes, and covered the lowlands down nearly 
to the Ohio. 

'■'■Second. By a depression of the land and ele- 
vation of tcmporaturo, the glaciers retreated north- 
ward, leavinj;', in the interior of the continent, a 
great basin of fi-esh water, in which the Erie clays 
were dei)Osited. 

''Tliird. This water wa.s drained away until a 
broad land surface was exposed within the drift 
area. Upon this surface grew forests, largely of 
red and white cedar, inhabited V^y the elephant, 
miLstodon, giant beaver and other large, now ex- 
tinct, animals. 

"Fourth. The submergence of this ancient land 
and the spreading over it, by iceberg :igency, of 
gTavel, sand and bowlders, distributed just as ice- 
bergs now spread their loads broadcast over the 
sea bottom on the banks of Newfoundland. 

''Fifth. The gradual draining-uff of the waters, 
leaving the land now as we find it, smoothly cov- 
ered with all the layers of the drift, and well pre- 
pared for human occupation." 

" In six days, the I>ord made the heavens and 
the earth, and rested the seventh day," records the 
Scriptures, and, when all was done. He looked 
uiiou tlie work of His own hands and pronounced 
it "good." Surely none but a divine, omnipotent 
hand could have done all this, and none can study 
the "work of His hands" and not marvel at its 
completeness. 

The ancient dwellers of the Mississippi Valley 
will alwaj's be a subject of great interest to the 
antiquarian. Who they were, and whence they 
came, are still unanswered fjuestions, and may 
remain so for ages. Ail over this valley, and, 
in fact, in all parts of the New World, evidences 
of an ancient civilization exist, whose remains are 
now a wonder to all. The aboriginal races could 
throw no light on these questions. They had 
always seen the remains, and knew not whence 
they came. Explorations aid but little in thesolu- 
tinn of the problem, and only conjecture can be 
entertained. The remains found in Ohio equal 
any in the Valley. Indeed, some of them are vast 
in extent, and consist of forts, fortifications, moats, 
ditches, elevations and mounds, embracing many 
acres in extent. 

"It is not yet determined," says Col. Charles 
Whittlesey, "whether we have dLseovered the first 
or the original people who oceujiied the soil of 
Ohio. Jlodern investigations are bringing to light 
evidences of earlier races. Since the presence of 



man has been established in Plurope as a coteinpor- 
ary of the fossil elephant, mastodon, rhinoceros 
and the horse, of the later drifl or glacial period, 
we may reasonably anticipate the presence of man 
in America in that era. Such proofs are already 
known, but they are not of that conclusive charac- 
ter which amounts to a demonstration. It is, how- 
ever, known that an ancient people inhabited Ohio 
in advance of the red men who were found here, 
three centuries since, by the Spanish and French 
explorers. 

" Five and six hundred years before the anival 
of Columbus." .says Col. Charles Whittlesey, "the 
Northmen .sailed from Ntirway. Iceland and Green- 
land along the Atlantic coast as far as Long Island. 
They found Indian tribes, in what is now New En- 
gland, closely resembling tho.se who lived ujion the 
coiLst and the St. Lawrence when the French and 
English came to po.ssess these regions. 

" These red Indians had no traditions of a prior 
people; but over a large part of the lake country 
and the valk>y of the Jlississi]i])i, earth-works, 
mounds, pyramids, ditches and forts were discov- 
ered — the work of a more ancient race, and a peo- 
ple far in advance of the Indian. If they were 
not civilized, they were not barbarians. They 
were not mere huntei-s, but had fixed haliitatinns, 
cultivated the soil and were possessed of consider- 
able mechanical skill. We know them as the 
Mound- Buildirs, because they erected over the 
mortal remains of their principal men and women 
memorial mounds of earth or unhewn stone — of 
which hundreds remain to our own day, so large 
and high that they give rise to an impression of 
the numbers and energy of their builders, such as 
we receive from the pyramids of Egypt." 

Might they not have been of the same race and 
the same civilization ? Many conqjetent authori- 
ties conjecture they are the work of the lost tribes 
of Israel ; but the best they or any one can do is 
only conjeetuni. 

" In the burial-mounds," continues Col. Whit- 
tlesey, " there are always portions of one or more 
human skeletons, generally partly consumed by 
fire, with ornaments of stone, bone, shells, mica 
and copper. The largest mound in Ohio is near 
Miami.sburg, Montgomery County. It is the 
second largest in the West, being nearly seventy 
feet high, original!}', and about eight hundred feet 
in circumference. This would give a superficial 
area of nearly four acres. In LSG-t, the citizens 
of Miamisburg siink a shaft from the summit to 
the natural surface, without finding the bones 



;^ 



16 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



(ir a.slu'S of tlio gTcat uiau (iir wliiuii it was 
iiitcndcd. Tlio exploration lias cousiderably 
lowered the mound, it being now about sixty feet 
in lieiglit. 

'' Fort Ancient, on the Little Miami, is a good 
s|iecinien of the military defenses of the Mound- 
IJuilders. It is well l<ieated on a lonj;-, hijrh, nar- 
row, precipitous ridge. The parajiets are now 
from ten to eighteen feet high, and its perimeter 
is suthcient to hold twenty thousand fighting men. 
Anotiur iirominent example of their works exists 
near Newark, Licking County. This collection 
present.s a great variety of figures, circles, rectan- 
gles, octagons and parallel banks, or highways, 
covering more than a thousand acres. The county 
fair-ground ia permanently located within an 
ancient circle, a (|uarter of a mile in diameter, 
with an cnd^ankment aiul interior ditch. Its high-' 
est ])lace was over twenty fi'ct from the top of the 
moat to the bottom of the ditch." 

t)ne of the most curious-shaped works in this 
county is known as the "Alligator," from its sup- 
posed resemblaru'e to that creature. When meas- 
ured, sevt^ral years ago, while in a good state of 
l]reservation, its dimen.sions were two hundred 
and ten feet in length, average width over sixty 
feet, and lieight, at the highest point, seven feet. 
It a]ipears to be mainly compo.sed of cla}', and is 
overgrown with gra.ss. 

Speaking of the writiTig of these people, Col. 
Whittle.sc'y says : ■' There is no evidence that they 
had al])habetical characters, picture-writing or 
hieroglyphics, though they must have had some 
mixle of recording events. Neither is there any proof 
that tiny usccl domestic animals for tilling the.«oil, 
or I'or the jiurpose of erecting the imposing earth- 
works they have left. A very coarse cloth of 
hemp, flax or nettles has been fimnd on their 
burial-hearths and around skeletons not consumed 
by fire. 

'■ The most extensive earthworks occupy many 
of the sites of modern towns, and are always in 
till! vicinity' of excellent land. Those about the 
lakes are generally irregidar earth forts, while 
those about the rivers in the southern jiart of the 
Slate are generally altars, pyramids, circles, cones 
and rectangles of earth, among which fortresses or 
strongholds are exceptions. 

" Those on the north may not have been cotcm- 
jiorary or liave been built by tlic same people. 
They are far less prominent or extensive, which 
indicates a Jieojile less in numbers as well as indus- 
try, and whose jirincipal occupation Wius war among 



themselves or against their neighbors. This style 
of works extends eastward along the south .shore 
of Lake Ontario, through New York. In Ohio, 
there is a space along the water-shed, between the 
lake and the Ohio, where there are few, if any, 
ancient earthworks. It appears to have been a 
vacant or neutral gTouml between different nations. 

"The Indians of the North, dressed in skins, 
cultivated the soil very .'sparingly, and manufactured 
no woven cloth. On Lake Sujierior, there are 
ancient copper mines wrought by the JMoinid- 
Builders over fiffeen hundritd years ago." Co]i]icr 
tools are occasionally found tempered sufheiently 
hard to cut the hardest rocks. No knowledge of 
such tampering exists now. The Indians can give 
no more knowledge of the ancient mines than they 
can of the mounds on the river bottoms. 

"The Indians did not occupy the ancient earth 
works, nor did they construct such. They were 
found as they are now — a hunter nuv, wluilly 
averse to labor. Their abodes were in rock shel- 
ters, in caves, or in temporary .sheds of bark and 
houghs, or skins, easily moved from jilao' to place. 
Like mo.st savage races, their habits are unchange- 
able ; at least, the exam|ile of white men, and 
their efforts during three centuries, have made 
little, if any, im|iression." 

When white men came to the territory now em- 
braced in the Slate of Ohio, they found dwelling 
here the Iroijuoi.s, Delaware's, Shawanees, Miamis, 
Wyandots and Ottawas. Each nation was com- 
posed of several tribes or clans, anil each w<ts 
often at war with the others. The first mentioned 
of these occujiied that jiart of the State who.sc 
northern boundary was Jjake Krii;, as far west as 
the mouth of the Cuyahoga l{iver, where the city 
of Cleveland now is; thence the boundary turned 
southward in an irregular line, \intil it touched the 
Ohio ]{ivcr, np which stream it continued to the 
I'ennsylvaiiia State line, and thcnci! northward to 
the lake. This nation were the ini|ilacable foes of 
the French, owing to the fact that Champlain. in 
1 liim, made war against them. They occupied a 
large ]iart of New York and I'ennsylvaiiia, and 
were the most insatiate coiii|uerors anmng the 
aborigines. When the French first c;ime to (he 
lakes, these monsters of the wilderness were engsiged 
in a war agjiiii.^t their neighbors, a war that ended 
in their cotiipuTing them, j)iis.se.ssiiig their terri- 
tory, and absorbing the reinnants of the tribes into 
their own nation. At the dale of Cliam]ilaiii's 
visit, the southern shore of Lake F,rie was occujiied 
by the l'>ies, or, as the orthograjihy of the word is 



'>" 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



17 



!<uinetimes given, Erigos, iir J'^nienoiis.* About 
forty years afterward, the Iro(|Uois ( Five Nations) 
fell upou them with sueh fury and in sueh force 
that the nation Wiis annihilateil. Those who 
es("i]ieil the slaughter were absorlieil aniuiig their 
eoiii|uerors, but allowed to live on their own lands, 
paying- a sort of tribute to the lro(|Uoi.s. This was 
the poliey of that nation in all its con(|uests. A 
few years after the eou((uest of tlu; Erics, the 
Iro<(Uois again took to the war-j)ath, and swept 
through Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, even attaeking 
the Mississippi tribes. But for the intervention 
and aid of the Freneh, these tribes W(juld have 
shared the fate of the Hurons and Eries. Until 
the year 170(1, the Iro<|uois lield the south shore 
of Lake Erie so firndy that the Freneh dared not 
trade or travel along that side of the lake. Their 
uii.ssionaries and tradei-s penetrated this part of 
Ohio as early a.s Itj.")!), but generally suffered 
death for their zeal. 

Having completed the contjuest of the Hurons 
or Wyandots, about Lake Huron, and murdered 
the .Jesuit missionaries by modes of torture which 
only they could devise, they jiermitted the residue 
of the Hurons to settle around the west end of 
Lake Erie. Here, with tlu! ()ttawa.s, they resided 
when the whites came to the State. Their country 
was bounded on tlu; south by a line running 
through the central ])art of Wayne, Ashland, 
Richland, Crawford and Wyandot Counties. At 
the western boundary of this county, the line di- 
verged northwesterly, leaving the State near the 
northwest corner of I'ulton CVjunty. Their north- 
ern boundary was the lake ; the eastern, the Iro- 
quois. 

The Delawares, or " Lenni Lenapes," whom the 
Iro(|uois had subjugated on the Susquehanna, were 
assigned Ijy their conquerors hunting-grounds on 
the Muskingum. Their eastern boundary was the 
country of the Iroquois (before defined), and their 
northern, that of the Hurons. On the west, they 



* Father Louis Hennepin, in bis work published in 1684, thus 
alludes to the Erips; ''These good fathers," referring to the 
priests,.*' were gre:it friends of the Hurons, who told thein that tlie 
Iroquois went to war bejond VirKinia, ur New Sweden, near a lake 
which they called * Erige,' or ' £rie,' which signifies Uhe cat,' or 
' nation of tite c.it,' and because these savages brought captives from 
this nation in returning to their cantons along this lake, the 
Hurons named it, in their laognage, ' Erige.' or ' EriJce,' * the lake of 
the cnt' and which our Canadians, hi softening the word, have 
called ' Lake Erie.' " 

Charlevoix, writing in 1721, says: "The name it bears is that 
of an Indian nation ol^ the Huron (Wyandot) language, which was 
formerly seated on it^ banks, and who have been entirely destroyed 
by the Iroquois. Erie, in that language, signifies 'co/,' and, in 
some acounrs, this nation is called the 'cat nation.' This name, 
probably, comes from the large numbers of that animal found in 
this region." 



extended as far as a line drawn from the central 
part of Richland County, in a semi-cireiilar direc- 
tion, south to the mouth of Leading Creek. Their 
st)uthern boundary was the Ohio River. 

AW'st of the Delawares, dwelt the Shawanees, a 
troublesome peo]ile as neighbors, whether to whites 
or Indians. Their country was boundetl on the 
north by the Hurons, on the east, by the Dela- 
wares ; on the south, by the Ohio River. On the 
west, their bountlary was determined by a line 
drawn southwesterly, and again southeasterly — 
semi-circular — from a point on the southern 
boundary of the Hurons, near the southwest corner 
of Wjandot County; till it intei"sected the Ohio 
River. 

All the remainder of the State — all its western 
part from the Ohio River to the Michigan line — 
•was occupied by the Miainis, Mineamis. Twigtwees, 
or Tawixtawes, a powerful uatiim, whom the Iro- 
quois were never fully able to subdue. 

These nations occupied the State, partly by per- 
mit of the Five Nations, and jiartly by inheritance, 
and, though ccmiposed of many tribes, were about 
all the savages to be found in this part of the 
Northwest. 

No sooner had the Americans obtained control 
of this country, than they began, by treaty and 
purchase, to act|uire the lands of the natives. 
They could not stem the tide of emigration ; peo- 
ple, then iis now, would go West, and hence the 
necessity of peacefully and rightfully acquiring the 
land. "The true basis of title to Indian territory 
is the right of civilized men to the soil for pur- 
poses of cultivation." The same maxim may bo 
ajiplied to all uncivilized nations. When acquired 
by such a right, either by treaty, purchase or cou- 
(juest, the right to hold the same rests with the 
power and development of the nation thus possess- 
ing the land. 

The Engli.sh derived title to the territory 
between the AUeghanies and the Mississippi jiartly 
by the claim that, in discovering the Atlantic coast, 
they had possession of the land from "ocean to 
ocean," and partly by the treaty of Paris, in Feb- 
ruary, 17fi3. Long before this treaty took place, 
however, she had granted, to individuals and colo- 
nies, extensive tracts of land in that part of Amer- 
ica, based on the right of discovery. The French 
had done better, and had ac(|uired title to the land 
]jy discovering the land itself and by con.sent of 
the Indians dwelling thereon. The right to pos- 
sess this country led to the French and Indian 
war, ending in the supremacy of the English. 






18 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



The Five Nations claiuicd tlic torritiiry in <(Uos- 
tiim by right of c(in(|Ui'st, and, thdujrh prot'cssini^ 
friendship to the Knuii.'^li, watched them with ji!al- 
ous eyes. In ItiS I, and airain in IT-iti, that con- 
federaey made ees.sions of hinds to the iMiulisli, 
and tlicso treaties and uessitms of hinds were re- 
garded as suffieient title by the English, and were 
insisted on in all subse(|uent treaties with the 
Western Nations. The following statements were 
collected by Col. Charles Whittlesey, which 
show the principal treaties made with tlie red men 
wherein land in Ohio was ceded by them to the 
whites: 

In September, 172(), the Iro(|uois, or Six Na- 
tions, at Albany, ceded all their claims west of 
Lake Erie and sixty miles in width along the 
south shore of Lakes Erie and Ontario, from the 
Cuyahoga to the Oswego River. 

In 1744, this same nation made a treaty at 
Laiica.ster, Penn., and ceded to the English all 
their lands ''that may be within the colony of 
Virginia." 

In 1752, this nation and other Western tribes 
made a treaty at Logstown, I'enn., wherein they 
confirmed the LanciLster treaty and consented to 
the settlements south of the Ohio River. 

February 13, 17(53, a treaty was made at Paris, 
France, between the French ami English, when 
Canada and the e:i.stcrn half of the Mi.s.sissippi 
Valley were ceded to the lOnglish. 

In 1783, all the territory south of the Lakes, 
and ca-st of the Mississippi, was ceded by England 
to America — the latter country then obtaining its 
independence — by which iniuns the country was 
gained by America. , 

October 24, 17S4, tlu^ Six Nations made a 
treaty, at Fort Stainvix. N. V., with the .\meri- 
cans, and ceded to tlu-m all tlu^ country claimed 
by the tribe, west of Pennsylvania. 

In 1785, the Chippewas, Delawares, Ottawas, 
and Wyandots ceded to the United States, at 
Fort Mcintosh, at the mouth of the Big Beaver, 
all their claims cast and .south of the "Cayahaga," 
the Portage I'ath, and the Tuscarawas, to Fort 
Laurens ( Bolivar), thence to Loramic's Fort (in 
ShelViy County ); thence along the Portage I'alh to 
the St. .^lary's River and down it to the '• Oniee." 
or Maumee, and along the lake shore to the 
" Cayahaga." 

January 3, 178(;. tin; Shawanees, at I'^ort l''in- 
ncy, near the nioulh of the flreat .Miami (not 
owning tlu^ lan<l on the Scioto occujiied by them), 
wore allotted a tract at the heads of the two 



Miainis and the Wabash, west of the Chii)pewas, 
Delawares and Wyaiidots. 

February !l, I78il, the Irotpiois made a treaty 
at Fort Ilarmar, wherein tiny confirmed the Fort 
Stanwix treaty. At the same time, the Chipjiewas, 
Ottawas, I)(!la\vares, and Wyandots — to which the 
Sauks and Pottawatomics assented — confirmed the 
treaty made at Fort Jlclntn.-ih. 

Period of war now existed till 1 705. 

Augu.st 3, 17'.I5, Gen. Anthony Wayne, on 
behalf of the United States, made a treaty with 
' twelve tribes, confirming the boundaries estab- 
lished by the Fort Harmar and Fort Mcintosh 
treaties, and extended the boundary to Fort Re- 
covery and the month of tlu' Kentucky River. 

In June, 17!Hi, the Senecas, represented by 
Brant, ceded to the Connecticut Land Company 
their rights ca.st of the Cuyahoga. 

In 1S05, at Fort Industry, on the Jlaumee, the 
Wyandots, Delawares, Ottiuvas. Chippewas, Shawa- 
nees, Menses, and Pottawatomics reliiii|uished all 
their lands west of the Cuyahoga, as far west as 
the western line of the Reserve, and south of the 
line from Fort Laurens to L<n'amie's Fort. 

July 4, 18(17, the Ottawas, Chippewas. Wyan- 
dots, and Pottawatomics, at Detroit, ceded all that 
part of Ohio north of the Maumee River, with 
part of Michigan. 

November 25, 1808, the same tribes with the 
Shawanees, at Brownstone, Mich., granted the 
(ioveninient a tract of land two miles wide, from 
the west line of the Reserve to the ra])ids of the 
Maumee, fiir the purpose of a road through the 
Black Swamp. 

Se]itcnilicr 18, 1S15. at Sjiringwells, near De- 
troit, the Cliijiiiewas, Ottawius, Potlawatoniies, Wy- 
andots, Delawares, Senecas and Miamis, having 
been engaged in the war of 1812 on the British 
sid<% were confined in the grants made at Fort 
Mcintosh and (irecnville in 1785 and 17!I5. 

Se])t ember 2H, 1817, at the nipids of the 
Maumee, the Wyandots ceded their laiwJs west of 
the line of 1805, as far as Loramic's and the St. 
Mary's River and north of the Maumee. The 
Pottawatomics, Chippewas, and Ottawius ceded the 
territory west of the Detnjil line of 18(17, and 
north of the Maumee. 

October (i, 181S, the Miamis, at St. .Mary's, 
made a treaty in which they surrendered the re- 
maining Indian territory in Ohio, north of the 
(ircenville treaty line and west of St. .Mary's River. 

TIk' numerous treaties of peace with the West- 
ern Indians for the delivery of iirisnners were — 



s^ « 



-v £- 



:^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



19 



one by Gen. Forbes, at Fort Du Quesne (Pitts- 
burgh), in 1758; one by Col. Bradstreot, at Erie, 
in August, 1764; one by Col. Bocjuet, at the 
mouth of the Waldhoning, in November, 1764 ; 
in. May, 1765, at Johnson's, on the Mohawk, and 
at Philadeljihia, the same year; in 1774, by Lord 
Duumore, at Camp Charlotte, Pickaway County. 
By the treaty at the Maumee llajiids. in LSI 7, 
reservations were conveyed by the Tnited States 
to all the tribes, with a view to induce them to 
cultivate the soil and cease to be hunters. These 
were, from time to time, as the imjiracticability of 
the plan became manifest, purchiised by the Gov- 
ernment, the last of these being the Wyandot 
Reserve, of twelve miles square, around Upper 
Sandusky, in 1842, closing out all claims and com- 
posing all the Indian diffieidties in Ohio. The 
open war had ceased in 1815, with the treaty of 
Ghent. 

" It is estimated that, fi'om the French war of 
1754 to the battle of the Maumee Rapids, iu 
1794, a period of forty years, there had been at 
least 5,000 people killed or captured west of the 



Alleghany Mountains. Eleven organized military 
expeditions had been carried on against the West- 
ern Indians prior to the war of 1812, seven regu- 
lar engagements fought and about twelve hundred 
men killed. More whites were slrtin in battle than 
there were Indian braves killed in military expedi- 
tions, and by private raids and nuirders ; yet, in 
1811, all the Ohio tribes combined could not mus- 
ter 2,(1011 warriors. " 

Attempts to determine the number of persons 
comprising the Indian trilies in Ohio, and their 
location, have resulted in nothing better than 
estimates. It is supposed that, at the commence- 
ment of the Revolution, there were about six 
thousand Indians in the present confines of the 
State, but their villages were little more than 
movable camps. Savage men, like savage beasts, 
are engaged in continual migrations. Now, none 
are left. The white man occupies the home of 
the red man. Now 

"The verdant hills 
Are covered o'er with growing grain, 
And white men till the soil, 
Where once the red man used to reign." 



CHAPTER II 



EARLY EXPLORATIONS IN THE WEST. 



WHEN war, when ambition, when avarice 
fail, religion pushes onward and succeeds. 
In the discovery of the New World, wherever 
man's aggrandizement was the paramount aim, 
failure was sure to follow. When this gave way, 
the followers of the Cross, whether Catholic or 
Protestant, came on the field, and the result before 
attempted soon appeared, though in a difterent way 
and through different means than those supposed. 
The first permanent efforts of the white race to 
penetrate the Western wilds of the New World 
preceded any permanent English settlement north 
of the Potomac. Years before the Pilgrims 
anchored their liark on the cheerless .shores of Cape 
Cod, "the Roiiiau (!atholie Church had been plant- 
ed by missionaries from France in the Eastern 
moiety of Maine; and LeCaron, an ambitious 
Franciscan, the companion of Champlain,had passed 
into the hunting-grounds of the Wyamlots, and, 
bound by the vows of his life, had, on foot or pad- 
dling a bark canoe, gone onward, taking alms of the 
savages until he reached the rivers of Lake 



Huron." This wa.s in 1615 or 1616, and only 
eight years atk'r Ch;uuplain hail sailed up the wa- 
tera of the St. Lawrence, and on the foot of a bold 
cliff laid the fimndation of the present City of 
Quebec. From this place, founded to hold the 
country, and to perpetuate the religion of his King, 
went forth those emissaries of the Cross, whose zeal 
has been the admiration of the world. The French 
Colony in Canada was suppressed soon after its e.s- 
tablishment, and for five years, until 1622, its im- 
munities were enjoyed by the colonists. A grant 
of New France, as the country was then known, was 
made by Louis XIII to Richelieu, (Jhamplain, 
Razilly and others, who, immediately after the res- 
toration of Quebec by its English conf(uori irs, entered 
upon the control and government of their province. 
Its limits embraced the whole basin of the St. 
Lawrence and of such other rivers in New France 
as flowed directly into the sea. While away to 
the south on the Gulf coast, was also included a 
country rich in foliage and claimed in virtue of 
the unsuccessful efforts of Coligny. 



^-, 



:^ 



20 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



lleliL;ic HIS zeal a.s iniich ixs eoiuinercial prosperity 
had influcutrd France to obtain and retain the de- 
pendenty ut Canada. The commercial monopoly 
of a priviletjed company could not ibster a 
colony; the climate wa.s too viJ5orou^5 for a};Ticult- 
ure, and, at first there was little else except rclin- 
ious entliusiasm to give vitality to the province. 
Champlain had been touched by the simplicity ot 
the ( )rder of St. Francis, and had selected it,s priests 
to aid him in his work. ]5ut another order, more 
in favor at the Cuurl, was intereste(l, and succeed- 
ed in excludiuf^ the mendicant ordi'r frcjmtheNew 
AVorld, estahiished thcju.sclves in the new domain 
and, by thus enlariiinj; the borders of the French 
King, it became entrusted to the Jesuits. 

This ".Society of Jesus," fiiunded by Loyola 
when t'alvip's Institutes first saw the light, .saw an 
uncqualed opportunity in the conversion of the 
heathen in the Western wilds; and, as its mem- 
bers, pledged to obtain power oidy by influence of 
mind over mind, sought the honors of o|>ening the 
way, there wa.s no lack of men ready for the wink 
Through them, the motive power in opening the 
wilds cil the Northwest was ri^ligion. "Ileligious 
enthusiasm,' says 15ancrol\, '-colonized New Eng- 
land, and religiiius enthusiasm tbundeil Montreal, 
made a ciini|Ui'.st of the wildirness about the upper 
lakes, and explon'd the .Mi.ssi.ssi|>]ii, " 

Through these priests — increased in a few years 
to fifteen — a way wa-s made acro.ss the West from 
Quebec, above the regions of tlu; lakes, below 
which they dared not go lor the relentless Mohawks. 
To the nortliwest of Toronto, near the Ivake Iro- 
quoi.s, a bay of Lake Huron, in Sept<'mber, 1();{4, 
they raised the first liumble hou.se of the Society of 
Jesus among the llurons. Through them they 
learned of the great lakes beyond, and resolve<l 
one day to explore them and carry the Oos]iel of 
|»eace to the heathen on their .shores. Betbre this 
could be done, many of them were called upon to 
give up their lives at the martyr's stake and re- 
ceive a martyr's crown. But one by one they 
went on in their good work. If <ine fell liy hun- 
ger, cold, cruelty, or a t-crribli- death, others st^iod 
ready, and carrying their lives in their hands, 
establisheil other mi.ssions about the eastern shores 
fif Lake Huron and its adjacent waters. The 
Five Nations were for many years hostile toward 
tlie French and murdered them and their red 
allies whenever o]iportunity ]iresented. For a 
(|Uarter of century, tlu'y retarded the advance of 
the niis,sionaries, and then oidy aHer wearied with 
a long struggle, in which they bei?in to see their 



power declining, did they relin(|uish their warlike 
projien.sitics, and allow the Jesuits entrance to their 
country. W^hile this was going on, the traders 
and Jesuits had Jicnetratcd farther and farther 
westward, until, when j)eace was declared, they 
had sei'n the southwestern shores of ]jdko. Su]ierior 
and the northern shores of Lake Michigan, called 
by them Lake Illinois.* In August, l(i.54, two 
young adventurers penetrated the wilds bordering 
on these western lakes in company with a band of 
Ottawas. Returning, they tell of the wonderful 
country they have seen, of its vast forests, its 
abundance of game, its mines of copper, and ex- 
cite in their comrades a desire to sec and explore 
such a country. They tell of a vast cx])anse of 
land before them, of the powerf'ul Indian tribes 
dwelling there, and of their anxit'ty U> become an- 
nexed to the Frenchman, of whom they have 
heard. The re((uest is at once granted. Two 
missionary's, (Jabriel Dreuillettes and Leonard 
(iareau, were .selected as envoys, but on their way 
the fleet, pnipelled by tawny rowers, is met by a 
wandering band of Mohawks and by them is di.s- 
jK'r.si'd. Not daunted, others st*iod ready to go. 
The lot fell to Rene Mesnard. He is charged to 
visit the wilderness, select a suitable jilace for a 
dwelling, and found a mission. With only a.short 
warning he is ready, "trusting," he say.s, "in the 
I'rovidence which feeds the little bird.s of the 
desert and clothes the wild flowers of the forest." 
In October, ItJGO, he reached a bay, which he 
called St. Theresa, on the south shore of Lake 
Superior. AIKt a residence of eight months, he 
yielded to the invitation of the Ilumns who had 
taken refuge on the Island of St. Michael, and 
biilding adieu to his neophytes and the French, he 
departed. While on the way to the Bay of Clie- 
goi-me-gon, prcibably at a portage, he became 
.separate(l from his cuinpaniou and was never aOer- 
ward heard of Long after, his cas.sock and liis 
breviary were kejit :ls amulets among the Sioux. 
Dilliculties now arose in the nianageuient of the 
colony, and for awhile it was on the verge of dis- 
solution. The King sent a regiment under com- 
mand of the aged Tracy, as a stileguard against 
the Iroquois, now proving themselves enemies to 

• Mr. C. W. Biittorflolrl, author of Cratrford'n CamjKtitjn, and 
Rood atlthorily. ku.vm: "John Nicholct. a Frcnclinian, h-fl l^nphi'C 
anil Thrcf Itivem in tho ttummor nl 1C;;-1. and visjteil tlip llurons on 
Oeornian Buy, i\w CliipiM-WH» al the Sanit Stt'. Marie, and On' Win- 
n(d>aK(H>it In WlBconsIn, rpturnin^ to Quebec in the Hummer of lfi;i5>, 
TlilM wiui the flriit white mun t<t wo any part of the Northwe«t 
Territory. In ItVll. two JpKUit prientn were at the Sanit Ste. Marie 
for 11 lirief time. Tlien two French traders reached Liilte Sul)erior, 
anil iift'T tliem eame that tide nf'eiuigration on whicli ttio French 
lumed tlielr i laiin to the ctmntry." 



HISTOEY OF OHIO. 



21 



the French. Accompanying him were Couroelles, 
as Govcrniir, and M. Talon, who .subsequently fifr- 
u res in Northwestern history. By llj(j5, affairs 
were settled and new attinupts to found a mission 
among the lake tribes were projected. 

"With better hopes — undismayed by the sad 
fate of their predecessors" in August, Claude 
Allouez embarked on a mission by way of Ottawa 
to the Far West. Early in September he reached 
tlie rapids 'tlirough which rush the waters of the 
lakes to Huron. Sailing by hitty sculptured rocks 
and over waters of crystal purity, lie n'adu'd the 
Chippewa village just as the young warricirs were 
bent on organizing a war expedition again.st the 
Sioux. Cnmmanding peace in the name of his 
King, he called a ccjuncil and offered the cnmmerce 
an<l protection of his nation. lie was obeyed, and 
Soouachapelaro.se on the shore of the bay, to 
which admiring crowds from the south and west 
gathered to listen to the story of the Cross. 

The scattered Hurons and Ottawas north of 
Lake Superior; the Pottawatomies from Lake Mich- 
igan; the Sacs and Foxes from the Far West; the 
Illinois from the jirairies, all came to hear him, and 
all besought him to go with them. To the last 
nation Allouez desired to go. They told him of a 
" great river that flowed to the sea, "and of "their 
vast jirairies, where herds of buffalo, deer and 
other animals grazed on the tall gra.ss." "Their 
country," said the missionary, "is the best field 
for the (lospel. Had I had leisure, I would havi> 
gone to their dwellings t(3 see with my own eyes 
all the goo<l that was told me of them." 

He remained two years, teaching the natives, 
studying their language and habits, and then 
returned to Quebec. Such was the account that 
he gave, that in two days he was joined by 
Louis Nicholas and was on his way back to his 
mission. 

Peace being now established, more missionaries 
came from France. Among them were Claude 
Dablon and James Mari(uette, liotli of whom went 
on to the mission among the Chippewas at the 
Sault. They reached there in 1 (iU8 and found 
Allouez busy. The mission was now a reality and 
given the name of St. Mary. It is often written 
"Sault Ste. Marie," after the French method, and 
is the oldest .settlement by white men in the bounds 
of the Northwest Territory. It has been founded 
over tW(j hundred years. Here on the inhospitable 
northern shores, hundreds of miles away from 
friends, did this triumvirate employ themselves in 
extending their religion and the influence of their 



King. Travel-sing the shores of the great lakes 
near them, they pass down the western bank of 
Lake Michigan as far as Green Bay, along the 
.southern shore of Lake Superior to its western ex- 
tremity, everywhere preaching the story of Jesus. 
" Though sufferiTig be their lot and martyrdom 
their crown," they went on, only conscious that 
they were laboring for theii' Blaster and would, in 
the end, win the crown. 

The great river away to the West of which they 
heard so much was yet unknown to them. To ex- 
j>lorc it, to visit the tribes on its banks and preach 
to them thetrospel and secure their trade, became 
the aim of Mari|uette, who originated the idea of 
its discovery. AVhile engaged at the mission at the 
Sault, he r&solved to attempt it in the autumn of 
1()(!!). Delay, however, intei'vened — for Allouez 
had exchanged the mission at Che-goi-me-gon for 
one at (ireen Bay, whither Mar(|uette was sent. 
While here he employed a young Illinois Indian 
to teach him the language of that nation, and there- 
by jirepare himself lijr the cntcriirise. 

Continued commerce with the Western Indians 
gave protection and confirmed their attachment. 
Talon, the intendant of the colony of New France, 
to further s])read its power and to learn more of the 
(jountry and its inhabitants, convened a congress 
of the Indians at the Falls of St. JIary. to which 
ho sent St. Lusson on hisbelialf. Nicholas Perrot 
sent invitations in every ilirection for more than a 
hundred leagues round about, and fourteen nations, 
among them Sacs, Koxes and Miamis, agreed to be 
present by their embassadors. 

The congTcss met on the fourth day of June, 
1671. St. Lus.son, through Allouez, his interpre- 
ter, announced to the assembled natives that they, 
and through them their nations, were placed under 
the protection of the French King, and to him 
were their furs and peltries to be traded. A cross 
of cedar was raised, and amidst the groves of ma- 
ple and of pine, of elm and hemlock that are so 
-strangely intermingled on the banks of the St. 
Mary, tlie whole company of the French, bowing 
before the emblem of man's redemption, chanted to 
its glory a hymn of the seventh century : 

"The banners of heaven's King advance; 
The mysteries of the Cross shines forth."* 

A cedar column was planted by the cross and 
marked with the lilies of the Bourbons. The 
power of France, thus uplifttHl in the West of 
which Ohio is now a part, was, however, not destined 






HISTORY OP OHIO. 



to enduro, and tlic ambition of its luonarclis was 
to liavo "Illy a i)artiiii i'lilfillnKTit. 

Tlu! same yisir lliat the cmipvss was held, Mar- 
(|Uette had fViuiided a niissiiui anuiiiu the liuriins 
at I'uiiit St. Iiriiace, on tlio fontinciit north of tlu; 
|H'iiinsnla of .Miihitran. Althouirh the elunate 
was severe, and vei;etation scarce, yet fish ahoutided, 
and at this estahiishnu'nt, long maintained as a 
kev to riiillier e.\|p|oratioiis, prayer and j)raise were 
heard daily for maiiyyears. Here, also, ]Mari|nette 
trained a footiiij; amon;; the founders of Miehijran. 
\Vhil(! he was doing this, Allouez and Dahlon were 
explorinii' countries south anti west, froinjras far as 
tlu; Ma.scoutins and Kickapoos on the Milwaukee, 
and the >Iiauiis at the head of l^ake Michigan. 
Allouez eontiuucd even as fiir as the Sacs and Foxes 
on the river which hears their name. 

The discovery of the iMississippi, heightened by 
these e.\])lcirations, was now at hand. The enter- 
prise, projected by Manpu'tte, was received with 
iavor by .^I. Talon, who desired thus to perpetuate 
his rule in Ni'W France, now drawing to a clo.sc. 
He was joined by .loliet, of Quebec, an einis.sary 
of his King, couunissioned by royal magnate to 
take possession of the coutilry in the name of the 
French. Of him but little else is known. This 
one excursion, liowcver, gives him immortality, 
and as long :w time shall la.st his name and that of 
Marcpiette will endure. When Maripu;ttc made 
known his intention to the Pottawatomies, they 
were tilli;d with wonder, and endeavor(!d to dis- 
suaile him from hi.s jjurpose. "Tho.se di.stant na- 
tions," said they, '• never spare the strangers; the 
(Iri'at Kiver abounds in monsters, ready to swal- 
low both men ami canoes; there are great cataracts 
and rapi<ls, over which you will be dashed to 
pieces; the excessive heats will cause your death." 
'•1 .shall gladly lay <lowu my lile tor the salvation 
of souls." H'plied the good man; and the docile 
nation joiniMl him. 

(In the lull day of .luiu, IiJT;!, they reached 
the villag(; on l''ox Kiver. where were Kickapoos, 
.^la.■^coutins and .Miamis dwelling together on an 
(;x|>ansc of lovely prairie, dotted here an<l thereby 
groves of miignifi<-ent trees, and where wils a 
cross garlaudeil by wild flowers, and bows and ar- 
rows, and skins and belts, offerings to the (Ireat 
.Manitoii. .\lliuie7. had been here in one of his 
Wanili'rings. and. sls was his Wont, had left this 
embliin of his faith. 

.\>sembling the natives, Manpiette .said. '• .My 
companion is an envoy of France to di.scover new 
countries; and I iim an emba.ssador from God to 



enlighten them with the Gospel." Offering pres- 
ents, he begged two guides lor the morrow. The 
Indians aiiswen'd courteously, and gave in 
return a mat to serve <us a couch during the hmg 
voyage. 

Karly in the morning of the next day, the Kith 
of June, with all nature in her brightest robes, 
these two men, with live Frenchmen and two Al- 
goncjuin guides, set out on their journey. Lifting 
two canoes to their shoulders, they (piiekly ci-oss 
the narrow portage dividing the Fox from the 
Wisconsin River, and prepare to endiark on its 
clear waters. "Uttering a special jirayer to the 
Immaculate Virgin, they leave the stream, that, 
flowing onward, could havi' borne their greetings 
to the ca.stle of Quebec. 'The guides returned,' 
.says the gentle Manjuette, 'leaving us ahuie in 
this unknown land, in the hand of I'rovidence.' 
France and Christianity stood alone in the valley 
of the Mississijipi. Embarking on the broad 
Wi.'^consin. the di.scoverers, as they .sailed west, 
went solitarily down the stream between alternate 
prairies and hillsides, beholding neither man nor 
the wonted beasts of the forests; no souud broke 
the silence but the ripple of the canoe and the 
lowing of the bufl'alo. In seven days, 'they en- 
tered ha]>])ily the Great Kiver, with a joy that 
could not be expressed;' and the two birehbark 
canoes, raising tlu^ir hap]iy sails under new skies 
and to unknown breezes, floated down the calm 
magnificence of the ocean stream, over the broad, 
clear sand-bans, the resort of iiniumerable water- 
fowl — gliding past i.slets that swelled from the 
bosom of the stream, with their tulis of massive 
thickets, and between the wild plains of Illinois 
and Iowa, all garlanded with majestic forests, or 
checkered by island groves and the o])en vastness 
of the jirairie."* 

Continuing on dcjwn the mighty stream, they 
.saw no signs of human life until the 25111 of 
June, when they discovered a small fiiot-pafh on the 
west bank of the river, lca<ling away into the 
prairie. Leaving their companions in the canoes, 
Manpiette and Joliet followed the path, resolved 
to brave a meeting alone with the .savages. After 
a walk of .six miles they came in .sight of a village 
on the banks of a river, whili' not far away they 
ili.scovered two others. The river was the '• Mou- 
in-gou-e-na," or Moingona, now ccuTiiptcd into 
lies .Moines. These two men. the first of their 
race who ever trod the soil west of tin; Great 

• fiADCruft. 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



23 



River, commended themselves to God, and, uttering 
a loud cry, advanced to the nearest village. 
The Indians hear, and thinking their visitors 
celestial beings, four old men advance with rever- 
ential mien, and offer the pipe of peace. " We 
are Illinois," said they, and they offered the calu- 
met. They had heard of the Frenchmen, and 
welcQuied them to their wigwams, followed by the 
devouring gaze of an astimished crowd. At a 
great council held soon after, Marquette published 
to them the true God, their Author. He also 
spoke of his nation and of his King, who had 
chastised the Five Nations and commanded peace. 
He (|uestioned them concerning the Great Kiver 
and it,s tributaries, and the tribes dwelling on its 
banks. A magnificent fea-st was spread before 
them, and the conference continued several days. 
At the close of the sixth diiy, the chieflains of the 
tribes, with numerous trains of warriors, attended 
the visitors to their canoes, and selecting a peace- 
jiilie, gayly comparisoiied, they hung the sacred 
calumet, emblem of peace to all and a safegiuird 
among the nations, about the good Father's neck, 
and bid the strangers good speed. ''I did not 
fear death," writes Manjuette; "I shnuld have 
esteemed it the greatest happiness to have died 
for the glory of God." On their journey, they 
])assed the perpendicidar mcks, whose sculptured 
sides showed them the monsters they should meet. 
Farther down, they ])a.ss the turgid flood of the 
Missouri, known to them by its Algonquin name, 
Pekitanoni. Resolving in his heart to one day 
ex[}lore its flood, Marquette rejoiced in the new 
world it evidently could open to him. A little 
farther down, they pa.ss the bluffs where now is a 
mighty emjinrium, then silent as when created. In 
a little less than fjrty leagues, they pass the clear 
waters of the beautiful Ohio, then, and long after- 
ward, known ivs the Wabash. Its banks were in- 
habited by numerous villages of the peacefid 
Shawanees, who then ((uailed under the incursions 
of the dreadful Iroi|U(iis. As they go on down the 
mighty stream, the canes beeonu^ thicker, the insects 
more fierce, the heat moreintoleralile. The prairies 
and their cool breezes vanish, and forests of white- 
wood, admirable for their vastness and height, crowd 
close upon the pebbly shore. It is observed that the 
C'hiekasaws have guns, and have learned how to 
use them. Near the latitude of 33 degrees, they 
encounter a great village, whose inhabitants pre- 
sent an inhospitable and warlike front. The pipe 
of peace is held alof\, and instantly the savage foe 
drops his arms and extends a fi'iendly greeting. 



Remaining here till the next day, they are escorted 
for eight or ten leagues to the village of Akansea, 
They are now at the limit of their voyage. The 
Indians speidc a dialect unknown to them. The 
natives show furs and axes of steel, the latter prov- 
ing they have traded with Europeans. The two 
travelers now learn that the Father of Wa- 
ters went neither to the Western sea nor to the 
Florida coast, but straight south, and conclude not 
to encounter the burning heats of a troj>ical clime, 
but return and find the outlet again. They 
had done enough now, and must report their dis- 
covery. 

On the ITtli day of Jul}-, 1073, one hundred 
and thirty-two years after the disastrous journey 
of De Soto, which led to no permanent results, 
]Mar(|uette and Joliet left the village of Akansea 
on their way back. At the 38th degTee, they en- 
counter the waters of the Illinois which they had 
before noticed, and which the natives told them 
aflbrded a much shorter route to the lakes. Pad- 
dling up its limpid waters, they see a country un- 
surpassed in beauty. Broad ])rairies, beautiful up- 
lands, luxuriant groves, all mingled in excellent 
harmony as they ascend the river. Near the head 
of the river, they pause at a great village of the 
Illinois, and across the river behold a rocky prom- 
ont<iry .standing boldly out against the landscape. 
The Indians entreat the gentle missionary to re- 
main among them, and teach them the way of life. 
He cannot do this, but promises to return when he 
can and instruct them. The town was on a plain 
near the present village of Utica, in La Salle 
County, 111., and the rock was Starved Rock, 
afterward noted in the annals of the Northwest. 
One of the chiefs and some young men conduct 
the party to the Chicag(.) River, where the present 
mighty city is, fr(jm where, ct)ntinuing their iour- 
ney along the western .shores of the lake, they 
reach Green Bay early in September, 

The great valley of the ^Vest was now open. 
The '-Mcssippi' rolled its mighty flood to a south- 
ern sea, and must be sully explored, Marquette's 
health had keenly suflered by the voyage and he 
concluded to remain here and rest. Joliet hasten- 
ed on to Quebec to report his discoveries. During 
the journey, each had preserved a description of 
the route they had passed over, a.s well as the 
country and its inhabitants. While on the way 
to Quebec, at the foot of the rapids near Montreal, 
l)y some means one of Joliet's canoes became cap- 
sized, and by it he lost his box of papers and two 
of his men. A greater calamity could have 



^^ 



24 



HISTORY OF OniO. 



hardly happened liim. In a letter to Gov. 
FronteiiiK-, Joliet says: 

" I had escaped every peril fruiu the Indians ; I 
had jiassed t'orty-two rapids, and was on the point 
of ilisenibarkiiiu', i'ldl of joy at the success of so 
lonj; and dilheult an enterprise, when my canoe 
capsized aft<;r all the danjier seemed over. I lost 
my two men and box of papers within .sicrht of the 
French settlements, which I liad left almo.st two 
years before. Nothing remains now to me but 
my life, and the ardent desire to employ it in any 
service you may ])leii.so to direct." 

When Joliet made kmiwn his discoveries, a 
Te l)i iini was chanted in the Cathedral at Quebec, 
and all Canada was filled with joy. The news 
crossed the ocean, and the Fri'm-h saw in the vista 
of comini; years a vast dependency arise in the val- 
ley, partially e.\])lored, which wa.s to e.vtend lier 
domain and enrich her trea.sury. Fearinj;' En- 
{rland mij;ht ]jrotit by the discovery and claim the 
country, she attempted ;i.s far as possible to prevent 
the news from becomin<; frcneral. Joliet Wiis re- 
warded by the uift of the Island of Anticosti, in 
the 8t. Lawrence, while Marquette, conscious of 
his service to hia JIaster, Wixs content with the 
salvation of souls. 

Manpu'tte, left at Green Bay, suflFered long with 
his malady, and wa.-* not permitted, until the au- 
tumn of the followin;.; year (1(174), to return and 
teach the Illinois Indians. With this pur) losc in 
view, he It'tt (irecn Bay on the 2.")th of ()ctober 
with two Kri'n<'lnncn and a number of Illinois and 
Pottawatomie Indians for the villages on the 
Cliicaj;!) and Illinois Rivers. Knterini; Lake 
.Michigan, they encountered adverse winds and 
waves and wt^re more than a month on the way. 
Goinir some distance up the Chicago lliver, they 
founil .Maripiette too weak to proctiod farther, hi.s 
malady liavinj; as.sum(ul a vioh'nt form, and land- 
ing, th(?y erected two huts and pre]iarcd to pass 
the winter. The good mis.sionary taught the na- 
tives here daily, in spite of his afflictions, while 
his coni])anions su|ipliid him and themselves with 
food by lishing and hunting. Thifs the winter 
wore away, ami .\lar(pictte, renewing his vows, jire- 
pared to go on to till' village at the foot of the 
rocky citadel, where he had biH'n two years before. 
On the Il'.lh of .March, 1(17'), they left their huts 
anil, rowing on up the Chii'ago to the ])or1ag(' be- 
tween that and the I )esplaiiies, embarked on their 
way. Amid the inees.sant rain.s of .spring, they 
were rajiidly borne down that stream to the Illi- 
noi.s, on whose rushing flood tiiey floated to the 



object of their destination. At the great town the 
missionary was received as a heavenly messenger, 
and ;us he preacheil to them of heaven and hell, 
of angels and demons, of good and bad deeds, 
they regarded him iis divine and besought him to 
remain among them. The town then contained an 
immense concourse of natives, drawn hither by the 
reports they heard, and a.s.sembling them before hiui 
on the plain near their village, where now are pros- 
perous firms, he held before their astonished gaze 
f>ur large pictures of the Holy A'irgin, and daily 
luaangue<l them on the duties of Christianity and 
the neee.s.sity of conl'orming their conduct to the 
words they heard. Ilis strength was fast declining 
and warned him he could not long remain. Find- 
ing he must go, the Indians furnished him an 
e.scort as fir as the lake, (Ui whose turbulent waters 
he embarked with his two faitlilhl attendant.s. 
They turned their canoes for the .Mackinaw Mis- 
sion, which the afflicted missionary hoped to reach 
before death came. As they coiusted along the 
eastern shores of the lake, the vernal hue oi' May 
began to cover the hillsides with robes of green, 
now dimmed to fheeyeof the departing Father, who 
became too weak to view them. By the lihh of 
the month, he could go no firther. and ri'<|Ue.sted 
his men to land and build him a hut in which he 
might pa.ss away. That done, he gave, with great 
composure, directions concerning his burial, and 
thanked God that he was permitted to die in the 
wilderness in the niid.sl of his work, an unshaken 
believer in the faith he had so earnestly preached. 
As twilight came on. he told his weary attendants 
to rest, jiromising that when death should come he 
would call them. At an early hour, on the morn- 
ing of the 20th of May, l(i7r), they heard a feeble 
voice, and hastening to his .side found that the gen- 
tle spirit of the good mis.sionary had g(me to heav- 
en. Ilis hand gr;i.si)ed the cruciti.x. and his lips 
bore as their la.st .sound the name of the Virgin. 
They ling a grave near the banks of the stream 
and buried liim as he had rei|nested. There in a 
lonely wilderness the ju'acefnl .soul of Manpu'tte 
had at la.st fo\ind a rest, and his weary labors elo.sed. 
His comiianions went on to the mission, where 
the news of his death caused great sorrow, for he 
was one beloved by all. 

Three years after his burial, the Ottawas. hunting 
in the vicinity of his grave, determined to carry 
his bones to the mission at their home, in accor- 
dance with an ancient custom of theirlribe. Hav- 
ing o])cned the grave, at whose head a cross had 
been planted, they carefully removed the bones and 



^1 



L^ 



HISTOEY OF OHIO. 



25 



cleiiiiing- them, a funeral procession of thirty canoes 
bore them to the Mackinaw Mission, sinjiing the 
sonu-s he had taught them. At the shores of the 
mission the bones were received by the priests, and, 
with great ceremony, buried under tlie floor of tlie 
rude chapel. 

While Marquette and Joliet were exploring the 
head-waters of the '"Great Kivor,"' annther man, 
fearless in purpose, pious in heart, and loyal to 
his country, was living in Canada and watching 
the operations of his fellow countrymen with 
keen eyes. When the French first saw the in- 
hospitable shores of the St. Lawrence, in 1535, 
under the lead of Jacques Cartier, and had opened 
a new country to their crown, men were not 
lacking to further extend the discovery. In KiOS, 
Champlain came, and at the foot of a clifl" on that 
river founded Quebec. Seven year.s after, he 
bnmglit four Rec<illet monks; and through them 
and the Jesuits the discoveries already narrated 
occurred. Champlain died in 1035, one hundred 
years after Cartier's first visit, but not until he 
had explored the mirthern lakes as far as Lake 
Huron, on whcjse rocky shores he, as the progenitor 
of a mighty race to I'ollow, set his feet. He, with 
others, held to the idea that .somewhere across the 
country, a river highway extended to the Western 
ocean. The reports fnmi the missions whose 
history has been given aided this belief; and not 
until Manjuette and Joliet returned was the delu- 
sion in any way dispelled. Before this was done, 
however, the man to whom reference has been 
made, Robert Cavalier, better known as La Salle, 
had endeavored to solve the mystery, and, while 
living on his grant of land eight miles above 
Montreal, had indeed eft'ected im]iortant discoveries. 

La Salle, thi! next actor in the field of explor- 
ation after Chanqilain, was born in 1(143. His 
father's family w;us among the old and wealthy 
burghers of Rouen, France, and its members 
were frequently entrusted with imjiortant g(jvern- 
mental positions. He early exhiliited such traits 
of character as to mark him among his associates. 
Coming from a wealthy family, he enjoyed all the 
advantages of his day, and received, for tlie times, 
an excellent education. He was a Catholic, 
though his subsequent life does not prove him 
to have been a religious enthusiast. From some 
cause, he joined the Order of Jjoyola, but the cir- 
cumscribed .sphere of action set for him in the 
order illy concurred with his independent dis- 
po.sition, and led to his separation fiijim it. This 
was effected, however, in a good spirit, a.s they 



considered him fit for a different field of action 
than any presented by the order. Having a 
brother in Canada, a member of the order of St. 
Sulpice, he determined to join him. By his 
connection with the Jesuits he had lost his share 
of his father's estate, but, by some means, on his 
death, which occurred about this tiuie, he was 
given a .small .share; and with this, in IGGO, 
he arrived in Blontreal. All Canada was alive 
with the news of the explorations; and La 
Salle's mind, actively gra.sping the ideas he 
afterward carried out, began to mature plans for 
their perfection. At Montreal he found a semi- 
nary of priests of the St. Sulpice Order who were 
encouraging settlers by grants of land on easy 
terms, hoping to establish a barrier of settlements 
between themselves and the Indians, made ene- 
mies to the French by Champlain's actions when 
founding Quebec. The Superior of the seminary, 
learning of LaSalle's arrival, gratuitously offered 
him a grant of land on the St. Lawrence, eight 
miles above Montreal. The grant, though danger- 
ously near the hostile Indians, was accepted, and 
LaSalle soon enjoyed an excellent trade in furs. 
While employed in developing his claim, he learned 
of the great unknown route, and burned with a 
desire to solve its existence. He applied himself 
closely to the study of Indian dialects, and in 
three years is said to have made great progress 
in their language. While on liis farm his 
thoughts often turned to the unknown land away 
to the west, and, like all men of his day, he 
desired to explore the route to the Western sea, 
and thence obtain an easy trade with China and 
Japan. The " Great River, which flowed to the 
sea," must, thought they, find an outlet in the 
(Julf of California. While musing on these 
things, RLir((uette and Joliet were preparing to 
descend the Wisconsin; and LaSalle himself 
learned from a wandering band of Senecas that a 
I'iver, called the Ohio, arose in their country and 
flowed to the sea, but at such a distance that it 
would require eight months to reach its mouth. 
This must be the Great River, or a part of it: 
fi>r all geographers of the day considered the 
Mississippi and its tributary as one stream. Plac- 
ing great confidence on this hypothesis, La Salle 
repaired to Quebec to obtain the sanction 
of Gov. Courcflles. His |ilausible statements 
soon won him the Governor and M. Talon, and 
letters patent were issued granting the exploration. 
No pecuniary aid was offered, and La Salle, hav- 
ing expended all his means in improving his 



» \ 



^^ 



26 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



estate, \va.s ol)liirL'*l to sell it to procure the 
necessai-y outfit. The Su))erinr of the .seminary 
being favorably dispcsctl toward him, ]jurehiised 
the greater ])art of his improvement, and realiz- 
ing 2,800 livre.s, lie purchased four canoes and the 
ncces.sary supjjlies I'or the expedition. The semi- 
nary was, at the same time, preparing for a similar 
exploration. The priests of this order, emulating 
the Jesuits, had establi.shed missions on the north- 
ern shore of Ijake Ontario. Hearing of jiopulous 
tribes still furl her west, t bey resolved to attempt 
their conversii)n, and deputized twoof their number 
for the ])urpose. On going to Quebec to procure 
the necessary su])plies, they were advised of La 
Salle's e.\]iedition down the Ohin. and resolved to 
unite themselves with it. La .Salle did not alto- 
gi^tber favor their attempt, as he believed the 
Jesuits already had the lield, and would not care 
to have any aid from a rival order. His dispo- 
sition also would not well brook the part they 
assumed, of asking him to be a co-labon^r rather 
than a leader. However, the expeditions, merged 
into one body, left the mi.s,sion on the St. J>aw- 
rencc on the (Ith of July, Idlli), in .seven canoes. 
The party numbered twenty-fdur jiersons, who 
were accom|)aMied by two canoes filled with 
Indians who had vi.sited hn Salle, and who now 
acted a.s guides. Their guides led them up the 
St. Lawrence, over the e.xpan.sc of Lake Ontario, 
to their village on the banks of the (Jenesec, 
where they expected to find guides to lead them 
on to the Ohio. As La Salle only ])artially under- 
stood their language, he was compelled to confer 
with them by means of a J('suit stationed at the 
village. The Indians refused to furni.sh him the 
expected aiil, and even burned before bis eyes a 
pri.soner, tin; only one who coidd give him any 
knowledge lie ilesired. He surmised the Jesuits 
were at the bottom of the matter, fearful lest the 
iliM-i|iles of St. Sul]>ice should gain a foothold in 
the west. He liiitiered here a month, with the 
hope of accomplishing his oiijeet, when, by chance, 
there came liy an [roi|Uois Indian, who a.ssure<l 
them that at bis colony, near llii! head of the lake, 
lIu'V could lltid guides; and offered to conduct 
them thither. Coniing along the Bouthern slmre 
of the lake, they pa.s.sed, at its western extremity, 
the moulh nf the Niagara Hiver, where they heard 
for the first lime the thuniler of the mi'.dily cata- 
ra<;t bi^tween the two lakes. At the village of (he 
lro(|uois they met a friendly reception, and were 
inlbrmeil by a Shawane.se prisoner that they could 
reach the OIno in six weeks' lime, and thai he 



would guide them there. While preparing to 
commence the journey, they heard of the missions 
to the northwest, and the priests resolved to go 
there and convert the natives, and find the river 
by that route. It appears that Ijouis Joliet met 
them here, on his return from visiting the cojiiier 
mines of Lake Superior, under command of M. 
Talon. He gave the priests a majiof the country, 
and inlbrmed them that the Indians of those 
regions were in great need of spiritual advisers. 
This strengthened their intention, though warned 
by La Salle, that the Jesuits were undoubtedly 
there. The authority for .Joliet's vi.sit to them 
here is not clearly given, and may not be true, 
but the same leller which gives the account of 
the di.scovery of the Ohio at this time by La Salle, 
states it as a fiict, and it is hence inserted. The 
missionaries and La Salle separatt'd, the former to 
find, as he had predicted, the followers of Loyola 
already in the field, and not wanting their aid. 
Hence they return from a fruitless tour. 

La Salle, now left to himself and ju.st recovering 
from a violent fever, went on his journey. From 
the paper from which these statement.s arc tak<Mi, 
it a])pears he went on to Onondaga, where he pro- 
cured guides to a tributary ol' the Ohio, down 
which he jiroceeded to the principal stream, on 
who.se bosom he continued his way till he came lo 
the falls at the present city of Louisville, Ky. It 
has been a.sserted thai he went on down to its 
mouth, but that is not well authenticated and is 
hardly true. The ,statement that he went as far as 
the falls is, doubtless, correct. He .states, in a letter 
to Count Frontenac in 1(177, that he discovered 
the Ohio, and that he descended it to the falls. 
Moreover, Joliet, in a measure his rival, for he was 
now (ireparing lo go to the northern lakes aiul 
from them search the river, made two maps repre- 
senting the lakes and the iMi.ssi.ssi|)pi. on both of 
which he states that L.i Salle had discovered the 
Ohio. Of its c(pur.se beyond the falls. La Salle 
does not seem to have learned anything deliniU', 
hence his discovery di<l not in any way .settle the 
great (jucstion, and elicited but little comment. 
Still, it .stimulated La Salle to more etlurt. and 
while iiuising on his plans, Joliet ami Manpictte 
push (m from (ireeii Hay, and tliscovcr the river 
and iuscertain the gc'neral C(mr.se of its outlet. On 
Joliet's return in Hu'A, he seems to dro)) from 
further notice. Other and more venturesome souls 
were ready to finish the work begnin by him.self 
and thi> 7.e:))ous Marf|Uettc, who, led ainon'.r the 
far-away luilions, laid down his life. The s])irit of 



'A 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



29 



La Salle was c(|ual to the enterprise, and as he now 
had returned from one voyage of discovery, he 
stood ready to solve the mystery, and gain the 
country for his King. Before this could be ac- 
complished, however, he saw other things must be 
done, and made preparations on a scale, for the 
time, truly marvelous. 

Count Frontenae, the now Governor, had no 
sooner established himself in power than he gave a 
searching glance over the new realm to see if any 
undeveloped resources lay yet unnoticed, and what 
country yet remained open. He learned from the 
exploits of La Salle on the Ohio, and from Jciliet, 
now returned from the West, of that immense 
country, and resolving in his mind on some plan 
whereby it could be formally taken, entered 
heartily into the plans of La Salle, who, anxious to 
solve the mystery ccmcerning the outlet of the 
Ureal lliver, gave him the outline of a plan, saga- 
cious in its conception and grand in its compre- 
hension. La Salle had also informed him of the 
endeavors of the English on the Atlantic coast to 
divert the trade with the Indians, and partly to 
counteract this, were the plans of La Salle adopted. 
They were, briefly, to build a chain of forts from 
Canada, or New France, along the lakes to the 
Mississippi, and on down that river, therel)y hold- 
ing the country by [lower as well as by discovery. 
A fort was to be built on the Ohio as soon as tlui 
means could be obtained, and thereby hold that 
country by the same policy. Thus to La Salle 
alone may bo ascribed the bold plan of gaining the 
whole West, a plan only thwarted Vjy the force of 
arms. Through the aid of Frontenae, he wa,s 
given a proprietary and the rank of nobility, and 
on his proprietary was erected a fort, which he, in 
honor of his (rovernor, called Fort Frontenae. It 
stood on the site of the present city of Kingston, 
Canada. Through it he obtained the trade; of the 
Five Naticjns, and his fortune was so far assured. 
He ni^xt repaired to France, to perfect his arrange- 
ments, secure his title and obtain means. 

On his return he built the fort alluded to, and 
prepared to go on in the pro-secution of his plan. 
A civil discord arose, however, which for three 
years prevailed, and seriously threatened his 
projects. As soon as he could extricate himself, 
he again repaired to France, receiving additional 
encouragement in money, grants, and the exclusive 
privilege of a trade in buffalo skins, then consid- 
ered a source of great wealth. On his return, he 
was accompanied by Henry Tonti, son of an illus- 
trious Italian nobleman, who had fled from his 



own country during one of its political re\olutions. 
Coming to France, he made himself famous as the 
founder of Tontine Life Insurance. Henry Tonti 
possessed an indomitable will, and though he had 
suffered the loss of one of his hands by the ex- 
plosion of a grenade in one of the Sicilian wars, 
his courage was undaunt(>d, and his ardor un- 
dimmed. La Salle also 1 irought recruits, mechanics, 
sailors, cordage and sails for rigging a ship, and 
merchandi.se for traffic with the natives. At 
Montreal, lie .secured the services of M. LaMotte, a 
person of much energy and integrity of character, 
lie also secured .several missionaries before he 
reached Fort Frcjutenac. Among them were 
Louis Henne]iin, Gabriel Kibourde and Zenabe 
Mcmlire. All these W(n'e Flemings, all Reeollets. 
Hennejiin, of all of them, proved the best a.ssi.st- 
ant. They arrived at the fort early in the autumn 
of 1G78, and preparations were at once made to 
erect a vessel in which to navigate the lakes, and 
a fort at the mouth of the Niagara River. The 
Senecas were rather adverse to the latter proposals 
when La Motte and Hennepin came, but by 
the elo((uence of the latter, they were pacified 
and rendered fiiendly. Af\er a number of vexa- 
ti(ms delays, the vessel, the Griffin, the first on the 
lakes, was built, and on the 7th of August, a year 
after La Salle came here, it was launched, pas.sed 
over the waters of the northern lakes, and, after a 
tempestuous Voyage, landed at Green Bay. It was 
soon after stored with furs and sent back, while 
La Salle and his men awaited its return. It was 
never afterward heard of La Salle, becoming 
impatient, erected a fort, pushed on with a 
part of his men, leaving part at the fort, 
and passed over the St. Joseph and Kankakee 
Rivers, and thence to the Illinois, down whose 
flood they proceeded to Peoria Lake, where 
he was obliged to halt, and return to Canada 
for more men and supplies. He left Tonti 
and several men to complete a fort, called 
Fort " Crovecoeur " — broken-hearted. The Indians 
drove the French away, the men mutinied, and 
Tonti w-as obliged to flee. When La Salle returned, 
he found no one there, and going down as far as 
the mouth of the Illinois, he retraced his steps, to 
find some trace of his garri.son. Tonti was found 
safe among the Pottawatomies at Green Bay, and 
Hennepin and his two followers, sent to explore 
the head-waters of the Missis-sippi, were again 
home, after a captivity among the Sioux. 

La Salle renewed his force of men, and the third 
time set out for the outlet of the Great River. 



:x: 



tiL^ 



30 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



Hek'ft Canada early in December, 1(581, and by 
February (I, 1('>82, reached tbi; majestic flood of 
the miiihty stream. On the 24tli, they a.scended 
tlie Chicka.-iuw Bluti's, and. while waitinu' to find 
a sailor who had strayed away, erected Fort I'rud- 
liDtnme. They jia.ssed several Indian villages fur- 
tiicr down the river, in .some of which they met 
with no little ojipositiou. Proceeding onward, ere- 
long they encountered the tide of the .sea, and 
.\|)ril 0, they emerj;ed on the broad bo.soni of the 
(iulf, "to.ssinij; its re.stle.ss billows, limitless, voice- 
less and lonely as when born of chaos, without a 
siL'n of life." 

Coasting about a short time on the shores of 
the (iulf, the party returneil until a sutticieutly 
dry place w;us reacheil to effect a landinj;. Here 
another cro.ss was raised, also a column, on which 
Was iuscribed the.se words: 

" Loiis i,E (1r.\nii, K(ii hi; Fbanck et de N.4varre, 
Ueo.se; Lk Neuvikme, A\ u]i.. Kjsi'.'' * 

" The whole party," says a •' jiroces verbal," in 
the archives of Fr.ince, "chanted the Ti; Diitin, 
the Exaiiiliiit and the Dmnidr sdlvum f'<ic Rrgcm, 
and then aftiT a salute of tire-arms and cries of 
Vice le liu!. La Salle, standinj^ near the column, 
.said in a loud voice in French : 

" lu tlie name of the most hiirli, mighty, invin- 
cible and victorious I'rince, Louis the (treat, by 
the <,Tace of (Jod, King of France and of Navarre, 
Fourteenth <if that name, this ninth day of April, 
one thousand .six hundred and eighty two, I, in 
virtue of the commi.ssion of His Majesty, which I 
hohl in my hand, anil which may be seen by all 
whom it may concern, have taken, and do now 
take, in tlie name of His Majesty and of his suc- 
ce.s.s<irs lo the ctown, )io.sse.ssicin of this country of 
Louisiana, the seas, harbor, ports, bays, adjacent 
straights, and allthi'nalidns.jiinple, provinces, cities, 
towns, vilhiges, mines, minerals, lisheries, streams 
and rivers, eompriseil in theextent of said Louisiana, 
from tlie north of the gn'at river St. Louis, other- 
wise called the Ohio, Alighin, Sipore or ('huk:ig(i- 
na, and this with the consent of the Chavumms, 
Cliiekaehaws, and other people dwelling therein, 
with whom we have made alliance; as also along 
the river Colbert or Mississipjii, and rivers which 
discharge themselves therein fruiii itssoiinc bevond 
the Kious or Nadoiiessious, ami this with their 
consent, and with the- consent of the llliticjis, Mes- 
igaiiieas, Natchez, Kurnas, which an' the most con- 
siderable nations dwelling therein, with whom also 

* lioaU tho Gri-at, King uf Franca and ur Nararrr, reigning tho 
ninth lUjr of April, 1682. 



we have made alliance, either by ourselves orothers 
in our behalf, as far as its mouth at the ,sea or 
(iulf of .Ah^xico, about the twenty-seventh degree 
of its elevation of the North Pole, and also to the 
nidUth of the River of Palms; upon tlu' a.-isurance 
which we have received from all these nations that 
we are the first Europeans who have descended or 
ascended ([w. river Colbert, hereby protesting 
against all tho.se who may in future undertake to 
invade any or all of these countries, peoples or 
lands, t(j the prejudice of the right of His Majesty, 
acijuired by the consent of the nations lierein 
named." 

The whole a.sscmbly responded with shouts and 
the salutes of fire-arms. The Sieur de La Salle 
caused to be jilanted at the foot of the column a 
plate of lead, on one side of which was in,<eribed 
the arms of France and the following Latin inscriji- 
tion: 

Robertvs Cavcllicr, cviii Doiniiui de Tonly, Lopalo, 
R. P. Zeniihi Menibro, Itecollccli), ct, Viginli (iallis 
I'rinios Hue Flvmen inile at) ilineorviu Pago, ciiavigavit. 
ojvsqve oslivm fecit Pervivviu, uono Ajirilis cio Idc 
LXXXIl. 

The whole proceedings were acknowledged be- 
fore La Jletaire, a notary, and the con(|Uest was 
considered complete. 

Thus was the foundation of France laid in the 
new republic, and thus did she lay claim to the 
Northwest, which now includes Ohio, and the 
county, whose history this book perpetuates. 

Jja Salle and his J)arty returned to Canada soon 
after, and again that country, and France it.self, 
rang with anthems of exultatiim. He went on to 
France, where lie received the highest honors. 
He was given a flett, and sailors as well as colon- 
ists to return to the New AVijrld by way of a .simtli- 
ern voyage, exjiecting to find the mouth of the 
-Mississijipi by an ocean course. Sailing past the 
outlets, he was wrecked on the eoa.st of Texas, and 
in his vain endeavors to find the river or n'tnrn to 
Canada, he became lost on the ]ilains of Arkaiisus, 
where he, in ItiST, was ba.sely murdered by one of 
his followers. " You are down now. (! rand Ha.shaw." 
exclaimed his slayer, anil des] mi ling his remains, they 
\v\\ them to be devoured by wild beasts. To.«ucli 
au ignominious end came this daring, bolil adven- 
turer. Aldiie in the wilderness, hi' wa.< li'll. with 
no monuiiieiit but the vast realm he h.iil discov- 
ered, on who.se bosom he was left without cover- 
ing and without )irotection. 

"For force of will and vast conception; for va- 
rious knowledge, and quick adaptation of his genius 



>>, 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



31 



to untried circumstances; fur a sublime magnani- 
mity, that resigned itself to the will of Heaven, 
and yet triumphed over afBietion by energy of 
purpose and uul'altering hope — he had no superior 
among his countrymen. He had won the affec- 
tiousofthe governor of Canada, the esteem of 
Colbert, the contidence of Seignelay, the tavor of 
Louis XI\'. Alter the beginning of the coloniza- 
tion of Upper Canada, he perfected the discovery 
of the Mississijipi from the Falls of St. Anthony 
to its mouth; and he will be remembered through 
all time aa the father of colonization in tlie great 
central valley of the West."* 

Avarice, passion and jealousy were not calmed by 
the blood of La Salle. All of his cons]iirators per- 
ished by ignoble deaths, while only seven of the six- 
teen succeeded in continiiing the journey until 
they reached Canada, and thence found tlu'ir way 
to France. 

Tonti, who had been left at Fort St. Louis, on 
"Starved Rock" on the Illinois, went down in 
search of his beloved commander. Failing to find 
him, he returned and remained here until 17(M), 
thousands of miles away from friends. Then ho 
went down the Mississippi to join D Iberville, who 
had made the discovery of the mouth of the Mis- 
sissippi by an ocean voyage. Two years later, he 
went on a mission to the Chiekasaws, but of his 
subsequent hLstory nothing is known. 

The West was now in possc.s.sion of the French. 
La Salle's plans were yet feasible. The period of 
exploration was now over. The great river and 
its outlet was known, and it only remained for that 
nation to enter in and occupy what to many a 
Frenchman was the " Promised Land." Only 
eighteen years had elapsed since JLirquettc and 
Joliet had descended the river and shown the 
course of its outlet. A spirit, less bold than La 
Salle's would never in so short a time have pene- 
trated for more than a thousand miles an unknown 
wilderness, and solved the mystery of the world. 

When Joutel and hiscomi)anions reached France 
in 1688, all Kumpe was on the eve of war. Other 
nations than the French wanted part of the New 
World, and when they .saw that nation greedily 
and rapidly accuiuulating territory there, they en- 
deavored to stay its progress. The league of Augs- 
burg was formed in 1(187 by the princes oftheFhu- 
pire to restrain the ambitiou of Louis XIV, and 
in 1G8H, he began hostilities by the capture of 
Philipsburg. The next year, England, under the 

* Bancroft. 



lead of William III, joined the alliance, and Louis 
found himself compelled, with only the aid of the 
Turks, to contend against the united forces of the 
Empires of England, Spain, Holland, Denmark, 
Sweden and Norway. Yet the tide of battle wa- 
vered. In lt)8;), the French were defeated at 
Walcourt, and the Turks at Widin; but in llJiUI, 
the French were victorious at Charleroy, and the 
Turks at IJelgradi^. The next year, and also the 
next, victory inclined to the French, but in 11)93, 
Lou vols and Luxemberg were dead and Nanuir 
.surnMidt^red to the allies. The war extended to the 
New World, where it was maintained with more 
than equal success by the French, though the En- 
glish population exceeded it more than twenty to one. 
In l(i88, the French were estimated at about 
twelve thousand souls in North America, while the 
English were more than two hundred thousand. 
At first the war was prosecuted vigorously. In 
1G8;», De. Ste. Helene and D'lberville, two of the 
sons of Charles le Morne, crossed the wilderness 
and ri^duced the English forts on Hudson's Bay. 
But in August of the same year, the Iroquois, the 
hereditary foes of the French, captured and burned 
M<intreal. Frontenac, who had gone on an ex- 
pedition against New York by sea, was recalled. 
Fort Frontenac was abandoned, and no French 
post.s left in the West between Trois Rivieres and 
Mackinaw, and were it not for the Jesuits the en- 
tire West would now have been abandoned. To 
recover their influence, the French planned three 
expeditions. One resulted in the destruction of 
Schenectady, another, Salmon Falls, and the third, 
Casco Bay. On the other hand, Nova Scotia was 
reduced by the colonies, and an expedition against 
Montreal went as far as to Lake Champlain, where 
it failed, owing to the dissensions of the leaders. 
Another expedition, consisting of twenty-four ves- 
sels, arrived before Quebec, which also failed 
through the incompetency of Sir William Phipps. 
During the succeeding years, various border con- 
flicts occurred, in all of which border scenes of 
savage cruelty and savage ferocity were enacted. 
The peace of Ryswick, in 1(597, closed the war. 
France retained Hudson's Bay, and all the places 
of which she was in possession in 1088; but the 
boundaries of the English and French claims in 
the New World were still unsettled. 

The conclusion of the conflict left the French 
at liberty to pursue their scheme of colonization 
in the Mississippi Valley. In 1698, D'lberville 
was sent to the lower province, which, erelong, 
was made a separate independency, called Louisiana. 



-t* 



32 



HISTORY OP OHIO. 



Forts were erected on Mobile Bay, and the division 
of the territory betwc-cu the French and the 
Spaniards was settled. Trt>uble exi.sted between 
the French and the Chickasaws, endinjr in the 
cruel deaths of" many of the leaders, in the 
fruitless endeavors of the Cailadian and Louisi- 
anian forces combining against the Chicka.saws. 
For many years the conflict raged, with une(|ual 
successes, until the Indian jMiwcr gave way before 
superior military tactics. In the end, New ( )rlcans 
was li>undcd, in 1718, and the French power 
secured. 

Before this was consummated, however, France 
became entangled in another war against the 
allied powers, ending in lier defeat and the loss 
of Nova Seotia, Hudson's Bay and Newfound- 
land. The peace of I'trecht clo.sed the war 
in 171. 5. 

The French, weary with prolonged strife', 
adopted the jilaii, more peaceful in its nature, of 
giving out to distinguishi'd men the monopoly of 
certain districts in the fur trade, the most pros- 
perous of any avocation then. Crozat and 
Cadillac — the latter the founder of Detroit, in 
1701 — were the chief ones c<incerned in this. 
The fciuniling of the villages of Kaskaskia, Ca- 
hokia, Vinci'iincs, and others in the Mississippi 
and Waba-ili N'alli-ys, led Uj the rapid develo])- 
nient, a<eording to the French custom of all 
these parts of the West, while along all the chief 
water-courses, other trading posts and forts were 
cstablislied, rapidly fulfilling the hopes of La 
Sall<;, broached so many j'ears before. 

The French had, at the beginning of the 
eighteenth century, four principal mutes to their 
western towns, two of wlii<h pa.-i.sed over the soil 
of Ohio. The lir.-t of the.se was the one followed 
by .^Ian|uett(• and Joliet.liy way of the Lakes to 
(ireen Hay, in Wisconsin; thence across u j)ortage 
to the Wisconsin liiver, down which they floated 
to the Mississippi. On their return they canu' 
up the Illinois Kiver, to the site of Chicago, 
wlii-nee .loliet ri'turiii'il to Quebec by the Lakes. 
La Salle's route Was lii>t by the Lakes to tlie Hi. 
Josipli's Iliver, which he loIlowe<l |4) the portaire 
to llu- Kankakee, and thenee downward to the 
Mis.-i.ssip)>i. On his sci-ond and third atteinjit, 
he crossed the lower peninsida of >Iichigan to 
the Kankakee, and ag:iin traversed its waters to 
tlie Illinois. The third route WiLs established 
about 171li. It followed the southern shores of 
Lake Krie to the mouth of tlic Mauinee Biver; 
following this stream, the voyager« went on to the 



junction between it and the St. Mary's, which 
they followed to the " Oubache " — Wabash — and 
then to the French villages in Vigo and Kno.x 
Counti(w, in Indiana. X'iucennes was the oldest 
and most important one here. It had been 
founded in 1702 by a French trader, and Wius, at 
the date of the establishment of the third route, 
in a pro.sperous condition. For many years, the 
traders cros.sed the plains of Southern Illinois to 
the French towns on the bottoms opposite St. 
Louis. They were afraid to go on down the 
'• Walia" to tile Ohio, as the Indians had fright- 
ened them with accounts of the great monsters 
below. Finally, .some adventurous spirit went 
down the river, found it emptied into the Ohio, 
and solved the problem of the true outlet of the 
Ohio, heretofore siijijio.sed to be a tributary of the 
Wabash. 

The fourth route was from the southern shore 
of Lake Krie, at I're.s(picville, over a jiortage of 
fifteen mil(« to the head of French Crei^k, at 
Waterford, Penn.; thence down that stream to the 
Ohio, and on to the Mississippi. Along all these 
routes, ports and ]]osts were carefully maintained. 
Many were on the .soil of Ohio, and were the first 
attempts of the white race to possess its domain. 
JIany of the ruins of these posts are yet found on 
the southern shore of Lake Erie, and at the 
outlets of streams flowing into the lake and the Ohio 
River. The i)rinci|>al torts were at Mackinaw, at 
l*rcs(|ueville, at the mouth of the St. Joseph's, on 
Starved Rock, and along £he Father of \Vaters. 
Yet another powiT wius encroaching on tluan: a 
sturdy race, clinging to the inhos)iitable Atlantic 
shores, were coming over the mountains. 'J'he 
murmurs of a confli<t were already heard — a con- 
flict that would change the fate of a nation. 

The Fri'neh vn'.w. extending their esiilorations 
beyond the Mississi]]pi; they were also forming a 
political organization, and increasing their influence 
over the natives. Of a pa.ssivc nature, however, 
tluir powiT and their influence could not with- 
stand a more aggressive nature, and they were 
obligi'd, finally, to give way. They had the 
fruitful valleys of the West mlire than a century; 
yet they developed no resources, o])eneil no mines 
of wealth, and led the country as pa.-^sive as they 
f()und it. 

Of the growth of the West tinder Friiieh rule, 
but little else remains to be .said. The sturdv 
Anglo-Saxon race on the Atlantic coast, and their 
progenitors in Hngland, began, now, to turn their 
attention to this vast country. The volu].tuousness 



ii '\j 



^X' 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



33 



of the French court, their nenlect of the true 
basis of weahh, agriculture, and the repressive 
tendencies hiid on the colonists, led the latter to 
adopt a hunter's life, and leave the country unde- 
veloped and ready fur the people'who claimed the 
country from "sea to sea." Their explorers were 
DOW at work. The change was at hand. 

Occasional mention has been made in the his- 
tory of the State, in preceding pages, of settle- 
ments and trading-posts of the French traders, 
explorers and missionaries, within the limits of 
Ohio. The French were the first white men to 
oc<iipy the niirthwcstern part of the New World, 
and though their .stay was brief, yet it opened the 
way to a sinewy race, living on the shores of the 
Atlantic, who in time came, saw, and conquered 
that part of America, making it what the people 
of to-day enjoy. 

As early as Itid'J, four years before tlu; discov- 
ery of the Mississijipi by Joliet and Mar((uette, 
La Salle, the famous exfilorer, distMivered the Ohio 
River, and paddled down its gentle current as far 
as the falls at the present city of Louisville, but he, 
like others of the day, made no settlement on its 
l)anks, only claiming the country for his King by 
virtue of this discovery. 

Early in the beginning of the eighteenth cent- 
ury, French traders and voyagers passed along the 
southern shores of Lake Erie, to the mouth of the 
JLuiniee, up whose waters they rowed their bark 
canoes, on their way to their outpiists in the Wa- 
bash and Illinois Valleys, estalilished between 
l(!7o and ITltO. As soon as they could, without 
danger from their inveterate enemies, the Iroquois, 
masters of all the lower lake country, erect a 
trading-post at the mouth of this river, they did 
so. It was made a depot of considerable note, 
and was, probably, the first permanent habitation 
of white men in Ohio. It remained until after 
the peace of 176:^, the termination of the French 
and Indian war, and the occupancy of this country 
by the English. On the site of the French trading- 
po.st, the British, in 1794, erected Fort Miami, 
which they garrisimed until the country came 
under the control of Americans. Now, Maumee 
City covers the ground. 

The French had a trading-post at the mouth of 
the Fluron lUver, in what is now Erie County. 
AVhcn it was built is not now known. It was, how- 
ever, probably one of their early outpo.sts, and 
may have been built before 1750. They had an- 
other on the shor(! of the bay, on or near the site 
of Sandusky City. Both this and the one at the 



mouth of the Huron River were abandoned before 
the war of the Revolution. On Lewis Evan's map 
of the Briti.sh Middle Colonies, published in 1755, 
a French fort, called ''Fort Junandat, built in 
1754, " is marked on the east bank of the San- 
dusky River, several miles below its mouth. Fort 
Sandusky, on the western bank, is also noted. 
Several Wyandot towns are likewise marked. But 
very little is known concerning any of these 
trading-po.sts. They were, evidently, only tempo- 
rary, and were abandoned when the English came 
into pos.session of the country. 

The mouth of the Cuyahoga River was another 
important place. On Evan's ma]> there is marked 
on the west bank of the Cuyahoga, some distance 
from its mouth, the words ^' Frciic/t IIoiim," doubts 
less, the station of a French trader. The ruins 
of a house, found about five miles from the mouth 
of the river, on the west bank, are supposed to 
be those of the trader's station. 

In 1 786, the jMoravian missionary, Zeisberger, 
with his Indian converts, left Detroit in a vessel 
called the Mackinaw, and sailed to the mouth of 
the Cuyahoga. From there they went up the 
river about ten miles, and settled in an abandoned 
Ottawa village, where Independence now is, which 
place they called ^- Siii'iit'g Rrst." Their stay was 
brief, for the following April, they left for the 
Huron River, and settled near the sit« of Milan, 
Erie County, at a hjcality they called New Salem. 

There are but few records of settlements made 
by the French until after 1750. Even these can 
hardly be called settlements, as they were simply 
trading-pcsts. The French easily affiliated with 
the Indians, and had little energy beyond trading. 
They never cultivated fields, laid low forests, and 
subjugated the country. They were a half-Indian 
race, so to speak, and hence did little if anything 
in developing the West. 

About 1749, some English traders came to a 
place in what is now Shelby County, on the 
banks of a creek since known a.s Loramie's 
('reek, and established a trading-station with the 
Indians. This was the first English trading-place 
or attempt at settlement in the State. It was here 
but a short time, however, when the French, hear- 
ing of its existence, sent a party of soldiers to the 
Twigtwees, among whom it was founded, and de- 
manded the traders as intruders upon French ter- 
ritory. The Twigtwees refusing to deliver up 
their friends, the French, assisted by a large party 
of Ottawas and Chippewas, attacked the trading- 
house, probably a block-house, and, after a severe 



"3 "V 



>A 



34 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



battle, captured it. Tlie trailers were taken to 
Canada. Tlii.s flirt was called by the Enjrli.sh 
'■ Pickawillany," from wbich "Pi({ua" is probably 
derived. About tbc time that Kentucky was si t- 
tled, a Canadian Freiiehinan, named Lorauii.', 
e^itablished a store on the site of the old fort. He 
was a bitter enemy of the Americans, and for a 
loiii; time Loramie's store was the headquarters of 
mischief toward the settlers. 

Tlie French had the faculty of cndearinir them- 
selves to tlie Iiitliaus by tlu'ir ea.sy assimilation oi' 
their habits; and, no doulit, Loramie was eijual to 
any in this resjject, and hence pained great influ- 
ence over them. Col. Johnstim, many years an 
Indian Apent from the United States amonj^ the 
Western tribes, stated that he had often .seen the 
" Indians burst into tears when .speakinj^ of the 
times when their French father had dominion 
over them; and their attachment always remained 
unabated. ' 

So much influence had Loramie with the In- 
dians, that, when Gen. Clarke, from Kentuck}', 
invaded the Miami Valley in ITi^-, his attention 
was attracted to the spot. He came on and burnt 
the Indian .settlem<'nt here, and destroyed tlu^ .store 
of the Frenchman, seliinj^ his goods anionif the 
men at auction. Loramie fled to the Shawances, 
and, with a colony of that nation, emigrated west 
of the Missi.ssip]ii, to the Spani.sh possessions, 
where he again began bis life of a trader. 

In 17!'-i, during the Indian war, a fort was 
built on the site of the store by Wayne, and 
named Fort Loramie. The last officer who liad 
comnuind here w:i.s Capt. Butler, a nephew of 
Col. llichard Butler, who fell at St. Clair's defeat. 
While here with bis family, he lost an interesting 
boy, about eight years of age. About his grave, 
the .borrowing father and mother built a substantial 
jiicket-fence, planted honeysuckles over it, which, 
long afler, remained to mark the grave of the 
soldier's boy. 

The site of Fort Loramie wa.s always an im- 
pnrtant point, and was one of the places defined 
on the boun<lary lino at the Greenville treaty. 
Now a barn covers the S]iot. 

At the junction of the Auglaize and IMaumec 
Rivers, on the site of Fort Defiance, built by (ien. 
Wayne in 1794, wa.s a settlement of traders, 
established some time before the Indian war 
begiin. "On the high ground cxteniling from tlie 
Maumeo a f|iiartcr of a mile up tbc Auglaize, 
about two humlrcd yards in wiilth, wa.s an open 
S])ace, on the west and south of which were oak 



woods, with luizcl undergrowth. Within this 
opening, a few hundred yards above the jicjinl, on 
the steep bank of the Auglaize, were five or six 
cabins and log houses, inhabited princijjally by 
Indian traders. The most northerly, a large 
hewed-log house, divided below into three apart- 
mimts, was occuj)ied as a warehouse, store and 
dwelling, by George Ironside, the mo.st wealthy 
and influcniial of the traders on the point. Next 
to his were the hou.scs of I'irault (Pero) a French 
baker, and McKenzie, a Scot, who, in a<ldition to 
m:>rihandi.sing, followed the occupation of a silver- 
smith, exchanging with the Indians his brooches, 
ear-drops and other silver ornaments, at an 
enormous profit, for skins and furs. 

Still further up were several other fann- 
lies of French and English; and two Ameri- 
can prisoners, Henry Ball, a soldier taken in St. 
Clair'.s defeat, and his wife, Polly Meadows, 
captured at the same time, were allowed to li\'e 
here and ]iay their masters the price of their 
ran.-iom — he, by boating to the rapids of the Mau- 
nu'c, and she by washing and sewing. Fronting 
the house of Ironside, and about fifty yards from 
the bank, was a small stockade, inclosing two 
hewed-log houses, one of which was occu|)ied by 
James Girty (a brother of Simon), the other, 
occasionally, by Elliott and McKee, British 
Indian Agents living at Detroit."* 

The post, cabins and all they contained fell 
under the control of the Americans, when the 
British evacuated the shores of the lakes. 
While they existed, they were an undoubted 
source of Indian discontent, and had much to do 
in prolonging the Indian war. The country 
hereabouts did not settle until some time afU'r 
the creation of the Stale government. 

As .'Jooii as the French learni'd the true source 
of the Ohio and Waliash Rivers, both were made 
a highway to convey the jiroducis of their hunt- 
ers. In coursing down the Ohio, they made 
t railing-places, or de])ots, where they could obtain 
furs of the liulians, at accessible points, generally 
at the mimths of the rivers emptying into tlio 
Ohio. One of these old forts or trading-i)laces 
stood about a mile and a half south of the outlet 
of the Scioto. It was here in 1740; but when 
it was erected no one could tell. The locality 
must have been pretty well known to the whites, 
Imwever; for, in 17S.'), three years before the 
settlement of Marietta was made, fimr families 

• NamtlTe of 0. U. Spencer. 



V 



Id: 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



35 



made an iueffectual attempt to settle near the same 
place. They were from Kentucky, but were 
driven away by the Indians a short time after 
they arrived, not being allowed to build cabins, 
and had only made preparations to plant corn 
and other necessaries of life. While the men 
were encamped near the vicinity of Piketown, 
in Pike County, when on a hunting expedition, 
they were surprised by the Indians, and two of 
them slain. The others hastened back to the 
encampment at the mouth of the Scioto, and 
hurrieilly gathering the families together, fortu- 
nately gi>t them on a flat-boat, at that hour on its 
way down the river. By the aid of the boat, 
thi'V were enabled to reach Maysville, and gave 
up the attempt to settle north of the Ohio. 

The famous "old .S<-ioto Suit Works,'' in Jack- 
sim County, on the banks of Salt Creek, a tributary 
of the Scioto, were long known to the whites before 
ai>y attempt was made to settle in Ohio. They 
were indicated on the maps published in 1755. 
They were the resort, lor generations, of the In- 
dians in all parts of the West, who annually came 
here to make salt. They often brought white 
prisoners with them, and thus the salt works be- 
came known. There were no attempts made to 
settle here, however, until after the Indian war, 
which closed in 1795. As soon as peace was as- 
sured, the whites came here for salt, and soon after 
made a settlement. Another early salt spring 
was in what is now Trumbull Cotinty. It is also 
noted on Evan's ma]) of 1755. Tliey were occu- 
pied by the Indians, French, and by the Americans 
as early as 178(1, and perhaps earlier. 

As early as 1701 Moravian missionaries came 
among the Ohio Indians and began their labors. 
In a lew years, under the lead of Ilevs. Fredrick 
Post and John Heckewelder, permanent stations 
were established in several parts of the State, chief- 
ly on the Tuscarawas Iliver in Tuscarawas County. 
Here were the three Indian villages — Shoenburn, 
(Jnadenhutten and Salem. The site of the first is 
ab(iut two miles soutli of New Pliiladel]ihia ; Gna- 
dcnhutten was seven miles further south, and about 
five miles still on was Salem, a short distance from 
the present village of l^ort Washington. The fir.st 
and last named of these villages were on the west 
side of the Tuscarawas River, near the margin of 
the Ohio Canal. Gnadenhutten was on the cast 
side of the river. It was here that the brutal 
nia.s.sacre of these Christian Indians, by the rangers 
under Col. Wilhamson, occurred March 8, 1782. 
The account of the massacre and of these tribes 



appears in these pages, and it only remains to 
notice what became of them. 

The hospitable and friendly character of these 
Indians had extended bejond their white breth- 
ren on the Ohio. The American people at large 
looked on the act of Williamson and his men as an 
outrage on humanity. Congress i'elt its influence, 
and gave them a tract of twelve thousand acres, 
embracing their former homes, and induced them 
to return from the northern towns whither they had 
fled. As the whites came into the country, their 
manners degenerated until it became necessary to 
remove them. Through Gen. Cass, of Michigan, 
an agreement was made with them, whereby Con- 
gress paid them over $U,000, an annuity of $400, 
and 24,000 acres in some territory to be designated 
by the United >States. This treaty, by some means, 
was never eftectually carried out. and the princi- 
pal part of them took up their residence near a 
Moravian missiimary station on the River Thames, 
in Canada. Their old churchyard still exists on 
the Tuscarawas River, and here rest the bones of 
several of their devoted teachers. It is proper 
to remark here, that Mary Heckewelder. daughter 
of the missionary, is generally believed to have 
been the first white child born in Ohio. How- 
ever, this is largely conjecture. Captive women 
among the Indians, before the birth of IMary 
Heckewelder, are known to have borne children, 
which afterward, with their mothers, were restored 
to their friends. The assertion that Mary 
Heckewelder was the first child born in Ohio, is 
therefore incorrect. She is the first of whom any 
definite record is made. 

These outposts and the GallipolLs settlement are 
about all that are known to have existed prior to the 
settlement at Marietta. About one-half mile below 
Bolivar, on the western line of Tuscarawas County, 
are the remains of Fort Laurens, erected in 1778 
by a detachment of 1.00(1 men under Gen. Mc- 
intosh, from Fort Pitt. It was, however, occu- 
pied but a short time, vacated in August, 1779, as 
it was deemed untenable at such a distance from 
the frontier. 

During the existence of the six years' Indian 
war, a settlement of French emigrants was made 
on the Ohio River, that deserves notice. It illus- 
trates very clearly the extreme ignorance and 
credulity prevalent at that day. In May or June 
of 1788, Joel Barlow left this country for Europe, 
" authorized to dispose of a very large body of 
land in the West. " In 1700, he distributed pro- 
posals in Paris for the disposal of lands at five 



^1 



\ 



36 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



sbillinjrs jut acre, which, says Volnoy, '• jiromiscd 
a cUmatc healthy and dehulittul ; scarcely sucli a 
thiiiL? as a frost in the winter ; a river, called by 
way of eminence ' The Beautiful, ' abouudinji' in 
tish of an enormous size ; mafinificent forests of a 
tree from which sugar flows, and a shrub which 
yields candles ; vt'uisou in abundance ; uo military 
enrollments, and no i|aartcrs to find for soldiers." 
l'urch;i.sers became numerous, individuals and 
whole families sold their property, and in the; 
course of ITUl many embarked at the various 
French sea-ports, each with his title in his pocket. 
Five hundreil settlers, amouji whom were many 
wood carvers and guilders to His Majesty, King of 
France, coai-hniakers, triseurs and peruke makers, 
and other artisans and nrtiKlex, e(|ually well fitted 
for a frontier life, arrived in the United States in 
1791-02, and acting without concert, traveling 
without knowledge of the language, customs and 
roads, at last managed to reach the spot designated 
for their resitlencc. There they learned they had 
been cruelly deceived, and that the titles they held 
were worthless. Without food, shelterless, and 
danger closing around tlu>ni, they were in a position 
that none but a Frenchman coidd be in without 
despair. Who brought them thitluT, and who wa.s 
to blame, is yet a disputed point. Some affirm 
that those to whom largc^ grants of land were made 
when the Ohio Company procured its charter, were 
the real instigators of the movement. They failed 
to pay for their lanils. and hence the title reverted 
to the GovernuK'nt. This, coming to the ears of 
the poor Frenchmen, rendered their situation more 
distressing. They never paid for their lands, and 
only through the clemency of Congress, who after- 
ward gave them a grant of land, and confirmed 
them in its title, were they I'uabled to secure a foot- 
hold. Whatever doubt there may be as to the 



causes of these people being so grossly deceived, 
there can be none regarding their sutt'erings. They 
had followed a jack-o-lantern into the howling 
wilderness, and must work or starve. The land 
u])on which they had been located w;is covered 
with immense forest trees, to level which the coach- 
makers were at a loss. At last, hoping to conquer 
by a coup de innin, they tied ropes to the branches, 
and while a dozen jiulled at them as many fell at 
the trunk with all sort.s of edged tools, and thus 
soon brought the monster to the earth. Yet he 
was a buiden. lie was down, to be sure, but as 
nuich in the way as ever. Several loji])ed off" the 
branches, others dug an immense trench at bis side, 
into which, with might and main, all rolled the 
large log, and tlu'U buried him from sight. They 
erected their cabins in a cluster, as they had seen 
them in their own native land, thus afibrdiiig stmie 
protection from marauding bands of Indians. 
Though i.solated here in the lonely wilderness, and 
nearly out of funds with which to purchase pro- 
visions from descending boats, yet once a week 
they met and drowiu^d ciu-e in a merry dance, 
greatly to the wonderment of the scout or lone 
Indian who chaiu-ed to witness their revelry. 
Though llieirvivacity could work wonders, it would 
not pay for lands nor 1>U3' provisions. Some of those 
at (!alli]iolis ( for such ihey called their .settlement, 
from <iallia. in France I went to Detroit, .s<imc to 
Kaskaskia, and some bought land of the Ohio 
Com]iany. who treated them liberally. Congress, 
too, in IT".*."), being inlbrmed of their snft'eriiig>, 
and how they ha<l been deceived, granted thrni 
2 4,tll)t) acres opjiosite Little Sandy River, to which 
grant, in 1"!)8, 12,0(10 acres more were added. 
The tract has since been known as French (irant. 
The settlement is a curious episode in early West- 
ern history, and deserves a place in its annals. 




^!^ 



* -Art 



^^ 51 



^ 



<tj <»_ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



37 



CHAPTER III. 

ENGLISH EXPLORATIONS— TRADERS— FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR IN THE WEST — ENGLISH 

POSSESSION. 



AS has been noted, the French title rested on 
the discoveries of their missionaries and 
traders, upon the occupation of the countrj', and 
upon the construction of the treaties of Kyswick, 
Utrecht and Aix la Chapelle. The Enjilish 
claims to the same region were based on the fact 
of a prior occupation of the corresjiondini; coast, 
on an opposite construction of the same treaties, 
and an alleged cession of the rights of the 
Indians. Tlie rights acquired by discovery were 
conventional, and in equity were good only 
between European powers, and coidd not affect the 
rights of the natives, but this distinction was dis- 
regarded by all European powers. The inquiry of 
an Indian chief embodies the whole controversy: 
" Where are the Indian lands, since tlie French 
claim all on the north side of tlie Ohio and the 
English all on the .south side of it?" 

The English charters expressly granted to all 
the original colonies the country westward to the 
South Sea, and tlie claims thus set up in the We.st, 
though held in abeyance, were never relini[uished. 
The primary distinction between the two nations 
governed their actions in the New World, and led 
finally to the supremacy of the l']nglish. They 
were fixed agricidtural communities. The French 
were mere trading-posts. Though the French 
were the prime movers in the exploration of the 
West, the English made discoveries during their 
occupation, however, mainly liy their traders, who 
penetrated the Western wilderness by way of the 
Ohio River, entering it from the two streams which 
uniting form that river. Daniel Coxie, in 1722, 
published, in London, "A description of the 
English province of Carolina, Vjy the Spaniards 
called Florida, and by the French called La Louis- 
iane, as also the great and famous river Mescha- 
cebe, or Mississippi, the five vast navigable lakes 
of fresh water, and the parts adjacent, together 
with an account of the commodities of the growth 
and production of the said province." The title 
of this work exhibits very clearly the opinions of 
the English people respecting the West. As early 
as 1(11)0, Charles I granted to Sir Robert Heath 
" All that part of America lying between thirty- 



one and thirty-six degrees north latitude, from sea 
to sea," out of which the limits of Carolina were 
afterward taken. This immense grant was con- 
veyed in lt)3S, to the Ear! of Arundel, and after- 
ward came into the possession of Dr. Daniel Coxie. 
In the prosecution of this claim, it appeared that 
Col. Wood, of Virginia, from 1054 to lt)64, ex- 
plored several branches of the Ohio and •■ Mescha- 
oebe," as they spell the Mississippi. A Mr. Need- 
ham, who was employed by Col. Wood, kept a 
journal of the exploration. There is also the ac- 
count of some one who had explored the Jlissis- 
sippi to the Yellow, or Missoiui River, before 1G76. 
These, and others, are said to have been there 
when La Salle explored the outlet of the Great 
River, as he found tools among the natives which 
were of European manufacture. They had been 
brought here by English adventurers. .Vlso, when 
Iberville was colonizing the lower part of Louis- 
iana, these same persons visited the Chickasaws 
and stirred them up against the French, It is also 
stated that La Salle found that some one had been 
among the Natchez tribes when he returned from 
the discovery of the outlet of the Mississippi, and 
excited them against him. There is, however, no 
good authority for these statements, and they arc 
doubtless incorrect. There is also an account that 
in 1678, several persons went from New England 
as far south as New Mexico, " one hundred and 
fifty leagues beyond the Meschacebe," the narrative 
reads, and on their return wrote an account of the 
expedition. This, also, cannot be traced to good 
authority. The only accurate account of the 
English reaching the West was when Bienville 
met the British vessel at the "English Turn," 
about 1700. A few of their traders may have 
been in the valk'y west of the Alleghany !Mount- 
ains before 1700, though no reliable accounts are 
now found to confirm these suppositions. Still, 
from the earliest occupation of the Atlantic Coast 
by the English, they claimed the country, and, 
though the policy of its occupation rested for a 
time, it was never fiiUy abandoned. Its revival 
dates from 1710 properly, though no immediate 
endeavor was made for many years after. That 



"7^ 



;^ 



38 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



year, Alexander Spottswood was made Gdvernur of 
Virjiiiiia. No sooner did he assume the functions 
of ruler, than, ca.stiu,n his eye over his dominion, he 
saw the j;real West beyond the Alleghany .Mount- 
ains uuoeeupied by the Knglish, and raiiidly tilliiiu: 
with the Freneli, who he observed were gradually 
confining the English to the Atlantic Coast. His 
prophetic eye saw at a glance the auinius of the 
whole scheme, and he determined to act promptly 
on the defensive. Through his representation, the 
Virginia Assembly was induced to make an appro- 
priation to <lef'ray the expense of an exploration of 
the mountains, anil see if a suitable pa.ss could not 
then be found where they could be crossed. The 
Governor led the expedition in person. The pass 
was discovered, a route marked out for future em- 
igrants, and the party returned to Williamsburg. 
There the (xovernor established the order of the 
"Knights of the Golden Horseshoe," presented 
his rej)ort to the Colonial Assembly and one to his 
King. In each report, Ik; exposed with great bold- 
ness the scheme of the French, and advised the 
building of a chain of forts acro.ss to the Ohio, and 
the formation of .settlements to counteract them. 
The Hriti.sh Government, engros.sed with other 
matters, neglected his advit'e. Forty years afU'r. 
they remembered it, only to regret that it was so 
thoughtlessly disregarded. 

Individuals, however, profited by his advice. By 
173l(, traders began in earnest to cro.ss the mount- 
ains and gather from the Indians the stores beyond. 
They now began to adopt a system, and abandoned 
the heretofore renegade habits of those who had 
superseded them, many of whom never returned to 
the .\llantie Coast. In 174:3, John Howard de- 
sceiijcd tlu' Ohio in a skin canoe, and, on the 
Mi.ssissi|ipi was taken ]irisoncr by the French. His 
ca])tivity did not in the least deter others from 
coming. Indeed, the <iate of his voyage was the 
commencement of a vigorous trade with the In- 
dians by till! English, who crossed the Alleghanies 
by the ninle discovered by (Juv. Spottswood. In 
174H, Conrad Wei.ser, a ( rerman of llerenberg. who 
had ac<|uired in early lite a knowledge of the .^lo- 
hawk tongue by a residence among them, was .sent 
on an cniba.s.sy totlie Shawanees on the Ohio. He 
went as far as Logstown.a Shawanee village on the 
north bank of the Ohio, about seventeen miles be- 
low the site of I'ittsburgh. Here he met the chief's 
in counsel, and secured their ]iromisc of aid against 
the French. 

Th(! )irincipal ground of the claims of the 
English iu the Nortliwest was the treat}' with the 



Five Nalion.s — the Iroijuois. This powerful confed- 
eration claimed the jurisdiction over an innnense 
extent of country. Their policy differed considera- 
bly from other Indian tribes. They were the only 
confederation which attempted any form of gov- 
ernment in America. They were ofU-ntcrmcd the 
"Six Nations.' as the entrance of another tribe 
into the confederacy made that number. 'I'hey 
were the eon(|uerors of nearly all triln's from Lower 
Canada, to and bejond the Mississippi. They only 
exacted, however, a tribute frcpm the coiKjuered 
tribes, leaving them to manage their own internal 
affairs, and stijudaling that to them alone did the 
right of cession belong. Their country, under 
these claims, embraced all of America north of the 
Cherokre Nation, in Virginia; all Kentucky, and 
all the Northwest, save a district in Ohio and Indi- 
ana, and a small section in Southwestern Illinois, 
claimed by the Miami Confederacy. The Iro(|uois, 
or Six Nations, were the terror of all other tribes. 
It was they who devastated the Illinois country 
about Rock Fort in llJStI, and cau.sed wide-.sjiread 
alarm among all the Western Indians. In JtiS4, 
Lord Howard, (xovernor of Virginia, held a treaty 
with the Iro(|uois at Albany, when, at the n'lpn'st 
of Col. Duncan, of New York, they jilaccd them- 
selves under the protection of the English. They 
made a deed of sale then, by treaty, to the Britisli 
Government, of a vast tract (d" country south and 
east of the Illinois River, and extending into Can- 
ada. In 17211, another deed was drawn u]i and 
.signed by the chiefs of the national confederacy by 
which their lands were conveyed in trust to 
England, "to be protected and defended by His 
.Majesty, to and for the use of the grantors and 
their heirs."* 

If the Six Nations had a good claim to the West- 
ern country, there is but little doubt but England 
wasjustitied in defending tlu'ir country against t\w 
French, as, by the treaty of Utreclit, they had 
agreinl not to invade the lands of Britain's Indian 
allies. This claim w:ls vigorously eontcslcil by 
France, as that country claimecl the lro(|Uois had 
no lawful jurisdiction over the West. In all the 
di.spntes, the interests of the contending nations 
was, however, the j>aramount consideration. The 
rights of tin- Indians w<>re little regarded. 

The British also purcha.sed land by the treaty 
of Lancaster, in 1744, wherein they agreed to ]iay 
the Six Nations for land ,settled uidawfully in 
IVnnsylvania, Virginia and Maryland. Tlie In- 

* Annals of tho Weflt. 



y:. 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



39 



dians were given goods and gold amouutiug to 
near a tliousand pounds sterling. They were also 
promised the protection of the English. Had this 
latter provision been faithfully carried out, much 
blood would have been saved in after years. The 
treaties with the Six Nations were the real basis 
of the claims of Great Britain to the West ; claims 
that were only settled by war. The Shawanee In- 
dians, on the Ohio, were also becoming hostile to 
the English, and began to assume a threatening 
exterior. Peter Chartiez, a half-breed, residing in 
Philadelphia, escaped from the authorities, those 
by whom he was held for a violation of the laws, 
and joining the Shawanees, persuaded them to join 
the French. Soon after, in 1743 or 1744, he 
placed himself at the head of 400 of their war- 
riors, and lay in wait on the Alleghany River for 
the provincial traders. He captured two, exhib- 
ited to them a captain's commission fi-om the 
French, and seized their goods, worth .£1,(300. 
The Indians, after this, emboldened by the aid 
given them by the French, became more and more 
hostile, and ^\' eiser was again sent across the mount- 
ains in 1748, with presents to conciliate them and 
sound them on their feelings for the rival nations, 
and also to see what they thought of a settlement 
of the English to be made in the West. The visit 
of Conrad Weiser was successful, and Thomas Lee, 
with twelve otlier Virginians, among whom were 
Lawrence and Augustine Washington, brothers of 
George Washington, formed a company which 
they styled the Ohio Company, and, in 1748, peti- 
tioned the King for a grant beyond the mountains. 
The monarch approved the petition and the gov- 
ernment of \^irginia was ordered to grant the Com- 
pany 500,000 acres within the bounds of that 
colony beyond the AUeghanies, 200,(IO(t of which 
were to be located at once. This provision was to 
hold good for ten years, free of quit rent, provided 
the Company would settle 100 families within 
seven years, and build a fort sufficient for their 
protection. These terms the Company accepted, 
and sent at once to London for a cargo suitable for 
the Indian trade. This was the beginning of 
English Companies in the West ; this one forming 
a prominent part in the history of Ohio, as will 
be .seen hereafter. Otliers were also formed in 
Virginia, whose object was the colonization of the 
West. One of these, the Loyal Company, received, 
on the 12th of June, 1749, a grant of 800,000 
acres, from the line of Canada on the north and 
west, and on the 20th of October, 1751, the Green- 
briar Company received a grant of 100,000 acres. 



To the.se encroachments, the French were by no 
means blind. They .saw plainly enough that if 
the English gained a foothold in the West, they 
would inevitably endeavor to obtain the country, 
and one day the issue could only be decitled by 
war. Vaudreuil, the French Governor, had long 
anxiously watched the coming struggle. In 1774, 
he wrote home representing the consequences that 
would surely come, should the Engli.sh .succeed in 
their plans. The towns of the French in Illinois 
were producing large amounts of bread-stuffs and 
provisions which they sent to New Orleans. These 
provinces were becoming valuable, and must not be 
allowed to come under control of a rival power. 
In 1749, Louis Celeron was sent by the Governor 
with a party of soldiers to plant leaden plates, suit- 
ably inscribed, along the Ohio at the mouths of 
the ]irincipal streams. Two of the.se plates were 
afterward exhumed. One was sent to the iMary- 
land Historical Societ}', and the in.scription* deci- 
phered by De Witt Clinton. On these plates was 
clearly stated the claims of France, as will be seen 
from the translation below. 

England's claim, briefly and clearly stated, read 
as follows: '-That all lands, or countries west- 
ward from the Atlantic Ocean to the South Sea, 
between 48 and 34 degrees of North Latitude, 
were expressly included in the grant of King 
James the First, to divers of his subjects, so long 
time since as the year ItJOC, and afterwards con- 
firmed in the year 1020; and under this grant, 
the colony of Virginia claims extent so far west 
as the South Sea, and the ancient colonies of Mass- 
achusetts Bay and Connecticut, were by their 
respective charters, made to extend to the said 
South Sea, so that not only the right to the -sea 
coa.st, but to all the Inland countries from sea to 
sea, has at all times been asserted by the Crown of 
England. "I 

To make good their titles, both nations were now 
doing their utmost. Professedly at peace, it only 
needed a torch applied, as it were, to any point, to 
instantly precipitate hostilities. The French were 

* The foUowing ia the tral.«Iation of tho iDScrijdion of the plate 
found at Venango : "In the year 1749, reign of Louis X V, King of 
France, we, Celeron, commandant of a detiicbmcnt by Monsieur 
tho Marquis of Gallisoniere, Commander-in-chief of New France, 
to establish tran'iuiUity in certain Indian villages in these Cantons, 
have buried this plate at the confluence of the Toraclakoin, Ibis 
twenty-ninth of July, near the River Ohio, otherwise Beantifut 
River, as a monument of renewal of possession which we have taken 
of the said river, and all its tributaries; and of all the land on both 
sides, as far aa the sources of said rivers; inasmuch as the preceding 
Kings of France have enjoyed it, and maintained it by their arms 
and by treaties ; especially hy those of Ryswick, Utrecht, and Aii 
La Chapelle." 

i Colonial Records of PentiByWania. 



^1 



!> \> 



40 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



Imsily fimajivd orccting i'nrts from tliu wiudK'ni 
sihciivs (if Lako Erie to the Ohio, and on down in 
the lUinois Valley ; up at Detroit, and at all its 
posts, [)reparatious were constantly going on for the 
crisis, now sure to come. The issue between the 
two governments was now fully made up. It ad- 
mitted of no comj)romise but the sword. To that, 
however, neither power desired an immediate ap- 
peal, and both .sought rather to establish and I'urtily 
their interi'sts, and to conciliate the Indian tribes. 
Tlu" Hnghsh. through the Ohio (_"oni|iany, sent out 
Chri.stopiier Gi.st in the fall of 17o((. to e.vjilore tlie 
regions west of the mountains. He was instructed 
to examine the pa.sses, trace the courses of the 
rivers, mark the falls, seek for valuable lands, ob- 
.serve the strength, and to conciliate the friendship 
of the Indian tribes. He was well fitted for such 
an enterpri.se. Hardy, sagacious, bold, an adept in 
Indian character, a hunter by occupation, no man 
was better <(ualificd than he for such an undertak- 
ing. He visited Logstown, where luMvas jealously 
received, ])a.s.sod over to the .Muskingum River and 
Valley in Ohio, where ho tbund a village of Wyan- 
dots, divided in sentiment. \t this village he met 
Crogan, another e((Ually famous frontiersman, who 
had bi'cn sent out by IVnn.sylvania. Together 
they held a council with the chiefs, and received 
a.ssuranee of the friendship of the tribe. This 
done, they piLs.scd to the .Shawnee towns on the 
Scioto, reciaved their assurances of friendship, and 
Went on to the .Miami Valley, which they crossed, 
remarking in Crogan's journal of its gT<'at fertili- 
ty. They made a raft of logs on which they 
cros.scd the Ori'at Miami, visited Piqua, tlie chief 
town of th(' I'ickawillanies, and here mad(! treaties 
with tlio Weas and I'iankeshaws. While here, a 
deputation of the (.)ttawas visited tlu> .Miami Con- 
fe<lc!racy to induce them to unite with the French. 
They wer<: repnlscil through the influence of the 
English agents, the .Mianiis sending Gist word that 
they wiiuld '■ stand like the mountains. " Crogan 
now returned and ]mblished an account of their 
wan<lerings. (list followed the Miami to its 
mouth, jia.ssed down the Oliio till within fifti'en 
miles of the falls, then returned by way of the 
Kentucky HiviT, over the highlands of Kent\icky 
to Virginia, arriving in May, 17.")1. He had 
visited the Mingoes, Dclawares, Wyandot,s, Shawa- 
nees and Miamis, proposed a unif>n among these 
tribes, ami appointed a grand council to meet at 
liogstown to form an alliance among themselves 
and with Virginia. His journey was marvelous 
for the day. It Wiis extremely hazardous, as he 



was part of the time among hostile tribes, who 
could have captured him and been well rewarded 
by the French (juvernnient. But GLst knew how 
to act, and wa.s successful. 

While (ii.st was doing this, .some English traders 
established themselves at a place in ndiat is now 
known as Shelby County, Ohio, and opened a 
store for the purpo.se of trading with the Indians. 
This was clearly in the limits of the West, claimed 
by the French, and at once aroused them to action. 
The fort orstockade stood on the banks of Loramie's 
Creek, about .si.vteen miles northwest of the present 
city of Sydney. It received the name Loraniie 
from the creek by the French, which received 
its name in turn from the French trader of 
that name, who had a trading-post on this 
creek. Loramie had fled to the Spanish country 
west of the Mississipjii, and for many years 
was a trader there ; his store being at the junc- 
tion of the Kansas and Missouri, near the ]iresent 
city of Kansas City, Mo. When the EnglLsh 
traders came to Loramie's Creek, and erected 
their trading-place, they gave it the name of Pick- 
awillany, from the tribe of Indians there. The 
iMiami confederacy granted them this privilege 
as the result of the jireseuts brought by Crogan and 
Gist. It is al.so a-sserted that Andrew Montour, 
a half-breed, .son of a Seneca chief and the famous 
Catharine IMontour, who was an imjiortant fac- 
tor afterward in the Knglish treaties with the 
Indians, wa.s with them, and by his influence did 
much to aid in .securing tlu^ privilege. Thus was 
established the first Fnglish trading-post in the 
Northwest Territory and in Ohio. It, however, 
enjoyed only a short duration. The French could 
not enduri! so clear an invasion of their country, 
and gatlu'ring a force of Ottawtis and Chij)pewas, 
now thc^ir allies, they attacked tlie stockade in 
June, 1752. At first they demanded of the Mianiis 
the surrender of the fort, as they were the real 
cause of its location, having granted tlu; English 
the privilege. The Miamis not only refused, but 
aided the Hriti.sh in tlu^ defense. In the battle that 
ensued, fourteen of the .Miamis were .slain, and all 
the traders captured. One acc(]Unt .says tlicy were 
burned, another, and ]irobai)ly the correct one, 
states that they were taken to Canada jus ))risoners 
of war. It is jirobable the tradei-s were from Penn- 
.sylvania, an that commonwealth made the Miamis 
proHcnts as condolence for their warriors that were 
slain. 

Ulood had now been shed. The opening gun of 
the French and Indian war had been tired, and both 



^% e> 



^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



41 



nations became more deeply interested in affairs in 
the West. The English were determined to secure 
additional title to the West, and, in 1752, sent 
Messrs. Fry, Lomax and Patton as commissioners 
to Logstown to treat with the Indians, and confirm 
the Lancaster treaty. They met the Indians on 
the yth of June, stated their desires, and on the 
11th received their answer. At first, the sav- 
ages were not inclined to recognize the Lancaster 
treaty, hut agreed to aid the p]nglisli, as the French 
had already made war on the Tvvigtees (at Picka- 
willany I, and consented to the establishment of a 
fort and trading-post at the forks of the Ohio. 
This was not all the Virginians wanted, however, 
and taking aside Andi-ew Montour, now chief of the 
Six Nations, persuaded him to use his influence 
with the red men. By such means, they were in- 
duced to treat, and on the 13th they all united in 
signing a deed, confirming the Lancaster treaty in 
its full extent, con.senting to asettlementsouthwest 
of the Ohio, and covenanting that it should not be 
disturbed by them. By such means was obtained 
the treaty with the Indians in the Ohio Valley. 

All this time, the home governments were en- 
deavoring to out-maneuver each other with regard 
to the lands in the West, though there the outlook 
only betokened war. The French understood bet- 
ter than the English how to manage the Indians, 
and succeeded in attaching them firmly to their 
cau.se. The English were not honest in their 
actions with them, and hence, in after years, the 
massacres that followed. 

At the close of 1752, Gist was at work, in con- 
formity with the Lanciuster and Logstown treaties, 
laying out a fort and tcnvn on Cliartier's Creek, 
about ten miles below the fork. Eleven families 
had crossed the mountains to settle at Gist's resi- 
dence west of Laurel Hill, not far fnim the Yough- 
iogheny. Goods had come from England for the 
(_)hio Conqiany, which were carried as far West as 
Will's Creek, where Cumberland now .stands ; and 
where they were taken by the Indians and traders. 

On the other hand, the French were gathering 
cannon and stores on Lake Erie, and, without 
treaties or deeds of land, were gaining the good 
will of the inimical tribes, and prejjaring, when all 
was ready, to strike the blow. Their fortifications 
consisted of a chain of forts from Lake Erie to 
the ( )hio, on the border. • One was at Presque Isle, 
on the site of Erie ; one on French Creek, on the 
site of Waterford, Penn.; one at the mouth of 
French Creek, in Venango County, Penn.; while 
opposite it was another, effectually commanding 



that section of country. These forts, it will be 
observed, were all in the limits of the Pennsyl- 
vania colony. The Governor informed the Assem- 
bly of their existence, who voted £G00 to be used 
in purchasing presents for the Indians near the 
forts, and thereby hold their friendship. A'irginia, 
also, took similar measures. Trent was sent, with 
guns and ammunition and presents, to the iiiendly 
tribes, and, while on his niis.sion, learned of the 
plates of lead planted by the French. In October, 
1753, a treaty was consiunmated with representa- 
tives of the Iroipiois, Delawares. Shawanees, Twig- 
twees and Wyandots, by commissioners from 
Pennsylvania, one of whom was the philosopher 
Franklin. At the conferences held at this time, 
the Indians complained of the actions of the 
French in forcibly taking possession of the dis- 
puted country, and also bitterly denounced them 
tor using rum to intoxicate the red men, when 
they desired to gain any advantage. Not long- 
after, they had similar grounds of complaint against 
the English, whose lawless traders cared fornothing 
but to gain the furs of the savage at as little ex- 
pense as possible. 

The encroachments of the French on what was 
regarded as English territory, created intense feel- 
ing in the colonies, especially in Virginia. The 
purpose of the French to inclose the English on 
the Atlantic Coast, and thus prevent their extension 
over the mountains, became more and more ap- 
parent, and it was thought that this was the open- 
ing of a scheme already planned by the French 
Court to reduce all North America under the do- 
minion of France. Gov. Dinwiddie determined 
to send an ambassador to the French jiosts, to as- 
certain their real intentions and to observe the 
amount and disposition of their forces. He selected 
a young Virginian, then in his twenty-first year, 
a surveyor by trade and one well qualified for the 
duty. That young man afterward led the Ameri- 
can Colonies in their struggle for liberty. George 
Washington and one companion, Mr Gist, suc- 
cessfully made the trip, in the solitude of a severe 
winter, received assurance from the French com- 
mandant that they would by no means abandon 
their outposts, and would not yield unless com- 
pelled by force of arms. The commandant was 
exceedingly polite, but firm, and assured the young 
American that "we claim the country on thc^ Ohio 
by virtue of the discovery of La Salle ( in 1 (jilit ) 
and will not give it up to the English. Our orders 
are to make prisoners of every Englishman found 
trading in the Ohio Valley." 



43 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



During Washinntiin's absonee steps were taken 
to fortify the point formed by the junction of tlio 
.Monotiiiahehi and Allo>rhany; and when, on his 
return, he met seventeen horses loaded with mate- 
rials and stores for a fort at the forks of tlie Ohio, 
and, soim after, some families going out to settle, 
he knew the defense had begun. As soon as 
\Vashingt(in made his report. Gov. Dinwiddle 
wriite to the Board of Trade, st;Uing that the 
i'r.'nch were building a fort at Venango, and that, 
in .Mareh, twelve or fifteen hundred men would 
lit; ready to deseend the river with their Indian 
allii'.-;, fiir wliieh purpose three hundred eanncs bad 
been eolli'eted ; and that Logstown was to be made 
head([Uarters, while forts were to be built in other 
]ilaee.s. lie sent e.\]iresses to the Governors of 
l\'nn.>;ylvania and New York, apprising them of the 
nature of affairs, and calling upon them for a.>isist- 
anee. He also rai.sed two companies, one of wiiicli 
Wius raised by W'ashington, the other by Trent. 
Tiie one under Trent was to be raised on the 
frontiei-s, and WiLS, as soon as po.ssible, to repair to 
the Kork and erect there a fort, begun by the Ohio 
Cnmpany. Owing to various conflicting opinions 
between the (iovernor of I'ennsylvania and his 
Assendily, and the conference with the 8ix Nations, 
hi'ld by New York, neither of those provinces ]iut 
forth any vigorous measures until stirred to action 
liy tin; invasi<inson the frontiers, and until directed 
by the Karl of Holderness, Secretary of State. 

Tin; fort at Venango was finished by the French 
in April, 17."i4. All along the creek resounded 
the clang of arms anil the preparations for war. 
New York and Pennsylvania, though inactive, 
and debating whether the French really had in- 
vadinl Knglish territory or not, sent aid to the 
Old Dominiim, now all alive to the conquest. The 
two ciiinpaniesbadbeen increa.sed to six; Waishing- 
toii was rai.'^ed to the rank of LiiMitenant Colonel, 
and made second under command of Jn.shua 
I'ry. Tell cannon, lately from Kngland, were for- 
warded from .Vlexandria ; wagons were got ready 
to carry westward jimvisions and .stores through 
the! heavy sjiring roads; and everywhere mi'?i were 
enlisting undiT tin; King's promisi; of two hiMidrcd 
thiiusand acres of land to tho.se who would go. 
They Were gathering along ^Vil^s fVeck and far 
beyond, while Trent, who bad come for more men 
ami sup|)lies, lelV a little band of forty-one men, 
working away in hunger and want at the Fork, to 
which both nations Were looking with anxious eyes. 
Though no enemy WiUS near, ami only a few Indian 
scouts were .seen, keen eyes liad observed the low 



fortifications at the Fork. Swift feet had borne 
the news of it up the valley, and though Ensign 
Ward, left in command, felt himself secure, on the 
I7th of A})ril he saw a sight that made his heart 
sick. Sixty batteaux and three hundred canoes 
were coming down the Alleghany. The com- 
mandant sent him a summons, which evaded no 
words in its meaning. It was useless to contend, 
that evening lu; supped with his con(|Ueror ; the 
next day he was bnwed out by the ])olite French- 
man, and with his men and tools marched up the 
.Monoiigahela. The first birds of sjiring wen; fill- 
ing the air with their song; the rivers rolled by, 
swollen by Ajiril .showers and melting snows; all 
nature was ])Utting on her robes of green ; and the 
ibrtress, which the English bad ,so earnestly strived 
to obtain and fortify, was now in the hands of tlie 
French. Fort Du Quesne arose on the incimiplete 
fortifications. The seven years' war that followed 
not (uily aft'ectcd America, but s])read to all quar- 
ters of the world. The war made England a great 
imperial power ; drove the French from Asia and 
America; dis|)cllcd the brilUant and extended 
scheme of Louis and his voluptuous empire. 

The active field of o]ierations was in the t'anadas 
])rincipally, and along the western borders of Penn- 
sylvania. There were .so few people then in the 
present confines of Ohio, that only the po.s.session 
of the country, in common with all the West, 
couhl be the aninuis of the conflict. It so much 
concerned this ]iartof the New World, that a brief 
resume of the war will be necessary to fully under- 
stand its history. 

The fall of the post at the fork of the Ohio. Fort 
Du Qu<'sne, gave the Fr(;nch control of the West. 
Washington went on with his few militia to re- 
take the post. Though he was successful at first, 
lie was ill the end defeated, and surrendered, 
being allowi'd to return with all his munitions of 
frar. The two governments, though trying to 
*t)mc to a peaceful solution of the (|Ucstion, were 
getting ready for the conflict. France went stead- 
ily on, though at one time England gave, in a 
measure, her con.-ieiit to allow the Kniieh to retain 
all the country west of the Alleghaiiies and south 
of the lakes. Mad this been dime, what a different 
future would have been in America! Other des- 
tinies were at work, however, and the plan fell 
stillborn. ' 

England sent Gen. Braddock and a fine force 
of men, who marched dircHly toward the ])ost on 
the Ohio. His ill-fated exj)edition resulted only 
in the total defeat of his army, and his own death. 



*7? 



liL^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



43 



Washington saved a remnant of tlie army, and 
made liis way back to the colonies. The En- 
glish needed a leader. They next planned four 
campaigns; one against Fort Dii Quesne; one 
against Crown Point; one against Niagara, and 
one against the French settlements in Nova Scotia. 
Nearly every one proved a failure. The English 
were defeated on sea and on land, all owing to the 
incapacity of Parliament, and the want of a suit- 
able, vigorous leader. The settlements on the front- 
iers, now exposed to a cruel foe, prepared to defend 
themselves, and already the signs of a government 
of their own, able to defend itself, began to 
appear. They received aid from the colonies. 
Though the French were nut repulsed, they and 
their red allies found they could not murder with 
impunity. Self-preservation was a stronger incen- 
tive in conflict than aggrandizement, and the 
cruelty of the Indians found avengers. 

The great Pitt became Prime Minister June 29, 
1757. The leader of the English now appeared. 
The British began to regain their losses on sea and 
land, and for them a brighter day was at hand. 
The key to the West must be retiiken, and to Gen. 
Forbes was assigned the duty. Preceding liini, 
a trusty man was sent to the Western Indians 
at the head- waters of the Ohio, and along the Mo- 
nongahela and Alleghany, to see if some compro- 
mise with them could not be made, and their aid 
secured. The French had been busy through their 
traders inciting the Indians against the English. 
The lawless traders were another source of trouble. 
Caring nothing fur either nation, they carried on a 
distressing traffic in direct violation of the laws, 
continually engendering ill-feeling among the na- 
tives. ''Your tr.aders," said one of them, "bring 
scarce anything but rum and flour. They bring 
little powder and lead, or other valuable goods. 
The rum ruins us. We beg you would prevent 
its coming in such quantities by regulating the 
traders. * * * These wicked whisky sell- 
ers, when they have got the Indians in li(|uor, make 
them sell the very clothes off' their backs. If this 
practice be continued, we must be inevitably ruined. 
We mostearnestly, therefore, beseech you to remedy 
it." They complained of the French traders the same 
way. They were also beginning to see the animus 
of the whole conflict. Neither jiower cared as 
much for them as for their land, and flattered and 
bullied by turns as served their purposes best. 

The man selected to go upon this undertaking 
was Christian Frederic Post, a Bloravian, who had 
lived among the Indians seventeen years, and mar- 



ried into one of their tribes. He was amissionary, 
and though obliged to crass a coun.ry whoso every 
stream had been dyed by blood, and every hillside 
rung with the death-yell, and grown red with the 
light of burning huts, he went willingly (m his way. 
Of his journey, sufi'erings and doings, his own 
journal tells the story. He left Philadelphia on the 
15th of July, 1758, and on the 7th of Augu.st 
safely passed the French post at Venango, went on 
to Big Beaver Creek, where he held a conference 
with the chiefs of the Indians gathered there. It 
was decided that a great conference should be 
held opposite Fort Du Quesne, where there were 
Indians of eight nations. "We will bear you in 
our bosoms," said the natives, when Post expressed 
a fear that that he might be delivered over to the 
French, and royally they fulfilled their promises. 
At the conference, it was made clear to Post that 
all the Western Indians were wavering in their 
allegiance to the French, owing largely to the fail- 
ure of that nation to fidfill their promises of aid to 
prevent them from being deprived of their land by 
the Six Nations, and through that confederacy, by the 
English. The Indians complained bitterly, more- 
over, of the disposition of the whites in over-run- 
ning and claiming tluur lands. "Wh}' did you not 
fight your battles at home or on the sea, instead of 
coming into our country to fight them?" they 
asked again and again, and mournfully shook their 
heads when they thought of the future before them. 
" Your heart is good," said they to Post. " You 
speak sincerely; but we know there is always a great 
number who wish to get rich ; they have enough ; 
look ! we do not want to be rich and take away 
what others have. The white people thiuk we 
have no brains in our heads ; that they are big, 
and we are a handful ; but remember when you 
hunt for a rattlesnake, you cannot always find it, 
and perhaps it will turn and bite you before you .see 
it."* When the war of Pontiac came, and all 
the West was desolated, this saying might have 
been justly remembered. After concluding a peace, 
Post set out for Philadelphia, and after incredi- 
ble hardships, reached the settlement uninjured 
early in September. His mission had more to do 
than at first is ajiparent, in the success of the 
English. Had it not been for him, a second Brad- 
dock's defeat might have befallen Forbes, now on 
his way to subjugate Fort Du Quesne. 

Through the heats of August, the army hewed its 
way toward the West. Early in September it 

* Post's Journal. 



*7i 



r^ 



44 



IIlSTOllY OF OHIO. 



readu'il Ravstowii. whither Washinjrton had bi'cii 
ordori'il with his ti\)ojjs. Sickuess had pri'Vi'iiti-d 
him from being liere already. Two offieers were 
sent out to reeonnoiter tlie fort, wlio returned and 
gave a very good aeeount of its eondition. Gen. 
Forbe.s desired to know more of it, and sent out 
JIaj. (jlraut, with 800 men, to gain more coiu])h'te 
knowledge. Maj. Grant, supjxising not more than 
200 soldiers to bo in the fort, marched near it and 
made a feint to draw tlu>m out, and engage them 
in battle. lie was greatly misinformed as to the 
strength of the Freiuh, and in the engagement 
that I'ollowed he was badly beaten — 270 of his men 
killed, 42 wounded, and several, ineluding himself, 
taken jirisouers. The French, elated with their 
victory, attacked the main army, but were re]iuls<'d 
ancl obliged to retreat to the iijrt. The army con- 
tinued on its march. On the 24th of Novendjer 
they reached Turtle Creek, where a council of war 
was lu'ld, and where Gen. Forbes, who iiad been so 
ill as to be carried on a litter from the start, de- 
clared, with a mighty oath, lie would sleep that 
night in the fort, or in a worse place. The Indi- 
ans had, liowever, carried the news to the French 
that tlio English were as plenty as the trees of the 
woods, and in their fright they set fire to the fort in 
the night and left up and down the Ohio River. 
The next morning the English, who bad heard the 
explosion of the magazine, and seen the light of 
the burning walls, marched in and took peaceable 
pos.se.ssion. A small fortilic;ition wa.s thrown U]) 
on the bank, and, in honor of the great English 
statesman, it was callcil Fort Pitt. Col. Hugh Mer- 
cer wa.s left in command, and the nuiin body of tbi^ 
army marched back to the settlements. It reached 
IMiiiadelphia Jaiuiary 17, 17.")!l. On the 11th of 
March, Gen. Forbes died, and was buried in the 
chancel of Christ's Church, in that city. 

Post wa.s now sent on a mission to the Six Na- 
tions, with a report of the treaty of Easton. He 
w:is again instrumental in preventing a coalition of 
the Indians an<l the French. Indeed, to this ob- 
scure Moravian missionary belongs, in a large 
measure, the honor of the capture of Fort Du 
(^uesne, for by his influence had the liuiians been j 
restraine(l from attacking the army on its march. j 

Tb(! garrison, on li'aviiig the fort, w<'nt u|) and 
down tli(! Ohio, part to I'nsfpie Tsle by land, jiart to 
Kurt \ ciiango, wliiK; .sonu> of them went on down 
the ( )liio nearly to the Missi.ssijipi, and there, in 
what is now iMa.s,s,ie County, 111., erected a fort, 
called by them Fort Ma.s.sac. It wa.s afterward 
namid by many Fort .M xssacre, from the erroneous ; 



supposition that a garrison had been massacred 
there. 

The French, though deprived of the k<'y to 
the West, went on preiiaring stores anil ammunition, 
expecting to retake the fort in the sjiring. IJi'fore 
they could d<i this, however, other places demanded 
their attention. 

The success of the campaign of 1758 opened 
the way for the consummation of the great scheme 
of Fitt — the complete reduction of Canada. Three 
expeditions wm-e planned, by which Canada, 
alriMuly well nigh annihilated and suftering for 
I'ood, was to be subjugated. On the west, I'rideaux 
was to attack Niagara; in the center, Amherst was 
to advance on Ticonderoga and Crown I'oint ; on 
the east, WoHe was to besiege Quebec. All these 
jioints gained, the three armies were to be united 
in the center of the province. 

Amherst aii]iearcd before Ticonderoga Jtily 22. 
The Frendi blew up their works, and ri'tired 
to Crown I'oint. llriven from there, they re- 
treated to I.sle Aux Nois and entrenched them- 
selves. The lateness of the season prevented iur- 
ther action, and Amherst went into winter quar- 
ters aX Crown Point. F]arly in June, Wolfe 
a])])caro<l before Quebec with an army of 8,000 
men. On the night of September 12, he silently 
a.sceiided the river, climbed the heights of Abra- 
ham, a s]iot considered imjiregnable by the 
French, and on the summit formed his army of 
5,0(10 men. Montcalm, the French commander, 
was compelled to give battle. The liritish col- 
uuMis, flushed with success, charged liLs half-formed 
lines, and dis]ier.<ed them. 

'Tluyfly! they fly!" heard Wolfe, just as he 
expire(l from the cfTcct of a mortal W(Utnil, though 
not till he had ordered their retreat cut oft', and 
exclaimed, "Now, God be prai.sed, I die haii]>y." 
Mont<:ahn, on hearing from the surgeon that death 
would come in a few hours, said, '■ 1 am glad of it. 
I shall not live to see the surrender of Quebec." At 
five the ni'Xt morning he died liajipy. 

Prideaux moved u]) Lake Ontario, and on the 
fith of July invcsti'd Niagara. Its ca])ture would 
cut off' the French from the west, and every en- 
deavor was made to hold it. Troops, destined to 
take the small garrison at Fort Pitt, were held to 
a.ssist in raising the siege of Niagara. M. de 
Aubry. commanilant in HIinois, came up with 400 
men and 200.0(10 jioniids of flour. Cut off' by the 
abandonment of Fort J)u Quesne from the Ohio 
route, he a.scended that river as far as the Wabash, 
thenci! to portagi? of Fort Miami, or Fort \Vayue, 



:'^ 



-^ 



HISTOEY OF OHIO. 



47 



down tlie JIaumee to Lake Erie, and on to Presqu- 
ville, or Presque Isle, over the portage to Le Boeuf, 
and thence down French Creek to Fort Venango. 
He was chosen to lead the expedition for the relief 
of Niagara. They were pursued by Sir Wriliam 
Johnson, successor to Prideaux, who had lust his 
life liy the bursting of a cannon, and were obliged to 
flee. The next day Niagara, cut off from succor, 
surrendered. 

All America rang with exultation. Towns were 
bright with illuminations ; the hillsides .shone with 
bonfires. From press, from pulpit, from platform, 
and from .speakers' desks, wentuji one glad song of 
rejoicing. England was victorious everywhere. 
The colimies iiad done their full share, and now 
learned their strength. That strength was needed 
now, fur ere long a different conflict raged on the 
soil of America — a conflict ending in the birth of 
a new nation. 

The English sent Gen. Stanwix to fortify Fort 
Pitt, still looked upon as one of the principal for- 
tresses in the West. He erected a good fortifica- 
tion there, which remained under British control 
fifteen years. Now nothing of the fort is left. No 
memorial of the British possession remains in the 
West but a single redoubt, built in 17G-t by Col. 
Bouquet, outside of the fort. Even this can hardly 
now be said to exist. 

The fall of Quebec did not immediately produce 
the submission of Canada. jM. de Levi, on whom 
the command devolved, retired with the French 
Army to Montreal. In the spring of ITtJO, he be- 
sieged Quebec, but the arrival of an English fleet 
caused him to again retreat to 3Iontreal. 

Amherst and Johnson, meanwhile, effected a 
union of their forces, the magnitude of whose 
armies convinced the French that resistance would 
be useless, and on the 8th of September, JM. de 
Vaudreuil, the Governor of Canada, surrendered 
Montreal, Quebec, Detroit, JIackinaw and all other 
posts in Canada, to the English commander-in- 
chief, Amherst, on condition that the French in- 
habitants should, during the war, be "protected 
in the full and fiee exercise of their religion, and 
till! full enjoyment of their civil rights, leaving 
their future destinies to be decided by the treaty 
of peace." 

Though peace was concluded in the New World, 
on the continent the Powers experienced some 
difficulty in arriving at a satisflictory settlement. 
It was finally settled by what is known in history 
as the "family compact." France and Spain saw 
in the conquest the growing power of England, 



and saw, also, that its continuance only extended 
that power. Negotiations were re-opened, and on 
the 3d of November, 1762, preliminaries were 
agreed to and signed, and afterward ratified in 
Paris, in February, 1 703. By the terms of the 
compact, Spain ceded to Great Britian East and 
West Florida. To conqjensatc Spain. France 
ceded to her by a secret article, all Louisiana west 
of the JILssissippi. 

The French and Indian war was now over. 
Canada and all its dependencies were now in pos- 
session of the English, who held undisputed sway 
over the entire \\'est as far as Mississijipi. It onlj' 
remained for them to take possession of the out- 
posts. Major Robert Rogers was sent to take pos- 
session ol Detroit and establish a garrison there. 
He was a partisan officer on the borders of New 
Hampshire, where he earned a name for bravery, 
but afterward tarnished it by treasonable acts. On 
his way to Detroit, on the 7th of November, 1700, 
he was met by the renowned chief, Pontiac, who 
authoritatively commanded him to pause and ex- 
plain his acts. Rogers replied by explaining the 
conquest of Canada, and that he was acting under 
orders from his King. Through the influence of 
Pontiac, the army was .saved from the Indians 
sent out by the .French, and was allowed to {iro- 
ceed on its way. Pontiac had as.sured his protec- 
tion as long as the English treated him with due 
deference. Beletre, the commandant at Detroit, 
refused to surrender to the English commander, 
until he had received positive a.ssurance from his 
Governor, Vaudreuil, that the country was indeed 
conquered. On the 29th of September, the colors 
of France gave way to the ensign of (Jreat Britain 
amid the shouts of the soldiery and the astonish- 
ment of the Indians, whose savage natures could 
not understand how such a simple act declared one 
nation victors of another, and who wondered at 
the forbearance disjilayed. The lateness of the 
season prevented fui-lhcr operations, but early the 
next spring. Mackinaw, (ireen Bay, Ste. ^larie, St. 
Joseph and the Ouitenon surrounded, and nothing 
was left but the Illinois towns. These were se- 
cured as soon as the necessary arrangements could 
be made. 

Though the EnglLsh were now masters of the 
West, and had, while many of these events nar- 
rated were transpiring, extended their settlements 
beyond the Alleghanies, they were by no means 
secure in their possession. The woods and prairies 
were full of Indians, who, finding the English like 
the French, caring more for gain than the welfare 



;f* 



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48 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



of the natives, began to exhitiit impatience and re- 
sentment as they saw their hinds graduallj' taken 
from them. The English poHcy differed very 
materially from the French. The Kreneh made 
the Indian, in a measure, independent and taught 
him a desire for European goods. They also 
affiliated easily with them, and became thereby 
strongly endeared to the savage. The French 
were a merry, easy-going race, fond of gayety and 
delighting in adventure. The Engli-sh were liarsh, 
stern, and made no advances to gain the friend- 
ship of the .savage. They wanted land tn cultivate 
and drove away the Indian's game, and forced him 
farther west. "Where shall we go?" said the 
Indian, despondently ; '• you drive us farther and 
farther west; by and by you will want all the 
land." And the Anglo-Saxon went sturdily on, 
paying no heed to the complaints. The French 



traders incited the Indian to resent the encroach- 
ment. "The English will annihilate you and take 
all your land," said they. '-Their father, the King 
of France, had been asleep, now he had awakened 
and Was coming with a great army to reclaim Can- 
ada, that had been stolen from him while he slept." 
Discontent under such circumstances was but 
natural. Soon all the tribes, from the mountains 
to the .Mi.'isissip]ii, were united in a plot. It was 
discovered in ITtil, and arrested. The next sum- 
mer, another was detected and arrested. The 
officers, and all the people, failed to realize the 
danger. The rattlesnake, though not fuund, was 
re.idy to strike. It is only an Indian di.sconteiit, 
thought the peojih', and they went on ]ireparing to 
ocetipy the country. They were mistaken — tlie 
crisis only needed a leader to direct it. That 
leader appeared. 



CHAPTER IV. 



PONTIAC'S CONSPIKACT— ITS 



FAILURE— BOUQUET'S 
ENGLISH. 



EXPEDITION— OCCUPATION BY THE 



PONTIAC, the great chief of the Ottawas, was 
now about fifty years old. He had watched 
the conflict between the nations with a jealous eye, 
and as he saw the gradual growth of the English 
people, their encroachment on the lands of the In- 
dians, their greed, and tlieir a.s.sumption of the soil, 
his .soul was stirred within him to do something 
for his people. lie had been a true friend of the 
French, and had led the Indians at the defeat of 
Braddiick. .\mid all the! tumult, lu' alone .saw the 
true state of affairs. The English would inevit- 
ably crush out the Indians. To save his race he 
saw another alliance with the Freiuli was neces- 
sary, and a restoration of their power and habits 
needed. It was the plan of a statesman. It only 
fiiiled becau.seof the |)erfidy of the French. Matur- 
ing his plans late in the autumn of 17Ci2. he sent 
mes.sengers to all the Western and Soulhern tribes, 
with the black wampum and red tomahawk, em- 
blems of war, from the great Pontine. "On a cer- 
tain day in the next year," .said the me.s.senger, "all 
the tribes are to rise, seize all the English posts, 
and then attack the whole frontier." 

The great council of all the tribes was held at 
the river Ecorce.s, on the 27th of April, 1711!!. 
There, before the as,semblcd chiefs, Poutiac deliv- 



ered a speech, full of eloquence and art. He 
recounted the injuries and encroachments of the 
English, and disclo.scd their designs. The French 
king was now awake and would aid them. Should 
they resign their homes and the graves of their 
fiUhers without an effort? Were their young men 
no longer brave? Were they S(|uaws? The 
(ireat Master of Life had chided them for their 
inactivity, and had sent his commands to drive 
the "Red Dogs" from the earth. The chiefs 
eagerly aeeepted the wam]mm and the tomahawk, 
and separated to ])rei)ave for the coming strife. 

The {lost at Detroit was informed ol' the plot 
the evening before it was to occur, by an Ojibway 
girl of great beauty, the mistress of the com- 
mander. Major (iladwin. Poutiac was foile<l here, 
his treachery diseoven^d. and he was sternly ordered 
from the conference. A regular seige followed, 
))Ut he could not jirevail. He exliibiled a degT(« 
of sagacity unknown in the annals of savage war- 
fare, but all to no purj)ose; the English were too 
.strong for him. 

At all the other posts, save one, however, the 
plans of Pontiac were carried out, and atrocities, 
titdieanl of before in American history, resulted. 
The Indians attacked Detroit on the first of May, 



i^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



49 



uiiil, foiled in their plans, a siege immediately Ibl- 
lowed. On the 16th, a party of Indians appeared 
before the fort at Sandusky. Seven of them were 
admitted. Suddenly, while smokinj;', the massacre 
begins. All but Ensign PauUi, the cunimauder, 
fall. He is carried as a trtiphy to I'ontiac. 

At the mouth of the St. Joseph's, the mission- 
aries had maintained a mission station over sixty 
years. They gave way to an English garrison of 
fourteen soldiers and a few traders. On the 
morning of May 25, a deputation of Pottawato- 
mies are allowed to enter. In less than two min- 
utes, all the garrison but the commander are slain. 
He is sent to Pontiac. 

Near the present city of Fort Wayne. Ind., 
at the junction of the waters, stood Fort Miami, 
garrisoned by a few men. Holmes, the coui- 
mander, is asked to visit a sick woman. He is 
slain on the way, the sergeant folhjwing is made 
prisoner, and the nine soldiers surrender. 

On the night of the last day of Jlay, the wam- 
pum reaches the Indian village below \ja Fayette, 
Ind., and near Fort Ouitenon. The commander 
of the fort is lured into a cabin, bound, and his 
garrison surrender. Through the clemency of 
French settlers, they are received into their houses 
and protected. 

At Michilimaekinac, a game of ball is projected. 
Suddenly the ball is thrown through the gate of the 
stockade. The Indians press in, and, at a signal, 
almo.st all are slain or made prisoners. 

The fort at Presque Isle, now P]rie, was the 
point of communication between Pittsburgh and 
Niagara and Detroit. It was one of the most 
tenable, and had a garri.son of four and twenty 
men. On the 22d of June, the commander, to 
save his forces from total annihilation, surrenilers, 
and all are carried jirisoners to Detroit. 

The capitulatifin at Erie left Le Banif with- 
out hope. He was attacked on the 18th, 
but kept off the Indians till midnight, when he 
made a successful retreat. As they passed Ve- 
nango, on their way to Fort Pitt, they saw only 
the ruins of that garrison. Not one of its immates 
had been spared. 

Fort Pitt was the most important station west 
of the Alleghanies. " Escape 1 " said Turtle's 
Heart, a Delaware warrior ; " you will all be 
slain. A great army is coming." "There are 
three large J]nglish annies coming to my aid," 
said Ecuyer, the commander. " I have enough 
provisions and ammunition to stand a siege of three 
years' time." A second and third attempt was 



made by the savages to capture the post, but all to 
no avail. Baffled on all sides here, they destroy 
Ligonier, a few miles below, and massacre men, 
women and children. Fort Pitt was besieged till 
the last day of July, but withstood all attacks. 
Of all the outposts, only it and Detroit w\re left-. 
All had been captured, and the majority of the 
garri.son slain. Along the frontier, the war was 
waged with fury. The Indians were fighting for 
their homes and their hunting-gnmnds; and for 
these they fought with the fury and zeal of 
fanatics. 

Detachments sent to aid Detroit are cut oft'. 
The prisoners are burnt, and Pontiac, infusing his 
zealous and demoniacal spirit into all his savage 
allies, jiressed the siege with vigor. The French 
remained neutral, yet Pontiac made requisitions 
on them and on their neighbors in Illinois, issuing 
bills of credit on birch-l)ark, all of which wei\' 
faithfully redeemed. Though these two posts 
could not be captured, the frontier could be 
annihilated, and vigorously the Indians pursued 
their jmlicy. Along the borders of Pennsylvania 
and \'irginia a relentless warfare was waged, 
sparing no one in its way. Old age, feeble infancy, 
strong man and gentle woman, fair girl and hope- 
ful boy — all fell before the scalping-knife of the 
merciless savage. The frontiers were devastated. 
Thousands were obliged to flee, leaving their 
possessions to the torch of the Indian. 

The colonial government, under British direc- 
tion, was inimical to the borders, and the colonists 
saw they mu.st depend only upon their own arms 
for protection. Already the struggle for freedom 
was upon them. They could defend only them- 
selves. They must do it, too; for that defense is 
now needed in a different cause than settling dis- 
putes between rival powers. " We have millions 
for defense, but not a cent for tribute," said they, 
and time verified the remark. 

G-en. Amherst bestirred himself to aid the 
frontiers. He sent Col. Henry Bouquet, a native 
of Switzerland, and now an officer in the English 
Army, to relieve the garrison at Fort Pitt. They 
followed the route made by Gen. Forbes, and on 
the way relieved Forts Bedford and Ligonier, both 
beleaguered by the Indians. About a day's jour- 
ney beyond Ligonier, he was attacked by a body 
of Indians at a place called Bushy Bun. For 
awhile, it seemed that he and all his army would 
be destroyed ; but Bouquet was bold and brave 
and, under a feint of retreat, routed the savages. 
He passed on, and relieved the garrison at Fort 



:\: 



50 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



Pitt, and thus secured it against the assaults of 
the Indians. 

Tiio campaign had heon disastrous to the En- 
glisli, })ut fatal to the ]ilans of Pontiac. He could 
not capture Detroit, and he knew the great fichcnie 
must fail. The battle of Bushy Run and the 
relief of Fort Pitt closed the campaign, and all 
hope of co-operation was at an end. Circum- 
stances were combined against the confederacy, 
and it was fast falling to pieces. A proclamation 
was issued to the Indians, explaining to them the 
existing state of affairs, and showing to them the 
futility of their plans. Pontiac, however, would 
not give up. Again he renewed the siege of De- 
troit, and Gen. Gage, now in command of the 
army in the colonies, resolved to carry the war 
into their own country. Col. Bradstreet was or- 
dered to lead t)ne army by way of the lakes, 
against the Northern Indians, while Col. Bouquet 
wa.s sent against the Indians of the Ohio. ('ol. 
Bradstreet went on his way at the head of 1,200 
men, but trusting tuo much to the natives and 
their jiromLses, his expedition proved largely a fail- 
ure. He relieved Detroit in August, 17l>4, which 
had been confined in the garrison over fifteen 
months, and dispersed the Indians that yet lay 
around the fort. But on his way back, he saw how 
the Indians had duped him, and that they were 
still iilundering the settlements. His treaties were 
annidled by Gage, who ordered him to destroy 
their towns. The 8ea.son was far advanced, his 
provision.s were getting low, and he was obliged to 
return to Niagara chagrined and disappointed. 

Ciil. Biiui[uet kiu'W Well the character of the 
Iiiilians, and shajicd his plans accnrdingly. He 
had an army of 1 ..")00 men, 50(1 regulars and 1,000 
volunteers. Tiny lunl had exiicrience in fighting 
the savages, ami <<]uld 1m' di'])cnded on. At Fort 
Louden, he heard of Brailstreet s ill luck, and saw 
through tluMlcccptiou ]iracticed by the Indians. 
\\t> arrived at Fort Pitt the 17th of Se]ilendier, 
where he arri'sted a deputation of chiefs, who met 
him wuh the .same promises tliat had deceived 
Bradstreet. He sent one of their numtier back, 
threatening to put to death the chiefs uide.ss they 
allowed his mes.sengers to safely pa.ss through their 
country to Detroit. The decisive tone of his 
Words convinced tliem cif the fate that awaited 
them uides.') they coiii|ilie<l. On the ."id of Octo- 
ber the army lell, Fort Pitt, marched down the 
river to and acro.ss the Tn.scarawas, arriving in the 
vicinity of Fredrick Post's late mi>8ion on the IVlh. 
There a conference was held with the assembled 



tribes. Bouquet sternly rebuked them ft)r their 
faithlessness, and when told by the chiefs they could 
not restrain their young men, he as sternly told 
them they were res]ionsible for their acts. He 
told them he would trust them no longer. If the}' 
delivered up all their ])risonei-s within twelve days 
they might hopc^ for jieace, otherwise there would 
be no mercy shown them. They were completely 
humbled, and, .separating ha.stily, gathered their 
captives. On the 25th, the army proceeded down 
to the Tuscarawas, to the junction with White 
\\'oman River, near the town of Co.shocton, in 
Coshocton County, Ohio, and there made prepa- 
rations for the reception of the captives. There 
they remained until the 18th of November; from 
day to day prisoners were brought in — men, women 
and children — and delivered to their fi-iends. .M any 
were the touching scenes enacted during this time. 
The separated hu.sband and wife met. the latter 
often carrying a child born in cajjtivity. Brothers 
anil sisters, separated in youth, met ; lovers rushed 
into each other's arms; children found their 
parents, mothers their sons, f ithers their daughters, 
and neighbors those from whom they had been 
se])arated many years. Yet. there were many dis- 
tressing scenes. Some looked in vain for long-lost 
relatives and friends, that never should return. 
Others, that had been captured in their infancy, 
would not leave their savage " friends, and when 
force was used some fled away. One mother 
looked in vain for a child she had lost years be- 
fore. Day by day, she anxiously watched, but no 
daughter's voice rea<-lied her ears. One. clad in 
savage attire, was brought before her. It could 
not be her daughter, she was grown. So was the 
maiden before her. "Can not you remember sonu> 
mark'/' asked Bouquet, whose sympathies were 
arou.sed in this ca.se. "There is none," said the 
anxious and sorrowful mother. "Sing a song you 
sang over her cradle, she may remend)er," suggested 
the commander. ( )ne is sung by her mother. As 
the song of childhood floats out among the trees 
the maiden stops and li.stens. then a]))iroaches. 
Yes, she reniembi^rs. Mother and daughter are 
held in a close cndmice, and the stern Bou(|uet 
wi]K's away a tear at the scene. 

On the ISth, the army broke up its encamp- 
ment anil started on its homeward march. Bouijuet 
kept six principal Indians as hostages, and re- 
turned to the homes of the captives. The Indians 
kept their promises faithfully, and the next year 
representatives of all the Western tribes met Sir 
William Johnson, at the German Flats, and made 



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HISTORY OF OHIO. 



51 



a treaty of peace. A tract of lan(l in the Indian 
country was ceded to the whites for the benefit of 
those who liad suffered in the late war. The In- 
dians desired to make a treaty with Johnson, 
whereby tlie Alleghany River should be the west- 
ern boundary of the English, but he excused him- 
self on the ground of proper power. 

Not long after this the Illinois settlements, too 
remote to know much of the struggle or of any of 
the gTeat events that had convulsed an empire, and 
changed the destiny of a nation, were brought 
under the English rule. There were five villages 
at this date: Kaskaskia, Cahokia, St. Pliilip, Vin- 
cennes and Prairie du Ilocher, near Fort Chartres, 
the military headquart<.'rs of these French posses- 
sions. They were under the control or command 
of M. de Abadie, at New Orleans. They had also 
extended explorations west of the Mississippi, and 
made a few settlements in what was Spanish terri- 
tory. The country had been, however, ceded to 
France, and in February, 1764, the country was 
formally taken possession of and the present city 
of St. Louis laid out. 

As soon as the French knew of the change of 
government, many of them went to the west side of 
the river, and took up their residence there. They 
were protected in their religion and civil rights by 
the terms of the treaty, but preferred the rule of 
their own King. 

The British took possession of this country early 
in 176.5. Gen. Gage sent Capt. Stirling, of the 
English Army, who arrived before summer, and to 
whom St. Ange, the nominal conmiandant, surren- 
dered the authority. The British, through a suc- 
cession of commanders, retained control of thecoun- 
try until defeated by George Rogers Clarke, and 
his "ragged Virginia militia." 

After a short time, the French again ceded the 
country west of the Mississippi to Spain, and re- 
lin(|uished forever their control of all the West in 
the New Worid. 

The population of Western Louisiana, when the 
exchange of governments occurred, was estimated 
to be 13, .538, of which 891 were in the Ilhnois 
country — as it was called — west of the Mississippi. 
East of the river, and before the French crossed 
into Spanish country, the population was estimated 
to be about 3,000. All these had grown into 
communities of a peculiar character. Indeed, that ' 
peculiarity, as has been observed, never changed 
until a gradual amalgamation with the American 
people effected it, and that took more than a cen- 
tury of time to accomplish. 



The English now owned the Northwest. True, 
they did not yet occupy but a small part of it, but 
traders were again crossing the mountains, ex- 
plorers for lands were on the Ohio, and families 
for settlement were beginning to look upon the 
West as their future home. Companies were again 
forming to purchase large tracts in the Ohio coun- 
try, and open them for emigration. One thing yet 
stood in the way — a definite boundary line. That 
line, however, was between the English and the 
Indians, and not, as had heretofore been the case, 
between rival European Powers. It was necessary 
to arrange some definite boundary before land com- 
panies, who were now actively pushing their claims, 
could safely survey and locate their lands. 

Sir William Johnson, who had at previous times 
been instrumental in securing treaties, wrote re- 
peatedly to the Board of Trade, who controlled the 
greater part of the commercial transactions in the 
colonies — and who were the first to exclaim against 
extending English settlements beyond a limit 
whereby they would need manufactures, and there- 
by become independent of the Jlother Country — 
urging upon thiMu, and through them the Crown, the 
necessity of a fixed boundary, else another Indian 
war was probable. The Indians found themselves 
gradually hemmed in by the growing power of the 
whites, and began to exhibit hostile feelings. The 
irritation became so great that in the summer of 
1767, Gage wrote to the Governor of Pennsylvania 
concerning it. The Governor communicated his 
letter to the General Assembly, who sent repre- 
sentatives to England, to urge the immediate set- 
tlement of the cpiestion. In compliance with these 
requests, and the letters of prominent citizens, 
Franklin among the number, instructions were sent 
to Johnson, ordering him to complete the purchase 
from the Six Nations, and settle all differences. 
He sent word to all the Western tribes to meet 
him at Fort Stanvrix, in October, 1768. The con- 
ference was held on the 24th of that month, and 
was attended by colonial representatives, and by 
Indians from all parts of the Northwest. It was 
determined that the line should begin on the Ohio, 
at the mouth of the Cherokee (Tennessee), thence 
up the river to the Alleghany and on to Kittan- 
ning, and thence across to the Susquehanna. By 
this line, the whole country south of the Ohio and 
Alleghany, to which the Six Nations had any 
claim, was transferred. Part of this land was 
made to compensate twenty-two traders, whose goods 
had been stolen in 1763. The deeds made, weri> 
upon the express agreement that no claims should 






52 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



ever be based on the treaties of Lanfa.<ter, Lo<r<- 
town, etc., and were signed by the chief's of the Six 
Nations for themselves, their allies and depend<'iits, 
and the Shawanees, Delawares, Mingoes of Ohio, 
and others; though the Shawanees and Delaware 
deputies did not sign them. (_)n this treaty, in a 
great measure, rests tlie title by purchase to Ken- 
tucky, \Vestern Virginia and ^Vestern Pennsylva- 
nia. The rights of the Cherokees were jiurcliased 
by CipI, Ddiialdson, either for the King, \'irginia, 
or for himself, it is impossible to say which. 

The grain of the northern confederacy was now 
made. The white man could go in and possess 
these lands, and know that an army would protcx't 
him if necessary. Under such a guarantee, West- 
ern lands came rapidly into market. In addition 
to companies alnady in existence for the purchase 
of land, others, the most notable of these being the 
"Walpole" and the "Mi.s.sissippi" Land Companies, 
were formed. This latter had among it,s t)rganizers 
such men as Francis Lightfoot Lee, Richard 
Henry Lee, George Washington and Arthur Lee. 
Bef )re any of these companies, some of whom ab- 
.sorbod the Ohio Company. c<iuld do anything, the 
Revolution came on. and all land transactions were 
at an end. After its close. Congress would not 
sanction their claims, and they fell through. This 
did not deter settlers, however, from crossing the 
mountains, and settling in the Ohio country. In 



•spite of troubles with the Indians — some of whom 
regarded the treaties with the Six Nations ;is un- 
lawfiil, and were disposed to complain at the rapid 
influx of whites — and the failure of the land com- 
panies, settlers came steadily during the decade 
from ITtiSto 1778, so that by the close of that 
time, there was a large population south of tiie 
Ohio River; while scattered along the northern 
banks, extending many miles into the wilderness, 
were hardy adventurers, who were carving out 
homes in the magnificent forests everywhere cov- 
ering the country. 

Among the foremost speculators in Western 
lands, was (reorge Wa.-ihington. As early as 17l)il 
he employed Col. Crawford, afterward the leader in 
" Crawford's campaign, to purchase lands fir him. 
In 1770, he cros.sed the mountains in company 
with several gentlemen, and examined the country 
along the Ohio, down which stream he pa.<sed to 
the mouth of the Great Kanawha, where he shot 
sonn' buffalo, then plenty, camped out a few nights, 
and returned, fully convinced, it .seems, that one 
day the West would be the best part of the New- 
World. He owneil, altogether, nearly fifh" thou- 
sand acres in the West, which he valued at ^'A.'S.i 
per acre. Had not the war of the Revolution just 
then broken out, he might have been a resident of 
the West, and would have been, of course, one of 
its most prominent citizens. 



CHAPTER V. 

AMERICAN EXPLORATIONS — DUXMDRirS WAR — rAMPAIGN OF GEORGE ROGERS CLARKE- 
LAND TROUBLES— SI'AIN IN THE KEVOLUTION — MURDER OF 
THE MORAVIAN INDIANS. 



MEANWllILK, Kentucky was lilling with 
citizens, and though considei-aljle trouble 
Wius experienced with the Iniliaiis.and the operations 
of Col. Riciiard Henderson aM<l others, who made 
unlawful treaties with the Indians, yet Daniel 
Boone and his itssociates had established a 
eoinuionwealth, and, in 1777, a county was 
foruK'd, which, erelong, was divided into three. 
Louisville was laid out on land belonging lo 
Tories, and an iui]>ortant start made in this |)art 
of the W(s*t. Emigrants came down tlie Ohio 
River, .saw the northern .shores were inviting, and 
sent back such accounts that the land north of the 
river rapidly grew in favor with Eastern people. 



One of the nio.st ini])ortant Western characters, 
Col. (afterward (Jen.) George Rogers Clarke, had 
had nuich to do in forming its charactiT. He 
was iiorn November 11», 1752, in Albemarle 
County, Va.. and early came West. He had an 
unusuallv sagacious spirit, was an excellent sur- 
vevor and general, and took an active interest in 
all State and natii>iial afl'airs. He underslooil the 
animus of the Revolution, and was ]ire]iareil to 
do his part. Col. Clarke w;is now meditating a 
move une(|ualeil in its boldness, and one that had 
more to do with the success of America in the 
struggle for independence than at first ajipears. 
He saw through the whole jilaii of the British, 



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HISTORY OF OHIO. 



53 



who held all the outposts, Kaskaskia, Detroit, i 
Vincennes and Niagara, and determined to circum- 
vent them and wrest the West from their power. 
The British hoped to encircle the Americans by | 
these outposts, and also unite the Indians in a 
common war against them. That had been 
attempted by the French when the English con- 
quered them. Then the Frencli had a powerful 
ally in the person of Pontiac, j-et the brave front- 
iersmen held their homes in many places, thougli 
the Indians " drank the blood of many a Briton, 
scooping it up in the hollow of joined hands." 
Now the Briton had no Pontiac to lead the .scat- 
tered tribes — tribes who now feared the unerring 
aim of a settler, and would not attack him openly — 
Clarke knew that the Delawares were divided in 
feeling and that the Shawanees were but imperfectly 
united in favor of England since the murder of 
their noted chiefs. He was convinced that, if the 
British could be driven from the Western posts, 
the natives could easily be awed into submission, 
or bribed into neutrality or friendship. They 
admired, from their savage views of vaior, the 
side that became victorious. They cared little for 
the cause for which either .side was fighting. 
Clarke sent out spies among them to ascertain the 
feasibility of his plans. The spies were gone 
fi-om April 20 to June 22, and fully corroborated 
his views concerning the English policy and the 
fejlings of the Indians and French. 

Before proceeding in the narrative of this expe- 
dition, however, it will be well to notice a few acts 
transpiring north of the Ohio River, especially re- 
lating to the land treaties, as they were not without 
effect on the British policy. JIany of the Indians 
north and south of the Ohio would not recognize 
the validity of the Fort Stanwix treaty, claiming 
the Iroquois had no right to the lands, despite 
their eonrpiest. These discontented natives har- 
assed the emigrants in such a manner that many 
Indians wore slain in retaliation. This, and the 
working of the French traders, who at all times 
were bitterly opposed to the English rule, filled the 
breasts of the natives with a malignant hate, which 
years of bloodshed could not wa,sh out. The 
murder of several Indians by lawless whites fanned 
the coal into a blaze, and, by ITT-i, several retalia- 
tory murders occurred, committed by the natives 
in revenge for their fallen friends. The Indian 
slew any white man he found, as a revenge on some 
friend of his slain ; the frontiersman, acting on the 
same principle, made the borders extremely dan- 
gerous to invaders and invaded. Another cause 



of fear occurred about this time, which threatened 
seriously to retard emigration. 

Pittsburgh had been claimed by both Pennsyl- 
vania and Virginia, and, in endeavoring to settle 
the dispute, Lord Duumore's war followed. Dr. 
John Connelly, an ambitious, intriguing person, 
induced Lord Duumore to assert the claims of Vir- 
ginia, in the name of the King. In attempting to 
carry out his intentions, he was arrested by Arthur 
St. Clair, representing the proprietors of Pennsyl- 
vania, who was at Pittsburgh at the time. Con- 
nelly was released on bail, but went at once to 
Staunton, where he was sworn in as a Justice of 
Peace. Returning, he gathered a force of one 
hundred and fifty men, suddenly took possession of 
Pittsburgh, refused to allow the magistrates to 
enter the Court House, or to exercise the ftinctions 
of their oiEces, unless in conformity to his will. 
Connelly refiised any terms offered by the Penn- 
sylvania deputies, kept possession of the place, 
acted very harshly toward the inhabitants, stirred 
up the neutral Indians, and, for a time, threatened 
to make the boundary line between the two colonies 
a very serious question. His actions led to hostile 
deeds by some Indians, when the whites, no doubt 
urged by him, murdered seven Indians at the 
mouth of the Captina River, and at the house of 
a settler named Baker, where the Indians were 
decoyed under promises of friendship and offers of 
rum. Among those murdered at the latter place, 
was the entire family of the famous Jlingoe chief, 
Logan. This has been charged to Michael Cresap ; 
but is untrue. Daniel Greathouse had command 
of the party, and though Cresap may have been 
among them, it is unjust to lay the blame at his 
feet. Both murders, at Captina and Yellow Creek, 
were cruel and unwarranted, and were, without 
doubt, the cause of the war that followed, though 
the root of the matter lay in Connelly's arbitrary 
actions, and in his needlessly alarming the Iudians> 
Whatever may have been the facts in relation to 
the murder of Logan's family, they were of such 
a nature as to make all feel sure of an Indian war, 
and preparations were made for the conflict. 

An arm)' was gathered at Wheeling, which, 
some time in July, under command of Col. Mc- 
Donald, descended the Ohio to the mouth of Cap- 
tina Creek. They proposed to march against an 
Indian town on the Muskingum. The Indians 
sued for peace, but their pretensions being found 
spurious, their towns and crops were destroyed. 
The army then retreated to Williamsburg, having 
accomplished but little. 



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54 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



The Dflawuri's were anxious for peace ; even tlie 
Minirofs, wliose relatives had been slain at Yellow 
Creek, ami ("aptiiiu, were restrained; but Logan, 
who had been turned to an inveterate foo to the 
Auierieans, came suddenly upon the Monongahela 
settlements, took thirteen scalps in revenge i'or the 
loss of" his taniily, returned home and expressed 
himself ready to treat with the Long Knives, the 
Virginians. Had Connelly acted properly at this 
juncture, the war might have been ended; but 
his actions only incensed both borderers and In- 
dians. 80 obnoxiiius did lie become that Lord 
Dunmoro lost fiiith in him, and severely repri- 
manded him. 

T(j ]iut a stop to the depredations of the Indians, 
two large bodies of troops were gathered in Vir- 
ginia, one under Gen. Andrew Lewis, and one 
under command of Dunnmrc himself. Before 
the armies ecjuld meet at the mouth of the Great 
Kanawha, their objective point, Lewis' army, which 
arrived first, was attacked liy a furious band of Dela- 
wares, Shawanees, Iro([uois and Wyandots. The 
conflict was bitterly prolonged by the Indians, who, 
under the leadership of Cornstalk, were deter- 
mined to make a decisive (;ffort, and fought till 
late at night (October Id, 1774), and then only by 
a strategic move of Lewis' command — which re- 
sulted in the defeat of the Indians, compelling them 
to cross the Ohio — was the conflict ended. Mean- 
while, Dunmore's army came into the enemy's 
country, and, l)t>ing joined by the remainder of 
Lewis' command, pressed forward intending to an- 
nihilate the Indian towns. Cornstalk and his 
chief's, how(n'er, sued for peace, and the conflict 
closed. Dunmore established a camp on Sippo 
Creek, where he held conferences with the natives 
and concluded the war. When he left the country, 
he stationed 100 nicn at the mouth of the Great 
Kanawha, a few more at Pittsburgh, and another 
^•<irps at Wheeling, then called Fort Fincastlc. 
Dunmore intended to return to Pittsburgh the 
next spring, meet the Indians and form a definite 
peace; but the revolt of tlie colonies prevented. 
However, he opened several offices for the sale of 
lands in the West, some of which were in the limits 
of the I'ennsylvania colony. This led to the old 
boundary disp\ite again; but before it could br 
settled, the Revolution began, and Ijord Piinmore's, 
a.s well as ahno.^t all other land speculatiims in the 
W(wt, were at an end. 

In 177.") and 177t), the chief events transpiring 
ii) the West relate to the treaties with the Indians, 
and the endeavor on the part of the Americans to 



have them remain neutral in the family ipiarrel now 
coming on, which they could nut understand. The 
Hritish, like the French, howevi'r, could not let 
them alone, and finally, as a retaliatory measure, 
Congress, nmh^r advice of Witshington, won some of 
them over to the side of the colonies, getting their 
aid and holding them neutral. The colonies only 
offered them rewards for prisoiiirs ; never, like the 
Hritisl:, offering rewards for scalps. Under such 
rewards, the atrocities of the Indians in some (piar- 
tcrs were simply horrible. The scalp was enough 
to get a reward, that was a mark of Indian valor, 
too, and hence, helpless innocence and decrejiit old 
age were not spared. They stirred the minds of 
the pioneers, who saw the protection of their tire- 
sides a vital ])oint. and led the way to tlu' scheme 
of Col. Clarke, who was now, as has been noted, the 
leading spirit in Kentucky, lie saw through the 
scheme of the Hriti.sh, and determined, by a i|uiek, 
decisive blow, to put au eud to it, and to cripple 
their power in the West. 

Among the acts stimulating Clarke, was the attack 
on Fort Henry, a garrison about one-half mile 
abov(^ Wheeling Creek, on the Ohio, by a renegade 
white man, Simon Girty, an a<j;ent in theemploy of 
the British, it is thought, and one of the wor.st 
wretches ever known on the frontier. When (iirlj' 
attacked Fort Henry, he led his red allies in regu- 
lar military fa.shion, ani) attacked it without mercy. 
The defendei-s were brave, and knew with whom 
they were contending. Great bravery was displayed 
by the women in the fort, one of whom, a Mi.ss 
Zane, carried a keg of gunpowder from a cabin 
to the f(ut. Though re])eatedly fired at by the sav- 
ages, she reaehi'd the i'ort in safety. After awhile, 
however, the effect of the frontiersmen's shots began 
to be felt, and the Indians sullenly withdrew. 
Rc-enfiircements coming, the fort was lield, and 
Girty and his band were obliged to flee. 

Clarke saw that if th(> Briti.sh once got con- 
trol over the Western Indians the scene at Fort 
Henry would be repeated, and would not likely, 
in all cases, end in favor of the Americans. With- 
out eomnuinicating any of his designs, he lefi Har- 
rodsburg about the 1st of October, 1777, and 
reached tlu' capital of Virginia by Novendier 5. 
Still ki'cping his mind, he awaited a favorable op- 
])ortunity to broach his ])lans to tho.-<i' in power, 
and, in the nieanwliih', carefully watched the exists 
j in^ stat« of feeling. When the op)iortunity came, 
Clarke broached his plans to Patrick Henry. Gov- 
ernor of Virginia, who at once entered warmly 
into them, recognizing their great importance. 



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HISTORY OF OHIO. 



55 



Through his aid, Clarke procured the necessary au- 
thority to prosecute his plans, and returned at once 
to Pittsburgh. He intended raising men about 
this post, but found them fearful of leaving their 
homes unprotected. However, he secured three 
companies, and, with these and a number of volun- 
teers, picked up on the way down the Ohio lliver, 
he fortified Corn Island, near the falls, and made 
ready for his expedition. He had some trouljle in 
keeping his men, some of those from Kentucky 
refusing to aid in subduing stations out of their 
own country. He did not announce his real inten- 
tions till he had readied this point. Hei'c Col. 
Biiwman joined him with his Kentucky mililia, 
and, on the 24th of June, 1778, during a total 
eclipse of the sun, th(! party left the ' fort. Before 
his start, he learned of the ca])ture of Burgoyne, 
and, when nearly down to Fort Massac, lie met 
some of his sjiies, who informed him of the exag- 
gerated account.s of the ferocity of the Long 
Knives that the French had received from the 
British. By proper action on his part, Clarke saw 
both these items of information could be made 
very beneficial to him. Leaving the river near 
Fort Massac, he set out on the; march to Kaskas- 
kia, through a hot summer's sun, over a country 
full of savage foes. They reached the town un- 
noticed, on the evening of July 4, and, before 
the a.stonishcd British and French knew it, they 
were all prisoners. M. luicheblave, the Kngli.sh 
commander, was secured, but his wife adroitly con- 
cealed the papers belonging to the garrison. In 
the person of M. (iibault, tlu; French priest, Clarke 
found a true friend. When the true character of 
the Virginians became apparent, the French were 
easily drawn to the American side, and the priest 
secured the surrender and allegiance of Cahokia 
through his personal influence. JI. (Iibault told 
him he would also secure the post at St. Vincent's, 
which he did, returning fi-om the mission about 
the 1st of August. During the interval, Clarke re- 
enlisted his men, formed his plans, sent his pris- 
oners to Kentucky, and was ready for future action 
when M. Gibault arrived. He sent Capt. Holm 
and a single soldier to Vincennes to hold that fort 
until he could put a garrison there. It is but 
jiroper to state that the English commander. Col. 
Hamilton, and his band of soldiers, were absent at 
Detroit when the priest secured tlie village on the 
"Ouabache." When Hamilton returned, in the 
autumn, he was greatly surprised to see the Amer- 
ican flag floating from the ramparts of the fort, 
and when approaching the gate he was abruptly 



halted by Capt. Helm, who stood with a lighted fuse 
in his hand by a cannon, answering Hamilton's 
demand to surrender with the imperative impiiry, 
'•Upon what terms, sir?" "Upon the honors of 
war," answered Hamilton, and he marched in 
greatly chagrined to see he had been halted by 
two men. The British commander sat (juietly 
down, intending to go on down the river and sub- 
due Kentucky in the spring, in the mean time 
offering rewards for American sculps, and thereby 
gaining the epithet " Hair-buyer General." Clarke 
heard of his actions late in January, 1779, and, as 
he says, " I knew if I did not take him he would 
take me," set out early in February with his troops 
and marched across the marshy plains of Lower 
Illinois, reaching the Wabash post by the 22d of 
that month. The unen-ing aim of the Westerner 
was eft'ectual. •■They will shoot your eyes out," 
said Helm to the British troops. " There, I told 
you so," he further exclaimed, as a snidier vent- 
ured near a pnrt-hole and received a slnit directly 
in his eye. On the 24th the fort sunendered. 
The American flag waved again over its ramparts. 
The " Ilair-buyer General" was sent a prisoner to 
Virginia, where he was kept in close confinement 
for his cruel acts. Clarke returned to Kaskaskia, 
perfected his plans to hold the Illinois settlements, 
went on to Kentucky, from where he sent word to 
the colonial authorities of the success of his e.xpc- 
dition. Had he received the aid promised him, 
Detroit, in ea.sy reach, would have fallen too, but 
Gen. Crreen, failing to send it as promised, the capt- 
ure of that im|iortant post was delayed. 

Had Clarke failed, and Hamilton succeeded, the 
whole West would have Vjcen swept, from the Alle- 
glianies to the Mississippi. But for this small 
army of fearless Mrginians, the union of all the 
tribes from Georgia to ]Maine against the colonies 
might lia\e been effected, and the whole current 
of American hi.story changed. America owes 
Clarke and liis band more than it can ever pay. 
Clarke reported the capture of Kaskaskia and the 
Illinois country early after its sun-ender, and in 
October the county of IllinoLs was established, 
extending over an unlimited expanse of country, 
by the Virginia Legislature. John Todd was 
appointed Lieutenant Colonel and Civil Governor. 
In November, Clarke and his men received the 
thanks of the same body, who, in afler years, 
secured them a grant of land, which they selected 
on the right bank of the Ohio River, opposite 
Louisville. They expected here a city would rise 
one day, to be the peer of Louisville, then coming 



«<'' <s~ 



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56 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



into |ii(iiiiiiiL'nce as an important place. By some 
meaus, tlieir expectations ikiled, and only the 
dilapidated village of Clarkesbur<r perpetuates 
tiit'ir ho])o.s. 

The con(|uest of Clarke changed the face of 
affairs in relatiun to the whole country ndrtii of 
the Ohio lliver, which would, in all pmliahility, 
have been made the boundary between Canada and 
the I'niled States. When this was projiosed, the 
stnmuous arguments ba.scd on thus couiiuest. by 
the American ('ummissioncrs, secured the present 
boundary line in negotiating the treaty of 17S13. 

Though Clarke had tailed to capture Detroit, 
Congress saw the importance of the post, and 
resolved on securing it. Gen. McCosh, commander 
at Fort Pitt, was put in command, and SI, ()()().- 
000 and 1^,000 men placed at his disposal. By 
some dilatory means, ho got no further than the 
Tuscarawius River, in Ohio, where a half-way 
hou.se, called Fort Laurens, ibr the President of 
Congress, was built. It was too far out to be of 
practicable value, and was soon after abandoned. 

Indian troubles and incursions by the British 
were the most absorbing themes in the West. 
Tiie British went .so far as Kentucky at a later 
date, while they intended reilucing Fort I'itt, only 
abandoning it when learning ol' its strength. 
Expeditions against the Western Indians were led 
by Gen. Sullivaii, ('(jI. Maniel Broadhcad, Col. 
Bowman and others, which, for awhile, silenced 
the natives and taught them the power of the 
xV.mericaus. They could not organize so readily 
as before, and began to attach themselves more 
closely to the British, or commit their deprodatitms 
in bands, fleeing into the wilderness as soon as 
they struck a blow. In this way, several localities 
suffcreil, until the .settlers became again exasper- 
ated; other exiieditions wore formed, "and a second 
cha.sti.seincnt given. In 17><1, Col. Broadhcad 
led an expedition against the Central Ohio Indians. 
It di<l not ]irove .so successful, as the Indians were 
led by the noted chief Brant, who, though not 
cruel, wjis a foe to the Americans. an<l itssisted the 
British greatly in tlu'ir endeavors to secure the West. 

Another chi.ss of events occurred now in the 
West, civil in their relations, yet destined to form 
an important part of its history — its lan<l laws. 

It must be borne in mind, that Virgiiua claimed 
the gn-atcr ]iortion of the country north of (hi! 
Ohio River, as well as a large part s(PMlb. The 
other colonies claime(l land also in the West under 
the olil Crown grants, which extended to the 
South or Western Sea. To more complicate mat- 



ters, several land companies held proprietary rights 
to portions of these lauds gained by grants from 
the ('rown, or ftom the Coloniid Assemblies. 
Others were based on land warrants i.ssued 
in 17t>-5; others on selection and survey and 
still others on settlement. In this state of 
mixed afl'airs, it was difficult to say who held a 
secure claim. It w;i.s a ((Uestion wbethcr the old 
French grants were good (jr not, esiiecially since 
the change in governnunt, and the eminent pros- 
pect of still another change. To, in some way, 
aid in .settling the.se claims, \'irginia sent a com- 
mission to the West to .sit ;i.s a court and determine 
the projprietorship of these claims. This court, 
th(iugh of as doubtful authority as the claims 
themselves, went to work in Kentucky and along 
the (Jhio River in 1770, and, in the cour-^e of one 
year, granted over three thou.sand certificates. 
These were considered as good authority for a 
definite title, and were so regarded in after pur- 
chases. Under them, many pioneers, like Daniel 
Boone, lost their lands, as all were ri'(|nired to 
hold some kind of a patent, while others, who 
pos.ses.sed no more princijile than '-land-sharks 
of to-day, acquired large tracts of land by holding 
a jiatent the court was bound to accept. Of all 
the colonies, Virginia .seemed to have the best 
title to the Northwest, .save a few parcels, such as 
the Connecticut or Western Reserve and some 
similar tracts held by New York, ]Ma.ssachusetts 
and New Jersey. When the territory of the 
Norlliwest was ceded to the General Government, 
this was recognized, and that country was counted 
as a \'irginia county. 

The Spanish (Jov<>rnuient, holding the region 
west of the Mississi]ipi, and a portion east toward 
its outlet, became an imiiortant but secret ally of 
the AiniTicans. When the French revolt was 
su]iiire,s.'ied by O'Kcilly, and the Spanish a.ssunied 
t\u'. government of Louisiana, both l'pi"'r and 
Lower, there was a large tract of country, known 
as Florida (East and West), claimed by iMigland, 
and duly regarded as a part of her dominion. 
The boundaries had been .settled wlu'n the I'rench 
first occupied Lower Louisiana. The Sjianiards 
adopted the patriarchal form of rule, as much as 
was con.si.stent with their interests, and allowed the 
French full religious and civil liberty, save that all 
tribunals were after the Sjianish fksliicm, and 
governed by S]]anish ruli'S. 'I'he Spaniards, long 
jealous of England's growing jiower. secretly .sent 
the Governors of Louisiana word to aid the 
Americans in their struggle ibr freedom. Though 



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HISTORY OF OHIO. 



57 



they controlled the Mississippi River, they allowed 
an American officer (Capt. Willing) to descend the 
river in January, 1778, with a party of titty men, 
and ravage the British shore from Manohez Bayou 
to Natchez. 

On the Sth of May. 1770, Spain declared war 
against (Jreat Britain; and, on ihe Sth of July, 
the people of Louisiana were allowed to take a 
part in the war. Accordingly, Cialvez collected a 
force of 1,400 men, and, on the 7th of September, 
took Fort JIanchac. By the 21st of September, 
he had taken Baton Rouge and Natchez. Eight 
vessels were captured by the Spaniards on the 
Mississippi and on the lakes. In 1780 Mobile 
fell; in March, 1781, Pensacola, the chief British 
post in West Florida, succumbed after a long 
siege, and, on the 9th of May, all West Florida 
was surrendered t(j Spain. 

This war, or the war on the Atlantic Coast, did 
not immediately aflect Upper Louisiana. Great 
Britain, however, attempted to capture St. Louis. 
Though the commander was strongly suspected of 
being bribed by the English, yet the place stood 
the siege fi-om the combined force of Indians and 
Canadians, and the assailants were dispersed. This 
was done during the summer of 1680, and in the 
autumn, a comjiany of Spanish and French resi- 
dents, under La Balme, went on an expedition 
against Detroit. They marched as far north as 
the Briti.sh trading-post Ke-ki-ong-a, at the head 
of the Mauniee Kiver, but being surprised in the 
night, and the commander slain, the expedition 
was defeated, having done but little. 

Spain may have had personal interests in aiding 
the Americans. She was now in control of the Mis- 
sissippi River, the natural outlet of the Northwest, 
and, in 1780, began the troubles relative to the 
navigation of that stream. The claims of Spain 
were considered very unjust by the Continental 
Congress, and, while deliberating over the question, 
Virginia, who was jealously alive to her Western 
interests, and who yet held jurisdiction over Ken- 
tucky, sent through Jefferson, the Governor, Gen. 
George Rogers Clarke, to erect a fort below the 
mouth of the Ohio. This proceeding was rather 
unwarrantable, especially as the fort was built in 
the country of the Chickasaws, who had thus fiir 
been true friends to the Americans, and who looked 
upon the fort as an innovation on their territory. 
It was completed and occupied but a short time, 
Clarke being recalled. 

Virginia, in 1780, did a verj' important thing; 
namely, establishing an institution for higher edu- 



cation. The Old Dominion confiscated the lands 
of " Robert McKenzie, Henry Collins and Alex- 
ander IMcKee, Britons, eight thousand acres." and 
invested the proceeds of the sale in a public semi- 
uai-y. Transylvania University now lives, a monu- 
ment to that spirit. 

While Clarke was building Fort Jefferson, a force 
of British and Indians, under command of Capt. 
Bryd, came down trom Canada and attacked the 
Kentucky settlements, getting into the country be- 
fore any one was aware. The winter before had 
been one of unusual severity, and game was ex 
ceedingly scarce, hence the army was not prepared 
to conduct a campaign. After the capture of Rud- 
dle's Station, at the south fork of the Licking, Bryd 
abandoned any further attempts to reduce the set- 
tlements, except capturing Martin's Station, and 
returned to Detroit. 

This expedition gave an additional motive for 
the chastisement of the Indians, and Clarke, on his 
return from Fort Jefferson, went on an exjieditiou 
against the Miami Indians. He destroyed their 
towns at Loramie's store, near the ]iresent city of 
Sjdney, Ohio, and at Piqua. humbling the natives. 
While on the way, a part of the army remained 
on the north bank of the Ohio, and erected two 
block-houses on the present site of Cincinnati. 

The exploits of Clarke and his men .so effectually 
chastised the Indians, that, for a time, the West 
was safe. During this period of f|uiet, the meas- 
ures which led to the cession of Western lands to 
the General Gtivernment, began to assume a defi- 
nite form. All the colonies claiming \\'cstern 
lands were willing to cede them to the Government, 
save Virginia, which colony wanted a large scope 
of Southern country southeast of the Ohio, as far 
as South Carolina. All recognized the justice of 
all Western lands becoming public property, and 
thereby aiding in extinguishing the debts caused by 
the war of the Revoluti<in, now about to close. 
As Virginia held a somewhat different view, the 
cession was not made until 1783. 

The subject, however, could not be allowed to 
rest. The war of the Revolution was now drawing 
to a close ; victory on the part of the colonies was 
apparent, and the Western lands must be a part of 
the public domain. Subsequent events brought 
about the desired cession, though several events 
transpired before the plan of cession was consum- 
mated. 

Before the close of 1780, the Legislature of 
Virginia passed an act, establishing the '-town of 
Louisville," and confiscated the lands of John 



58 



HISTOEY OF OHIO. 



Connelly, who was ono (if it.s original proprietors, 
and who distinuuishid himself in the eoiunieneo- 
nieut of Lord Dunniorc's war, and who wa.s uow a 
Tory, and doing all he could against- the patriot 
cause. The proceeds of the sale of his lands wi're 
divided bet ween Virginia and the county of. Jefferson. 
Kentucky, the next year, wa.s divided into three 
counties, .Jefferson, Tjincoln and Fayette. Courts 
were appointed iu each, and the entry and location 
of lands given into their hands. Settha-s, in spite 
of Indian troubles and British intrigue, were 
potiring over the mountains, particularly .so during 
the years 1780 and 1781. The expeditions of 
Clarke against the Miami Indians ; Boone's cap- 
tivity, and escape from them; their defeat when 
attacking Boone.slioro, and other places — all 
combined to weaken their power, and teach them 
to respect a nation whose progress they could not 
stay. 

The pioneers of the West, obliged to depend on 
themselves, owing to the .struggle of the colonies 
for freedom, grew up a hardy, self-reliant race, 
with all the vices and virtues of a border life, and 
with habits, manners and customs necessary to 
their peculiar situation, and suited to their peculiar 
ta.sto. A resume of their experiences and daily 
lives would be quite interesting, did the limits of 
this history admit it here. In the ]iart relating 
directly to this county, the reader will find such 
lives given; here, only the important events can 
be noticed. 

The liist event of con.se<|uenci! occurring in the 
West before the clo.se of the Revolution, is one 
that might well have l)eeii omitted. Had such 
been the ca,se, a great stain would have been spared 
tlie character of Western jiionei'rs. Reference is 
made to the mas.s;icre of the .Aloravian Christian 
Indians. 

These Imlians were of the I>elaware nation 
chiefly, though other Western tribes were visited 
and many converts made. The first converts were 
made in New York and Connecticut, where, after 
a good start had been made, and a jirospect of 
many souls Iteing saved, they incurred the enmity 
of the whiles, wlio, becoming alarme<l at their suc- 
cess, persecuted them to such an extent that they 
were driven out of New York into Pennsylvania, 
where, in 1744, four years after their arrival in 
the New World, they began new niissinns. In 
1748, the New York and Connecticut Indians fol- 
lowed their teachers, and Were among the founders 
of Kriedenshutten, "Tents of Peace," a hamlet 
near Bethlehem, where their teacliers were sta- 



tioned. Other hamlets grew around them, until 
in the interior of the coliuiy, existed an Indian 
community, i'w.c. from all savage vices, and grow- 
ing u]i in Christian virtues. As their strength 
grew, lawless whites again began to oppress them. 
They could not understand the war of 17.")4. and 
were, indeed, in a truly embarra.ssing position. 
The .savages could form no conception of any cause 
for neutrality, save a secret symjiatby with the 
English ; and if they could not take up the hatcliet, 
they were in the way, and must be removed. Fail- 
ing to do this, their red brothers became hostile. 
The whites were but little better. The old suspi- 
cions which drove them from New York were 
arou.sed. They were secret Papists, in league with 
the French, and furnished them with arms and in- 
telligence; they were interfering with the liipuir 
traffic; they were enemies to the Ctovermnent, 
and the Indian and the white man combined against 
them. They were obliged to move from place to 
place; were at oiu' time protected nearly a year, 
near Philadelphia, frcnu lawless whites, and finally 
were comjielled to go far enough West to be out 
of the way of French and Knglish arms, or the 
Iroquois and Cherokee hatchets. They came 
finally to the JIuskingum, where they made a set- 
tlement called Schonbrun, "beautiful clear spring," 
in what is now Tuscarawas County. Other .settle- 
ments gathered, from time to time, a.s the years 
went on, till in 1772 large numbers of them were 
within the borders of the State, 

Until the war of independence broke out, they 
were allowed to ]H'aeefully |iursue their way. When 
that came, they wen> between Fort Pitt and De- 
troit, one of which contained British, the other 
Americans, Again they could not understand the 
struggle, and could not take up the hatchet. This 
lirought on them the enmity of both belligerent 
parties, and that of their own fiirest comjianions, 
who could not see wherein their natures could 
change. Among the most hostile jiersons, were 
the white renegades McKee, Girty and Klliott. 
On their in.stigation, several of them were .slain, 
and by their advice they were<ibligcd to leave their 
fields and homes, where they ha<l many comforts, 
and where they had en-cted good chapels in which 
to worship. It was just before one of these forced 
removals that .Mary, daugliter of the missionary 
Ileckewelder, was born. She is su|ipo.sed to be 
the first while female child born nortb of tlie Ohio 
River. Her birth occurred April Hi, 171^1. It 
is but ]iroper to say here, that it is an open <jues- 
tion, and one tliat will probably never be decided. 



g y 



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HISTORY OF OHIO. 



59 



/. e. Who WHS the first white child born in Ohio ? 
In ;\11 probability, the child was born during the 
captivity of its mother, as history plainly shows 
that when white women were released from the 
Indians, some of them carried children born while 
among the natives. 

Wlien the Jloravian.s were forced to leave their 
settlements on the jNIuskingum, and taken to 8an- 
diLsky, they left growing fields of corn, to which 
they were obliged to return, to gather food. This 
aroused the whites, only wanting some pretext 
whereby they might attack them, and a party, 
headed by Col. David Williamson, determined to 
exterminate them. Tile Moravians, hearing of their 
approach, fled, but too late to warn other settle- 
ments, and Gnadenhutten, Salem and one or two 
smaller settlements, were surprised and taken. 
Under deceitful promises, the Indians gave up all 
their arms, showed the whites their troa.sures, and 
went unknowingly to a terrible death. When ap- 
prised of their fate, determined on by a majority 
(if the rangers, they begged only time to prepare. 
They were led two by two, the men into one, the 
women and children into another "slaughter- 
house," ii,s it wa.s termed, and all but two lads were 
wantonly slain. An infamous and more bloody 
deed never darkened the p;iges of feudal times ; 
a deed that, in after years, called aloud for venge- 
ance, and in some iuea.sure received it. Some of 
Williamson's men wrung their hands at the cruel 
fate, and endeavored, by all the means in their 
power, to prevent it; but all to no purpose. The 
blood of the rangers vtan up, and they would not spare 
'■man, woman or child, of all that peaceful band." 

Having completed their horrible work, ( March 
8, 1782), William.son and his men returned to 
Pittsburgh. Everywhere, the Indians lamented 
the nntim(^ly death of their kindred, their savage 
relatives determining on their revenge; the Chris- 
tian ones could only be resigned and weep. 

Williamson's success, for such it was viewed by 
many, excited the borderers to another invasion, 
and a second army was raised, this time to 
go to the Sandusky town, and annihilate the 
Wyandots. Col. William Crawford was eleqted 
leader ; he accepted reluctantly ; on the way, 
the army was met by hordes of savages on the 5th of 



June, and totally routed. They were away north, 
in what is now Wyandot County, and were obliged 
to flt^ for their lives. The blood of the murdered 
Moravians called for revenge. The Indians de- 
sired it ; were they not relatives of the fallen 
Christians'? Cra^vford and many of his men fell 
into their hands ; all suffered unheard-of tortures, 
that of Crawford being as cruel as Indian cruelty 
could devi.se. He was pounded, pierced, cut with 
knives and burned, all of wliicli occupied nearly a 
night, and finally lay down insensiljle t)ii a bed of 
coals, and died. The savage captors, in demoniacal 
glee, danced around him, and upbraided him ibr 
the cruel murder of tiieir relatives, giving liini this 
only consolation, that had they captured ^Villiam- 
son, he might go free, but he must answer for Will- 
iamsons brutality. 

The war did not cea,se here. The Indians, now 
aroused, carried their attack a.s far south as into 
Kentucky, killing Capt. Estill, a brave man, and 
some of his companions. The Briti.sh, too, were 
active in aiding them, and the 14th of August a 
large force of them, under Girty, gathered silently 
about Biyant's Station. They were obliged to re- 
treat. The Kentiukiuns ]iursued them, but were 
repulsed with considerable loss. 

The attack on Bryant's Station aroused the peo- 
ple of Kentucky to strike a blow that would be 
felt. Gen. Clarke was put at the head of an army 
of one thousand and fifty men, and the Miami 
country was a second time destroyed. Clarke even 
went as far north as the British trading-po.st at the 
head of the Miami, where he captured a great 
amount of property, and destroyed the post. Other 
outposts also fell, the invading army suffering but 
little, and, by its decisive action, practically closing 
the Indian wars in the West. Pennsylvania suf- 
fered some, losing Hannalistown and one or two 
small settlements. Williamson's and Crawford's 
campaigns aroused the fury of the Indians that 
took time and nmcli blood and war to subdue. The 
Revolution was, however, drawing to a close. Amer- 
ican arms were victorious, and a new nation was 
now coming into existence, who would change the 
whole current of Western matters, and make of the 
Northwest a laud of liberty, equality and union. 
That nation was now on the stage. 



A^ 



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GO 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



CHAPTER VI. 



AMERICAN OCCUPATION— IXDIAN CLAIMS — SURVEYS — EARLY LAND COMPANIES— COMPACT 
OF 1787 — ORGANIZATION OF THE TERKITORY — EARLY AMERICAN SETTLE- 
MENTS IN THE OHIO VALLEY- FIRST TERRITORIAL 
OFFICERS— ORGANIZATION OF COUNTIES. 



THE occupation of the West by the American, 
really date.s from the camiiai^n of Gen. Chirke in 
1778, when he eajitured the British jiost.s in the 
Illinois country, and Mncenues on the Wahash. 
Had he been j)ro)ierly su|i)iorted, he would have 
reduced Detroit, then in ea.sy reach, and poorly de- 
fen<led. As it was, liowiiver, that post remained in 
charge of the British till after the close of the war 
of the Revolution. 'I'hey also held other lake 
po.sts ; but these were included in the terms of 
peace, and came into i]w iios.session of tlie Ameri- 
cans. They were abandoned by the BritLsh as 
soon a.s the diflerent commanders received notice 
from their chiefs, and British rule and Englisli 
occupation ceased in that part of the New World. 

The war virtually closed by the stirrender of 
Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, Va., October ]!•. 
1781. The strusiirle wa.s prolonged, however, by 
the British, in the vain Impe that they could re- 
trieve the disa.ster. but it was oidy a useless waste 
of men and money. America would not be sub- 
dued. ''If we are to be taxed, we will W; rejire- 
sented," said they, ''else we will be a free govern- 
ment, and regulate our own la.\e.s." In the end, 
they were; free. 

I'mvisidual articles f)f peace between the United 
States and Great Brilain were signed in Paris on 
the 8tlth of November, 1782. This was followed 
by an armistice negotiated at Versailles on the 20th 
of January, 178!!; and finally, a definite treaty of 
peace wa.s concluded at Paris on the :!d of ihenc.xt 
September, and ratifieil by Congivss on the Ilh of 
January, 1784. By the second article of the defi- 
nite treaty of 17815, the boundaries ol' the I'nited 
Stales were fixeil. A glance at the nia]i of that 
day .shows the boun<lary to have been ius follows: 
Begirniiiig at l*a.s.simaipiod(ly Bay, on the co;ust of 
Maine, ihe line ran iwirlli a little above the forty- 
fifth ]iarallel nl' lalilude, when il (liverge(l soulhwesl- 
erly, irregularly, until it reached that |iarallel, when 
it followed it until it reached the St. Lawrence l{iv(>r. 
It followed that river to Lake Ontario, down it.s 
center ; up the Niagara River ; through Lake Erie, 



up the Detroit River and through Lakes Huron and 
Superior, to the northwest extremity of the latter. 
Then it pursued another irregular western course 
to the Lake of the Woods, when it turned south- 
ward to the jMissLssij)pi River. The eommissioner.s 
insisted that should be the western boundary, a.s 
the lakes wen^ the northern. It followed the Mis- 
sissi])pi south until the mouth of Red River was 
reached, when, turning ea.st, it followed almost a 
direct line to the Atlantic Coast, touching the 
coast a little north of the outlet of St. John's 
River. 

From this outline, it will be readily seen what 
boundary the United States possessed. Not oiie- 
half of its present domain. 

At this date, there existed the original thirteen 
colonies : A'irginia occupying all Kentucky and 
all the Northwest. .s;ive about half of Midiigan and 
Wisconsin. claimed by JIassachu.setts; and the upper 
part of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, and the lower 
part (a narrow .strip) of Michigan, claimed by C'on- 
ni'cticut. Georgia inchuied all of Alaliania and 
Mississi]ipi. The Spaniards claimed all Florida 
and a narrow part of lower (leorgia. All tlu'coun- 
try west of the Father of Waiters belonged to Spain, 
to whom it had been secretly ceded when the liim- 
ily com]iact Wius made. That nation controlled the 
INIississippi, and gave no small uneasiness to the 
young government. It WiUs, however, ha]i]nly set- 
tled finally, by the sale of Louisana to the United 
States. 

Pending the settlement of these questions and 
the ibrmation of ihi' Federal Union, the cession of 
the Northwest by ^'irginia again came before 
Congress. That body found it.self unable to fulfill 
its promises to its .soldiers regarding lan<l, and 
again urged the Old Dominion to cede the Terri- 
tory to the ( I eneral Govirnment, fiir the g<iod of 
all. Congress forbade settlers from oecu]]ying ttu^ 
Western lands till a definite ccs.sion had bei'U 
made, and the title to the lands in fpicstion made 
good. But speculation was stronger than law, 
and without waiting for the slow processes of courts, 



'.^ 



HISTOEY OF OHIO. 



61 



the adventurous settlers were puuriiii; into the 
countiy at a rapid rate, only retarded by the rifle 
and scalping-knile of the savage — a temporary 
check. The policy of allowing any parties to obtain 
land frum the Indians was strongly disccniraged 
by Washington. He advocated the idea that only 
the G-eneral Government could du that, and, in a 
letter to James Duane, in Congress, he strongly 
ui'ged such a course, and pointed out the danger 
of a border war, unless some such measure was 
stringently followed. 

Under the circumstances, Congress pressed the 
claim.s of cession upon Virginia, and finally in- 
duced the Dominion to modity the terms proposed 
two years before. On the 2Uth of December, 
1783, Virginia accepted the proposal of Congress, 
and authorized her delegates to make a deed to 
the United States of all her right in the territory 
northwest of the Ohio. 

The Old Dominion stipulated in her deed of 
cession, that the territory should bo divided into 
States, to be admitted into the Union as any other 
State, and to bear a proportionate share in the 
maintenance of that Union; that Virginia should 
be re-imbursed for the expense incurred in subduing 
the Britisli posts in the territory; that the French 
and Canadian inhabitants should be protected in their 
rights; that the grant to Gen. George Rogers Clarke 
and liis men, as well as all other similar gi'ants, 
should be confirmed, and that the lands should be 
considered as the common property of the United 
States, the ])roceeds to be applied to the use of the 
whole coiuitry. Congress accepted these condi- 
tions, and the deed was made March 1, 1781. 
Thus the country came from under the dominion 
of Vuginia, and became common property. 

A serious difficulty arose about this time, that 
threatened for awhile to involve England and 
America anew in war. Virginia and several 
other States refused to abide by that part of the 
treaty relating to the paynuuit of debts, especially 
so, when the British carried away quite a number 
of negroes claimed by the Americans. This re- 
fusal on the part of the Old Dominion and her 
abettors, caused tjie English to retain her North- 
western outposts, Detroit, Mackinaw, etc. She 
held these till 178(1, when the questions were 
finally settled, and then readily abandoned them. 

The ri'turn of peace greatly augmented emigra- 
tion to the ^Vest, especially to Kentucky. When 
the war closed, the pojjulation of that county (the 
three counties having been made one judicial dis- 
trict, and Danville designated as the seat of gov- 



ernment) was estimated to be abouttwelvethousand. 
In one year, after the close of the war, it increased 
to 30,000, and steps for a State government were 
taken. Owing to the divided sentiment among its 
citizens, its perplexing questions of land titles 

j and proprietary rights, nine conventions were held 
before a definite course of action could be reached. 
This prolonged the time till 1792. when, in De- 
cember of that year, the election for persons to 
form a State constitution was held, and the vexed 
and complicated ((uestions settled. In 1783, the 
first wagons bearing merchandise came across the 
mountains. Their contents were received on flat- 
boats at Pittsburgh, and taken down the Ohio to 
Louisville, which that spring boasted of a store, 
opened by Daniel Broadhead. Tiie next year, 
James Wilkinson opened one at Lexington. 

Pittsburgh was now the principal town in the 
West. It occupied the same position regarding 
the outposts that Omaha has done for several j-ears 
to Nebraska. The town of Pittsburgh was laid 
out immediately after the war of 1 7114, by Col. 
Campbell. It then consisted of four squares about 
the fort, and received its name fi'om that citadel. 
The treaty with the Six Nations in 1708, con- 
veyed to the proprietaries of Pennsylvania all the 
lands of the Alleghany below Kittanning. and all 
the country south of tlie Ohio, within tiie limits of 
Penn's charter. This deed of cessi(m was recog- 
nized when the line between Penu.sylvauia and 
Virginia was fixed, and gave the post to the Key- 

1 stone State. In accordance with this deed, the 
manor of Pitt.sburgh was withdrawn from market 
in 1700, and was lield as the property of the Penn 
family. Wiien Washington visited it in 1770, it 
seems to have declined in consei|uence of the 
afore-mentioned act. He mentions it as a "town of 
about twenty log houses, on the MonongaJiela, 

I about three hundred yards from the fort." Th& 
Penn's remained true to the King, and hence all 

[ their land tliat had not been surveyed and returned 
to the land office, was confiscated by the common- 
wealth. Pittsburgh, having been surveyed, was 
still left to them. In the spring of 1784, Tench 
Francis, the agent of the Penns, was induced to 
lay out the manor into lots and offer tliem for sale. 
Though, for many years, the place was rather un- 
promising, it eventually became the chief town in 
tjiat part of the ^V'^est, a position it yet holds. In 
178(5, John Scull and Joseph Hall .started the 
Pittsburgh fr(i::r/tr, the first paper jmblished west 
of the mountains. In the initial number, appeared a 
lengthy article from the pen of H. H. Brackenridge, 



liL^ 



63 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



afterward one of the most prominent members 
(if the Pennsylvania bar. He had located in 
Pittsburi;h in 1781. Flis letter gives a most hope- 
ful priis])oet in store for the future city, and is a 
hiirhly di'scriptive article of the \\'esteru country. 
It is yet preserved in the "Western Annals, " and 
is well worth a perusal. 

Under the act of peace in 1783, no provision wa.s 
made by the British for their allies, especially the 
Six Nations. The ((uestion was ignored by the 
Knirlish, and was made a handle by the Americans 
in gaining them to their cause before the war had 
fully closed. The treaties made were regarded by 
the Indians a.s alliances only, and when the En- 
glish left the country the Indians began to assume 
rather a hostile bearing. This e.Kcited the whites, 
and for a while a war with that formidable con- 
federacy wa.s imminent. Better councils prevailed, 
and Congress wisely adopted llie policy of ac((uiring 
their lands by purchitse. In accordance with this 
policy, a treaty was made at Fort Stanwix with 
the Six Xations, in October, 1784. By this treaty, 
all lands we.st of a line ilrawn from the mouth of 
Oswego Creek, about four miles cast of Niagara, 
to the mouth of Buffalo Creek, and on to the 
northern boundary of I'enn.sylvania, thence west 
along that boundary to it.s western extremity, 
thence south to the C)hio River, should bo ceded 
to the I 'nited States. ( They claimed we.st of this line 
by eon((uest.) The Six Nations were to be secin'ed 
in the lands they inhabitiMl, reserving only .six miles 
S(|uare around Oswego fort liir the sujiport of the 
same. I}y this treaty, tlu^ indefinite claim of the 
Six Nations to the West was extinguished, and the 
((Uestion (if its o\vn(M'sliip .settled. 

It wa.s now occupied liy other Western tribes, 
who did not recognize the Iroc(U(iis claim, and who 
would not yi(^ld without a |iur(ba.se. Kspecially 
was this the case with tho.se Indians living in the 
n(irtli(!rn part. To get possession of that country 
by the same process, the Unit^ul States, through 
its commis,si(iners, lu^ld a treaty at Fort Mcintosh 
on the 21st of January, 1785. The Wyandot, 
Delaware, Chijipewa and Ottawa tribes were pres- 
ent, and, through their chief's, sold iheir lands to 
the (Jovernnn^nt. Tiie Wvandot and l>claware 
nations wen; given a re.serv.'it ion in the mirth jiarl 
of Oliio, where they wen; t(j be jirotccteil. Tlic 
others were allott<'d reservaticms in .Miciiigan. To 
all was given complete control of th(nr lands, allow- 
ing them to punish any white man altem|iling to 
settle thereon, and guaranteeing them in their 
rights. 



By such means Congress gained Indian titles to 
the vast realms north of the Ohio, and. a few 
months later, that legislation w<vs commenced that 
shoidd determine the mode of its disposal and the 
plan of it.s settlements. 

To fiicilitate the .settlement of lands thus ac(|uired. 
Congress, on .^laj" 20, 178."), pa.ssed an act for dispos- 
ing of lands in the Northwest Territory. It.s main 
provisions were : A surveyor or surveyors should be 
appointed from the States ; and a geograi)her. and 
his assistants to act with them. The surveyors 
were to divide the territory into townships of six 
miles s(|uare, by lines running due north and 
south, and east and west. The starting-place 
was to be on the Ohio River, at a point wheie the 
southern and western boundavi(\s of IVnnsylvania 
intersected. This would give the first range, and 
the first township. As soon as seven townships were 
surveyed, the maps and plats of the same were to 
b(; sent to the Board of the Trea.sury. who would 
record them and proceed to place the land in the 
market, and so on with all the town.ships iis fast as 
they could be prepared ready for sale. Each town- 
ship was to be divided into thirty-six sections, or 
lots. Out of these sections, numbers 8, 11, 2(i and 
2!) were reserved for the nse of the tJovernment, 
and lot No. 1(!, for the establishment of a common- 
school fund. One-third of all mines and minerals was 
also reserved for the United States. Three townships 
on Lake Erie were reserved for the use of officers, 
men and i it hers, refugees from Canada and from 
Nova Scotia, who were entitled to grants of land. 
The Moravian Indians were also exem]it from 
molestation, and guaranteed in their homes. Sol- 
diers' claims, and all others of a like nat\ire, were 
also recogni/.eil, and land reserved for them. 

Without wailing for the act of Congress, settlers 
had b(!en pouring into the country, and, when or- 
dered by Congress to leave uudisturlicd Indian 
lands, refu.sed to do so. They went into the In- 
dian country at their peril, however, and when 
driven out by the Indians could get no redress 
from the (iovernniont, even when Hfe was lo.st. 

The Indians on the Wabash made a treaty at 
Fort Finney, on the Miami, January 31, 1780, 
promising allegiance to the United States, and were 
allowed a reservation. Thistreaty did not include 
the I'iankeshaws, as was at first intended. These, 
refusing to live peaceably, stirred up the Shawa- 
nees, who began a scries of predatory excursions 
against the settlenu'nts. This led to an expedition 
iigainst them and other restless tribes. Gen. Clarke 
commanded part of the army on that expedition, 



" 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



65 



but got no farther than Vincennes, when, owing to 
the discontent of his Kentucky troops, he was 
obliged to return. Col. Benjamin Logan, how- 
ever, marched, at the head of four or live hundred 
mounted riflemen, into the Indian country, pene- 
trating as tar as the head-waters of Mad River. 
He destroyed .several towns, much corn, and took 
about eighty prisoners. Among these, was the 
chief of the nation, who was wantonly slain, 
greatly to Logan's regret, who could not n'strain 
his men. His exyiedition taught the Indians .sub- 
mission, and that they must adhere to their con- 
tracts. 

Meanwhile, the difficulties of the navigation of 
the JIississii]]ii arose. Spain would not relin((uish 
the right to control the entire southern part of the 
river, allowing no free navigation. She was secretly 
hoping to cause a revolt of the Western provinces, 
especially Kentucky, and openly favored such a 
move. She also claimed, by conquest, much of the 
land on the east .side of the river. The slow move- 
ments of Congress; the failure of Virginia to 
properly protect Kentucky, and the inherent rest^ 
lessness in some of the Western men, well-nigh 
precipitated matters, and, for a while, .serious results 
were imminent. The Kentuckians, and, indeed, 
all the people of the West, were determined the 
river should be free, and even went so far as to 
raise a regiment, and forcibly seize Spani.sh prop- 
erty in the West. Great Britain stood ready, too, 
to aid the West should it succeed, providing it 
would make an alliance with her. But while the 
excitement was at its height, Washington coun- 
seled better ways and patience. The decisive tone 
of the new republic, though almost overwhelmed 
with a burden of debt, and with no credit, debarred 
the Spanish from too forcible measures to assert 
their claims, and held back the disloyal ones from 
attempting a revolt. 

New i'ork, Ma.ssachiLsetts and Connecticut ceded 
their lands, and now the United States were ready 
to fulfill their promises of land grants, to the sol- 
diers who had preserved the nation. This did 
much to heal the breach in the West, and restore 
confidence tlu!re; so that the Mis.sissippi question 
was overlooked for a time, and Kentucky forgot her 
animosities. 

The cession of their claims was the signal for 
the formation of land companies in the East ; com- 
panies whose object wa.s to settle the Western coun- 
try, and, at the same time, enrich the founders of 
the companies. Some of these companies had been 
formed in the old colonial days, but the recent war 



had put a stop to all theii- proceedings. Congress 
would not recognize their claims, and new com- 
panies, under old names, were the result. By such 
means, the Ohio Company emerged from the past, 
and. in 1786, took an active existence. 

Benjamin Tupper, a Revolutionary soldier, and 
since then a government surveyor, who had been 
west as far a.s Pittsbmgh, revived the question. 
He was prevented from prosecuting his surveys by 
hostile Indians, and returned to Miu<.sachusetts. 
He broached a jilan to Gen. Rufus Putnam, as to 
the renewal of their memorial of 17!S.>. which re- 
sulted in the publication of a plan, and inviting all 
those interested, to meet in February in their re- 
spective counties, and choose delegates to a con- 
vention to be held at the " Bunch-of-grapes Tav- 
ern." in Boston, on the first of March, 1780. On 
the day appointed, eleven persons appeared, and 
by the 3d of March an outline was drawn up, and 
subscriptions under it began at once. The leading 
features of the plan were : '■ A fund of $1 ,(JO(l,()()0, 
mainly in Continental certificates, was to be raised 
for the purpose of purchasing lands in the Western 
country; there were to be 1,000 shares of $1,000 
each, and upon each share $10 in specie were to 
be paid for contingent expenses. One year's inter- 
est was to be appropriated to the charges of making 
a settlement, and assisting those unable to move 
without aid. The owners of every twenty shares 
were to choose an agent to represent them and 
attend to their interests, and the agents were to 
choose the directors. The plan was approved, and 
in a year's time from that date, the Company was 
organized."* 

By the time this Company was organized, all 
claims of the colonies in the coveted territory were 
done away with by their deeds of cession, Connect- 
icut being the last. 

While troubles were still existing south of the 
Ohio River, regarding the navigation of the Mis- 
sissippi, and many urged the formation of a sepa- 
rate, independent State, and while Congress and 
Washington were doing what they could to allay 
the feeling north of the Ohio, the New England 
associates were busily engaged, now that a Com- 
pany was formed, to obtain the land they wished 
to purchase. On the 8th of March, 1787, a meet- 
ing of the agents chose Gen. Parsons, Gen. Put- 
nam and the Rev. Mannasseh Cutler, Directors for 
the Company. The last selection was fpiite a 
fitting one for si^ch an enterprise. Dr. Cutler was 

* HiBtorical Collectiona. 






60 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



an acoonipHshed scholar, an excellent gentleman, 
anil a firm believer in freedom. In the choice of 
him a.s the agent of the Company, lies the fact, 
though iiiiforeseeu, of the beginning of anti-slavery 
in America. Through him the famous " compact 
of 1787," the true corner-stone of the Norlhwest, 
originated, and by him was safely passed. He 
was a good "wire-puller," too, and in this had an 
advantage. Mr. Ilutchins was at this time the 
geographer for the United States, and w'as, prob- 
ably, the best-posted man in America regarding 
the West. Dr. Cutler learned from him that the 
most desirable portions were on the Muskingum 
River, north of the Ohio, and wiis advised by him 
to buy there if ho could. 

Congress wanted money badly, and many of the 
members favored the ])lan. The Southern mt'ni- 
bers, generally, were hostile to it, as the Doctor 
would listen to no grant which did not embody 
the New England idi'as in the charter. These 
memliers were finally won over, some bribery be- 
ing used, and some of their favorites made officers 
of the Territory, whose formation was now going 
on. This took time, however, and Dr. Cutler, be- 
coming impatient, di'clared they would jiurcha.se 
from some of the States, who held small traet.s in 
various parts of the West. This intimation brought 
the tardy ones to time, and, on the 23d of July, 
Congre,ss authorized the Treasury Board to make 
the contract. On the 2(jth, Jlessrs. Cutler ami 
Sargent, on behalf of the Comjiany, .stated in 
writing their conditions; and on the 27th, Con- 
gress referred their letter to the Board, and an 
order of the .same date was obtained. Of this Dr. 
Cutler's journal says: 

'■ By this p-ant we obtained near five millions 
of acres of land, amounting to §:'...")( K 1,1 K Ml; l,.")(l(l,- 
0(10 acres for tlu' Ohio Com|iany, and the remainder 
for a private speculation, in which many of the 
princijial characters of America ure concerne<l. 
Without connecting this peculation, similar terms 
and advanfjjgcs for the Ohio Company could not 
have been obtained." 

Mes-srs. Cutler and Sargent at once clo.sed a ver- 
bal contract with thi^ Treasury Board, which Was 
executed in form mi the 27th ol' tlie next Octo- 
ber.* 

By this contract, the v:ust region bounded on the 
south by the Oliio, \v(!st by the Scioto, east by the 
seventh range of lown.ships then surveying, and 
north by a due west line, drawn from the north 



boundary of the tenth township from the Ohio, 
direct to the Scioto, was sold to the Ohio associ- 
ates and their .secret copartners, for $1 per acre, 
subject to a deduction of one-third for bad lands 
and other contingencies. 

The whole tract was not, however, paid for nor 
taken by the Company — even their own jxirtion of 
a million and a half acres, and extending west to the 
eighteenth range of townshijis, was not taken ; and 
in 17!'2, the boundaries of the purcha.se pro]ier 
were fixed as follows: the Ohio on the south, the 
seventh range of townships on the east, the six- 
teenth range on the west, and a line on the north 
so drawn as to make the grant 7.")0,000 acres, be- 
sides reservations ; this grant being the portion 
which it was originally agreed the Company might 
enter into at once. In addition to this. 214,2S,') 
acres were granted as army bounties, under the 
resolutions of 1770 and 178(1, and 1(I0,()()0 acres 
as bounties to actual .settlers; both of the latter 
tracts bi'lng within the original grant of 1 787, and 
adjoining the jiurchase as before mentioned. 

While these things were j)rogre.'ising, Congress 
was bringing into form an ordinance for the gov- 
ernment and sociiJ organization of the North- 
west Territory. Virginia made her cession in 
March, 178-1, and during the month following the 
plan for the temporary government of the newly 
ac(juired territtiry came under discu.ssion. On the 
19th of April, Mr. Spaight, of North Carolina, 
moved to strike from the jilan rejiorted by Mr. 
JeflFerson, the cmancijiationist of his day, a provis- 
ion for the prohibition of slavery north of the Ohio 
after the year IHOO. The nioti(jn jirevailed. From 
that day till the 23d. the plan was discu.s.sed and 
altered, and finally ]);i.sse<l unanimously with the ex- 
ception of South Carolina. The South would have 
slavery, or defeat every mea.sure. Thus this hide- 
ous monster early began to assert himself. By the 
pro]iosed plan, the Territory was to have been 
divided intoStates by parallels of latitude and merid- 
ian lines. This divi.sion, it was thought, would make 
ten States, whose names were as foll<iws, beginning 
at the northwest corner, and going southwardly: 
Sylvania, Michigiinia, Cliere.sonisns, As,senis]iia, 
^Ietropotatnia, lllinoia. Sarattiga, Wa.shingt(in, 
i*iily)iotamia and I'clisipia.* 

A more serious difficulty existed, however, to 
this plan, than its catalogue of names — the number 
of Stales and their boundaries. Thi'root of the evil 
was in the resolution pa.s.sed liy Congress in October, 



* Land Lawg. 



* Spark's WushiDgton. 



:>: 



HISTOEY OF OHIO. 



67 



1 7S0, wliich fixed the size of the States to be formed 
friim the ceded hinds, at one hundred to one hundred 
and fifty miles square. The t«rms of that resolu- 
tion being called up both by Virginia and Massa- 
chusetts, further legislation wa.s deemed necessary 
to change them. July 7, 178t!, this subject came 
up in Congress, and a resolution pa.ssed in favor of 
a division into not less than three nor UKjre than 
five States. Virginia, at the close of 178!:!, a.sseuted 
to this proposition, which became the basis upon 
which the division should be made. On the 2ilth 
of September, C'ongress having thus changed the 
plan for dividing the Northwestern Territory into 
ten States, proceeded again to consider the terms of 
an ordinance for the government of that region. At 
this juncture, the genius f>f Dr. Cutler displayed 
itself A graduate in medicine, law and divinity ; 
an ardent lover of liberty ; a celebrated scientist, 
and an accomjilished, portly gentleman, of whom 
the Southern senators said they had never before 
seen so fine a specimen from the New England colo- 
nies, no man was better prepared to form a goV(Tn- 
meut for the new Territory, than he. The Ohio 
Company was his real objc^ct. [le was backed by 
tliem, and enough Continental money to purchase 
more than a million acres of land. This was aug- 
mented by other parties until, as has been noticed, 
he rejjresented over five million acres. This would 
largely reduce the piublic doht. Jefferson and Vir- 
ginia were regarded as authority concerning the 
land Virginia had just ceded to the General Gov- 
ernment. Jefferson's policy was to provide for the 
national credit, and still cheek the growth of slavery. 
Here was a good opportunity. Massachu.setta 
owned the Territory of Maine, which she was crowd- 
ing into market. She ojiposed the opening of 
the Northwest. This stirreil A'irginia. The South 
caught the inspiration and rallied around the Old 
DominiciU and l)r. Cutler. Thereby he gained the 
credit and good will of the South, an auxiliary he 
used to good jiurpose. IMassaehusetts could not 
vote against him, because many of the constituents 
of her members were interested in the Ohio Com- 
pany. Thus the Doctor, using all the arts of the 
lobbyist, was enabled to hold the situation. True to 
deeper convictions, he dictated one of the most com- 
pact and finished documents of wise statesmanship 
that hiis ever adorned any statute-book. Jefferson 
gave it the term, " Articles of Compact," and 
rendered him valuable aid in its construction. This 
" Compact" preceded the Federal Constitution, in 
both of which are seen Jefferson's master-mind. 
Dr. Cutler followed closely the constitution of Mas- 



sachusetts, adopt«d three years before. The prom- 
inent features were : The exclusion of slavery from 
the Territory forever. Provision for public schools, 
giving one township for a seminary, and every six- 
teenth section. (That gave one thirty-sixth of all 
the land for public education.) A provision pro- 
hibiting the adoption of any coustitutidn or the 
enactment of any law that would nullify pre-exist- 
ing contracts. 

The compact further declared that " Religion, 
morality and knowledge being necessary to good 
government and the happiness of mankind, schools 
and the means of education shall always be en- 
couraged." 

The Doctor planted himself finnly on this plat- 
form, and would nut yield. It was that or nothing. 
Unless they could make the land desirable , it was 
not want«d, and, taking his horse and buggy, he 
started for the Constitutional Convention in Phil- 
adelphia. His influence succeeded. On the 13th 
of July, 1787, the bill was put upon its pa.ssage 
and was unanimously adopted. Every member 
trom the Smith voted for it ; only one man, Mr. 
Yates, of New York, voted against the measure ; 
but ;is the vote was made by States, his vote was 
lost, and the " Compact of 1787 " was beyond re- 
peal. Thus the great States of the Northwest 
Territory were consecrated to freedom, intelligenci! 
and morality. This act was the opening step for 
fi-eedom in America. Soon the South saw their 
blunder, and endeavored, by all their power, to re- 
peal the compact. In 1803, CongTe.ss referred it 
to a committee, of which John Randolph was 
chairman. He reported the m-diuance was a com- 
pact and could not be repealed. Thus it stood, 
like a roi-k, in the way of slavery, which still, in 
spite of these provisions, endeavored to plant that 
infernal institution in the West. Witness the 
early days of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. But the 
compact could not be violated ; New England ideas 
could not be put down, and her sons stood ready 
to defend the soil of the West fi'om that curse. 

The passage of the ordinance and the grant of 
land to Dr. Cutler and his associates, were soon fol- 
lowed by a re( piest fi-om John Cleve Symmes, of 
New Jersey, for the country between the Jliamis. 
Symmes had visited that part of the West in 178(i, 
and, being pleased with the valleys of the Shawa- 
nees, had applied to the Board of the Treasury for 
their purchase, as soon as they were open to set- 
tlement. The Board was empowered to act by 
Congress, and, in 1788, a contract was signed, giv- 
ing him the country he desired. The terms of his 



4$^ 



68 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



])urcli;use wore similar to those of thf Ohio Com- 
pany. His apjilication was followed by others, 
whose success or failure will a]>pearin the narrative. 

The New England or Ohio Company was all 
this time busily engaged perfecting its arrange- 
ments to occupy its lands. The Directors agreed 
to reserve 5,760 acres near the confluence of the 
Ohio and Muskingum for a city and commons, for 
the old ideas of the English plan of settling a 
country yet prevailed. A meeting of the Direct- 
ors was held at Bracket's tavern, in Boston, No- 
vember '-,i, 17S7, when four surveyors, and twen- 
ty-two attendants, boat-builders, carpenters, black- 
smiths and common workmen, numbering in all 
forty person.s, were engaged. Their tools were 
purchased, and wagons were obtained to transj)ort 
them acro.ss the mountains. Gen. Kufus I'utnam 
wits made superintendent of the company, and 
Ebenezer iSprout, of llliode Island, Anselm Tup- 
per and John Matthews, from Massachu.setts, and 
R. J. Meigs, from Connecticut, as surveyors. At 
the same meeting, a suitable person to instruct them 
in religion, and prepare the way to op(m a school 
when needed, was selected. This was Rev. Daniel 
Storey, who became the first New England minis- 
ter in the Northwest. 

The Indians were watching this outgrowth of 
affairs, and felt, from what tlu-y eould learn in Ken- 
tucky, that they would be gradually surrounded by 
the whites. This they did not relish, by any 
means, and gave the .settlements south of the Ohio 
no little uneasine.ss. It was thought best to hold 
another treaty with them. In the mean time, to 
insure peace, the Governor of \'irginia, and Con- 
gress, placed troo]>s at Venango, Forts I'itt and 
Mcintosh, and at Jliami, \'incennes, Louisville, 
and Muskingum, and the militia of Kentucky 
were held in r(!adiness should a sudden outbreak 
occur. These nii'asures produced no results, save 
insuring the safety of the whites, and not until 
.January, 17S'.I, was Clarke able to carry out his 
plans. Puring that month, he held a meeting at Fort 
llarmar,* at the mouth of the Muskingum, where 
the .New England Colony expected to locate. 

The hostili' character of the Indians did not 
deter tln^ Ohio Company from carrying out ils 
plans. In the winter of 17S7, Gen. Kufus Fut- 



•Fort Harmnr w»«l.uill In 178.'i,1>y adi-lnchnicnt ol IInit«l St«tp« 
■oldieni, uniltT cuiiriiund iif Maj. John l>uni;)it.v. It wjih nnnioj In 

honur of Col. Josiiih liitrniHr, to wlnwv n-K it Maj. l>on(;bt,v waa 

attachi'd. It wiw the flrnt niilitar>' pout cnTtcil hy thw Amcricftiia 
wlt'iin th.' llmitiior Ohio, cxcppt Fort Lftiirenn, ii tcnijxinir.v atruct- 
iiro hiiill in 1778. Whi-n Maricttu wiia foundfi) it waa tin- military 
IHiat of that part of the country, and was for many yean an ilDpor- 
tAiit Btatlun. 



nam and forty-seven pioneers advanced to the 
mouth of the Ytiughiogheny River, and began 
building a boat for tran.sjMirtation down the Ohio 
in the spring. The boat was the largest crafl that 
had ever descended tile river, and. in allusion t<i 
their Pilgrim Fathers, it w:ls called the Mayflower. 
It was 45 feet long and 12 feet wide, and esti- 
mated at 50 tons burden. Truly a formidable affair 
for the time. The bows were raking and curved 
like a galley, ;ind were strongly timbered. The 
sides were made bullet-proof, and it was covered 
with a deck roof Ca]it. Devol, the first ship- 
builder in the ^Vest, was ])laced in command. On 
the 2d of Ajiril, the Alayflower was launched, 
and for five days the little band of pioneers .sailed 
down the Moiiongahehi anil the Ohio, and, on the 
7th, landed at the mouth of the Muskingum. 
There, opposite Fort Harniar, they chose a loca- 
tion, moored their boat for a temporary shelter, 
and began to erect houses lor their occupation. 

Tims was begun the first English settlement in 
the Ohio Valley. About the 1st of July, they 
were re-enforced by the arrival of a colony from 
MiLs.sachusetts. It had been nine weeks on the 
way. It had hauled its wagons and driven its 
stock to Wheeling, where, constructing flat-boats, 
it had floated down the river to the settlement. 

In October jireceding this occurrence, Arthur 
St. Clair had been a])pointed Governor of the Ter- 
ritory by Congress, which body also appointed 
Winthrop Sargent, Secretary, and Samuel H. 
Parsons, .Jaiiiiw M. Varnum and John Armstrong 
.ludges. Subsei|uently Mr. Armstrong declined 
the appointment, and Mr. Synimes was given the 
vacancy. None of tliese were on the ground 
when the first settlement was made, though the 
Judges came soon after. One of the first things the 
colony found neees.sary to do was to organize 
some form of government, whereby diflSculties 
might be settled, though to tlit' credit of tlic colony 
it may be said, that (luring the first three inonths 
of its existence but one difl'ereiice arose, and that 
was .settled by a compromise.* Indeed, hardly a 
better set of men for the purpo.se could have been 
selected. Washington wrote concerning this 
colony : 

"No colony in .\iiirriia was ever settled untliT 
such favorable auspices as that which has com- 
menced at the Muskingum. Inlbrmation, prop- 
erty and strength will lie its characteristics. I 
know many of the settlers personally, and there 

•" Weatern Monthly Hagkzine.' 






L^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



69 



never were men better calculated to promote the 
welfare of such a community." 

On the 2d of July, a meeting of the Directors 
and agents was held on the banks of the Mus- 
kingum for the pui^pose of naming the newborn 
city and its squares. As yet, the settlement had 
been merely "The Muskingum;" but the name 
M;u-ietta was now formally given it, in honor of 
Marie Antoinette. The square upon which the 
blockhouses stood was called Campus Mnrtiiis; 
S(juai-e No. 19, Ccipitolium ; Square No. 01, Ce- 
cilia, and the great road running through the 
covert-way, Sacra Via* iSurol}', classical scholars 
were not scarce in the colony. 

On the Fourth, an oration was delivered by 
James M. Varnum, one of the Judges, and a 
public demonstration held. Five days atler, the 
Governor arrived, and the colony began to assume 
form. The ordinance of 1787 provided two dis- 
tinct grades of government, under the first of 
which the whole power was under the Governor 
and the three Judges. This form was at once 
recognized on the arrival of St. Clair. The first 
law established by this court w;(s passed on the 
25th (if July. It established and regulated the 
militia of the Territory. The next day after its 
publication, appeared the Governors proclamation 
erecting all the country that had been ceded by 
the Indians east of the Scioto River, into the 
county of Washington. Marietta was, of course, 
the county seat, and, from that day, went on 
prosperously. <_)n September 2, the first court 
was held with becoming ceremonies. It is thus 
related in the American Pioneer: 

"The procession was formed at the Point 
(where the most of the settlers resided), in the 
following order: The High Sheriff, with his 
drawn sword; the citizens; the officers of the 
garrison at Fort Harmar; the members of the 
bar; the Supreme Judges; the Governor and 
clergyman ; the newly appointed Judges of the 
Court of Common Pleas, Gens. Ruftis Putnam 
and Benjamin Tupper. 

"They marched up the path that had been 
cleared through the forest to Campus Martius 
Hall (stockade), where the whole countermarched, 
and the Judges (Putnam and Tupper) took their 
seats. The clergyman, Rev. Dr. Cutler, tlien 
invoked the divine blessing. The Sheriff, Col. 
Ebenezer Sproat, proclaimed with his solemn ' Oh 
yes ! ' that a court is open for the administration of 

* " Carey's Museum," Vol. 4 



even-handed justice, to the poor and to the rich, 
to the guilty and to the innocent, without respect 
of persons; none to be punished without a trial of 
their peers, and then in pursuance of the laws and 
evidence in the case. 

" Although this scene was exhibited thus early 
in the settlement of the West, few ever e([ualed it 
in the dignity and exalted character of its princi- 
pal participators. IMany of them belonged to the 
hist(iry of our country in the darkest, as well as 
the most splendid, period of the Revolutionary 
war." 

Many Indians were gathered at the same time 
to witness the (to them) strange spectacle, and for 
the purpose of forming a treaty, though how 
far they carried this out, the Pioneer does not 
relate. 

The progress of the settlement was quite satis- 
factory during the year. Some one writing a 
letter from the town says: 

"The progress of the settlement is sufficiently 
rapid for the first year. We are continually erect- 
ing houses, but arrivals are constantly coming 
faster than we can possibly provide convenient 
covering. Our first ball was opened about the 
middle of December, at which were fifteen ladies, 
;is well accomplished in the manner of polite 
circles as any I have ever seen in the older States. 
I mention this to show the progress of society in 
this new world, where, I believe, we shall vie with, 
if not excel, the old States in every accom- 
plishment necessary to render life agreeable and 
happy." 

The emigration westward at this time was, 
indeed, exceedingly large. The commander at 
Fort Harmar reported 4,500 persons as having 
passed that post between February and June, 
1788, many of whom would have stopped there, 
had the a.ssociates been prepared to receive them. 
The settlement was free from Indian depredations 
until January, 1791, during which interval it 
daily increased in numbers and strength. 

Symmes and his friends were not idle during this 
time. He had secured his contract in October, 
1787, and, soon after, issued a pamphlet stating 
the terms of his purchase and the mode he intended 
to follow in the disposal of the lands. His plan 
was, to issue warrants for not less than one-quarter 
section, which might be located anywhere, save on 
reservations, or on land previously entered. The 
locator could enter an entire section should he de- 
sire to do so. The price was to be 60J cents per 
acre till May, 1788 ; then, till November, $1 ; and 



-V* 



LiV 



70 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



after tliat time to be regulated by the demand for 
land. Kach purchaser was bound to bejzin im- 
j)rovements within two years, or forfeit one-sixth 
of the land to whoever would settle thereon and 
remain seven years. Military bounties might be 
taken in this, iis in the jjurehase of the a.ssociatcs. 
For him.sclf, Symmes reserved one township near 
the mouth of the Miami. On this he intended to 
build a great city, rivaling any E;ustern jiort. He 
oftcred any one a lot on whieh to build a house, 
providing he would remain three years. Conti- 
nental eertificates were rising, owing to the demand 
for land created l)y these two jmrehases, and Con- 
gre.ss found the burden of debt eorrespnndingly 
lessened. iSymmes soon began to experienee diffi- 
culty in procuring enough to meet his payments. 
He had also some IrdubliMii arranging his boundary 
with the Board of the Treasury. These, and other 
causes, laid the foundation for another city, which is 
now what Symmes hoped his city would one day be. 

In January, 1788, Mathias Denman, of New 
Jersey, took an interest in Symmes' purdiase, 
and located, among other traet.s, the sections ujion 
which Cincinnati has since been built, lletaiuiug 
one-third of this purcha.sc, he sold the balance to 
Robert Patterson and John I'ilson, each getting 
the same share. These three, about August, agreed 
to lay out a town on iheir land. It was designated 
as opposite the mouth of the Licking Kiver. to 
which place it was intended to open a road fiom 
Lexington, Ivy. These men little thought oi' the 
gl'cat em|iiiriuni that now covers the modest site of 
this town ihey laid out that summer. Mr, Filsou, 
who had been a schoolmaster, and was of a some- 
what poetic nature, was apiiointcd to name the 
town. In re.spect to it.s situation, and as if with 
a prophetic perception of the mixed races that 
were in after years to dwell there, he named itLos- 
antiviile,* " which, being interpreted," says the 
" Western Annals," "means (■////•, tiie town ; ant!, 
op]iosite to ; o.s, the mouth ; A, of Jiicking. This 
may well jiut to the blush the Cuiii/iiis jMav/iim 
of the .^Llrictla scholars, and the For/ Solon of 
the S]ianiar(ls. ' 

.Meanwhile, Symmes was bu.'^y in the East, and, 
by duly, >;(]t thirty pi'oplc and eight four-hor.<e 
waiicjns under way for the West. These reached 
Limest(me by September, where they met Mr. 
Stitos, with several persons from Redstone. All 

* Jiidg*. Biimott, in )i{r nolos, (liKpiiUw the ftbovc acrount of tho 
origin of tho city of rinrinniiti. II'* nayi* tin- nHmi- *' l/uHantiTilli- " 
WAB iletemiincd OD, tiut not adopted, \vli(.-n the t^iwn was laid out. 
Ttiiit Vfnion is pmhably the correct one, and will be found fully 
given in tbe detailed historj of thi^ settlements. 



came to Symmes' purchase, and began to look for 
homes. 

Symmes' mind was, however, ill at rest. He 
could not meet his first payment on so vast a realm, 
and there also arose a difference of ojiinion be- 
tween him and the Treasury Board regarding the 
Ohio boundary. Symmes wanted all the land be- 
tween the two Miamis. bordering on the Ohio, 
while the Board wisheil him confined to no more 
than twenty miles of the river. To this proposal 
he would not agree, as he had made sales all along 
the river. Leaving the bargain in an un.-icltled 
state. Congress consiileied it.sclf released from all 
it.s obligations, and, but for the representations of 
many of Symmes' friends, he would have lost all 
his money and labor. His ajipointment as Judge 
was not favorably received t)y many, as they 
thought that by it he would aci|uire unlimited 
power. Some of his a.s,sociates also complained of 
him, and, fiir awhile, it surely seemed that ruin 
only awaited him. But he was brave and hope- 
ful, and determined to succeed. On his return 
fnmi a visit to his purchase in September, 1788, 
he wrote Jonathan Dayton, of New Jersey, one of 
his best friends and associates, that he thought 
some of the land near the Great Miami "positively 
worth a silver dollar the acre in its ])resent .state." 

A good many changes were made in his original 
contract, growing out of his inability to meet his 
payments. At first, he was to have not less than 
a million acres, under an act of Congress ])as.sed in 
October, 1787, authorizing tin; Treasury Board to 
contract with any one who could jiay for such 
tracts, on the Ohio and Wabash Rivers, who.se 
fronts should not exceed one-third of their depth. 

Dayton and .Marsh, vSymmes' agents, contracted 
with the Board for one tnict on the Ohio, begin- 
ning twenty miles u]) the Ohio from the mouth of 
the Great Miami, and to run back for f|uaiitity be- 
tween the Miami and a line drawn from the (Jhio, 
Jiarallel to the gtneral course of that river. In 
1 7!) 1, three years after Dayton and Marsh made 
the contract, Symmes fimnd this wnuld throw the 
jiurcha.se too far hack fVom the Ohio, and applieil 
to Congress to let him have all between the Mi- 
amies, running back so as to include ] ,(MMI,(MM) 
acres, which that body, on Ai)ril 12, 17II-, agreed 
to do. When ihi' lands were surveyed, however, it 
was found thai aline drawn I'rom the head of the 
Little Miami due west to thi' Great Miami, would 
include south of it less than six hundred thousand 
acres. Even this Symmes could not pay for, and 
when his patent was Issued in September, 1794, it 



■> "V 



^ 



HISTORY or OHIO. 



71 



gave him and his associates 248,540 acres, exelu- 
sive of reservations wliieh amounted to (53,142 
acres. This tract was bounded by the Ohio, the 
two iMiauiis and a due eiist and west Hue run so 
as to inchide the desired quantity. Synimes, how- 
ever, made no further payments, and the rest of 
his purchase reverted to the United States, who 
gave those who had bought under him ample pre- 
emption rights. 

The Government wa.s able, also, to give him and 
his colonists but little aid, and as danger from hos- 
tile Indians was in a measure imminent (though all 
the natives were friendly to Symmes), settlers were 
slow to come. However, the baud led by Mr. 
Stites arrived before the 1st of January, 1789, 
and locating themselves near the mouth of the 
Little Miami, on a tract of 10,1100 acres which 
Mr. Stites had purchased from Symmes, formed 
the second settlement in Ohio. They were soon 
afterward joined by a colony of twenty-sis persons, 
who assisted them to erect a block-house, and 
gather their corn. The town was named Columbia. 
While here, the great flood of January, 1789, oc- 
curred, which did much to ensure the future 
growth of Losantiville, or mcM'e properly, Cincin- 
nati. Sj'mmes Cit}', which was laid out near the 
mouth of the Great Miami, and which ho vainly 
strove to make the city of the future, 3IarieMa 
and Columbia, all suflFered severely by this flood, 
the greatest, the Indians said, ever known. The 
site of Cincinnati was not overflowed, and hence 
attracted the attention of the settlers. Denman's 
warrants had designated his purchase as opposite 
the mouth of the Licking; and that point escap- 
ing the overflow, late in December the place was 
visited by Israel Ludlow, Symmes' surveyor, Mr. 
Patterson and Mr. Denman, and about fourteen oth- 
ers, who left Maysville to "form a station and lay 
oft' a town opposite the Licking." The river was 
filled with ice "from shore to shore;" but, says 
Symmes in May, 1789, " Per.severance triumphing 
over difficulty, and they landed safe on a most de- 
lightful bauk of the Ohio, where they founded 
the town of Losantiville, which populates consid- 
erably." The settlers of Losantiville built a few 
log huts and block-houses, and proceeded to im- 
prove the town. Synumes, noticing the location, 
says; "Though they placed their dwellings in the 
most marked position, yet they suffered nothing 
from the freshet." This would seem to give cre- 
dence to Judge Burnett's notes regarding the origin 
of Cincinnati, who states the settlement was made 
at this time, and not at the time mentioned when 



^Ir. Filson named the town. It is further tii be 
noticed, that, before the town was located by Mr. 
Ludlow and ]\Ir. Patterson, Mr. Filson had been 
killed by the Miami Indians, and, as he had not paid 
for his one-third of the site, the claim was sold to 
Mr. liudlow, who thereby became one of the origi- 
nal owners of the place. Just what day the town 
was laid out is not recorded. All the evidence 
tends to show it must have been late in 1788, or 
early in 1789. 

While the settlements on the north side of the 
Ohio were thus progressing, south of it fears of the 
Indians prevailed, and the separation sore was 
kept open. The country was, however, so torn by 
internal factions that no plan was likely to suc- 
ceed, and to this fact, in a large measure, ma}' lie 
credited the reason it did not secede, or join the 
Spanish or French faction, both of which were 
intriguing to get the commonwealth. During 
this year the treasonable acts of James Wilkinson 
came into view. For a while he thought success 
was in his gra.sp, but the two governments were at 
peace with America, and discountenanced any such 
efforts. Wilkinson, like all traitors, relapsed into 
nonentity, and became mistru.sted by the govern- 
ments he attempted to befriend. Treason is al- 
ways odious. 

It will be borne in mind, that in 1778 prepa- 
rations had been made for a treaty with the Indi- 
ans, to secure peaceful possession of the lands 
owned in the West. Though the whites held 
these by purchase and treaty, yet many Indians, 
especially the Wabash and some of the Miami In- 
dians, objected to their occupation, claiming the 
Ohio boundary as the original division line. Clarke 
endeavored to obtain, by treaty at Fort Harmar, 
in 1778, a confirmation of these grants, but was 
not able to do so till January, 9, 1789. Rep- 
resentatives of the Sis Nations, and of the Wyan- 
dots, Delawares, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawato- 
mies and Sacs, met him at this date, and confirmed 
and extended the treaties of Fort Stanwis and 
Fort Mcintosh, the one in 1784, the other in 
1785. This secured peace with the most of them, 
save a few of the Wabash Indians, whom they 
were compelled to com pier by arms. When this 
was accomplished, the borders were thought safe, 
and ^'irginia projiosed to withdraw her aid in suj>- 
port of Kentucky. This opened old troubles, and 
the separation dogma came out afresh. Virginia 
offered to allow the erection of a separate State, 
providing Kentucky would assume part of the old 
debts. This the young commonwealth would not 



;\^ 



72 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



do, and sent a remonstrance. Virginia withdrew 
the proposal, and ordered a ninth cotiveiiliim, 
whieh siieceeded in evolving a phm whereby Ken- 
tueky took her phice aninnj;' the free States of tiie 
Union. 

North of tlic Ohio, the pro.sperity eontiriued. 
In 178;i, Ucv. Daniel Story, who had been ap- 
pointed ini.s.sionary to the West, came out aa a 
teacher of the youth and a preacher oi' the Gospel. 
Dr. Cutler had preceded hiui, not in the capacity 
of a minister, thoufrh he had preachetl ; hence Mr. 
Story is truly the first missionary from the Prot- 
estant Church who came to the Oliio Viilley in 
that capacity. When he came, iu 17Sil, he found 
nine a.s.sociations on the Oliio Company's purchase, 
comprising two hundred ami titty persons in all ; 
and, by the close of ITl'O, eij^ht settlement.s had 
been made; two at Bel])re (belle prairie), one at 
Newbury, one at Wolf Creek, one at Duck Creek, 
one at the mouth of iMi'ijis' Creek, one at Ander- 
son's Bottom, and one at Bij; Bottcjm. An ex- 
tended sketch of all these settlements will be found 
farther on in tiiis volume. 

Symmes had, all this time, strenuously endeav- 
ored to get his city — called Cloves City — favorably 
noticed, and filled with j)eople. He saw a rival in 
Cincinnati. That place, if made military head- 
quarters to |)rotect the Miami Valley, would out.- 
rival his town, situated near the bend of the 
Miami, near its mouth. On the 15th of June, 
Judge Symmes received news that the Wabash 
Indians threatened the Miami .settlements, and as 
he had received only nineteen men for defen.se, he 
applied for more. Before .July, Maj. Douirhty 
arrived at the "Slaughter llou.si^" — as the Miami 
was sometimes called, owing to previous munh^rs 
that had, at former times, occurred therein. 
Through the influence of Symmes, the detach- 
ment laniled at the North Bend, and, for awhile, 
it wiis thought the fort would he erected there. 
This was what Synnnes wanted, a.s it would 
secure him the head()uarters of the military, and 
aid in getting the headi|uartors of the civil gov- 
ernment. The truth was, however, that neither 
the propo.sed city on tlii' .Miami — North Bend, lus 
it afterward liecame known, from it,s location — or 
South Bend, could coinpeto, in point of natural 
advantages, with the plain on which Cincinnati is 
built. Had Fort Washington beiMi built elsewhere, 
atU'r the clo.se of th<! Inilian war, nature woubl 
have !us.serted Ikt advantages, and insured the 
growth of a city, where even the ancient and mys- 
terious dwellers of the Ohio had reared the earthen 



walls of one of their vast temples. Another fact 
is given in relation to the erection of Fort Wa.sh- 
ington at l.io.santiviilc, which partakes somewhatdf 
romance. The Major, while waiting to decide at 
which ]ilace the fort should be built, happened to 
make the acijuaintance of a black-eyed beauty, the 
wife of one of the rcsidcnt.s. Her hu.'^baiid, notic- 
ing the affair, removed her to Ixi.saiitiville. The 
Maj(U' followed; he told Symmes he wished to sec 
how a fort would do there, but promised to give his 
city the preference. He found the beauty there, and 
on his return Symmes could not prevail on him to 
remain. If the story be true, then the importance 
of Cincinnati owes its existence to a trivial circum- 
stance, and the old story of the ten years war 
which terminated in the downfall of Troy, which 
is said to have originated owing to the beauty of 
a Spartan dame, was re-enacted here. Troy and 
North Bend fell beeau.se of the beauty of a wo- 
man; Cincinnati w;is the result of the downfall of 
the latter place. 

About the first of January, 171*0, Governor St. 
Clair, with his officers, descended the Ohio River 
from Marietta to Fort Wa.shington. There he es- 
tablished the county of Hamilton, comprising the 
innnense region of country contiguous to the 
( Hiio, from the Hocking River to the Great 
Miami; appointed a corps of civil and military 
officers, and established a Court of Quarter Ses- 
sions. Some state that at this time, he changed 
the name of the village of Lo.s;intiville to Cin- 
cinnati, in allusion to a society of that name 
which had recently been formed among the officers 
of the Revolutionary army, and established it as 
the siuit of justice for llaniilt<in. This lattw fact 
is certain; but as regards cliaTiging the name of 
the village, there is no good authority for it. With 
this importance attaciied to it, Cincinnati began at 
once an active growth, and from thiit day Cleves' 
city declined. The next summer, frame houses 
began to appear in Cincinnati, while at the same 
time forty new log cabins appeared about the 
fort. 

On the 8th of January, the Governor arrived at 
the falls of the Ohio, on his way to establish a 
government at Vine<!nne.s and Kaska.skia. From 
Clarkesville, he dis)(atched a messenger to Major 
Ilamtranick, commander at Vincenne.s, with 
speeches to the various Indian tribes in this ])art 
of the N<irthwe.st,"who had not fully agreed to the 
treati(^s. St. Clair and Sargent followed in a few 
days, along an Indian trail to \'incennes, where he 
organized the county of Knox, comprising all the 



^ 



xT^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



73 



country along the Ohio, from the Miami to the 
Wabash, and made Vincenues the county seat. 
Then they proceeded across the lower part of Illi- 
nois to Kaskaskia, where he established the county 
of vSt. Clair (so named by Sargent), comprising all 
the country from the Wabash to the ISIississippi. 
Thus the Northwest was divided into three coun- 
ties, and courts established therein. St. Clair 
called upon the French inhabitants at Vincennes 
and in the Illinois country, to show the titles to 
their lands, and also to defray the expense of a 
survey. To this latter demand they rejiliod through 
their priest, Pierre Gibault, .showing their poverty, 
and inability to comply. They were confirmed in 
their grants, and, as they had been good friends to 
the patriot cause, were relieved from the expense 
of the survey. 

While the Governor was managing these affairs, 
Major Hamtramck was engaged in an effort to con- 
ciliate the Wabash Indians. For this purpose, he 
sent Antoine Gamelin, an intelligent French mer- 
chant, and a true friend of America, among them to 
carry messages sent by St. Clair and the Govern- 
ment, and to learn their sentiments and dispositions. 
Gamelin perfiirnied this important mission in the 
spring of 1790 with much sagacity, and, as the 



French were good friends of the natives, he did 
much to conciliate these half-hostile tribes. He 
visited the t<.)wns of these tribes along the Wabash 
and a.s fiir north and east as the Miami village, 
Ke-ki-ong-ga — St. Mary's — at the junction of the 
St. Mary's and Joseph's Rivers (Fort Wayne). 

Gameliu's report, and the intelligence brought by 
some traders from the Upper Wabash, were con- 
veyed to the Governor at Kaskaskia. The reports 
convinced him that the Indians of that part of' the 
Northwest wore preparing for a war on the settle- 
ments north of the Ohio, intending, if possible, to 
drive them south of it; that river being still consid- 
ered by them as the true boundary. St. Clair lefl 
the administration of affairs in the Western counties 
to Sargent, and returned at once to Fort Washing- 
ton to provide for the defense of the frontier. 

The Indians had begun their predatory incur- 
sions into the country .settled by the whites, and 
had committed some depredations. The Kentuck- 
ians were enlisted in an attack against the Scioto 
Indians. April 18, Gen. Harmar, with It*) 
regulars, and Gen. Scott, with 230 volunteers, 
marched from Limestone, by a circuitous route, to 
the Scioto, accomplishing but little. The savages 
had fled. 



CHAPTER VII. 



THE INDIAN WAR OF 1705 — HARMAR'S CAMPAIGN— ST. CLAIR'S CAMPAIGN — WAYNE'S 

CAMPAIGN— CLOSE OF THE WAR. 



A GREAT deal of the hostility at this period 
was directly traceable to the British. Tlicy 
yet held Detroit and several posts on the lakes, in 
violaticin of the treaty of 1781?. They alleged as 
a reason for not abandoning them, that the Ameri- 
cans had not fulfilled the conditions (if the treaty 
regarding the collection of debts. Moreover, they 
did ;dl they could to remain at the frontier and en- 
joy the emoluments derived from the fur trade. 
That they aided the Indians in the conflict at this 
time, Ls undeniable. Just how, it is difficult to 
say. But it is well known the savages had all the 
ammunition and fire-arms they wanted, more than 
they could have obtained from American and 
French renegade traders. They were al.so well 
supplied with cluthing, and were able to prolong 
the war some time. A great confederation was on 
the eve of formation. The leading spirits were 



Cornplanter, Brant, Little Turtle and other noted 
chiefs, and had not the British, as Brant said, 
"encouraged us to the war, and promised us aid, 
and then, when we were driven away by the Amer- 
icans, shut the doors of their fortresses against us 
and refused us food, when they saw us nearly con- 
quered, we Would have effected our object." 

McKee, J]lliott and Girty were also actively en- 
gaged in aiding the natives. All of them were in 
the interest of the British, a fact clearly proven 
by the Indians themselves, and by other traders. 

St. Clair and Gen. Harmar determined to send 
an expedition against the JIauraee towns, and .se- 
cure that part of the country. Letters were sent 
to the militia officers of Western Pennsylvania, 
Virginia and Kentucky, calling on them for militia 
to co-operate with the regular troops in the cam- 
paign. According to the plan of the campaign, 



> V 



74 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



300 militia were to rendezvous at Fort Steuben 
(Jcffersoiivillc), in;ircli thcnei^ to Fort Knox, at 
Vinceniies, and juiii .Maj. IIumtraUK-k in an expe- 
dition iif) tlie Waliasli ; 701) were to rendezvous at 
Fort Wasliinj^tun to join the regular army against 
the MaumiHi towns. 

While St. Clair was forming his army and ar- 
ranging for the campaign, three expeditions were 
sent out against the Miami towns. One again.st 
the Miami villages, not far from the Wabash, was 
led by (ien. llarmar. He had in his army about 
fourteen hundred men, regulars and militia. These 
two parts of the army eould not be made to aftili- 
ate, and, ;us a eonsefjuenee, the expedition did little 
beyond burning the villages and deistroying corn. 
The militia would not submit to discipline, and would 
not serve under regular officers, it will be seen 
what this .spirit led to when St. Clair went on his 
march soon after. 

The Indians, emboldened by the meager success 
of Harmar's command, continued their deproda- 
dations against the t)hio settlements, destroying 
the community at Hig Bottom. To hold them in 
check, and also i)unisli them, an army under Charles 
Scott went against the Waba.sh Indians. Little 
was done here but destroy towns and the standing 
corn. In July, another arm}', under Col. Wilkin- 
son, was sent against the Fel River Indians. He- 
coming entangled in extensive niora.sses on the 
river, the army became eM<langered, but was finally 
extricated, and accomjilished no more than either 
the other armies before it. As it w:is, however, the 
three ex|)editions directed against the Miamis and 
Shawaiices, served oidy to exa.sjierate them. The 
burning of their towns, the ilestruction of their 
corn, and the captivity of their women and chil- 
dren, only arouseil them t« more des]ierate efforts 
to d(!fend their country and to hara.ss their in- 
vaders. To accompli.sh this, the chiefs of the 
.Miamis, Shawanecs and the l)elawar(!S, Little 
Turtle, Blue Jacket and liuckongahdas, were en- 
gaged in forming a confederacy of all the tribes of 
the Xorlhwest, strong enough to drive the whites 
beyond the Ohio. I'ontiac had tried that before, 
even when he had open allies among the l'"niicb. 
The Indians now had .secret allies among the I5ril- 
ish, yet, in the end, they did not succeed. While 
they were preparing for thi' conte„st, St. Clair was 
gathering his fbncs, intending to erect a chain of 
forts from the Ohio, by way of the Miami and 
Mauniee valh^ys, to the lakes, and thereliy effect- 
ually hold the savages in check. Washington 
warmly seconded this plan, and designated the 



junction of the St. Mary's and St. Jo.seph's Rivers as 
an important post. This had been a fortification 
almost from the time the Knglish held the valley, 
and only neiHled little work to make it a forniid- 
abl(> fiirtress. (jcn. Knox, the Secretary of War, 
al.so favored the j)lan, and gave instructions con- 
cerning it. Under these instructions, St. Clair 
organized his forces as rapidly as he could, although 
the numerous drawbacks almost, at times, threat- 
ened the defeat of the campaign. Through the 
summer the; arms and accouterments of the army 
were put in readiness at Fort Wa.shiugton. Many- 
were found to be of the poorest (juality, and to be 
badly out fif repair. The militia came poorly 
arme<l, \inder the impression they were to be pro- 
vided with arms. While wailing in camp, habits 
of idleness engendered themselves, and drunken- 
ness followed. They continued their accustomed 
freedom, disdaining to drill, and ref'u.sed to .siibmit 
to the regular officers. A bitter spirit broke out 
between the reguhu' troops and the militia, which 
none eould heal. The insubordination of the mi- 
litia and their officers, caused them a defeat after- 
ward, which they in vain attempted to fasten on 
the l)usy General, and the regular troops. 

The army was not ready to move till September 
17. It was then 2,80(1 strong. It then moved 
to a point upon the Great Miami, wliere they 
erected Fort Hamilton, the first in the pr(i]io.sed 
chain of fortres.ses. After its completion, they 
moved on forty-four miles farther, and. on the 12th 
of Oitober, began the erection of Fort Jeffi'rson, 
about six miles .south of the present town of (jreen- 
ville, Darke County. On the 24th, the army again 
took up its line of march, through a wilderness, 
marshy and boggy, and full of savage foes. The 
army ra|)idly declined under the hot sun ; even the 
commaniler was suffiring from an indisposition. 
The militia deserted, in companies at a time, leav- 
ing the bulk of the work to the regular troops. 
By the 3d of November, the army reached a 
stream twelve yards wide, which St. Clair sup- 
po,s('<i to be a liranch of the St. Mary of the Mau- 
mee, but which in reality was a triliutary of the 
Wabiish. Upon the banks of that stream, the 
army, now about fourteen hundred strong, en- 
eam)ied in two lines. A slight protection was 
thrown up as a safeguard against the Indians, who 
wen' known to be in the neighborhood. The (len- 
eral intende<l to attack them next day, liul, about 
half an hour before sunrise, ju.st after the militia 
had been dismi.s.sed from parade, a sudden attack 
was made upon them. The militia were thrown 



^ (S 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



75 



into ciinftision, and disregarded the command of 
the officers. They had not been sufficiently drilled, 
and now was seen, too late and too plainly, the evil 
eff'ects of their insubordination. Through the 
morning the battle waged furiously, the men falling 
by scores. About nine o'clock the retreat began, 
covered by Maj. Cook and his troops. The re- 
treat was a disgraceful, precipitate flight, though, 
after four miles had been pas.sed, the enemy re- 
turned to the work of scalping the dead and 
wounded, and of pillaging the camp. Through 
the day and the night their dreadful work con- 
tinued, one scjuaw afterward dei-laring '' lier arm 
was weary scalping the white men." The army 
reached Fort Jefferson a little after sunset, having 
thrown away much of its arms and baggage, though 
the act was entirely unnecessary. After remain- 
ing liere a short time, it was decided by the officers 
to move on toward Fort Hamilton, and thence to 
Fort Washington. 

The defeat of St. Clair was the most terrible re- 
verse the Americans over suffc'red from the Indi- 
ans. It was greater than even Bradilock's defeat. 
His army consisted of 1,200 men and HtJ officers, 
of whom 711 men and 113 officers were killed or 
wounded. St. Clair's army consisted of 1,400 
men and 8(j officers, of whom 8!I0 men and l(j 
officers were killed or wounded. The comparative 
effects of the two engagements very inadequately 
represent the cru.shing efi'ect of St. Clair's defeat. 
An unprotected frontier of more tlian a thousand 
miles in extent was now thrown open to a foe made 
merciless, and an. \ious to drive the whites from the 
north side of the Ohio. Now, settlers were scat- 
tered along all the streams, and in all the forests, ex- 
posed to the cruel enemy, wlio .'stealthily a]iproached 
the homes of the pioneer, to murdca' him and his 
family. Loud calls arose from the people to defend 
and protect them. St. Clair was covcrcil with almse 
for his defeat, when he really was ncitalnne to blame 
for it. Tlie militia would not be coiitrullrd. Had 
Clarke been at thcirhead, or Wayne, wIkj succeeded 
St. Clair, the result might have been different. As 
it was, St. Clair resigned ; though ever after ho en- 
joyed the c<jnfidenee of Wiishington and Congress. 

Four days after the defeat of St. Clair, the army, 
in its straggling condition, reached Fort Washing- 
ton, and paused to rest. On the 9th, St. Clair 
wrote fully to the Secretary of War. On tlie 12th, 
Gen. Knox communicated the information to Con- 
gress, and on the 2()th, he laid before the Presi- 
dent two reports, the second containing sugges- 
tions regarding future operations. His sugges- 



tions urged the establishment of a strong TTnited 
States Army, as it was plain the States could not. 
control the matter. He also urged a thorough 
drill of the soldiers. No more insubordination 
could be tolerated. General Wayne was selected 
by Washington as the commander, and at onci' pro- 
ceeded to the task assigned to him. In June, 1792, 
he went to Pitt.'^burgh to organize the army now 
gathering, which was to be the ultimate argu- 
ment with the Indian confederation. Through the 
summer he was steadily at work. "Train and dis- 
cipline them for the work they are meant for, " 
wrote Wa.shington, "and do not spare powder and 
lead, so the men be made good marksmen." In 
December, the forces, now recruited and trained, 
gathered at a point twenty-two miles below Pitts- 
burgh, on the Ohio, called Legionville, the army 
itself being denominated the Legion of the I'nited 
States, divided into four sub-legions, and provided 
with the proper officers. Meantime, Col. ^\'ilkin.son 
succeeded St. Clair as commander at Fort Wash- 
ington, and sent out a force to examine the field of 
defeat, and bury the dead. A shocking sight met 
their view, revealing the deeds of cruelty enacted 
upon their comrades by the savage enemy. 

While Wayne's army was drilling, peace meas- 
ures were pressed forward by the LTnited States 
with equal perseverance. The Irocpiois were in- 
duced to visit Philadelphia, and partially secured 
from the general confederacy. They were wary, 
however, and, expecting aid from the British, held 
aloof. Brant did not come, as was hojied, and it 
Wiis plain there was intrigue somewhere. Five 
independent embassies were sent among the West- 
ern tribes, to endeavor to prevent a war, and win 
over the inimical trilies. But the victcirios they 
had won, and the favorable whispers of the British 
agents, closed the cars of the red men, and all 
propositions were rejected in some form or other. 
.\ll the emba.ssadors, save Putnam, suffered death. 
He alone was able to reach his goal — the Wabash 
Indians — and effect any treaty. C)n the 27th of 
December, in company with Ileckewelder, the Mo- 
ravian missionary, he reached Vincennes, and met 
thirty-one chiefs, representing the Weas, Piankc- 
shaws, Kaskaskias, Peorias, Illinois, Pottawatomies, 
Maseoutins, Kickapoos and P]el River Indians, and 
concluded a treaty of peace with them. 

The fourth article of this treaty, however, con- 
tained a provision guaranteeing to the Indians 
their lands, and when the treaty was laid before 
Congress, February 1.3, 1793, that body, after 
much discussion, refused on that account to ratify it. 






HISTORY OF OHIO. 



-►- 



A great council of the Indians was to be held 
at Auglaize dining the autumn of \~'.^'-, when 
the assembled nations were to diseuss fully their 
means of defense, and determine their future line 
of aetion. Tiie eouneil mtit in October, and was 
the largest Indian gathering of the time. The 
chiefs of all the tribes of the Northwest were there. 
The representatives of the seven nations of Canada, 
were in attendance. Cornijlanter and forty-eight 
chiefs of the New York (Six Nations) Indians re- 
paired thither. " Hesides these," said Cornjilanter, 
"there were so many nations we cannot tell the 
names of them. There were three men from the 
Gora nation; it took them a whole season to come; 
and," continued he, "twenty-seven nations irom 
beyond Canada were there." Tlu^ (inc^tion of 
peace or war w;is long and earnestly dcibated. Their 
future w;is solemnly di.scussed, and around the 
council fire native eloi|ueuce and native zeal 
shone in all their sim))le strength. One nation 
after another, through their chiefs, presented their 
views. The deputies of the Si.x Nations, who had 
been at Philadelphia to consult the "Thirteen 
Fires," made their report. The Western bound- 
ary was the j>riuciiial (piestion. The natives, with 
one accord, declared it must be the Ohio River. 
An address Wiis ])re])ared, and sent to the President, 
wherein their views were stated, and agreeing to 
abstain from all lio.stilities, until they could nie<'t 
again in the sjjring at the rapids of the Mauincc, 
and there consult with their white brothers. They 
desired the President to .send agents, "who are 
men of honesty, not prou<l land-jobbers, but men 
who love and desin^ ])eace." The good work of 
I'enn was evidenced here, ius they desired that the 
embas.sadors " be accompanied by some Friend or 
Quaker." 

The armistice they had promised wiis not, how- 
ever, faithfully kept. (Jn the (ith of November, 
a detachim'nt of Kentucky cavalry at Fort St. 
Clair, aljout twenty-five miles alxive Fort Hamil- 
ton, was atUicked. The commander, I^Iaj. Adair, 
was an excellent officer, well versed in Indian tac- 
tics, and (hifeated the .savages. 

This infraction of their promi.ses did not deter 
the linit;d Stat(« from taking measures to meet 
the Indians at the rajjids of the. IManmee " when 
the leaves W(tre fully out." For that purpo.se, the 
President .sdected jus eommi.ssioners, Charles Car- 
roll and Charles Thoni]isoii, but, as they declined 
the nimiination, he aj)pointed Henjamin Lincoln, 
Beverly Randolph and Timothy Pickering, the 1st 
of March, 17JI-5, to attend the convention, which, 



it was thought best, should be held at the San- 
dusky outjiost. .-Vbont the last of April, these 
eommi.ssioners leit I'hiladilphia, and, late in May, 
reaeh(;d Niagara, where they remained guests of 
Lieut. Gov. Siiucoe, of the Rritish (iovernmeut. 
This officer gave them all the aid he could, yet it 
was soon made pkiin to them that he would not 
object to the confederation, nay, even rather fav- 
on^l it. They speak of his kindness to them, in 
grateful terms. Gov. Siiucoe advised the Indians 
to make peace, but not to give up any of their 
lands. That Wits the pith of the whole matter. 
The British rather claimed land in New York, 
under the treaty of 1788, alleging the Americans 
had not fully com|ilied with the t<'rms of that 
treaty, hence they were not as anxious for peace 
and a peaceful settlement oi'the diflieult boundary 
ipiestion as they sometimes rejiresented. 

By July, "the leaves were fully out," the con- 
ferences among the tribes w'ere ovt'r, and, on the 
l.")th of that month, the commis.sioners nu^t Brant 
and some fifty natives. In a strong speech, Brant 
.set forth their wishes, and invited them to accom- 
])any him to the place of holding the council. The 
Indians were rather jealous of Wajne's continued 
jireparations for war, hence, just before setting out 
for the Maumee, the eommi.ssioners .sent a letter to 
the Secretary of War, asking that all warlike 
demonstrations cea.sc until the result of their mis- 
sion be known. 

On 21st of July, the emba.ssy reached the head 
of the Detroit River, where their advance was 
checked by the British authorities at Detroit, cimi- 
pelling them to take up their abode at the hou.se 
of Andrew Elliott, the famous renegade, then a 
British agent under Alexander McKce. McKee 
WiLS attending the council, and the commissioners 
addressed him a note, borne by Elliott, to inform 
him of their arrival, and iusking when they could 
be received. Elliott returned on the 2!>th, bring- 
ing with him a deputation of twenty chiefs from 
the council. The next day, a conf'erenci' was held, 
and the chief of the Wyandots, Sa-wagh-da-wnnk, 
prcsentcnl to the commi.-^sioners, in writing, their 
exjilicit demand in regard to the boundary, and 
their ])urjioses and powers. "The Ohio must be 
the boundary," saiil he, " or blood will flow." 

The commissicmers returned an answer to the 
propositicm brought by the chiefs, rccaiiitulating 
tlie treaties already made, and denying the Ohio 
as the boundary line. On the Kith of August, 
the council sent them, by tvio Wyandot runners, 
a final answer, in which they recapitulated their 






lii^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



77 



former assertions, and exhibited great powers of 
reasoning and clear logic in defense of their po- 
sition. The commissioners reply that it is inipos- 
blo to accept the Ohio as the boundary, and declare 
the negotiation at an end. 

This closed the efforts of the Government to ne- 
gotiate with the Indians, and there remained of 
necessity no other mode of settling the dispute 
but war. Liberal terms had been offered them, 
but nothing but the boundary of the Ohio Kiver 
Would suffice. It was the only conditinn upon 
wliich the confederation would lay down its arms. 
" Among the rude -statesmen of the wilderness, 
there was exhibited as pure patriotism and as lofty 
devotion to the good of their race, as ever won ap- 
plause among civilized men. The white man had, 
ever since he came into the country, been encroach- 
ing on their lands. lie had long occupied the 
regions beyond the mountains. lie had crushed 
the conspiracy formed by Pontiac, thirty years be- 
fore. He had taken possession of the common 
hunting-gTound of all the tribes, on the faith of 
treaties they did not acknowledge. lie was 
now laying out settlements and building forts in 
the heart of the country to which all the tribes 
had been driven, and which now was all they could 
call their own. And now they asked that it should 
be guaranteed to them, that the boundary which 
tlii'y had so long asked for should be drawn, and 
a final cud be made to the continual aggressions of 
the whites; or, if not, they solemnly determined to 
stake their all, against fearful odds, in defense of 
their homes, their country and the iidieritance of 
their children. Nothing could be more patriotic 
than the position they occupied, and nothing could 
be more noble than the declarations of their 
council."* 

They did not know the strength of the whites, 
and based thinr success on the victories already 
gained. They hoped, nay, were promised, aid from 
tiie British, and even the Spanish had held out to 
them assurances of help when the hour of conflict 
came. 

The Americans were not disposed to yield even 
to the confederacy of the tribes backed by the two 
rival nations, forming, as Wayne characterized it, a 
" hydra of British,, Spanish and Indian hostility." 
On the IGth of August, the commissioners re- 
ceived the final answer of the council. The 17th, 
they lefV the mouth of the Detroit Kiver, and the 
2:!<1, arrived at Fort Erie, where they immediately 

* Annals of the West. 



dispatched messengers to Gen. Wayne to inform 
him of the issue of the negotiation. Wayne had 
spent the winter of 1792-98, at Legionville, in col- 
lecting and organizing his army. April 30, 1793, 
the army moved down the river and encamped at 
a point, called by the soldiers " Hobson's choice," 
because fi'om the extreme height of the river they 
were prevented fi-om landing elsewhere. Here 
AVayne was engaged, during the negotiations for 
jieace, in drilling his soldiers, in cutting roads, and 
collecting supplies for the army. He was ready 
for an immediate campaign in case the council 
failed in its object. 

While here, he sent a letter to the Secretary of 
War, detailing the circumstances, and suggesting 
the probable course he should follow. He re- 
mained here during the summer, and, when apprised 
of the issue, saw it was too late to attempt the 
campaign then. He sent the Kentucky militia 
home, and, with his regular soldiers, went into 
winter quarters at a fort he built on a tributary 
of the Great Miami. He called the fort Green- 
ville. The present town of Greenville is near tbe 
site of the fort. During the winter, he sunt a de- 
tachment to visit the scene of St. Clair's defeat. 
They found more than six hundred skulls, and 
were obliged to "scrape the bones together and 
carry them out to get a place to make their beds." 
They buried all they could find. Wayne was 
steadily preparing his forces, so as to have every- 
thing ready for a sure blow when the time came. 
All his information showed the faith in the British 
which still animated the doomed red men, and 
gave them a hope that could end only in defeat. 

The conduct of the Indians fully corroborated 
the statements received by Gen. Wayne. On the 
30th of June, an escort of ninety riflemen and 
fifty dragoons, under command of Maj. WcMahon, 
was attacked under the walls of Fort Recovery by 
a force of more than one thousand Indians under 
charge of Little Turtle. They were rei)ulsed and 
badly defeated, and, the next day, driven away. 
Their mode of action, their arms and ammunition, 
all told plainly of British aid. They also ex- 
pected to find the cannon lost by St. Clair Novem- 
ber 4, 1791, but which the Americans had secured. 
The 26th of July, Gen. Scott, with 1,G00 
mounted men from Kentucky, joined Gen. Wayne 
at Fort Greenville, and, two days after, the legion 
moved forward. The 8th of August, the army 
reached the junction of the Auglaize and Mau- 
mee, and at once proceeded to erect Fort Defiance, 
where the waters meet. The Indians had abandoned 






-^ 



78 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



their towns on the approach of the army, and 
were eongregating further iiortliward. 

While engaged on Fort Defiance, Waj'ne 
received coutiniial and full rej)ort8 of the Indians — • 
of their aid from Detroit and elsewhere; of the 
nature of the ground, and the circumstances, 
favorable or unfavorable. From all he could 
learn, and coiisideriMg the spirits of his army, 
now thorouglily disciplined, he detennined U) 
march forward and settle matters at once. Yet, 
true to his own instinct.s, and to the mea.sures of 
peace , so forcibly taught by Washington, he sent 
("liristopher Miller, who had been naturalized 
among the Shawanees, and taken prisoner Ijy 
AVayne's spies, as a messenger of peace, offering 
terms of friendship. 

Unwilling to waste time, the troops began to 
move forward the lath of August, atid the next 
day met Miller with the message that if the Amer- 
icans would wait ten days at Auglaize the Indians 
would decide fiir pcace»or war. Wayne knew too 
well the Indian character, and answered the mes- 
sage by simply marching ou. The ISth, the legion 
had advanced furty-oiie miles fnim Auglaize, and, 
being near the lung-looked-for foe, began to take 
some mea.sures for prot<iCtion, should they be at- 
tacked. A slight breastwork, called Fort Deposit, 
was erected, wherein most of their heavy baggage 
was placed. They remained here, building their 
Works, until the 2(lth, when, storing their baggage, 
the army began again its march. After advancing 
about tive miles, tliey met a large force of the ene- 
my, two thousand strong, who fiercely attacked 
them. Wayne Wius, however, jjrejiared, and in tbe 
short battle that ensued they were routed, and 
large numbers slain. Tbe American loss was very 
slight. The horde of savages w<ri' put to fliglit, 
leaving the Americans victorious almost under 
the Walls of tbe ISritish garrison, under Maj. 
Campbell. This ofliccr sent a h'lter to (ieii. 
Wayiu', asking an e.\]ilanation of his cotiduct in 
figliting so near, and in such eviiU'iit lioslility to 
the British. Wayne replie<l, telling liim he was 
in a country tliat did not belong to him, and one 
he wa.s not authorized to hold, and also cliargiiig 
him with aiding the Indians. A spirited corre- 
spondence h)llo\ved, which ended in the American 
commander marching on, and deviustating the In- 
dian country, even burning McKee's house and 
stores under the muzzles ol' thi' Knglish guns. 

The 1 lili ol' September, till' army marched from 
Fort Defiance for tbe Miami village at the junc- 
tion of tbe St. Mary's and St. Jose]pli Kivers. It 



reached there on the 1 Tth, and the next day Gen. 
Wayne selected a site for a fort. The 'I'M of Oc- 
tober, the fort was completed, and g;irrisoned bj' a 
detachment under Maj. ilamtramck, who gave to it 
the name of Fort Wayne. The 14th of October, 
tbe mounted Kentucky volunteers, who had be- 
come dis.satislieil ami mutinous, were started to 
Fort Washiiigtiin, where they were immediatel}' 
mustered out of service and discharged. The 2Stii 
of October, the legion marched from Fort Wayne 
to Fiut (ireenville, where Gen. Wayne at once 
established his headtjuarlers. 

The campaign had been decisive and .short, and 
had taught the Indians a severe lesson. Tbe ]?rit- 
ish, too, had failed them in their hour of need, and 
now they began to see the}' had a foe to contend 
whose resources were e.xhaustless. ITiuler these 
circum.stances, losing faith in the Kngli.sh, and at 
kust im])ressed with a respect for American jkiwer, 
after the defeat e.\])erienced at the hands of the 
•■niack Snake," th(^ various tribes made up their 
minds, by degrees, to ;usk for peace. During the 
winter and spring, they e.xchanged prisoners, and 
made ready to meet (ieii. Wayne at (ireenville, in 
June, for the purpose of forming a definite treaty, 
a.s it had been agrei'd should ln^ done by the pre- 
liminaries of January 21. 

During the indiuh of June, I"!!"), representa- 
tives of the Xortbwe.stern tribes began to gather at 
Greenville, and, the llith of the montli. Gen. Wayne 
met in council tbe Delawares, Ottawas, I'ottawato- 
niies and Kel IJiver Indians, and the conferences, 
which lasted till August 10, b-gan. Tbe 21st 
of June, Duckongahelas arrived; the 2;5d, Little 
Turtle and other Miamis ; the Kith of July, 
Tarhe and other Wyandot chiefs ; and the ISlh, 
Blue Jacket, and thirteen Shawanees and iMa.s.sas 
with twenty Cbipiiewas. 

Most of these, as it a]i|ieared by their statements, 
had been tam])ered with by the English, especially 
by i\li I'^ee, (iirty and Brant, even after tlie pre- 
liminariis of Jainiary 2 f, and while .Air. Jay w;ls 
jierfecting his treaty. Tluy had, Imwever, all de- 
termined to make ]peace with the "'fliirtcen Fires," 
and although ,soin<' difficulty a-s to the ownership of 
the lands to be ceded, at one time seemed likely to 
ari.se, the good simse of Wayne and the leading 
I chiefs ju-evenled it, and, thellllth of July, the treaty 
was agreed to wliii li sliould bury tbe hatchet for- 
exlT. Between that day and the lid of August, 
it was engros.seJ, and, having been signed by the 
variiius nations upnn the day last named, it was 
I finally acted upon tbe 7th, and the presents from 



-^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



79 



the United States distributed. The basis of this 
treaty was the previous one made at Fort Harmar. 
The boundaries made at. that time were re-affirmed ; 
the whites were secured on the lands now occu- 
pied by them or secured by former treaties ; and 
among all the assembled nations, presents, in value 
not less than one thousand pounds, were distributed 
to each through its representatives, many thousands 
in all. The Indiana were allowed to remove and 



punish intruders on their lands, and were permitted 
to hunt on the ceded lands. 

"This great and abiding peace document was 
signed by the various tribes, and dated August o, 
1795. It wa.s laid before the Senate December 9, 
and ratified the 22d. So closed the old Indian 
wars in the West.'' * 

* Annala of the W^est." 



CHAPTER VIII. 

JAY'S TREATY — THE QUESTION OF STATE RIGHTS AND NATIONAL SUPREMACY — EXTENSION 
OF OHIO SETTLEMENTS— LAND CLAIMS— SPANISH BOUNDARY QUESTION. 



WHILE these six years of Indian wars were 
in progress, Kentucky was admitted ;us a 
State, and Pinckney s treaty with Spain was com- 
pleted. This la.st occurrence was of vital impor- 
tance to the West, as it secured the free navigation 
of the Mississippi, charging only a fair price for 
the storage of goods at Spanish ports. This, 
though not all that the Americans wLshed, was a 
great gain in their favor, and did much to stop 
those agitations regarding a separation on the part 
of Kentucky. It also quieted affairs further 
south than Kentucky, in the Georgia and South 
Carolina Territory, and put an end to French 
and Spanish intrigue for the Western Territory. 
The treaty was signed November 24, 1794. 
Another treaty was concluded by Mr. John Jay 
between the two governments. Lord Greenville 
representing the P]nglish, and Mr. Jay, the Ameri- 
cans. The negotiations lasted from April to 
November 19, 1795, when, on that day, the treat}' 
was signed and duly recognized. It decided 
effectually all the questions at Issue, and was the 
signal for the removal of the British troops from 
the Northwestern outposts. This w;ls effected as 
soon as the proper transfers could be made. The 
second article of the treaty provided that, "HLs 
j\lajesty will withdraw all his troops and garrisons 
from all posts and places within the boundary 
lines assigned by the treaty of ])eace to the United 
States. This evacuation shall take place on or 
before the l.st day of June, 179(i, and all the 
]:iroper measures shall be taken, in the interval, by 
concert, between the Government of the United 
States and His Majesty's Governor General in 
America, for settling the previous arrangements 



'which may be necessary respecting the delivery 
of the said posts; the United States, in the mean 
time, at their discretion, extending their settle- 
ments to any part within the said boundar}' line, 
except within the precincts or jurisdiction of any 
of the said posts. 

"AH settlers and all traders within the precincts 
or jurisdiction of the said posts shall cimtinue to 
enjoy, unmolested, all their pr(jperty of eveiy 
kind, and shall be protected therein. They shall 
be at full libertj' to remain there or to remove 
with all, or any part, of their effects, or retain the 
property thereof at their discretion; such of them 
as shall continue to reside within the said boundary 
lines, shall not be comjielled to become citizens of 
the United States, or take any oath of allegiance 
to the Government thereof; but they shall be at 
full liberty so to do, if the}' think proper; they 
shall make or declare their election one year after 
the evacuation aforesaid. And all persons who 
shall continue therein after the expiration of the 
said year, without having declared their intention 
of remaining subjects to His Britannic Majesty, 
shall be considered a.s having elected to become 
citizens of the United States." 

The Indian war had settled all fears from that 
source ; the treaty with Great Britain had estab- 
lished the boundaries between the two countries 
and secured peace, and the treaty with Spain had 
secured the privilege of navigating the Mi-ssissippi, 
by paying only a nominal sum. It had also bound 
the people of the We.st together, and ended the 
old sejiaration question. There was no danger 
from that now. Another difficulty arose, however, 
relating to the home rule, and the organization of 



V 



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80 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



the liome government. There were twd ]iarties in 
the country, known as Federalist and Anti-Federal- 
ist. One favored a eenlral government, whose au- 
thority should be sujireme ; the other, only a 
eoin]jaet, leaving the States supreme. The wcirth- 
lessne.ss of tiu' cjld colonial system became, daily, 
mure a]iparent. While it existed no one felt .safe. 
'J'iieru was no prospect of paying the debt, and, 
hence, no credit. When Mr. 11 auiilton. Secretary 
of tlie Trea.sur}', offered his financial plan to the 
country, favoring centralization, it met, in many 
places, violent opposition. Wa.shington was strong 
enough to carry it out, and gave evidence that he 
wouhl do so. When, therefore, the excise law 
]ia.ssed, and taxes on whisky were collected, an 
open revolt occurred in Penn.sylvania. known as 
the " Whisky Insurrection." It was put down, 
finally, liy military jiower, and the malcontents 
made to know tliat the United States was a gov- 
ernment, not a compact liable to rupture at any 
time, and by any of its members. It taught the 
entire nation a lesson. Centralization meant jjre.s- 
ervation. Shtndd a • compact " form of government 
prevail, then auarcliy antl ruin, and ultimate sub- 
jection to some for(;ign power, met their view. 
That they liad just fought to di.spel, and must it 
all go for naught? The peojjle saw the rulers 
were right, and gradually, over the West, spread a 
spirit antagcinistic to State sujiremacy. It did not 
revive till Jackson's time, when he, with an iron 
hand and iron will, crushed out the evil doctrine 
of State sujiremaey. It revived again in the late 
war, again to \>e crushed. It is to bi' hoped that 
ever thus will be its fiite. " The llnioii is inse)ia- 
rable, " said the Government, ami the people echoed 
the words. 

During the war, and while all these events had 
been transpiring, settk'ments had been taking jjlace 
upon the Ohio, which, in their influence upon the 
Northwest, and especially upon the State, as soon 
aa it Wius created, were deeply felt. The \'irginia 
and the Connecticut Reserves were at this time 
jieopled, and. also, that part of the Miami \'all<y 
abiiut Dayton, which city dates its origin fnjm that 
])eriiid. 

As early as IT^'^T, the reserved lands of the Old 
Dominion north of the Ohio were examined, and, 
in August of that year, entries were made. As 
no good title coidd be obtained from Congres.s at 
this time, th<; .settlement |ira(tically ceiused until 
1"!HI, when the jirobibition to enter them w;is 
withdrawn. .Vs soon as that was done, surveying 
began again. Nathaniel Massie was among the 



foremost men in the survej' of this tract, and lo- 
cating the lands, laid off a toWTi about twelve miles 
above Maysville. The ]ilaec was calli-il .Maiuhester, 
and yet exists. From this point. .Ma.ssie continued 
through all the Indian war. desjiite tlu! ilanger. to 
survey the surrounding country, and jirepare it for 
.settlers. 

Connecticut had, as has been .stated, ceded her 
lands, save a tract extending one hundred and 
twenty miles beyond the western boundary of 
Pennsylvania. ()f this Connecticut Reserve, so 
far as the Indian title was (!Xtiiiguished, a survey 
was ordered in October, ITi^O, and an office opened 
for its dLsjio-sal. Part w;ls soon .sold, and, in 1792, 
half a million of acres were given to those citizens 
of Connecticut who had lost ]iroperty by the acts 
of the British troops during the Revt)lutiouary 
war at New London. Ni>w Haven and elsewhere. 
The.se lands thereby becanii' known as " Fire lands" 
and the •Suflerers lands," and were located in the 
wt«tern ]iart of the Reserve. In May, 17!I5, the 
Connecticut lii'gislature authorized a eonnnittee to 
dispo.se of the remainder of the Reserve. Refore 
autumn the eonmiittee .sold it to a com]iany known 
as the Connecticut Land Company for §1,2(10,000, 
and about the 5th of September quit-claimed the 
land to the Comjiany. The same day the Company 
received it, it sold 8,000,000 acres to John Mor- 
gan, John Caldwi'll and Jonathan Brace, in trust. 
Upon these (put-claim titles of the land all deeds 
in the Reserve are biused. Surveys were com- 
menced in IVIK), and, by the close of the next 
year, all the laud east of the Cuyahoga was divided 
into townships five nules .s(|uarc. The agent of the 
Connecticut jjand Company was (Jen. Moses Cleve- 
land, and in his honor the leading city of the Re- 
serve was named. That townshi]i and five others 
were re.serveil for private sale; the balance were 
dis])o.sed of by lottery, the first drawing occurring 
in February, 17il8. 

Dayton resulted from the treaty made by Wayne. 
It came out of the IxMimlary a.seribed to Symme.s, 
and for a while all such lands were not recognized 
as sold by Congress, owing to the failure of 
Symmes and his a.s.soeiates in j)aying for them. 
Thereby there existed, for a time, considerable un- 
easiness regarding the title to these lands. In 
17!'!l, Congress was induced to issue patents to the 
actual .settlers, and thus .secure them in their pre- 
em]ition. 

Sevent<'en days after Wayne's treaty, St. Clairs 
Wilkinson, Jonathan Dayton anil Israel Ludlow 
contracted with Symmes for the seventh and eighth 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



83 



ranges, between Mad River and the Little Miami. 
Three .settlements were to be made: one at the 
mouth of Mad River, one on the Little Miami, in 
the seventh ranue, and another on Mad River. On 
the 21 St of September, 17115, Daniel C Cooper 
started to survey and mark out a road in the pur- 
chase, and John Dunlap to run its boundaries, 
which was ecjmpletetl before October 4. On No- 
vember 4, Mr. Ludlcpw laid off the town of Day- 
ton, which, like land in the C'onueclicut Reserve, 
was sold by lottery. 

A gigantic scheme to purchase eighteen or 
twenty million acres in Michigan, and then pro- 
cure a good title from the Government — who alone 
had Such a right to procure land — by giving mem- 
bers of Congress an interest in the investment, 
appeared shortly after Wayne's treaty. When 
some of the members were approached, however, 
the real spirit of the scheme appeared, and, instead 
of gaining ground, led to the exposure, resulting 
in the reprimanding severely of Robert Randall, 
the principal mover in the whole plan, and in its 
speedy disappearance. 

Another enterprise, equally gigantic, also ap- 
peared. It was, however, legitimate, and hence 
successful. On the 20th of February, ll^b, the 
North American Land Company was formed in 
Philadelphia, under the management of such pat- 
riots as Robert Morris, John Nicholson and James 
Greenleaf. This Company purchased large tracts 
in the West, which it disposed of to actual settlers, 
and thereby aided greatly in populating that part 
of the country. 

Before the close of 1795, the Governor of the 
Territory, and his Judges, published si.Kty-four 
statutes. Thirty-four of these were adopted at 
Cincinnati during June, July and August of that 
year. They were known as the Maxwell code, 
from the name of the publisher, but were passed 
by Governor St. Clair and Judges Symmes and 
'furner. Among them was that which provided 
that the common law of England, and all its stat- 
utes, made previous to the fourth year of James 
the First, should be in full force within the Terri- 
tory. "Of the system as a whole," says Mr. Case, 
" with its many imperfections, it may be doubted 
that any colony, at so early a period after its first 
establishment, ever had one so good and applicable 
to all." 

The LTnion had now safely passed through its 
most critical period after the close of the war of 
independence. The danger from an irruption of 
its own members; of a war or alliance of its AVest- 



ern portion with France and Spain, and many 
other perplexing questi(ins, were now effectually 
settled, and the population of the Territory began 
rapidly to increa.se. Before the close of the year 
17'.'(i, the Northwest contained over five ihousiind 
inhabitants, the requisite number to entitle it to 
one representative in the national Congress. 

Western Pennsylvania also, despite the various 
conliicting claims regarding the land titles in that 
part of tin: State, began raiiidly to till with emigrants. 
The "Triangle" and the '-Struck District ' were 
surveyed and put ujion the market under the act 
of 1792.. Treaties and purchases from the various 
Indian tribes, obtained control of the remainder of 
the lands in thai part of the State, and, by 1796, 
the State owned all the land within its boundaries. 
Towns were laid off, laud put upon the market, so 
that by the year ISOO, the western part of the 
Keystone State was divided into eight counties, viz., 
Beaver, Butler, fiercer, Crawford, Erie, Warren, 
Venango and Armstrong. 

The ordinance relative to the survey and dis- 
posal of lands in the Northwest Territory has 
already been given. It was adhered to, save in 
minor cases, where necessity re((uired a slight 
change. The reservations were recognized by 
Congress, and the titles to them all confirmed to 
the grantees. Thus, Clarke and his men, the 
Connecticut Reserve, the Refugee lands, the 
French inhabitants, and all others holding patents 
to land from colonial or foreign governments, were 
all confirmed in their rights and protected in their 
titles. 

Before the close of 1796, the upper North- 
western posts Were all vacated by the British, 
under the terms of Mr. Jay's treaty. Wayne at 
once transferred his headquarters to Detroit, where 
a county was named for him, including the north- 
western part of Ohio, the northeast of Indiana, 
and the whole of Michigan. 

The occupation of the Territory by the Ameri- 
cans gave additional impulse to emigration, and a 
better feeling of security to emigrants, who fol- 
lowed closely upon the path of the army. Na- 
thaniel Mas.'^ie, who has already been noticed as 
the founder of Manchester, laid out the town of 
Chillicothe, on the Scioto, in 1796. Before the 
close of the year, it contained several stores, 
Rho]is, a tavern, and was well populated. With 
the increase of settlement and the security guar- 
anteed by the treaty of Greenville, the arts of 
civilized life began to appear, and their influence 
upon pioneers, especially those born on the frontier, 



:^ 



84 



HISTOKY OF OHIO. 



Iici;aii (o manifest itself. Better ilnellinu-.s, schools, 
eluirehes, dre.s.s aud uianuers jirevailed. Life 
bejian to assume a realit}', and lost much of 
that recklessuesd engendered by the habits of a 
frontiiT life. 

Cli^veland, Cincinnati, the ]\Iiami, the Mus- 
kingum and the Scioto Valleys were filling with 
]ieiijile. Cincinnati had more than one hundred 
log cabins, twelve or fifteen frame hou.ses and a 
]i()|)ulation of more than six hundred ]» isons. In 
171)0, the first house of worship tiir tlie Presby- 
terian.s in that city was built. 

Before the close of the same year, INIanchester 
contained over thirty families ; emigrants fi-om 
\'irginia were going up all the valleys from the 
Ohio; and Kbenezer Zane had opened a bridle- 
jiath from the Ohio Biver, at Wheeling, across the 
country, by Chillieothe, to Limestone, Ky. The 
next year, the United States mail, fiir the first 
time, traversed this route to the West. Zane was 
given a section of land for his jiath. The pojiu- 
lation of the Territory, estimated at from five to 
eight thousand, was chiefl}' distributed in lower 
valleys, bordering on the Ohio Biver. The French 
.still occupied the Illinois country, and were the 
principal inhabitants about Detroit. 

South of the Ohio Biver, Kentucky was pro- 
greasing favorably, while the " Southwestern Ter- 
ritory," ceded to the United States by North 
Carolina in 17!I0, had so rapidly p<ipulated that, 
in 179)i, a Territorial form of government was 
allowed. The ordinance of 17!^7, save the clause 
]iriihiliiting slavery, was adopted, and the Territory 
named Tenne.s.see. On June 0. ]7'.M), the Terri- 
tory contained more than seventy-five thou.sand 
inhabitants, and was admitted into tin- Union as a 
Stale. Four years after, the census showed a 
pfp])ulation of 105,1)02 souls, including 13,584 
slaves and person.s of color. The same year 
Tennessee became a State, Samuel Jackson and 
Jonathan Shar])le.ss erected thi; Bedstone l'a])er 
-Mill, four miles east of Brownsville, it being the 
first manufactory of the kind west of the AUe- 
ghanles. 

In the month of December, 170(5, Gen. Wayne, 
who had done so much for the develoimient of Ihi' 
West, while on his way from Detroit to I'hiladel- 
phia, w;us attacked with sickness and died in a 
cabin near Krie, in the north jiart of I'enn.sylvania. 
He was nearly fifty-<ine years old, and was one of 



(he bravest officio's in (he Bevolutionary war, and 
one of America's truest patriots. In lS(l!t, his 
remains were removed from Erie, Ijy his son, Col. 
Isaac Wayne, to the Badnor churchyard, near the 
jilace of his birth, anil an elegant monument erected 
on his tomb by the I'eunsylvania Cincinnati So- 
ciety. 

Afler the death of Wayne, Gen. Wilkinson was 
appointed to the command of tin; Western army. 
While he was in command, Carondelet, the Spanish 
governor of M'est Florida and Tiouisiana, made one 
more effort to separate the Union, and set up either 
an independent government in the West, or, what 
waij more in accord with his wishes, effect a 
union with the Spanish nation. In June, 1797, 
he sent Power again into the Northwest and into 
Kentucky to sound the existing feeling. Now, 
however, they Were not easily won over. The 
home government was a certainty, the breaches had 
been healed, and Power was eimijielled to abandon 
the missinu , not, however, until he had received a 
severe reprimand from many who saw throutrh bis 
plan, and openly ex]iosed it. His missiim elo.sed 
the efforts of the Spanish authorities to attemjit 
the dismemberment of the Union, and showed 
them the coming downfall of their jiower in Amer- 
ica. They were obliged to surrender the posts 
claimed by the United States under the treaty of 
1705, and not many years after, sold their Amer- 
ican pos.se.ssions to the United States, rather than 
see a rival Furojican ]iower attain control over them. 

On the 7th of April. 17!'.'^, Congress pa,s.sed an 
act, apiiiiintinu; Winlhrop Sargent,Secretary of the 
Niirlhwi'st Territory, (joveruor of the Territory of 
the Mississippi, formed the same da}'. In ISOl, 
the boundary between America and the Sjianish ])os- 
se.s.sions was definitely fixed. The Sj)anish retired 
from the disputed territory, and henceforward their 
attcm))ts to di.ssolve the Am<'rican Uni(m ceitsed. 
The seat of the Mississi])j)i Territory was fixed at 
Jjofttis Heights, six miles north of the thirty-fir.st 
degree of latitude. 

The a])pointment of Sargent to the charge of the 
Southwest Territory, led to the choice of William 
Henry narris(]n, who had been aid-de-camp to 
(ii'ii. Waync! in 1704, anil whose character stood 
very high among the ]ieo]]le of the West, to the 
Secretaryship of (he Xordiwest, which place he held 
until appointed to represent that Territory in (con- 
gress. 



;s^ 



-^ 5) ^ 



HISTOKY OF OHIO. 



85 



CHAPTER IX. 

FIRST TERRITORIAL REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS— DIVISION OF THE TERRITORY— FORMA- 
TION OF STATES— MARIETTA SETTLEMENT— OTHER SETTLEMENTS— SETTLEMENTS IN 
THE WESTERN RESERVE — SETTLEMENT OF THE CENTRAL VALLEYS- 
FURTHER SETTLEMENTS IN THE RESERVE AND ELSEWHERE. 



THE ordinance of 1787 provided that as soon 
as there were 5,000 persons in the Territory, 
it was entitled to a representative assembly. On 
October 211, 17'.I8, Governor St. Clair gave notice 
by proclaniation, that the required population ex- 
isted, and directed that an election be held on the 
third Monday in December, to choose representa- 
tives. These representatives were required, when 
assembled, to nominate ten persons, whose names 
were sent to the President of the United States, 
who selected five, and with the advice and consent 
of the Senate, appointed them for the legislative 
cfiuueil. In this mode the Northwest pa.ssed into 
the second grade of a Territorial government. 

The representatives, elected under the proclama- 
tion of St. Clair, met in Cincinnati, January 22, 
1799, and under the provisions of the ordinance 
of 1787, nominated ten persons, who,se names were 
sent to the I'resident. On the 2d of JMarch, he 
selected from the list of candidates, the names of 
Jacob Burnet, James Findlay, Henry ^'ander- 
burgh, Robert Oliver and David Vance. The 
ne.'tt day the Senate confirmed their nomination, 
and the first legislative council of the Northwest 
Territory was a reality. 

The Territorial Legislature met again at Cincin- 
nati, September Hi, but, for want of a quorum, 
was not organized until the 24th of that month. 
The Hou.se of Representatives consisted of nine- 
teen members, of whom seven were from Hamilton 
County, four from Ross — erected by St. Clair in 
1708; three from Wayne — erected in 179G; two 
from Adams — erected in 1797; one fi-om Jeffer- 
son — erected in 1797; one fi'om Wa.shingtim — 
erected in 1788; and one from Knox — Indiana 
Territory. None seem to liave been present from 
St. Clair County (Illinois Territory). 

After the organization of the Legislature, Gov- 
ernor St. Clair addressed the two houses in the Rep- 
resentatives' Chamber, recommending such meas- 
ures as, in his judgment, were suited to the con- 
dition of the country and would advance the safety 
and prosperity of the people. 



The Legi.sl-iture continued in session till the 19th 
of December, when, having finished their business, 
they were prorogued by the Governor, by their 
own request, till the first IMonday in November, 
1800. This being the first session, there was, of 
necessity, a great deal of business to do. The 
transition from a colonial to a semi-independent 
form of government, called for a general revision 
as well as a considerable enlargement of the stat- 
ute-book. Some of the adopted laws were re- 
pealed, many others altered and amended, and a 
long list of new ones added to the code. New 
offices were to be created and filled, the duties at- 
tached to them prescribed, and a plan of ways and 
means devised to meet the increased expenditures, 
occasioned by the change which had now occurred. 

As Mr. Burnet was the only lawyer in the Legis- 
lature, much of the revision, and putting the laws 
into proper legal form, devolved upim him. He 
.seems to have been well fitted for the place, and 
to have performed the laborious task in an excel- 
lent manner. 

The whole number of acts passed and approved 
by the Governor, was thirty-seven. The most im- 
jjortant related to the militia, the administration of 
justice, and to taxation. During the session, a bill 
authorizing a lottery was passed by the council, 
but rejected liy the Legislature, thus interdicting 
this deuKiralizing feature of the disposal of lands 
or for other ]:iurp(.)ses. The example has always been 
followed by sub.sequent legislatures, thus honorably 
characterizing the Assembly of Ohio, in this re- 
s])ect, an oxamjile Kentucky and several other 
States might well emidate. 

Before the A.s-sembl}- adjourned, they issued a 
congratulatory address to the people, enjoining 
them to " Inculcate the principles of Immanity, 
benevolence, honesty and punctuality in dealing, 
sincerity and charity, and all the social affections." 
At the same time, they issued an address to the 
President, expressing entire confidence in the wis- 
dom and purity of his government, and their 
warm attachment to the American Constitution. 



80 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



TIk; vote on this address proved, however, that the 
dilierences of opinion agitating the Eastern States 
liad i)enetratcd the West. Eleven Representatives 
voted for it, and live against it. 

One of the imjiortant duties that devolved on 
this Legislature, was the eleetion of a delegate to 
Congress. As soon as the Governor's proclauia- 
tiiin made its appearance, the election of a per.son 
to fill that position excited general attention. He- 
fore the meeting of the Legislature public opinion 
had settled down on William Henry Harrison, and 
Arthur St. Clair, Jr., who eventually were the oidy 
candidates. On the 3d of October, the two houses 
met and proceeded to a choice. Eleven votes were 
ca.st for Harri-son, and ten for St. Clair. The Leg- 
islature prescribed the form of a certificate of the 
election, which was given to Harrison, who at once 
resigned his ofSce ;is Secretary of tlic Territory, 
proceeded to Philadel|ihia, and took his seat, Con- 
gress being then in session. 

"Though lie re]iresented the Territory but one 
year, ' says Judge Rurnett. in his notes, '' he ob- 
tained .some important advantages for his con.stitu- 
ents. He introduced a rcsolmiim to sub-divide 
tile surveys of the public lands, and to offer them 
for sale in smaller tracts ; he suceei'ded in getting 
that measure through l)oth houses, in opposition to 
tin- interest of speculators, who wer<;, and who 
wished to be, the retailers of the land to the poorer 
cWses of tlie community. His projjosition be- 
came a law, and was hailed as the most beneficent 
act that Congress had ever done for the Ti^rritory. 
It put in the power of every industrious man, how- 
ever poor, to becoiue a freeholder, and to lay a 
foundation for the future support and comfort of 
his family. At the .same .session, hi: obtained a 
liberal extension of time for the pre-em]itioners in 
the northern ])art of the .Miami jiunha.se, which 
enable(l them to .secure their farms, and eventually 
to become independent, and even weallhy." 

The first .session, its has lieen noticed, clo.sed 
December 19. (lov. St. Clair took occasion to 
eiuimerate in liis speech at the close of the scssiini, 
eleven acts, to which he .saw fit to apply his veto. 
The.se he had not, however, returned to the A.s-sem- 
bly, and thereliy saved a long struggle between the 
executive and legislative branches of the Territory. 
Of the eleven acts enumerated, six related to the 
fonnation of new counties. Tiie.se were mainly 
disproved by St Clair, a.s he always sturdily niain- 
tairieil that tiu' power to erect new counties was 
vested alone in the Executive. Tiiis free exerci.se 
of tiie veto jKiwer, especially in relation to new 



counties, and his controversy with the Legislature, 
tended only to strengthen tiie popular di.scoutent 
regarding the Governor, who wa.s never fully able 
t« regain the standing he held before his in- 
glorious defeat in iiis campaign against the Indians. 

While this w;is being agitated, another question 
came into prominence. I'ltimatcly, it settled the 
powers of the two branches of the government, 
and caused the removal of St. Clair, then very 
distasteful to the people. The opening of the 
present century brought it fully befiire the 
])eople, who began to agitate it in all their 
assemblies. 

The great extent of the Territory made the 
operations of government extremely uncertain, 
and the power of tlie courts practically wortide-ss. 
Its division was, therefore, deemed best, and a 
committee was appointed by Congress to in(|uire 
into the matter. This committee, tlu^ 3d of 
March, l.SOO, reported U])on tiie subject that. "In 
the three western counties, there iuis been liut 
one court liaving cognizance of crimes in five 
years. Tiie immunity wliicii offenders exi)erience, 
attracts, as to an iusylum, tlie mo.st vile and aban- 
doned criminals, and, at the Siime time, deters 
useful and virtuous citizens from making settle- 
ments in such .society. The extreme necessity of 
judiciary attention and a.ssi.stance is experienced 
in civil as well ;ls criminal ciises. The su])plyiug 
to vacant ])laces such ueee,s.sar3' officers as may be 
wanted, such a.s clerks, recorders and others of 
like kind, Ls, from the impos.sil)ility of correct 
notice and information, utterly neglected. This 
Territory is exposed ;is a frontier to foreign nations, 
whose agents can find sufficient interest in exciting 
or fomenting insurrection and discontent, a.s 
thereliy they can more easily divert a valuable 
trade in furs from the I'niled States, and also have 
apart thereof on which they liorder. whicii fi'els 
so little the cheri.shing liaiid of their pro]ier gov- 
ernment, or so little <lreads its energy, as to render 
their attiichnii'iit perfei'tiy uncertain and am- 
biguous. 

"Tiie committee would further suggest, that 
the law of the 3d of March, 17!H. granting land 
to certain persons in tiu! western jiart of said Ter- 
ritory, and directing the laying-out of tlie same, 
remains unexecuted; tiiat great discontent, in 
conse(|uence of such neglect, is excited in tlio.se 
who are intcreste<l in I lie provisions of .sjiid laws, 
which rei(uirc the imiiiediate attention of this 
Legislature. To minister a remedy to the.se evils, 
it occurs to this committee, that it is expedient 



y. 



:^ 



3: 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



87 



tliat a division of said Territory into two distinct 
and separate governments should be made ; and 
that such division be made by a line beginning at 
the mouth of the great Miami River, running 
directly north until it intersects the boundary 
between the United States and Canada."' * 

The recommendations of the committee were 
favorably received by Congress, and, the 7th 
of Blay, an act was passed dividing the Ter- 
ritory. The main provisi(ms of the act are as 
follows: 

"That, from and after the 4th of July next, 
all that part of the territory of the T.^nitod States 
northwest of the Ohio River, which lies to the 
westward of a line beginning at the Ohio, opposite 
to the mouth of the Kentucky River, and running 
thence to Fort Recovery, and thence north until 
it intersects the territorial line between the United 
States and Canada, shall, for the purpose of tem- 
porary government, constitute a separate Territory, 
and be called the Indiana Territory. 

"There shall be established within the said Ter- 
ritory a government, in all respects similar to that 
provided by the ordinance of Congress passed July 
13, 17!l7."t 

The act further provided for representatives, and 
for the estalilishment of an a.ssembly, on the same 
plan as that in force in the Northwest, stipulating 
that until the number of inhabitants reached five 
thousanil, the whole number of representatives to 
the General Assembly should not be less than seven, 
nor more than nine ; apportioned by the Governor 
among the several counties in the new Terri- 
tory. 

The act further provided that " nothing in the 
act should be so construed, so as in any manner 
to affect the government now in force in the teiTi- 
tory of the IJnited States northwest of the Ohio 
River, further than to prohibit the exercise thereof 
within the Indiana Territorj', from and after the 
aforesaid 4th of July next. 

" Whenever that part of the territory of the 
United States, which lies to the eastward of a line 
beginning at the mouth of the Great Miami River, 
and running thence due north to the territorial 
line between the United States and Canada, shall 
be erected into an independent State, and a<lraitted 
into the Union on an equal footing with the orig- 
inal States ; thenceforth said line shall become and 
remain i)ermanently, the boundary line between 
.such State and the Indiana Territory." 

*Ampri'-an State Papers. 
tLand Laws. 



It was further enacted, "that, until it shall be 
otherwise enacted by the legislatures of the said 
territories, respectively, Chillicothe, on the Scioto 
River, shall be the seat of government of the ter- 
ritory of the United States northwest of the Ohio 
River ; and that St. Vincent's, on the Wabash 
River, shall be the seat of government for the 
Indiana Territory. " * 

St. Clair was continued as Governor of the old 
Territory, and William Henry Harrison ai)j)ointed 
Governor of the new. 

Connecticut, in ceding her territory in the West 
to the General Government, reserved a portion, 
known as the Connecticut Reserve. When she 
afterward disposed of her claim in the manner 
narrated, the citizens found themselves without any 
government on which to lean for support. At that 
time, settlements had begun in thirty-five of the 
townships into which the Reserve had been divided ; 
one thousand persons had establi-shed homes there ; 
mills had been built, and over seven hundred miles 
of roads opened. In 180(1, the settlers petitioned 
for acceptance into the Union, as a part of the 
Northwest ; and, the mother State releasing her judi- 
ciary claims, Congress accepted the trust, and 
granted the re(iuest. In December, of that year, 
the population had so increased that the county of 
Trumliull was erected, including the Reserve. 
Soon after, a large number of settlers came from 
Pennsylvania, from which State they had been 
driven by the dispute concerning land titles in its 
western part. Unwilling to cultivate land to 
which they could only get a doubtful deed, they 
abandoned it, and came where the titles were 
sure. 

Congress having made Chillicothe the capital of 
the Northwest TeiTitory, as it now existed, on the 
3d of November the General Assembly met at that 
place. Gov. St. Clair had been made to feel the 
odium cast upon his previous acts, and, at the open- 
ing of this session, expressed, in strong terms, his 
disapprobation of the censure cast upon him. He 
had endeavored to do his duty in all cases, he said, 
and yet held the confidence of the President and 
Congre.ss. He still held the office, notwithstanding 
the strong dislike against him. 

At the second .se.?sion of the Assembly, at Chil- 
licothe, held in the autumn of 1801, so much out- 
spoken enmity was expressed, and so much abuse 
heaped u])on the Governor and the Assembly, that 
a law was passed, removing the capital to Cincinnati 

* Land Laws. 



r^ 



'.a. 



88 



HISTOllY OF OHIO. 



I 



a}i:-ain. It w:is not (It^tincd, however, that tin: 
Torritorial Assembly should meet again anywhere. 
The vinpopularity ot' the (ioveriior caused many to 
long t'ur a State goverumeut, wiiere they could 
choo.so their own rulers. The un]ioj)ularity of St. 
Clair arose partly from the feeling eouneeted with 
his defeat ; in part from his being connected with 
the Federal party, fast falling into disrepute; and, 
in ])art, from his assuming powers which most 
thought he had no right to exerci.sc, especially the 
power of subdividing the counties of the Terri- 
tory. 

The opposition, though powerful out of the 
Assemlily, wa.s in the minority there. During the 
raonlh of December, ISO], it was forced to protest 
against a mea.surc brought forward in the Council, 
for changing the ordinance of 1 7S7 in such a man- 
ner ;us to make the Scioto, and a line drawn from 
the intersection of that river and the Indian 
boundary to the western extremity of the Reserve, 
the limits of tlie most eastern State, to be formed 
from the Territory. Had this change been made, 
the fonnaticm of a State government bey(md the 
Ohio Would have been long delayed. Against it, 
Repre.scntativesWortliington.Langham, Darlington, 
Maa.sie, Dunlavy and .^lorrow, recorded their pro- 
test. Not content with this, they .sent TliomiLS 
Worthington, who obtained a leave of ab.sence, to 
the seat of government, on behalf of the objectors, 
there to protest, befor(> Congress, against the pro- 
posed boundary. Wlide Wortbiiigton was on his 
way, Ma.ssie presented, the 4th of .January, 1802, 
a re.solution for choosing a connnittee to address 
Congress in respect to the proposed State govern- 
ment. This, the next day, the House refused to 
do, by a vote of twelve to five. An attempt 
was next mside to procure a census of the Ter- 
ritory, and an act for th.it ptirpose pa.s.sed the 
House, but the Council ])ostpcined the c(msidera- 
tion of it until the next session, which would com- 
mence at Cincinnati, the fourth Monday of No- 
vember. 

.^I^'anwhile, Worthington pursued the ends of 
his nii.ssion, using his influence to effect that organ- 
ization, •which, terminating the influence of tyr- 
anny," wa.s to '■mclinralethe circumstances of thou- 
sands, by freeing them from the doniinalinn of a 
despotic chiel'." His cffort.s were 8ucccs.sful, and, 
the -tth of .March, a report was made to tlie 
Hou.ic in favor of authorizing a State convention. 
This report Wiis biuscd on the a.s,sumptiim that there 
were now over sixty thousand inhabitants in the 
prnpiKi d liiiuiidarii s. isfiniatiiiL.' that emigration had 



iuereiuscd the census of ISOO, which gave the Ter- 
ritory fort}-five thousand inhabitants, to that num- 
ber. The convention wa.s to a.scertain whether it 
were expedient to form such a government, and to 
prepare a constitution if such organization were 
deemed best. In the formation of the State, a 
change in the boundaries was proposed, by which 
all the territory north of a line drawn due east 
from the head of Ijake .Michigan to ]>ake Krie was 
to be excluded from the new g<iveriiment about to 
be called into existence. 

The committee a])])oi;;led by Congress to report 
upon the feasibility of foi tiling the State. .sugL'C.sted 
that Congress reserve out of every township sections 
numbered 8, 1 1 , 26 and 211. for their own use, and 
that Section Ki be reserved for the maintenance 
of schools. The committee nUo suggested, that, 
'•religion, education and morality being nece.s.sary 
to the good government and hapjiinc^s of mankind, 
schools and the means of education shall be forever 
encouraged." 

Various other recommendations were given by 
the connnittee, in accordance with which. Conp'ess, 
April ;i(l. pa.ssed the resolution authorizing the 
calling of a convention. As this aecurdeil with 
the feelings of the majority of the inhabitants of the 
Northwest, no oppositi<in was experienced ; even 
the Legislature giving way to this embryo gov- 
ernment, ;uid failing to ;ussemble according to ad- 
journiMcnt. 

The convention met the 1st of November. Its 
members were generally Jeffersonian in their na- 
tional ]polilics, and had been opposed to the change 
of boundaries propo.sed tlic year before. Before 
proceeding to business. Gov. St. Clair propo.sed to 
address them in his official character. This propo- 
sition was resisted by several of the members; but, 
after a motion, it was agreed to allow him to speak 
to them as a citizen. St. Clair did so, advising 
the postponement of a Slate government until the 
people of the original eastern division weri' plainly 
entitled to demand it, and were not subject to be 
bound bv conditions. This advice, given a.sil was, 
cau.seil Jiftir.son instantly to remove St. Clair, at 
which time his office cea.sed.* '• When the vole 
was taken," says Judge Burnet, '• upon doing what 

' Afl'T thin, S(. Ctftir rotnrnr.'! to Iii8 old linmp in thp Li(;onipr 
Vftll'V. I'frin«ylviiniii, whort* ht» livi-ii with hln rliililr.-ti in iiliiuiBt 
altii'cl poViTl.v. Uc ii:i<l loftt nioni V in IiIn pulilic life. aj« li'- RHve 
rl(Mt'>nttcntii)n U> itnlilicnlTBin<, to llicdclriniont of Itin nwii l)i]«tTi(.S8. 
n.' jin-K.-nli'd ft clniiii tn CoiiKn-M, ftflprward, for Bupplii-r* furnl*lied 
to til" Hfniy, Imt till, rluim wa« nntUwpcl. Aft*T trying in Tnin to 
Ret till* rliiim aUnwctl, he ri'turncd to hin h<jnn'. Poniiflylv«nin. 
li.irnioR of hifl riiwtr'.w. Krantod liim an nnniiitv of ?:t')0. aft<Twnrd 
mii»pd to S'^'^- H*» livrd to pnjoy lliid Imt K Hhort timo, liiw df«tli 
occurring August M, 1818. H<i w«« eighty-four yoani of age. 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



89 



he advised them not to do, but one of tliirty-three 
(Ephraim Cutler, of Washington County) voted 
with the Uovernor." 

On one point only were the proposed boundaries 
of the new State altered. 

•' To every person who has attended to this sub- 
ject, and who has consulted the maps of the West- 
ern country extant at the time the ordinance of 
1787 was passed, Lake Michigan was believed to 
be, and was represented by all the- maps of that 
day as being, very far north of the position which 
it has since been a.«certained to occupy. I have 
seen tiie map in tlie Department of State which 
was before the committee of Congress who framed 
and reported the ordinance for the government of 
the Territory. On that map, the southern bound- 
ary of Michigan was represented as being above 
the forty-second degree of north latitude. And 
there was a pencil line, said to have been made by 
the committee, passing through the southern bend 
of the lake to the Canada line, which struck the 
strait not far below the town of Detroit. The 
line was manifestly intended by the committee 
and by Congress to be the northern boundary of 
our State; and, on the principles by which courts 
of chancery construe contracts, accompanied by 
plats, it would seem that the map, and the line 
referred to, should be conclusive evidence of our 
boundary, without reference to the real position of 
the lakes. 

'■When the convention sat, in 1802, the under- 
derstanding was, that the old maps were nearly 
correct, and that the line, as defined in the ordi- 
nance, would terminate at some point on the strait 
above the Maumee Bay. While the convention 
was in session, a man who had hunted many years 
on Lake Michigan, and was well acquainted with 
its position, happened to be in Chillicothe, and, in 
conversation with one of the members, told him 
that the lake extended much farther south than 
was generally supposed, and that a map of the 
country which he had seen, placed its southern 
bend many miles north of its true position. This 
information excited .some uneasiness, and induced 
the convention to modifv the clause describing the 
north boundary of the new State, so as to guard 
against its being ilepressed below the most north- 
ern cape of the Maumee Bay."* 

With this change and some extension of the 
school and road donations, the convention agreed 
to the proposal of Congress, and, November 29, 

*= Historical TransactioQS of Ohio. — Juugf. Bubnett. 



theii- agreement was ratified and signed, as was 
also the constitution of the State of Ohio — so 
named from its river, called by the Shawanees Ohio, 
meaning beautiful — forming its southern bound- 
ary. Of this nothing need be said, save that it 
bore the marks of true democratic feeling — of full 
faith in the people. By them, however, it was 
never examined. It stood firm until 1852, when 
it was superseded by the present one, made neces- 
sary by the advance of time. 

The General Assembly was required to meet at 
Chillicothe, the first Tuesday of March, 1803. 
This change left the territory northwest of the 
Ohio River, not included in the new State, in the 
Territories of Indiana and Michigan. Subse- 
quently, in 1809, Indiana wa.s made a State, and 
confined to her present limits. Illinois was made 
a Territory then, including Wiscon.>;in. In 1818, 
it became a State, and \\'isconsin a Territory at- 
tached to Michigan. This latter was made a State 
in 1837, and Wisconsin a separate Territory, which, 
in 1847, was made a State. Minnesota was made 
a Territory the same year, and a Stale in 1857, 
and the five contemplated States of the territory 
were complete. 

Preceding pages have shown how the territory 
north of the C)liio River was peopled by the 
French and English, and how it came under the 
rule of the American people. The war of the 
Revolution clo.sed in 1783, and left all America in 
the hands of a new nation. That nation brought 
a change. Before the war, various attempts had 
been made by residents in New England to people 
the country west of the Alleghanies. Land com- 
panies were firmed, principal among which were 
the Ohio Company', and the company of which 
John Cleves Symmes was the agent and chief 
owner. Large tracts of land on the Scioto and 
on the Ohio were entered. The Ohio Company 
were the first to make a settlement. It was or- 
ganized in the autumn of 1787, November 27. 
They made arrangements fi)r a (larty of forty-seven 
men to set out for the West under the supervision of 
Gen. Rufus Putnam, Superintendent of the Com- 
pany. Early in the winter they advanced to the 
Youghiogheny River, and there built a strong boat, 
which they named ■■ Mayflower." It was built by 
Capt. Jonathan Dcvol. the first .ship-builder in the 
West, and, when completed, was placed under his 
command. The boat was launched April 2, 1788, 
and the band of pioneers, like the Pilgrim Fathers, 
began their voyage. The 7th of the month, 
they arrived at the mouth of the Muskingum, 



\ 



90 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



their dcstinatiou, opposite Fort Harinar,* ereeted 
in the autuum of 1785, by a dota<;hment of 
United States troops, under eowmand of Maj. 
John Doughty, and, at the date of the Mayflower's 
arrival in possession of a company of soldiers. 
Under the protection of these troops, the little band 
of men began their labor of laying out a town, 
and commenced to erect houses for their own and 
subseijuent emigrants' occupation. The namas of 
these pioneers of Ohio, a,s far as can now be 
learni'd. are as follows: 

Gen. Putnam, Return Jonathan Meigs, Win- 
throp iSargeant ( Secretary of the Ti'rritury ), Judges 
Parsons and Varnum, Capt Dana, Cajit. Jonathan 
Devol, Joseph Barker, Col. iJatti'lle, .Maj. Tyler, 
Dr. True, Capt. W'm. tiray, Capt. Lunt, the 
Bridges, Ebenezer and Thomas Cory, Andrew Mc- 
Clure, Wm. Mason, Thomas Lord, Wm. Gridley, 
Gilbert Devol, Moody Russels, Deavens, Oakes, 
Wright, Clough, Green, Shipman, Dorance, the 
M;u-ons, and others, whose names are now be- 
yond recall. 

On the Ulth of July, the first boat of families 
arrived, after a nine-weeks journey on the way. 
They had traveled in their wagons as far as Wheel- 
ing, where they built largi; flat-boats, into which 
the}' loaded their eft'ects, inchiding th»ir cattle, and 
thence passed down the; Ohio to their destination. 
The families were tho.se of Gen. Tupi)er, Col. 
lehabod Xye, Col. Cu.shing, Maj. Coburn, and 
Maj. Goodal. In these titles the reader will ob- 
serve the preponderance of military distinction. 
Many of the titunders of the colony laid scr\'ed 
with much valor in the war for freeiloni, and were 
well ]irepared for a life in the wilderness. 

They began at once the construction of houses 
from the forests about the confluence of the rivers, 
guarding their stoc^k by day and penning it by 
night. Wolves, bears and Indians were all atxnit 
them, and, here in the remot<^ wildenie.ss. they 
were obliged to always be on tln'ir guard. From 
the ground where tlu'y obtained the linilier to erect 
their liou.se.s, they .soon produced a lew vegetables, 
and when the faiiiilies arrived in Augu.st, they 
were able to set bel'ore thcni Ibod raised lor the 

*Thn outlinos of Fort HArmur formic] a reKular pentagon, 
«mbnLctng within tho area about tbree-roiirthjt of an acre. ilH 
wftlU vft'Tr torni'>4l of liirni* borizontjil timhor*. anrl llii- l>iiHlion« 
of larn" iipriKbttirobeniftlHmt fourteen feet in height, (ni(ten''<i to etirb 
tilb'-r !■>■ nlriim <'f timber, iree-nwile'l int-i eacli pieltet. In tin- rear 
of the f.irt MiiJ. noii(;bty laid out tine gnrdens. It rontlnued to be 
ticcupiwl by riilted StAtea tnwptt until September l7'.io. wben 
they werectrrlereil t'lCinrlnnati. A company, uniter Oipt. Haaltell, 
eontinued to nmlte til., fort tbeir heaibpiarlent (luring the Indian 

war, -jiaionally at-HiiitinK tlie rolonii«t4 at .Marietta, Belpre and 

Wnterfonl aRiiinxt tti" liidlanit. Wben not needed by the troopfl, 
tba fort waa uaed by the people of Marietta. 



first time by the hand of American citizens in the 
Ohio N'alley. One of those who came in August, 
was Mr. Thomas (iuthrie, a settler in one of the 
western counties of Penn.sylvania, who brought a 
bushel of wheat, which he sowed on a plat of 
ground cleared by him.self, and from which that 
fall he procured a small crop of wheat, the first 
grown in the State of Ohio. 

The Marietta .settlement was the only one made 
that summer in tin; Territory, h'roiii their arrival 
until October, when Govenmr St. Clair came, they 
were busily eni])loyed making houses, and prepar- 
ing for the winter. The little colony, of which 
Wiuihingtou wrote .so fiivoralily. met on the 2d day 
of Jul}', to name their newlmrii eit}' and its pub- 
lic sqares. Until now it had been known as ''The 
Muskingum " simply, but on that day the name 
Marietta was formally given to it, in honor of Ma- 
rie Antoinette. The 4th of July, an ovation was 
held, and an oration delivered by James M. \'ar- 
nuni, who, with S. H. Parsons and John Arm- 
strong, had Ijcen appointed Judges of the Terri- 
tory. Thus, in the heart of the wilderness, 
miles away from any kindred po.st, in the (()rest8 
of the Great West, was the Tree of Liberty watered 
and given a hearty gi'owth. 

On the morning of the Dth of July, Governor 
St. Clair arrived, and the colony began to a.ssume 
form. The ordinance of ITS" had provided for 
a form of government under the Guvernor and 
the three Judges, and this form was at once put 
into force. The 2.")th, the fii-st law relating to the 
militia was ]iublished, and the next daj* the (lov- 
crnor's proclamation ajipeared, creating all the 
country that had been ceded by the Indians, east 
of the Scioto River, into tlu^ t^ounty of Washing- 
ton, and the civil machinery was in motion. From 
that time forward, this, the ])ioneer settlement in 
Ohio, went on prosjM^rously. The 'Jd of Septem- 
ber, the first court in the Territory was helii, but 
;us it I'elateil to the Territory, a narrative of its pro- 
ceedings will be fcmii<l in the history of that part 
of the ciiunlry, and need not be ri'pcatvd here. 

The I'.ih of July, Gov. St. Clair had published 
the <irdinance of ITS", and the commissions of 
himself and the three Judi;es. He also a.s,sembled 
the people of the ,scttlenient, and explained to 
them the ordinance in a speech of con.siderable 
length. Three days after, he sent a notice to the 
Judges, calling their attention to the subject of 
organizing the militia. In.stead of attending to 
this important matter, and thus providing for their 
safety should trouble with the Indians arise, the 






HISTORY OF OHIO. 



91 



Judges did not even reply to the Governor's letter, 
but sent him what they called a "projeet" of a 
law for dividing real estate. The bill was so 
loosely drawn that St. Clair immediately rejected 
it, and set about organizing the militia himself 
He divided the militia into two classes, "Senior" 
and ''Junior,' and organized them by appointing 
their officers. 

In the Senior Class, Nathan Cushing wa.s ap- 
pointed Captain; George Ingersol, Lieutenant, 
and James Backus, Ensign. 

In the Junior Class, Nathati^oodale and Charles 
Knowls were made Captains ; Watson Casey and 
Samuel Stebbins, Lieutenants, and Joseph Lincoln 
and Arnold Colt, Ensigns. 

The Governor next erected the Courts of Pro- 
bate and Quarter Sessions, and proceeded to ap- 
point civil officers. Rufus Putnam, Benjamin 
Tupper and Winthrop Sargeant were made Jus- 
tices of the Peace. The HOth of August, the day 
the Court of Quarter Sessions was appointed, 
Archibald Cary, Isaac Pierce and Thomas Lord 
were also appointed Justices, and given power to 
hold this court. They were, in fact, Judges of a 
Court of Common Pleas. Return Jonathan Meigs 
was appointed Clerk of this Court of Quarter 
Sessions. Ebenezcr Sprout was appointed Sheriff of 
Washington County, and also Colonel of the militia; 
William Callis, Clerk of the Supreme Court; 
Rufus Putnam, Judge of the Probate Court, and 
R. J. Meigs, Jr., Clerk. Following these appoint- 
ments, setting the machinery of government in 
motion, St. Clair ordered that the 25th of Decem- 
ber be kept ius a day of thanksgiving by the infant 
colony for its .safe and jiropitious beginning. 

During the fall ami winter, the settlement was 
daily increased by emigrants, so much so, that the 
greatest difficulty was experienced in finding them 
lodging. During the coldest part of the winter, 
when ice covered the river, and prevented navi- 
gation, a delay in arrivals was experienced, only to 
be broken a.s soon as the river opened to the beams 
of a spring sun. While locked in the winter's 
embnu'e, the colonists amused themselves in vari- 
ous ways, dancing being one of the most promi- 
nent. At Christmas, a grand ball was held, at 
which there were fifteen ladies, "whose grace," 
.says a narrator, "equaled any in the East." 
Though isolated in the wilderness, they knew a 
brilliant prospect lay before them, and lived on in 
a joyous hope for the future. 

Soon after their arrival, the settlers began the 
erection of a stockade fort ( Campus Martius ), 



which occupied their time until the winter of 
1791. During the interval, fortunately, no hos- 
tilities from the Indians were exi)erienced, though 
they were abundant, and were frequent visitors to 
the settlement. 

From a communication in the American Pioneer, 
by Dr. S. P. Hildreth, the following description of 
Campus Martius is derived. As it will ajiply, in 
a measure, to many early structures for defense in 
the West, it is given entire: 

" The fort was made in the form of a regular 
parallelogram, the sides of each being 180 feet. 
At each corner was erected a .>-trong block-liouse, 
surmounted by a tower, and a sentry box. These 
houses were twenty feet scjuare below and twenty- 
four feet square above, and projected six feet be- 
yond the walls of the fort. The intermediate walls 
were made up with dwelling-houses, made of wood, 
whose ends were whip-sawed into timbers four 
inches thii'k. and of the requisite width and length. 
These were laid up similar to the structure of log 
houses, with the ends nicely dove-tailed together. 
The whole were two stories high, and covered with 
shingle roofs. Convenient chimne\s were erected 
of bricks, for cooking, and warming the rooms. A 
number of the dwellings were built and owned by 
individuals who had families. In the west and 
south fronts were strong gateways ; and over the 
one in the center of the front looking to the JIus- 
kingum River, was a belfry. The chamber beneath 
was occupied by Winthrop Sargeant, a.s an office, 
he being Secretary to the Governor, and perform- 
ing the duties of the office during St. Clair's ab- 
sence. This room projected over the gatewa}', like 
a block-house, and was intended for the protection 
of the gate beneath, in time of an assault. At 
the outer corner of each block-house was erected a 
bastion, standing on four stout timbers. The floor 
of the bastion was a little above the lower story of 
the block-house. They were square, and built up 
to the height of a man's head, so that, when he 
looked over, ho stepped on a narrow platform or 
" banquet " running around the .sides of the bulwark. 
Port-holes were made, for musketry as well as for 
artillery, a single piece of which was mounted in 
the southwest and northeast bastions. In these, 
the sentries were regularly posted every night, as 
more convenient than the towers ; a door leading 
into them from the upper story of the block-houses. 
The lower room of the southwest block-house was 
occupied a.s a guard-house. 

" Running from corner to corner of the block- 
houses was a row of palisades, sloping outward, 



:f* 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



and resting on stout rails. Twenty feet in advance 
of these, was a row of very strong and large pick- 
ets, set upright in the earth. Gateways through 
the.se, admitted the inmates of the garrison. A 
few feet beyond the row of outer palisades Wius 
placed a row of abattis, made from the tojis and 
branches of trees, sharpened and pointing outward, 
so tiiat it would have been very difficult fi)r an 
enemy to have penetrated within their outworks. 
The dwelling-houses occupied a s])ace Jriim fiileen 
to thirty feet each, and were sufficient for the ac- 
commodation of forty (jr fifty families, and did 
actually contain from two hundred to tliree hun- 
dred persons during the Indian war. 

" Before the Indiaas commenced ho.stilities, the 
block-houses were occupied as fullows : The south- 
west one, by the family of (iov. St. Clair; the 
northeast one as an office for the Directors of the 
('iim]iany. The area within the walls was one 
hundred and forty-four feet S((uare, and affiirded a 
fine parade ground. In tlu^ center, w;i.s a well 
eighty feet in depth, for the su])ply of water to the 
inhabitants, in case of a siege. A large sun-dial 
siiidd for many years in the s(|uare, placed on a 
hand.some post, and gave note of the march nf 
time. 

" After the war commenced, a regular military 
corps was organized, and a guard constantly kept 
night and day. The whole establishment formed 
a very strong work, and reflected great credit on 
the lu'ad that planned it. It was in a manner im- 
pregnable to the attack.s of Iiulians, and none 
but a regular army with cannon could have reduced 
it. The Indians pos.ses.sed no such an armament. 

" Tlu^ garrisiin st^od on the verge of that beauti- 
ful plain overlooking the Muskingum, on which 
are .seated tho.se celebrated remains of antiipiilv, 
erecle<l probably for a similar piirposii — ihedcrm.se I 
of tlu! iuliabitauts. The giciuud descends into shal- 
low ^aviut^s im the north and south sides; on the 
west is an al>ru]it descent to the river bottoms or 
alluvium, and the east pa.s.seil out to a level plain. 
On this, the ground was cleared of trees beyond 
the reach of rifle shot.s, so an to afford no shelter 
to a hidden foe. Extensive fields of corn were 
grown in the midst of the standing girdled trees be- 
ycuid, in after years. The front wall of palisades 
was about one hundred and fifty yards from the 
.\IuskinL'um Uiver. The a)ppearam!e of the fort 
from without was imposing, at a little di.stance re- 
.•icinbliug the military castles of the fi'udal ages. 
I?clwccn the (mter palisades and the river were 
laid out neat gardens for the use of Gov. St. Clair 



and his Secretary, with the officers of the Ctmi- 
pany. 

"Opposite the fort, (HI the shore of the river. 
w;is built a substantial timber wharf, at which was 
moored a fine cellar barge for twelve rowers, built 
by Capt. Jonathan Di'vol, for Gen. Putnam ; a 
number of pirogues, an<l the light canoes of the 
country ; and last, not least, the JIayflower. or 
'Adventure (ialley,' in which the first detach- 
ment.s of colonists were transjiorted from the shores 
of the ' Yohiogany ' to the banks of the JIuskingum. 
In the.se, especially the canoes, during the war, 
mostof the communications were carried on between 
the settlements of the Company and the more re- 
mote towns above on the (Jhio River. Traveling 
by land was very hazardous to any- but the rangers 
or spies. There were no roads, nor bridges across 
the creeks, and, fijr many years after the war had 
ceased, the traveling was nearly all done by canoes 
on the river.' 

Thus the first settlement of Ohio provided for 
its safety and comfort, and provided also for that 
of emigrants who came to share the toils of the 
wilderness. 

The ne,\t spring, the influx of emigration was 
so great that other settlements were determined, 
and hence arose the colonies of Bel])re, Waterfiird 
and Duck Creek,where they began to clear land,. sow 
and plant crops, and build hou.ses and stockades. 
At Belpre { FreiicU for '•beautiful meadow " t, were 
built three sttx'kades, the upper, lower and middle, 
the last of which was called " Farmers' Ca.stli'," 
and stood on the banks of the Ohio, nearly cippo- 
.site an island, altvrward famous in Western history 
as Blenncrhasset's Island, the scene of Burr's con- 
spiracy. Among the piT.suns settling at the upper 
.stockade, were Capts. Dana and Stone, Col. Bent, 
William Browning, Judge Foster, John Bowse, 
Israel .Stone and a .Air. Keppel. At the Fariner.>' 
Ca.stle, were Cols. Cushing and Fisher, Maj. Has- 
kell, A.aron Waldo Putnam, iMr. Sparhawk, and, 
it is believed, George and Israel Putnam, Jr. At 
the lower, were Maj. Goodale, Col. Rice, Ksfjuire 
Pierce, Judge Israel lioring. Deacon Miles. ^IaJ. 
Bradford and Mr. Goodeiiow. In the summer of 
178!), Col. Ichahod Nye and some others, built a 
block-hoiise at Newlx-riy, below Belpre. Col. Nye 
sold his lot there to Aaron W. Clough, who. with 
Ste]ilien Guthrie, Joseph Leavins, Joel Oakes, 
Eleazer Curtis, 3Ir. Denham J. Littleton and Mr. 
Brown, w;us located at that place. 

'' Every exertion possible, " says Dr. Ilildreth, 
who ha.s preserved the above names and incidents. 



■^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



93 



" for men in these circumstances, was made to se- 
cure fiiud for future difficulties. Col. Oliver, Maj. 
Hatfield "White and John Dod^e, of the Water- 
ford settlement, began mills on Wolf Creek, about 
three miles trom the f irt, and .ant tlicra runiiinij;; 
and these, the first mills in Ohio, were never de- 
stroyed during the subse(|uent Indian war, though 
the proprietors n-moved their fauiiles to the fort 
at Marietta. Col. E. Sjiroat and Enoch Shep- 
herd began mills on Duck Creek, three miles from 
Marietta, thnii the completion of which they were 
driven by the Indian war. Thomas Stanley be- 
gan mills forther up, near the I)uck Creek settle 
mcnt. These were likewise unfinished. The Ohio 
Company built a large horse mill near Campus 
Martius, and soon after a floating mill." 

The autumn before the settlements at Bclpro, 
Duck Creek and Waterhird, were made, a colony 
was planted near the mouth of the Little iMianii 
River, on a tract of ten thousand acres, ])urchascd 
froiuSymmes by ^laj. Benjamin Stites. Inthcpre- 
eeding pages luay be found a history of Symmes' 
purchase. This colony may be counted the second 
S('ttlement in the State. Soon after the colony at 
JIarietta was founded, steps were taken to occupy 
separate portions of Judge Sj'mmes' jiurcha.se, be- 
tween the Miami Ilivers. Three parties were 
formed for this pur])ose, but, owing to various 
delays, chiefly in getting the present colony stead- 
fast and safe Irom future encroacliments by the 
savages, they did not get started till late in the fall. 
The first of these parties, consisting of fifteen or 
twenty men, led by Maj. Stites, landed at the 
mouth of the Little Miami in November, 1788, 
and, constructing a log fort, began to lay out a 
village, called by thcni Columbia. It soon grew 
into prcminence, and, befm-e winter had thoroughly 
set in, they were well prepared for a frontier life. 
In the party were Cols. Spencer and Brown, 5Iaj. 
(lano and Kibbey, Judges (ioforth and Foster, 
Rev. John Smith, Francis Dunlavy, Cajit. FHnn, 
Jacob White, John Riley, and Jlr.'lhibbell. 

All these were men of energy and enterprise, 
and, with their comrades, were more numerous 
than cither of the other parties, who commenced 
their settlements below them on the Ohio. This 
village was also, at first, more flourishing; and, for 
two or three years, contained more inhabitants 
than any other in the Miami purchase. 

The second ]Miami party was formed at Lime- 
stone, under Jlatthias Denham and Robert Pat^ 
terson, atid cimsisted (jf twelve or fifteen persons. 
They landed on the north bank of the Ohio, oppo- 



site the mouth of the Licking River, the 24th of 
December, 1788. They intended to establish a 
station and lay out a town on a plan prepared at 
Limestone. Some statements affirm that the town 
was to be called '• L-os-anti-vil/c," by a romantic 
school-teacher named Fil.son. However, be this as 
it may, Mr. Fil.son was, unfortunately for himself, 
not long after, slain by the Indians, and, with him 
jirobably, tlie name disappeared. He was to have 
one-third interest in the proposed city, which, 
when his death occurred, was transferred to Israel 
Ludlow, and a new plan of a city adopted, Israel 
Ludlow surveyed the propi.ised town, whose lots were 
principally donated to settlers upim certain condi- 
tions as to settlement and improvement, and the 
embryo city named Cincinnati. Gov. St. Clair 
very likely had something to do with the naming 
of the villag(;, and, by some, it is asserted that he 
'■hanged the name from Lo.santiville to Cincinnati, 
when he created the county of Hamilton the en- 
suing winter. The original purchase of the city's 
site was made by .Mr. Denham. It included about 
eight hundred acres, for which he paid 5 shillings 
per acre in Continental certificates, then worth, in 
specie, about 5 shillings per pound, gross weight. 
Evidently, the original site was a good investment, 
could !Mr. Denham have lived long enough to .see 
its present condition. 

The third party of settlers for the Miami pur- 
cha.se, were under the care of Judge Symmes, 
himself They left Limestone, January 29, 1789, 
and were much delayed on their downward jour- 
ney by the ice in the river. They reached the 
'Bend," as it was then known, early in February. 
The Judge had intended to found a city here, 
which, in time, would be the rival of the Atlantic 
cities. As each of the three settlements aspired 
to the same position, no little rivalry soon mani- 
fested it.self. The Judge named his proposed city 
North Bend, from the fact that it was the most 
northern bend in the Ohio below the mouth of the 
Great Kanawha. These three settlements ante- 
dated, a few months, those made near Jlarietta, 
already described. They arose so soon after, partly 
ft-oiu the extreme desire of Judge Symmes to settle 
his purchase, and induce emigration liere instead 
of on the Ohio Company's purchase. The Judge 
labored earnestly for this purpose and to further 
secure him in his title to the land he had acquired, 
all of which he had so far been unable to retain, 
owing to his inability to meet his |)ayments. 

All these emigrants came down the river in the 
flat-boats of the day, rude affairs, sometimes called 



■71 



;f* 



94 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



" Arks, " and thru llir uiily safe mode of travel in 
tlie West. 

Judge Symmes found he must provide for the 
safety of the settlers on his jiurt'liase, and, after 
earnestly solieiting fien. llarmar, eoiuniander nf 
the Western jxistn, sueeeeded in olitaininir a dc- 
taehnientof forty-ei>;ht men, under Capt, Kear.sey, 
to protect the iniprcjveineuts just eiinmii'ncing on 
thi: .Miami. This detaelimeut reached Liiuestone 
in December, 17SH. Part wa.s at once sent for- 
ward to guard .Maj. Stites and his [lioneers. Judge 
Symmes and his party started in January, and, 
about February 2, readied Coluiubia, where the 
Captain expected to find a fort ereett'd for his use 
and shelter. The flood on the river, however, de- 
feated his purpose, and, as he Wius unjirepared to 
erect another, lie determined to go on down to the 
garri.son at the falls at Louisville. Judge Symmes 
wa.s strenuously o]ipo.sed to his conduct, as it left, 
the colonies unguarded, but, all to no purpose; the 
Captain and his command, went to Louisville early 
in March, and left the Judge an<l his settlement 
to protect them.selves. Judge Symmes immedi- 
ately sent a strong letter to Maj. Willis, command- 
ing at the Falls, complaining of the conduct 
of Capt. Kear.sey, re])reseiiting the exposed situ- 
atiiin of the Miami .si'ttlements, stating the indi- 
cations of hostility inanitested by the Indians, 
and recpiesting a guard to be sent to the Bend. 
This request was at once granted, and Ensign 
Luce, with seventeen or eighteen soldiers, sent. 
They were at the settlement but a short time, 
when they were atUicked by Indians, and one of 
their number killed, and four or five wounded. 
They repulsed the savages and saved the set- 
tlers. 

The site of Syimncs City, fi)r such he designed it 
sliould ultimately be called, was almvo the reach of 
water, and sutheienlly level to admit of a conven- 
ient .settlement. Tlie city laid out by Symmes 
wa.s truly magnificent on paper, and pmmi.sed in 
tlie future to fulfill his most anhiit Impes. The 
plat included the village, and extended across the 
peninsula between the Ohio and Jliami lUvi'rs. 
Each .settler on this plat Wiis promised a lot if he 
would improve it, and in conformity to the sti]m- 
lation, Judge Synnne.s soon found a large number 
of pensims applying for residence. As the number 
of these adventurei-s inerea.sed, in eonsei|uence of 
this jiriivision and the pmtection of the military, 
tlie Judge was induced to lay out anntiier village 
six or .seven miles up the river, which lie called 
South Bend, where he disposed of some donation 



lots, but the project failing, the village site was de- 
serted, and converted into a farm. 

During all the time these various events were 
trans|)iring, but little tnmble was experienced with 
the Indians. They were not yet disposed to evince 
hostile feelings. This would have been their time, 
but, not realizing the true intent of the whites until 
it was too late to coiKpier them, they allowed them 
to become prejiared tn witlistand a warfare, and in 
the end wereotiliged to suffer their hunting-grounds 
to be taken from them, and made the homes (jf a 
I'ace destined to entirely supercede them in tlu! 
New World. 

By the means sketched in the foregoing pages, 
were the three settlements on the Miami made. By 
the timetho.se adjacent to Marietta were well estab- 
lished, these were tirmly fixed, each one striving to 
become the rival city all fcdt sure was to arise. For 
a time it was a inatt<'r of doubt which of the rivals, 
Columbia, North Bend or Cincinnati, would event- 
ually become the chief seat of business. 

In the beginning, Columbia, the eldest of the 
tliree, took the lead, both in number of its in- 
habitants and the convenience and a]i])earance of 
its dwellings. Fora time it was a flourishing place, 
and many believed it would become tlu' great busi- 
ness town of the Miami country. That apparent 
fact, however, lasted but a short time. Tlie garri- 
son was moved to Cincinnati, l''ort Washington 
built there, and in .spite of all that Maj. Stites, or 
Judge Symmes could do, tliat jilace became the 
metropolis. Fort Washington, the most extensive 
garri.son in the West, was built by Maj. Doughty, 
in tlie summer of 17S!t, and from that time the 
growth and future greatness of Cincinnati were 
assured. 

The first hou.se in the city was built on Front 
strei't, ea.st of and near Main street. It was 
simply a strong log cabin, and was erected of the 
forest trees cleared away from the ground on which 
it stood. The lower part of tlu' town was covered 
with .sycamore and niajile trees, and the u]iper w ith 
beech and oak. Tlirough this dense fon'^t the 
streets were laid out, and their corners marked on 
tlie trees. 

The settlements on tl>e Miami had become 
sufliciently numerous to warrant a sejiarate county, 
and, in January, 1 "!•••, (!ov. St. ('lair and his 
Secretary arriv<'il in Cincinnati, and organized the 
county of Hamilton, so named in honor of the 
illustrious statesman by that name. It included 
all the country north of the Ohio, betwi-en the 
Mianiis, as far as a line running '° due east from the 



i£: 



HISTOEY OF OHIO. 



95 



Standing Stone forks" of Big Miami to its inter- 
section with the Little Miami. The erection of 
the new county, and the appointment of Cincin- 
nati to be the seat of justice, gave the town a fresh 
impulse, and aided greatly in its growth. 

Through the summer, but little interruption in 
the growth of the settlements occurred. The 
Indians had permitted the erection of defensive 
works in their midst, and could not now destroy 
them. They were also engaged in traffic with the 
whites, and, though they evinced signs of di.scon- 
tent at their settlement and occupation of the 
country, yet did not openly attack them. The 
truth was, they saw plainly the whites were always 
prepared, and no opportunity was given them to 
plunder and destroy. The Indian would not 
attack unless success was almost sure. An oppior- 
tunity, unfortunately, came, and with it the hor- 
rors of an Indian war. 

In the autumn of 1790, a company of thirty- 
six men went from Marietta to a place on the 
Muskingum known as the Big Bottom. Here 
they built a block-house, on the east bank of the 
river, four miles above the mouth of Meigs Creek. 
They were chiefly young, single men, but little 
acijuaiuted with Indian warfare or military rules. 
The savages had given signs that an attack on the 
settlement was meditated, and several of the know- 
ing ones at the strongholds streiuiously opposed 
any new .settlements that tall, advising their post^ 
ponement until the next .spring, when the question 
of peace or war would probably be settled. Even 
Gen. Putnam and the Directors of the Ohio Com- 
pany advised the postponement of the settlement 
until the next spring. 

The young men were impatient and restless, and 
declared themselves able to protect their fort 
against any number of assailants. They might 
have easily done so, had they taken the necessary 
precautions ; but, after they had erected a rude 
block-house of uiichinked logs, they began to pass 
the time in various pursuits; setting no guard, and 
taking no precautionary measures, they left them- 
selves an ea.sy prey to any hostile savages that 
might choose to C(mie and attack them. 

About twenty rods from the block-house, and a 
little back from the bank of the river, two men, 
Francis and Isaac Choate, members of the com- 
pany, had erected a cabin, and commenced clearing 
lots. Thomas Shaw, a hired laborer, and James 
Patten, another of the a.ssociates, lived with them. 
About the same distance below the block-house 
was an old "Tomahawk Improvement" and a 



small cabin, which two men, Asa and Eleazur 
Bullard, had fitted up and occupied. The Indian 
war-path, from Sandusky to the mouth of the 
Muskingum, passed along the opposite shore of 
the river. 

" The Indians, who, during the summer," says 
Dr. Hildreth, " had been hunting and loitering 
about the Wolf Creek and Plainfield settlements, 
holding frecjuent and friendly intercourse with the 
settlers, selling them venison and bear's meat in ex- 
change for green corn and vegetables, had with- 
drawn and gone up the river, early in the au- 
tumn, to their towns, preparatory to going into 
winter ((uarters. They very seldom entered on 
any warlike expeditions during the cold weather. 
But they had watched the gradual encroach- 
ment of the whites and planned an expedition 
against them. They saw them in fancied security 
in their cabins, and thought their capture an easy 
task. It is said they were not aware of the Big 
Bottom settlement until they came in sight of it, 
on the opposite shore of the river, in the afternoon. 
From a high hill opposite the garrison, they had a 
view of all that part of the bottom, and could see 
how the men were occupied and what was doing 
about the block-house. It was not proiected with 
palLsades or pickets, and none of tlie men were 
aware or prepared for an attack. Having laid 
their plans, about twilight they crossed the river 
above the garri.son, on the ice, and divided their 
men into two parties — the larger one to attack the 
block-house, the smaller one tij cajiture the cabins. 
As the Indians cautiously approached the cabin 
they found the inmates at supper. Part entered, 
addressed the whites in a friendly manner, but 
soon manifesting their designs, made them all pris- 
oners, tieing them with leather thongs they found 
in the cabin." 

At the block-house the attack was far different. 
A stout Mohawk suddenly burst open the door, 
the first intimation the inmates had of the pres- 
ence of the foe, and while he held it open his 
comrades shot down those that were within. Bush- 
ing in, the deadly tomahawk completed the on- 
.slaught. In the assault, one of the savages was 
struck by the wife of Isaac Woods, with an ax, 
but only slightly injured. The heroic woman was 
immediately slain. All the men but two were 
slain before they had time to secure their arms, 
thereby paying for their failure to properly secure 
themselves, with their lives. The two excepted 
were John Stacy and his brother Philip, a lad six- 
teen years of age. John escaped to the roof. 



:sc 



9G 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



where he was shot by the Indians, while begging 
f(pr his life. The firing at the bldek-hcmse alarmed 
the Bullards in their cabin, and hastily barring the 
door, and sceuring their ariusandaninumiliiFn.they 
fled to (he \V(jocl.s, and e.seaped. After tiie slaughter 
was over, the Indians began to eolleet tlu' [iluTider, 
and in doing .so di.scovered ttie lad l^liili|i 8laey. 
They were about to dispatch him, but his entrea- 
ties .sofU'iied the heart of one of the chiefs, wlio 
took him as a captive with the intention of adopt- 
ing him into his family. The savtiges then piled 
the dead bodies on the floor, covered them with 
other portions of it not needed for that purpo.se, 
and set fire to the whole. The building, being 
made of green logs, did not burn, the flames con- 
suming only the floors and roof, leaving the walls 
standing. 

There were twelve persons killrd in lliis attack, 
all of whom were in the prime of life, and valuable 
aid to the settlements. They were well provided 
with arms, and lia<l they taken tlu> neces.sary pre- 
cautions, always pressed upon them when visited 
by the older ones from Marietta, they need not 
have suttV-red so terrible a tiite. 

The Indians, exultant over their horrible victory, 
went on to Wolf's mills, but here they found the 
peojile prepared, and, after reconnoitering the place, 
made tlieir retreat, at early dawn, to the great re- 
lief of the inhabitants. Their number was never 
difinitely known. 

The news reached Marietta and its adjacent 
settlements soon after the nia.s.sacre occurred, and 
struck terror and dismay into the hearts of all. 
Many had brothers and .sons in the ill-fated ]iarty. 
and mourned their lo.ss. Neither <ii<i they know 
what jilace would fall ne.xt. The Indian hostilities 
had begun, and they could only hii])e Ibr peace 
when the savages were effectually compu'red. 

The ne.xt day, Capt. Rogers led a party (jf tnen 
over to the Big Bottom. It w:is, indeed, a melan- 
cluily sight to the poor borderers. ;us they knew not 
now how .Soon the same fate might befiiU them- 
.selves. The fire had so disfigured their comrades 
that but two, Kzra Putnam and William Jones, 
Were recognized. As the ground was frozen out- 
side, a hole w;ls dug in the earth underneath the 
block-house floor, and the budics consigned to one 
grave. No further attem])t was made to settle 
here till alicr the peace of 1 "!'">. 

The iiutbreak of Indian ho.stilities put a check 
on further settlcincnt.s. Tho.se that were estab- 
lished Were put in a more active state of defen.se, 
and every preparation made that could be made 



for the impending crisis all felt sure must eotne. 
Either the Indians must go, or the whites must 
retreat. A few hardy and advenlurous persons 
ventured out into the woods and made .settle- 
ments, but even these were at the innninent risk 
of their lives, many of them perishing in the" 
attempt. 

The Indian war tliat followed is given fully in 
preceding jiages. It may be briefly sketched by 
stating that the first campaign, under Gen Har- 
mar, ended in the defeat of his army at the Indian 
villages on the .Miami of the lake, and the rapid 
retreat to Fort W;ushington. St. Clair was next 
commissioiu'd to lead an army of nearly three thou- 
sand men, but these were furiously attacked at 
break oi' day, on the morning of November 4, 
1791, and utterly defeated. Indian outrages 
sprung out anew after each defeat, and the borders 
were in a continual state of alarm. The most ter- 
rible suft'erings were emhired by prisoners in the 
hands of the savage foe, who thought to annihilate 
the whites. 

The army was at once re-organized. Gen. An- 
thony Wayne put in command by ^^';^.slliugton, 
and a vigorous campaign inaugurated. Though 
the .savages had been given great aid by the Brit- 
ish, in direct violation of the treaty of 178H, Gen. 
Wayne ])ursued them so vigorously that they coidd 
not withstand his army, and, the 20th of August, 
1794, defeated them, and utt^^'rly annihilated their 
forces, breaking up tlieir cam]is, and laying waste 
their country, in some places under the guns of 
the British tiirts. The victory sluiwed them the 
hojiele.ssne.ss of contending against the whites, and 
led their chiefs to sue for peace. The British, as 
at former times, deserted them, and they were again 
alone, contending against an invincilile foe. A 
grand council w;us held at (jreenville the l!d day 
of August, 1795, where eleven of the most power- 
ful chiefs made peace with (ien. Wayne on terms 
of his own dictation. The boundary established 
by the old treaty of Fort Mcintosh wxs confirmed, 
and extended westward from Loramie's to Fort 
Recovery, and thence southwest to the mouth of 
the Kenlui-ky River. He also purcha.sed all the 
territory not before ceded, within certain linuts, 
coni]irehendiug, in all, about four-fifths of the State 
of ( )hio. Tlu' line was lung kiiown as " The (Jreen- 
ville Treaty line. " I'pon these, and a ti'W other 
minor condilions, the rniled States received the 
Indians under their protection, gave them a large 
number of ]ire.sents, and practicallj' closed the war 
with the savages. 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



97 



The only settlement of any consequence made dur- 
ing the Indian war, was that on the plat of Hamilton, 
laidoutby Israel Ludlow in December, 1794. Soon 
after, Darius C. Orcutt, John Green, William Mc- 
Clennan, John Sutherland, John Torrence, Benjamin 
• F. Randolph, Benjamin Davis, Isaac Wiles, Andrew 
Christy and William Hubert, located here. The 
town was laid out under the name of Fairfield, but 
was known only a short time by that name. Until 
1801, all tlie lands on the west side of the Great 
Jliami were owned by the General Government; 
hence, until after that date, no improvements were 
made there. A single log cabin stood there until 
the sale of lands in April, 1801, when a compaiij' 
purchased the site of Rossville, and, in INIarch, 
1804, laid out that town, and, before a year had 
passed, the town and country about it was well 
settled. 
j The close of the war, in 1795, insured peace, 
and, from that date, Hamilton and that part of the 
Miami \'alley grew remarkably fast. In 1803, 
Butler County was formed, and Hamilton made 
the county seat. 

On the site of Hamilton, St. Clair built Fort 
Hamilton in 1791. For some time it was under 
the command of Maj. Rudolph, a cruel, arbitrary 
man, who was displaced by Gen. Wayne, and who, 
it is said, perished ignobly on the high seas, at the 
hands of .some Algerine pirates, a fitting end to a 
man who caused, more than once, the death of 
men under his control for minor otFenses. 

On the return of peace, no part of Ohio grew 
more rapidly than the 3Iiami Valley, especially 
that ])art comprised in Butler County. 

While the war with the Indians continued, but 
little extension of settlements was made in the 
State. It wa.s too perilous, and the settlers pre- 
ferred the .security of the block-house or to engage 
with the army. Still, however, a few bold spirits 
ventured away from the settled parts of the Terri- 
tory, and began life in the wilderne.ss. In tracing 
the histories of the.se .settlements, attention will be 
paid to the (irJti- in which they were made. They 
will be given somewhat in detail until the war of 
1812, after which time they become too numerous 
to follow. 

The settlements made in Washington — ^Marietta 
and adjacent colonies — and Hamilton Counties 
have already been given. The settlement at Gal- 
lia is also noted, hence, the narration can be re- 
sumed where it ends prior to the Indian war of 
1795. Before this war occurred, there were three 
small settlements made, however, in addition to 



tho.se in Wa.shington and Hamilton Counties. 
They were in what are now Adams, Belmont and 
Morgan Counties. They were block-house settle- 
ments, and were in a continual .state of defense. 
The first of these, Adams, was settled in the winter 
of 1790-91 by Gen. Nathaniel Massie. near where 
Manchester now is. Gen. Massie determined to 
settle here in the A'irginia Military Tract — in the 
winter of 1790, and sent notice throughout Ken- 
tucky and other Western settlements that he would 
give to each of the first twenty-five families who 
would settle in the town he proposed laying out, 
one in-lot, one out-lot and one hundred acres of 
laud. Such liberal terms were swm accepted, and 
in a short time thirty families were ready to go 
with him. After various consultations with his 
friends, the bottom on the Ohio River, opposite 
the lower of the Three Islands, was selected as 
the most eligible spot. Here Massie fixed his sta- 
tion, and laid off into lots a town, now called 
^Manchester. The little confederacy, with Massie 
at the helm, went to work with spirit. Cabins 
were raised, and by the middle of JMarch, 
1791, the whole town was inclo.sed with strong 
pickets, with block-houses at each angle for de- 
fense. 

This was the first settlement in the bounds of 
the Virginia District, and the fourth one in the 
State. Although in the midst of a savage foe, 
now inflamed with war, and in the midst of a 
cruel conflict, the settlement at Manchester suf- 
fered less than any of its cotemporaries. This 
was, no doubt, due to the watchftil care of its in 
habitants, who were inured to the rigors of a front- 
ier life, and who well knew the danger about them. 
" These were the Beasleys, Stouts, Washburns, 
Ledoms, Edgingtons, Denings, Ellisons, Utts, 
McKcnzies, Wades, and others, who were fully 
equal to the Indians in all the savage arts and 
stratagems of border war." 

Assoon as they had completed preparations for 
defense, the whole population went to work and 
cleared the lowest of the Three Lslands, and planted 
it in corn. The soil of the island was very rich, 
and produced abundantly. The woods supplied an 
abundance of game, while the river furnished a 
variety of excellent fish. The inhabitants thus 
found their simjile wants fully sujiplied. Their 
nearest neighbors in the new Territory were at 
Columbia, and at the French settlement at Gallip- 
olis ; but with these, owing to the state of the 
country and the Indian war, they could hold little, 
if any, intercourse. 



J ">y 



_G) > 



98 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



Tlie station being established, Massie continued 
to make locations and surveys. Great precautions 
were necessary to avoid the Indians, and even the 
closest vigilance did not always avail, as the cver- 
watcht'ul foe was always ready to spring upon the 
settlement, could an unguarded moment be ob- 
served. During one of the .spring months. Gen. 
Ma.ssie, Israel Donalson, William Lytic and James 
Little, while out on a survey, were surjiriscd, and 
Jlr. Doualson captured, the others escaping at 
great peril. Mr. Doualson escaped during the 
march to the Indian town, and made his way to 
the town of Cincinnati, atlcr suft'criug great hard- 
slii]is, and almost perishing from huuger. In the 
spring of 171K5, the settlers at Manchester com- 
menced clearing the out-lots of the town. While 
doing so, an incident occurred, which shows the 
danger to which they were daily exposed. It is 
thus related in Howe's Collections : 

" Mr. Andrew Ellison, one of the settlers, 
cleared an out-lot immediately adjoining the fort. 
He had completed the cutting of the timber, rolled 
the logs together, and .set them on fire. The next 
morning, before daybreak, Mr. Ellison opeued one 
of the gates of the fort, and went out to throw his 
logs together. By the tiu)e he had fini.shed the 
job, a number of the heaps blazed up brightly, and, 
as he was pa.ssing from one to the other, he ob- 
served, by the light of the fires, three men walking 
briskly toward him. This did not alarm him in 
\\\v. least, although, he said, they were dark-skinned 
fi'ilows; yet he concluded they were the Wades, 
whose complexions were very dark, going early to 
hunt. He continued to right his log-hca]is, until 
(me of the fellows .seized him by the arms, calling 
out, in broken English, ' How do ? how do? ' He 
instantly looked in their fiices, and, to his .surprise 
and horror, found hini.self in the clutches of three 
[n<lians. To resist was useless. 

"The Indians (piickly moved oflF with him in 
the direction of I'aint Creek. When breakfast 
was ready, Mrs. Ellison sent one of her children 
to iusk its father home; but he coidd not be found 
at the log-heaps. Ilis absence created no immedi- 
ate alarm, an it was thought he might have .started 
to hunt, after coni|)lcting his work. Dinner-time 
arrived, and, Elli.son not returning, the family 
became uneasy, and began to suspect some acci- 
dent had hajipened to him. Ilis gun-rack Wits 
examined, and there hung his rifles and his pouch. 
Gen. Miuwie rai.sed a party, made a circuit around 
the place, finding, after some search, the trails of 
folir men, one of whom had on shoes; and the 



fact that Mr. Ellison was a prisoner now became 
a])parent. As it was almost night at the time the 
trail was discovered, the party returned to the 
station. Early the next morning, prej)arations 
were made by Gen. Massie and his friends to con- 
tinue the search. In doing this, they found great 
difficulty, as it was so earlj' in the spring that the 
vegetation w;ls not grovni sufficiently to show 
plainly the trail made by the savages, who took 
the precaution to keep on high and dry ground, 
where their fl'ct would make little or no impres- 
sion. The Jiarty wi're, however, as unerring as a 
pack of hounds, and followcil the trail to I'aint 
Cift'k, when they foun<l the Indians gained .so 
fa.st on them that pursuit was useless. 

"The Indians took their ]irisoner to Upper 
Sandusky, where he was coiupelled to run the 
gantlet. As he was a large, and not very active, 
man, he received a severe flogging. He was then 
taken to Lower Sandusky, and again comj)ellcd to 
run the gantlet. He was then taken to Detroit, 
where he was ransomed by a British officer for 
8100. The officer jiroved a good friend to him. 
He sent him to Montreal, whence he returned 
home before the close of the summer, much to the 
joy of his family and friends, whose feelings can 
only be imagini'd." 

"Another incident occurred about this time," 
says the same volume, "which so a])tly illustrates 
the danger of frontier life, that it well deserves a 
|]lace ill the history of the settlements in Ohio. 
John and Asahcl Edginglon, with a comrade, 
started out on a hunting exiiedition toward Brush 
Crei'k. They camjicd out si.\ miles in a northea.st 
direction from where West Union now stands, and 
near the site of Treber's tavern, (m the road from 
Chillicotlie to Maysville. They had good success 
in hunting, killing a luimber of deer and bears. 
Of the deer killed, they saved the skins and hams 
alone. They fleeced the bears; that is, they cut 
off all the meat which adhered to the hide, with- 
out skinning, and left the bones as a .skeleton. 
They hung u|i the ](rocee<ls of their hunt, on a scaf- 
fold out oi' the reach of wolves aTid other wild ani- 
mals, and returned to Manchester for ]iack-liorscs. 
No one returned to the camji with the Edgington.s. 
As it was late in Dcceuiber, few ai)]ircht'inlcd dan- 
ger, !LS the winter sca.son was usually a time of re- 
])ose f'rr>m Indian incursions. Whiii the Ivlgingtons 
arrived at their ciimp, they alighted from their 
horses and were preparing to start a fire, when a 
platoon of Indians fired upon them at a distjinee 
of not more than twenty paces. They had 



^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



101 



evidently found the results of the white men's labor, 
and expected they would return for it, and pre- 
pared to waylay them. Asahel Edginijjton fell 
dead. John was more fortunate. The sharp 
crack of the rifles, and the liorrible yells of the 
savages as they leaped from their place of ambush, 
frightened the lionses, wlio took the track for 
home at full speed. John was very active on foot, 
and now an opiHirt unity ofl['cred which required his 
utmost speed. The mimient the Indians leaped 
from their hiding place, they threw down tlieir 
guns and took after him, yelling with all their 
power. Kdgington did not run a booty race. For 
about a mile, the savages stepped in liis tracks al- 
most before the bending gr:i.ss could rise. The 
uplifted tomahawk was fi-e((uently so near his head 
that he thought he felt its edge. He exerted 
himself to his utmost, while the Indians strove 
with all their might to catch him. Finally, he be- 
gan to gain on his pursuers, and, after a long raee, 
distanced them and made his escape, safely reach- 
ing home. This, truly, was a most fearful and 
well-contested raee. The big Shawanee chief, ('apt. 
John, who headed tin; Indians on this occasion, 
af\er peace was made, in narrating the particidars, 
said, "The white man who ran away was a smart 
fellow. The white man run; and I run. He run 
and run ; at last, the white man run clear off from 
me." 

The settlement, despite its dangers, prospered, 
and afler the close of the war continued to grow 
rajiidly. In two years after peace was declared, 
Adams County was erected by proclamation of 
Gov. St. Clair, the next year court was held, and 
in 1804, West Union was made the county seat. 

During the war, a settlement was commenced 
near the present town of Bridgeport, in Belmont 
County, by Capt. Joseph Belmont, a noted Dela- 
ware Revolutionary officer, who, because his State 
could furnish only one company, could rise no 
higher than Captain of that company, and hence 
always maintained that grade. He settled on a 
beautiful knoll near the present county seat, but 
erelong suffered from a night attack by the In- 
dians, who, though unable to drive him and his 
companions from the cabin or conrpier them, 
wounded some of them badly, one or two mortally, 
and caused the Captain to leave the frontier and 
return to Newark, Del. The attack was made 
in the spring of 1791, and a short time after, 
the Captain, having provided for the safety of his 
family, accepted a commission in St. Clair's army, 
and loist his life at the defeat of the General in 



November. Shortly after the Captain settled, a 
fort, called Dillie's Fort, was built on the Ohio, 
opposite the mouth of Grave Creek. About two 
hundred and fifty yards below this fort, an old 
man, nanu'd Tato, was .shot down at his cabin door 
by the Indians, just as he was in the act of entering 
the hou.se. His body was jiullcd in by his daugh- 
ter-in-law and gTandson, who made an heroic de- 
fense. They were overpuwered, the woman slain, 
and the boy badly wounded. He, however, man- 
age<l Ut secrete himsi'lf and afterward escajied to 
the furt. The Indians, twelve or thirteen in num- 
ber, went off unmolested, though the men in the 
fort saw the whole transaction and could have 
punished them. Why they did not was never 
known. 

On Captina Creek in this same county, occurred, 
in May, 1794, the "battle of Captina," a fa- 
mous local skirmi.sh between some \ irginians from 
Fort Baker, and a party of ln<lians. Though the 
Indians largely outnumlien-il the whites, they were 
severely punished, and comjielled to abanilon the 
contest, losing several of their bravest warriors. 

These were the only settlements made until 
1 7!ir), the close of the war. Even these, as it will 
be observed from the foregoing pages, were tem- 
porary in all ca.ses save one, and were maintained 
at a great ri.sk, and the loss of many valuable lives. 
They were made in the beginning of the war.and such 
were their experiences that fiirther attempts were 
abandoned until the treaty of Greenville was made, 
or until the prospects for peace and safety were 
assured. 

No sooner, however, had the prospect of quiet 
been established, than a revival of emigration l)e- 
gan. Before the war it had been large, now it 
was largely increased. 

Wayne's treaty of peace with the Indians was 
made at Greenville, in what is now Darke Couiity, 
the 3d of August, 1795. The number of Indians 
present was estimated at 1,300, divided among the 
principal nations as follows: IStl AVyandots, 381 
Delawares, 143 Shawanees, 45 (_)ttawas, 4(5 Chiii- 
pewas, 240 Pottawatomies, 73 Miamis and Eel 
River, 12 Weas and Pianke.shaws, and 10 Kicka- 
poos and Kaskaskias. The principal chiefs were 
Tarhc, Buckongahelas, Black Hoof, Blue Jacket 
and Little Turtle. IMost of them had been tam- 
pered with by the British agents and traders, but 
all had been so thoroughly chastised by Wayne, and 
found that the British only used them as tools, 
that they were quite anxious to make peace with 
the " Tliirteen Fires." By the treaty, former ones 



103 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



were estiiblisheil, the boundary lines confirmed and 
enlarged, an exchange and delivery of prisoners 
effected, and ])ennaiu'nt peace assured. 

In the hitter jiart of ye]iteniber, after the treaty 
of Greenville, Mr. J5cdell, from New Jersey, 
selected a site for a home in what is now ^\'arren 
County, at a place since known as " Bedell's Sta- 
tion." about a mile south of I'uion Milage. Hero 
he erected a block-house, as a defense against the 
Indians, among whom were many renegades a.s 
among the whites, who would not respect the 
terms of the treaty. Whether Mr. Bedell was 
alone that fiill, or whether he was joined by others, 
is not now accurately known. However that may 
be, he wa.s not long left to himself; for, ere a year 
had elap.sed, ([uitc a number of settlements were 
made in this part of the Tcrritorj'. Soon after 
liis si'ttlement w;ls made, (Jen. David S\itton, Capt. 
Nathan Kellcy and others began ])ioneer life at 
Deerfield, in the same locality, and, before three 
years had gone by, a large nuniljer of New Jersey 
people were established in their homes; and, in 
1808, the county was fimncd from Hamilton. 
Among tlie early settlers at Deerfield, was Capt. 
Robert Benham, who, with a companion, in 1779, 
sustained themselves many days when the Captain 
had lo.st the use of his legs, and his companion 
his arms, from musket-balls fired by the liands of 
the Indians. They were with a large party com- 
manded by Maj. Hodgers, and were furiously 
attacked by an immense nundjcr of savages, and 
all but a few slain. The event hajipcned during 
the war of the Revolution, before any attempt 
was made to settle the Northwest Territory. The 
party were going dcjwn the Ohio, probably to the 
falls, and were attai-ked when near the site of 
Cincinnati. As mentioned, these two men sus- 
tained each other many days, the one having jjer- 
feet legs doing the nece.>*sary walking, carrying his 
comrade to water, driving up g-ame for him to 
shoot, and any other duties necessary; while the 
one who liad the use of his anns could dress liis 
companion's and his own wounds, kill and cook 
the game, and perform his share. They were 
rescued, finally, by a flat-boat, whose occupants, 
for awhile, ]ia.s.<cd them, fearing a decoy, but, 
becoming convinced that such was not the ca.se, 
took tlii'm on down to Louisville, where they were 
nurs<'d into jierfect health 

A settlement was niadi' near the present town of 
Lebannn, the county .seat of Warren County, in 
the spring of 17'.Ui, by Henry Taylor, who built a 
mill one mile west of the town site, on Turtle 



Creek. Soon after, he was joined by leliabod 
Corwin, John Osbourn, Jacob V orhees, Samuel 
Shaw, Daniel Bont(> and a Mr. Manning. When 
Lebanon was laid out, in 18(18, the two-.-;tory log 
house built in 1797 by Ichabod Corwin was the 
only building on the plat. It was occujjied by 
Kphraim Hathaway as a tavern. He had a black 
horse painted on an immense board fiir a sign, and 
continued in business here till 1810. The .same 
year the town was laid out, a store was opened by 
John Huston, and, from that date, the growth of 
the county was very prosperous. Three years 
after, the We.ttern Star was established by 
Judge John McLain, and the current news of 
the day given in weekly editions. It was one of 
the first newspapers established in the Territory, 
out.side of Cincinnati. 

As has been mentioned, the opening of naviga- 
tion in the spriug of 17!:U; brought a great flood 
of emigration to the Territory. The little .'Settle- 
ment made Ijy Mr. Bedell, in the autumn of 17!ir), 
was about the only one made that fall ; others made 
preparations, and many selected sites, but did not 
settle till the following spring. That sjiring, colo- 
nies were planted in what are now Montgomery, 
Licking. Ross, Madison, Mahoning, Tnnnbull, 
Ashtabula and Cuyahoga Counties, while prepara- 
tions were in turn made to occupy additional terri- 
tory, that will hereafter be noticed. 

The settlement made in Montgomery County 
was begun early in the .spring of 17!M>. As early 
as 1788, the land on which Da3ton now stands was 
selected by some gentlemen, who designed laying 
out a town to be named \'enice. They agreed 
with Judge Symmes, whose ecmtract covered the 
place, for the ]iurclia.'<e of the lands. The Indian 
war which broke out at this time prevented an 
extension of settlements from the immediate 
neighborhood of the parent colonies, and the pnij- 
ect wa,s abaniloned by the purirluLsers. Soon after 
the treaty of 17!'.'), a new comiiany, eompo.se<i of 
Gens. Jonathan Dayton, Arthur St. Clair, James 
Wilkinsini, and Col. Israel Ludlow. ])urcha.sed the 
land between the Mianiis, anuinil the month of 
Mad River, of .Judge Syumies, and. the 4th of 
November, laid o\it the town. Arrangements were 
made for its settlement the ensuing spriug, and 
donati<insof lots, with other ]irivileges, were offered 
to a<tual si'ttlers. Forty-si.v per.'^ons eiitend into 
engagements to remove from Cincinnati to Day- 
ton, but during the winter most of them scat- 
tered in different directions, and oidy nineteen ful- 
filleil their contracts. The first families who 



ta. 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



103 



made a permanent residence here, arrived on the 
first day of April, 1790, and at once set about 
establishing homes. Judge Symmes, Iiowever, 
becoming unable soon after to pay fur his purchase, 
the land reverted to the I'nited States, and the set- 
tlers in and about Dayton found themselves with- 
out titles to their lands. Congiess, however, came 
to the aid of all such persons, wherever they had 
purchased land of Symmes, and passed a |ire-cinp- 
tion law, uuder which they could enter their lands 
at the regular government price. Some of the set- 
tlers entered their lands, and obtained titles directly 
from the I'nited States ; others made arrangements 
with Daniel C. Cooper to receive their deeds from 
him, and he entered the residue of the town lands. 
He had been the surveyor and agent of the first 
company of proprietors, and they assigned to him 
certain of their rights of pre-eni]ition. by which he 
became the titular owner of the land. 

When the State government was organized in 
1803, Dayton was made the seat of ju.stice for 
Montgomery County, erected the same year. At 
that time, owing to the title question, only five 
families resided in the place, the other settlers hav- 
ing gone to farms in the vicinity, or to other 
parts of the country. The increase of the town 
was gradual until the war of 1812, when its 
growth was more rapid until 182(1, when it was 
again checked by the general depression of busi- 
ness. It revived in 1827, at the commencement 
of the Miami Canal, and since then its growth has 
always been prosperous. It is now one of the 
best cities in Ohio. The first canal boats from 
Cincinnati arrived at Dayton January 25, 182!t, 
and the first one from Lake Erie the 24th of 
June, 1845. In 1825, a weekly line of stages 
was established between Columbus and Cincinnati, 
via Dayton. Two days were occupied in coming 
from Cincinnati to Dayton. ' 

On the 18th of September, 1808, the Dayton 
Repertori/ was established by William McClureand 
George Smith. It was printed on a foolscap sheet. 
Soon after, it was enlarged and changed from a 
weekly to a daily, and, ere long, found a number 
of competitore in the field. 

In the lower part of Jliamisburg, in this county, 
are the remains of ancient works, scattered about 
over the bottom. About a mile antl a quarter 
southeast of the village, on an elevation more than 
one hundred feet above the level of the Miami, 
is the largest mound in the Northern States, ex- 
cepting the mammoth mound at (Irave Creek, on 
the Ohio, below Wheeling, which it nearly equals 



in dimensions. It is about eight hundred feet 
around the base, and rises to a height of nearly 
seventy feet. When first known it was covered 
with forest trees, whose size evidenced great age. 
The Indians could give no account of the mound. 
Excavations revealed bones and charred earth, 
but what was its use, will alwav.': remain a con- 
jecture. 

One of the most important early settlements 
wa.s made cotemporary with that of Dayton, in 
what is now Ross County. The same spring, 
1790, (juite a colony came to the banks of the 
Scioto River, and, near the mouth of Paint Creek, 
began to plant a crop of corn on the bottom. The 
.site had been selected as early as 1792, by Col. 
Nathaniel Ma.ssie* and others, who were so de- 
lighted with the country, and gave such glowing 
descriptions of it on their return — which accounts 
soon circulated through Kentucky — that portions 
of the Presliyterian congregations of Caueridge and 
Concord, in Bourbon County, under Rev. Robert 
W. Finley, determined to emigrate thither in a 
body. They were, in a measure, induced to take 
this .step by their dislike to slavery, and a desire 
for freedom from its baleful influ.'nces and the un- 
certainty that existed regarding the validity of the 
land titles in that State. The Rev, Finley, as a 
preliminary step, liljerated his slaves, and addressed 
to Col. Massie a letter of ini|uiry, in December, 
1794, regarding the land on the Scioto, of which 
he and his people had heard such glowing ac- 
counts. 

"The letter induced Col. Massie to visit Sir. 
Finley in the ensuing March. A large concourse 
of people, who wished to engage in the enterprise, 
assembled on the occasion, and fixed ou a day to 
meet at the Three Islands, in Mauchester, and 
proceed on an exploring expedition. Mr. Finley 
also wrote to his friends in Western Pennsylvania 

* Nathaniel Massie waa born in Gooclilanri County, Va., Becem- 
ber 2S, 1703. In 1780. he enpagjed, for a short time, in the Revolu- 
tionary war. In 17S3, be left for Kentucky, where he acted as a 
Burveyor. lie was afterward made a Government surveyor, and 
labored much in that capacity for early Ohio proprietors, being paid 
in lands, the amounts graded by the danger attached to ihe survey. 
In 1791, he established the seltlement at Manchester, and a year or 
two after, continued bis surveys up the Sciuto. Here he was con- 
tinually in great d;;nger from the Indians, but knew well how to 
guard against them, and thus presel-ved himself. In 1796, he estab 
lished the Cbillicothe settlenu-nt, and made his home in the Scioto 
Valley, being now an extensive land owner by reason of his long 
surveying service. In 1S(I7, he and Return J. Meigs were compet- 
itors for the office of Governor of Ohio. Meigs was elected, hut 
Massie contested his eligibility to the oHiee, on the grounds of his 
absence from the State and insufficiency of time as a resident, as 
required by the Constitution. Meigs was declared ineligible by the 
General Assembly, and Massie declared Governor. He, however, 
resigned the office at once, not desiring it. He waa often Repre- 
Benutive afterward. He died November 13, 1813. 



104 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



informing them of the time and place of rendez- 

VDUS. 

'• Ahcjut sixty men met, ac-cordini;; to ajijioint- 
ment, who were divided into three comjianies, 
under Massie, Fiiiley and Falcna.sli. Tliey pro- 
ceeded on their mute, without interruption, until 
they struck the falls of I'aint Creek. I'roceedini; 
a short distance dciwn that stream, they suddenly 
found themselves in the vicinity of sonu- Indians 
who had eneamj)cd at a place, since called Reeve's 
Crossinj;, near the pn'sent town of IJainliridge. 
Tile Indians were of those who ha<l rel'used to 
attend Wayne's treaty, and it was determined to 
give them battle, it heing too late to retreat with 
safety. The Indians, on being attacked, soon flctl 
with the loss of two killed and several wounded. 
One of the whites only, Joshua Robinson, was 
mortally wounded, and, during the action, a Mr. 
Armstrong, a prisoner among the savages, escaped 
to his own people. The whites gathered all their 
plunder and retreated aa far as Scioto Brush 
Creek, where they were, according to expectation, 
attacked early the next morning. Again the In- 
dians were defeated. Only one man among the 
whites, Allen tiilHllan, was wounded. The party 
of whites continued their retreat, the next day 
reached Mancluwter, and separateil for their homes. 

"Alter Wayne's treaty. Col. .M;issie and several 
of the old explorers again met at the hou.se of 
Rev. Finley, formed a company, and agreed to 
make a settlement in the ensuing .spring ( IT'.tfi), 
and rai.sc a crop of corn at the mouth of Paint 
Creek. According to iigreement, they met at Man- 
chester about the first of April, to the number of 
forty and u])ward, from Ma.son and Bourbon 
Counties. Among them were Jo.seph McC'oy, 
Benjaniin and William Rodgers, David Shelby, 
Jam 's llarrod, Henry, Bazil ami Reiilun Abrains, 
William Jamison, James Ciawlbrd, Saiiuiel. .\n- 
tlioiiy and Itobert Smith, Thomas !)iek, William 
and James Kerr, CJeorge and James Kilgrove, 
.lohii Brown, Saniiiel and Robert Templetoii. I'"er- 
giison Moore, William Nichol.-on and James 15. 
Kiiiley, later a prominent local .Methodist minister. 
On starting, they liiviiled into two eom|ianies, oik; 
of which struck across the country, while the 
other came on in pirogues. Tlu^ first arrived 
earlii'.st im the spot of their int4'nded setlK-ment, 
and had common -eil erecting log huts above the 
mouth of Taint Creek, at the 'Prairie Station,' 
befori^ the others had come on by water. About 
three hundred acres of the prairie were cultivated 
in corn that sea.son. 



" In August, of this year— 179C— Chillicothe* 
was laid out by Col. Ma.ssie in a dense forest. He 
gave a lot to each of the first settlers, and, by the 
beginning of winter, about twenty cabins were 
erected. Not long after, a ferry was established 
across the Scioto, at the mirth end of Walnut 
street. The opening of /ane's trace produced a 
great change in travel westward, it having ]ire- 
viously been along the Ohio in keel-boats or canoes, 
or by land, over the Cumbeilaiid Mountains, 
through Crab Orehard, in Kentucky. 

" The emigrants brought corn-meal in their ]ii- 
rogues, and after that w:us gone, their priiieipal 
meal, until the next summer, was that pounded in 
hominy mortars, which meal, when made into 
bn'ad, and anointed with bcar's-oil, was (|uite pal- 
atable. 

" When the settlers first came, whisky was 84.50 
per gallon; but, in the .spring of 171I7, wlien the 
keel-boats began to run. the Monongahela whisky- 
makers, having found a good market for their fire- 
water, rushed it in, in such ((uantities, that the 
cabins were crowded with it, and it soon fell to 50, 
cents. Men, women and children, with sonic excep- 
tions, drank it freely, and many who had been 
res|iectable and temperate became inebriates. 
Many of Wayne's .soldiers and cani|i-women settled 
in the town, so that, for a time, it became a town 
of drunkards and a sink of corruiition. There 
was, however, a little leaven, which, in a few 
months, began to develop itself. 

" In the spring of 1797, one Brannon stole a 
great coat, handkerchief and shirt. He and his 
wife akseoiidi'd, were ]iursued, caught and brought 
back. Samuel Smith was appointed Judge, a 
jury impanneled, one attorney appointed by' (he 
Judge to manage the pro.secution, and another the 
defense; witnesses were examined, the ea.se argued, 
and the evidence summed U|i by the Judge, The 
jury, having retired a few moments, returned with 
a verdict of guilty, and that the cul|iril be sen- 
tenced according to the discretion of the Judui'. 
The Jutlge soon announeed that the eriiiiiiial 
should have ten lashes on bis naked back, or that 
he sliould sit on a bare pack-saddle on his pony, 
and that his wife, who was supposed U> have had 
some aireney in the theH, shoul<l lead thi> Jioiiy to 
every house in the village, and ]iroelaim, 'This is 

•ehilHrotlic iipprarH to have Lcfn n fftvi>riti' niinio aliioD^ tin- 
IlidiiuiH, tin nmny Ifxrjililifvt were krniwn 1>.V lliiil niiiiu'. Citl.-Iohii 
,l..linHlc.n i<li)« : "Cliilllr.itlio i« 111.' lu.iii.' i.( mil' o( thf prinii|>iil 
irilw-ti uf tlifl ShawiirweM. Tlicy wmiltl xiy, <'liii-i-ro1tir ntniiy, i.e., 
(^Iiillin.llie tciwii. Till' WjtancInU vmiiiIiI nvy. tor t'liilliiollie town, 
Tatti-ra-ra, Oo-tia, or town at tbo Icaliirig of tlio l>anlt.'* 



T 



tx I C 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



105 



Brannou, who stole the great coat, hauJkerchief 
and shut ; ' and that James B. Finley, afterward 
Chaplain in the State Penitentiary, should see the 
sentence faithfully carried out. Brauuon chose 
the latter sentenee, and the ceremony was faith- 
fully performed by his wife in the presence of 
every cabin, under Mr. Fink'y's care, after which 
the couple made ofl'. Thi.s wa.s rather rude, but 
effective juri.sprudence. 

■• Dr. Kdward Tiffin and .Mr. Thomas Wnrth- 
inj^ton.of Berkley County, \'a., were brothers-in-law, 
and beinj; moved by abolition principles, lilx-rated 
their slaves, intendinj;' to remove into the Ter- 
ritory. For this purpo.se, ^Ir. W'orthington visited 
Chillicothe in the autumn of 17!.l7,and purchased 
several in and out lots of the town. On one of the 
former, he erected a two-story fi'ame house, the 
first of the kind in the vllhige. On his return, 
having ])urchased a part of a farm, on which his 
family long afterward resided, and another at the 
north fork of Paint (Jrei^k, he contracted with Mr. 
Joseph Yates, a millwright, and ^!r. (leorge Ilaincs, 
a blacksmith, to come out with him the following 
winter or spring, and erect for him a grist and saw 
mill on his north-fork tract. The summer, fall 
and following winter of that year were marked by 
a rush of emigration, which spead over the high 
bank prairie. Pea-pea, Westfall and a few miles 
up Paint and Deer Creeks. 

" Nearly all the first settlers were either regular 
members, or had been raised in the Presbyterian 
Church. Toward the fall of 1797, the leaven of 
piety retained by a portion of the first settlers be- 
gan to difFu,se itself through the mass, and a large 
log meeting-house was erected near the old gi-ave- 
yard, and Rev. William ,Speer, from Pennsylvania, 
took charge. The sleepers at first served as seats for 
hearers, and a split-log table was used as a jjuljiit. 
Mr. Speer was a gentlemanly, moral man, tall and 
cadaverous in person, and wore the cocked hat of 
the Revolutionary era. 

"Thomas Jones arrived in February, 1798, 
bringing with him the first load of bar-iron in the 
Scioto Valley, and about the same time Maj. Elias 
Langhani, an officer of the Revolution, arrived. Dr. 
Tiffin, and his brother, Joseph, arrived the same 
month from Virginia and opened a store not far 
from the log meeting-house. A store had been 
opened previou.sly by John McDougal. The 17th 
of April, the families of Col. Worthington and 
Dr. Tiffin arrived, at which time the first marriage 
in the Scioto Valley was celebrated. The parties 
were Georare Kilgore and Elizabeth Cochran. The 



ponies of the attendants were hitched to the trees 
along the streets, which were not then cleared out, 
nearly the whole town being a wilderness. JosejJi 
Yates, George Haines, and two or three others, 
arrived with the families of Tiffin and Worthing- 
ton. On their arrival there were but four shingled 
roof's in town, on one of which the .shingles 
were fastened with pegs. Col. Wortliington's 
house was the only one having glass windows. The 
sash of the hotel windows was tilled with greased 
paper. 

"Col. Wnrtliington was appointed by Gen. Ru- 
fus Putnam, Surveyor General of the Northwest 
Territory, surveyor of a large district of Congress 
lands, on the ejist side of the Scioto, and Maj. 
Langham and a Mr. Matthews, were appointed to 
survey the residue of the lands which afterward 
composed the Chillicothe land district. 

"The same .season, settlements were made about 
the Walnut Plains by Samuel IMcCulloh and 
others; Springer, Osbourn, Dyer, and Thomas and 
]<]liiah Chenowith, on Darly Creek ; Lamberts and 
others on Sippo; on Foster's Bottom, the Fosters. 
Samuel Davis and others, while the ft)iiowing fam- 
ilies settled in and about Chillicothe: John Crouse, 
William Keys, William Lamb, John Carlisle, John 
McLanberg, William Chandless, the Stoctons, 
Greggs, Bates and some others. 

"Dr. Tiffin and his wife were the firet Metho- 
dists in the Scioto Valley. He was a local preacher. 
In the fall, Worthington's grist and saw mills on 
the north fork of Paint Creek were finished,. the 
first mills worth}' the name in the valley. 

" ChiUicothe was the point from which the set- 
tlements diverged. In May, 1709, a post office; 
was established here, and Jo.seph Tiffin made Post- 
master. Mr. Tiffin and Thomas Gregg opened 
taverns; the first, under the sign of Gen. Anthony 
Wayne, was at the corner of Water and Walnut 
streets; and the la.st, under the .sign of the '(Jreen 
Tree,' was on the corner of Paint and Water 
streets. In 1801, Nathaniel Willis moved in and 
established the Sci(do Gur.ttte, probably, the sec- 
ond paper in the Territory."* 

In 1800, the seat of government of the North- 
west Territory was removed, by law of Congress, 
from Cincinnati to Chillicothe. The sessions of 
the Territorial Assembly for that and the next 
year were held in a small two-story, hewed-log 
house, erected in 1798, by Bazil Abrams. A wing 
was added to the main part, of two stories in 

* Recollections of Hon. Thomaa Scott, of Chillicothe — Howe's 
Annals of Ohio. 



li:. 



lOG 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



Iieittht. lu the lower room of this wing, Col. 
Thiiuia.s (Jili.son, Auditor of the Territory, kept 
hi.s offiee, and in the upper room a small family 
lived. In tlie upper room of the main buildins; 
a billiard table wils kejit. It was also made a re- 
sort of gamblers and disreputable charaeters. The 
lower room was used by the Legislature, and as a 
court room, a ehureh or a school. In the 
war of 1812, the building was a rendezvous and 
barracks for soldiers, and, in 1840, was pulled 
down. 

The old State House was commenced in 18011, 
and finished the next year fur the acconnnodalinn 
of the Legislature and tiie courts. It is .said to 
be the first puliMc stone edifice erected in the Ter- 
ritorv. Maj. William Kutledge, a Hevolutionary 
soldier, did the mason work, and William Guthrie, 
the carpenter. In 1801, the Territorial Legislature 
held their first session in it. In it was also held 
the Constitutional Convention of Ohio, which be- 
gan its sessions the first iMnnday in November, 
1802. In April, 18o:{, the first State Legislature 
met in the house, and continued their sessions here 
until 1810. The 8es.sions of 1810-11, and 1811- 
12, Were held in Zanesville, and from there re- 
moved back to Chillicothe and held in the old 
State IIousj till 181(), when Columbus became the 
permanent capital of the State. 

.^Iaking Chillicothe the State capital did much 
to enhance its growth. It was incor])orated in 
1802, and a town council elected. In 1807, the 
town had fourteen .stores, si.\ hotels, two newspa- 
pers, two churches — both brick buildings — and 
over two liundred dwellings. The removal of the 
capita) to Colundjus checked its growth a little, still, 
being in an excellent country, ra]iidly fillinj with 
settlers, the town has always remained a pruminent 
trading center. 

During the war of IS] 2, Chillicothe was made 
a rendezvous fur I'nited States soldiers, an<l a 
pri.son established, in which many Urilish prison- 
ers were confiiu'd. At one time, a conspiracy for 
e.scape was discovered just in time to prevent it. 
The plan was for the prisoners to disarm the 
guard, I'rocird to jail, release the officers, burn tiie 
town, and escape to Canada. The ])lot was fbrlu- 
!iat<'ly di.sclo.sed by two .senior British officers, upon 
which, ius a measure of security, the officers and 
chief conspirators were sent to the penitentiary 
at Frankfort, Kentucky. 

Two or three miles northwest of Chillicothe, on 
a beautiful elevation, commanding an extensive 
vic'W of the valley of the Scioto, Thomas Worlh- 



ington,* one of the most prominent and influential 
men of his day, afterward (iovernor of the State, 
in 180(!, erected a large stone mansion, the wonder 
of the valley in its time. It was the most elegant 
mansion in the West, crowds coming to see it 
when it was completed, (lov. Worthington named 
the place Adena, " Paradi.se " — a name not then 
considered hyperbolical. The large ])anes of glass, 
and thenovelty of jiapered walls especially attracted 
attention. Its architect was the elder Latrobe, of 
Washington City, from which place most of the 
workmen came. The glass was made in Pitts- 
burgh, and the fireplace fronts in Pliila<lelphia,the 
latter costing seven dollars per hundred jjounds for 
transportation. The mansion, built as it was, cost 
nearly double the expense of such structures now. 
Adena was the home of the Governor till his death, 
in 1827. 

Near Adena, in a beautiful situation, is Fruit 
Hill, the seat of Gen. Duncan McArthur.f and 
later of cx-Gov. AVilliam Allen. Like Adena, Fruit 
Hill is one of the noted places in the Scioto \ al- 
ley. Many of Ohio's best men dwell in the valley ; 
men who have been an honor and ornament to tlie 
State and nation. 

Another settlement, begun soon after the treaty 
of ])eace in 170"), was that made on the Licking 
River, about four miles below the present city of 
Newark, in Licking County. In the fall of 171M), 
John Kalclift' and Klias Hughes, while i>ros|iecting 
on this stream, found some old Indian cornfields, 
and di'termined U> locate. They were from West- 
ern A'irginia, and were true pioneers, living mainly 
by huntinii, leaving the cultivation of their small 
cornfields to their wives, uuich afler the style of _ 

* Got. Worthington was Iwrn in Jcffereon County, Va , al><)Ut the 
year 17t'><J. He Bfttlcd in Oliio in 17<.fS. llowaMa Arm tirlievcr in 
lil)L'rty antl came Ui tlm Territory afli-r lilieratinK lii» 8lav,.«. He was 
one of tlio niosi efllricrit men of liirt ilay ; waa a nu-mber of tlie 
OmHtitulional Oinvi-nlion, anil whm hent on an important niitution 
to Con^:ri'Nj relative to the adniiBwii'ii «)f otiio to tbe Union. Me 
waa afterward a Senator to Congremt, and tiien Governor. On 
the exi>irati<>n of tlin ^uhernatorial ti-rm, tie wiut a[i[>oi[ited a mem- 
ber of the Iltmrd of I'nhlic Work«. in wliirli cafiacity lie did mucti 
to advance tbe canalH and m*lroadM, and otlier publie Improve- 
inentH. lie remained in tbia oiiire till bin death. 

fGen. Mc.\rlb!ir wiwlM)rn in DiileheMi Connty, N. Y.. in 1772. 
When eiglit years of age, bia father removed to Weali-ro t^ennayl- 
vaniii. When eiRbti-en yearw of a^e, he Bervi il in llurmar'a 
ouniiaiRU. In 1711'.:, he wiw a very efllcieiit soldier among the front- 
ieranien, and Kaiio"*! their approliation by lii* bravery. In 17y;t, bo 
was conni'Ctpd with Gen. MaiWl*-, and aflerwa'd vtiw engaged In 
land ai nlationa and beeanie very wealthy. He ivaa made a mem- 
ber of the Irt.giiilature, in IKd."); in Isoi',, a Colonel, and in 18UN. a 
Miijorlfnoeml of the Dlilitia. In thin cn|>acity be waa in HuH'a 
anrrenderat Detroit. On hla retnrn ho waa elected to Congresa, 
and in lMl:l commiasioned Rrigiuller fjenerat. lie waa one of the 
moat eflicieiitoflicerain the war of ISI'2. and held many important 
posta. Afier the war. bo waa again aent to the Legialalnre ; in IK22 
to Congrew, and in 18:t'» elected (eivern^ir of tbe State, By .^n nn- 
forlnnate accident in IS-'IC. he waa mainii-d for life, and gradually 
declined till death came a few yean after. 



y-r. 



i V 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



107 



their dusky neighbors. They were both inveterate 
Indian haters, and never allowed an opportunity to 
pass without carrj-ing out their hatred. For this, 
they were apprehended after the treaty; but, 
though it was clearly proven they had murdered 
some iuofleusive Indians, the state of t'eeling was 
sueh that they were allcjwed to go unjiunished. 

A short time after their settlement, others joined 
them, and, in a few years, quite a colony had 
gathered on the banks of the Licking. In 1S()2, 
Newark was laid out, and, in three or four years, 
there were twenty or thirty families, several stores 
and one or two hotels. 

The settlement of Granville Township, in this 
county, is rather an important e]>och in the historj' 
of this part of the State. From a sketch pub- 
lished by Rev. Jacob Little in 1848, in Howe's 
Collections, the subjoined statements are taken: 

"In 1804, a company was formed at Granville, 
Mass., with the intention of making a .settlement 
in Ohio. This, called the Scioto Company, was 
the third of that name which effected settlements 
in Ohio. The project met with great favor, and 
much enthusiasm was elicited, in illustration of 
which a song was composed and sung to the 
tune of ' Pleasant Ohio ' by the j'oung people in 
the house and at labor in the field. We annex 
two stanzas, which are more curious than poetical: 

"'When rambling o'er these mountains 

And rocks where ivies grow 
Thick as the hairs upon your head, 

"Mongst which you cannot go — 
Great storms of snow, cold winds that blow, 

We scarce can undergo — 
Says I, my boys, we'll leave this place 

For the pleasant Ohio. 

" 'Our precious friends (hat stay behind, 

We're sorry now to leave: 
But if they'll stay and break their shins. 

For them we'll never grieve. 
Adieu, my friends! — Come on, my dears, 

This journey we'll forego. 
And settle Licking Creek, 

In yonder Ohio.' " 

" The Scioto Company consisted of one hundred 
and fourteen proprietors, who made a purchase of 
twenty-eight thousand acres. In the autumn of 
1805, two hundred and thirty-four persons, mo.stly 
from East Granville, Mass., came on to the pur- 
chase. Although they had been forty-two days on 
the road, their fii-st business, on their arrival, liav- 
ing organized a church before they left the East, 
was to hear a sermon. The first tree cut was that 



by which public worship was held, which stood 
just in front of the Presbyterian church. 

On the first Sabbath, November 16, although 
only about a dozen trees had been felled, they held 
divine service, both forenoon and afternoon, on 
that spot. The novelty of worshiping in the 
woods, the forest extending hundreds of miles each 
way; the hardships of the journey, the winter set- 
ting in. the thoughts of home, with all the friends 
and privileges left behind, and the impression that 
such mu.st be the accommodations of anew country, 
all rushed on their minds, and made this a day of 
varied interest. When they began to sing, the 
echo of their voices among the trees was so differ- 
ent from what it was in the beautiful meeting- 
house they had left, that they could no longer 
restrain their tears. They u-ept whin thcij remem- 
bered Zion. The voices of part of the choir were, 
for a season, suppre.s.sed with emotion. 

''An incident occurred, which many said Mrs. 
Sigourney should have put into verse. Deacon 
Theophilus Ree.se, a Welsh Baptist, had, two or 
three years before, built a cabin, a mile and a half 
north, and lived all this time without public wor- 
ship. He had lost his cattle, and, hearing a low- 
ing of the oxen belonging to the Company, .set out 
toward them. As he ascended the hills overlook- 
ing the town plot, he heard the singing of the 
choir. The reverberation of the .sound from nill- 
tops and trees, threw the good man into a serious 
dilemma. The music at fii-st seemed to be behind, 
then in the tree-tops, or in the clouds. He stopped, 
till, by accurate listening, he caught the direction 
of the sound ; went on and passing the brow of 
the hill, he saw the audience sitting on the 
level below. He went home and told his wife that 
' the promise of God is a bond ' ; a Welsh proverb, 
signifying that we have security, equal to a bond, 
that religion will prevail everywhere. He said : 
' These must be good people. I am not afiaid to 
go among them.' Though he could not under- 
stand English, he constantly attended the reading 
meeting. Hearing the music on that occasion 
made such an impression on his mind that, when 
he became old and met the first settlers, he would 
always tell over this story. The first cabin built 
was that in which they worshiped succeeding 
Sabbaths, and, before the close of the winter, they 
had a schoolhouse and a school. That church, in 
forty years, received more than one thousand j)er- 
sons into its membership. 

"Elder Jones, in 1806, preached the first ser- 
mon in the log church. The Welsh Baptist 



^ 



108 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



Church was orjianizcd in the cabin of David 
Thuliia.s, HeiitomlxT 4, ISOS. April 'II, 1S27, 
the (Jranville iiR'iiilR'r.s wore (irnanizcd into the 
(iranville Ciiureh, and tin; c-onier-.stone of" thi'ir 
iiouso of worship laid .Seiituniber 21, 1S2'J. In 
the fall of 1810, the first .Methodist sermon was 
preached liere, and, soon after, a class orj/anized. 
In 1824, a church was built. An Episcopal 
church was organized in May, 1827, and a 
church consecrated in 1838. In 1841), there 
were in this township 405 families, of whom 214 
sustain family Worship ; 1431 persons over four- 
teen years of age, of whom over SOd belong to 
church. The town had loO families, of whom 80 
have family worship. In 18Ki, the tnwuship 
furnislu'd 70 school teachers, of whom (i2 jirayed 
in school. In 1840, the towusiiip took (121 ]icri- 
odical papers, besides three small monthlies. The 
first temperance society west of the mountains was 
organized July 15, 1828, in this towiisliii>; and, 
in 1831, the Congregational Church passed a by- 
law to accept no member who trafficked in or used 
ardent spirits." 

It is .said, not a settlement in the entire West 
could present so moral and upright a view as that 
of (iianville Town.sliip; and nowhere could so 
]K'rf'ect and orderly a set of people be found. 
Surclv, the fact is argument enough in favor of 
th( 'religion of Jesus. 

The narrative of Mr. Little al.so states that, 
when (Iranville was first .settled, it was supposed 
that Wortliiiigton would lie the' capital of Ohio, 
between whieii and Zancsville, (iranville woulil 
make a great half-way town. .\t this time, wild 
animals, snakes and Indians abounded, and many 
are the marvelous stories priwerved regarding tlie 
destruction of the animals and ri?|)tiles — the 
Indians being bound liy their treaty to remain 
|)eaeeful. Space forbids tiunr re]ictition here. 
Suffice it to say that, ius the wliites iucrea.sed, the 
Indians, animals and snakes dLsapjieared, until 
now one is as much a curiosity as the oilier. 

The remaining .settlement in the .smithwest- 
ern parts of Ohio, maile iminediat<'ly alter the 
treaty — fall of 17!I5 or year of 1711(1 — was in 
what is now Madison (!ounty, about a mile north 
of where the village of Amity now stand.s, on the 
banks of the Big Darby. This .stream received its 
name from the Indians, from a Wyandot chief, 
mimed llarby, who for a long time resided upon it, 
near the Cnion County litie. In the fall of 17115, 
Henjaiuin Springer came from Kentucky and selected 
some land on the banks of the Big Darby, cleared 



the ground, built a cabin, and returned for his 
family. The m^xt spring, Ire brought them out, 
and began his life here. The siinie summer he Wius 
joined by William Lajiin, Joshua and James Ew- 
ing and one or two others. 

When Springer came, ho found a white man 
named Jonathan Alder, who for fifteen years had 
been a captive among the Indians, and who could 
not .speak a word of iMiglish, living with an Indian 
woman on the banks of Big Darby, lie had been 
exchanged at Wayne's treaty, and, neglecting to 
profit by the treaty, was .still living in the Indian 
style. When the whites became numerous about 
him his desire to find his relatives, and adopt the 
ways of the whites, led him to discard his wjuaw — 
giving her an unusual allowance — learn the Engli.sh 
language, engage in agricultural ]iursuits, and be- 
come again civilized. Fortunately, he eould remem- 
ber enough of the names <if some of his parents' 
neighbors, so that the identity of his relatives and 
friends w;is easily established, and .\ldcr becami' a 
most u.seful citizen. He was very influential with 
the Indians, and induced many of them to remain 
neutral during the war of 1812. It is .stated that 
in 1800, .Mr. Ewing brought four sheep into the com- 
munity. They were strange animals to the Indians. 
One day when an Indian hunter and his dog were 
]ia,ssing, the latter caught a sliee]i. and was .shot by 
Mr. Ewing. Tlu^ Indian would have shot Ewin;/ in 
retiiliation, had imt .VMer, who was fortunately 
present, with much difficulty prevailed upon him 
to refrain. 

While the southern and southwestern parts of 
the State were filling with settU^rs, a.ssund of .safely 
by Wayn(!'s victories, the northern and ea.st.tTn 
parts became likewise the theater of activities. 
Ever since the I''rench Inid explored the .southern 
shores of the lake, and English traders had car- 
ried goods thither, it was expected one day to be 
a valuable Jiart of the West. It will be remem- 
bered that Connecticut had ceded a large tract of 
land to the (ieiieral (Jovernmeiit, and as soon as 
the cession was eonfirnu'd, and land titles became 
assured, .settlers flocked tliillicr. Even iM'forethat 
time, hardy adventurers had exi)lored some of the 
ccmntry, and |irunciunced it a '-goodly land," 
ready for the hand c,f enterprise. 

The first settlement in ihi' Western Reserve, 
and, indeed, in the northern jiart of the State, was 
made at the mouth of Conneaut* Creek, in Ash- 
tabula County, on the 4th of July, 1796. That 

•ConnoBut, in tli" .Senocn lunguago, nignifiM "many fi«li." 






HISTORY OF OHIO. 



109 



day, tliu first surveying party landeil at the mouth 
of this creek, and, wi its ea.stern bank, near tlie 
lake shore, in tin cui>s, pledged — as they drank the 
Unipid waters of the hike — their country's welfare, 
with the ordnance accompaniment of two or three 
fowling-pieces, discharging the recjuired national 
salute." 

The whole party, on this occasion, numbered 
fifty-tw(j persons, of whom two were females ( Mrs. 
Sriles and jNIrs. Gunn) and a child, and all deserve 
a lasting place in the history of the State. 

The next day, they began the erection of a large 
lug building on the sandy beach on the east side 
of the stream. When dune, it was named " Stow 
Castle," after one of the jiarty. It was the dwell- 
ing, storehouse and general habitation of all the 
Jiioneers. The party made this their head((uar- 
ters part of the summer, and continued busily 
engaged in the survey of the lleserve. James 
Kingsbury, afterward Judge, arriviid soon after 
the party began work, and, with his family, was 
the first to remain here during the winter fiillow- 
iug, the rest returning to the EiLst, or going .south- 
ward. Through the winter, Mr. Kingsliury's 
family suffered gr(!atly for provisions, so much so, 
that, during the ab.sence of the head of the family 
in New York for j}rovisions, one child, born in his 
absence, died, and the mother, nMluced by her suf- 
ferings and solitude, was only saved by the timely 
arrival of the husband and fatlier with a sack of 
flour he had carried, many weary miles, on his 
back. He remained here but a short time, re- 
moving to ('levelaiid, which wa.s laid out that liamo 
fall. In the spring of 171'S, Alexander Harper, 
William McKarland and Kzra (Gregory, with their 
families, started from Ilarperstield, Delaware Co., 
N. Y., and arrived the last of June, at their new 
homes in the Far West. The whole population on 
the Reserve then amounted to less than one hun- 
dred and fif\y persons. These were at Cleveland, 
Young.stownand at 3Ientor. During the summer, 
three families eame to Burton, and Judge Hud.son 
settled at Hudson. All these jiioneers suffered 
severely for food, and from the fever induced by 
chills. It took several years to become accli- 
mated. Sometimes the entire neighborhood 
would be down, and only one or two, who could 
wait on the rest "between chills," were able to do 
anything. Time and courage overcame, finally. 

It was not until 179S, that a permanent settle- 
ment was made at the mouth of Conneaut Creek. 
Those who came there in 1701) went on with their 
surveys, part remaining in Cleveland, laid out that 



I summer. Judge Kingsbury could not remain at 
j Conneaut, and went nearer the settlements made 
about the Cuyahoga. In thespring of 1 708, Thomas 
IMontgomery and Aaron Wright .settled here and 
remained. Up the stream they found some thirty 
Indian cabins, or huts, in a good state of preserva- 
tion, which they occupied until they could erect 
their own. Soon after, they were joined by others, 
and, in a year or two, the settlement was permanent 
and pro.sjjerous. 

The site of the present town of Austinburg in 
Ashtabula County was settled in the year 1799, 
by two fiimilies from Connecticut, who were in- 
duced to come thither, by Judge Austin. The 
Judge preceded them a short time, driving, in 
cimipany with a hired man. some cattle about one 
hundred and fifty miles through the woods, follow- 
ing an old Indian trail, while the rest of thi^ pai'fy 
came in a boat acro.ss the lake. When they ar- 
rived, there were a few families at llarpersburg ; 
one or two families at Windsor, twenty miles 
southwest; also a few families at Elk Creek, forty 
miles niirtheast, and at \V'rnon, the same distance 
southeast. All these were in a destitute coixlition 
for provisions. In 1800, another family moved 
from Noriblk, Conn. In the .spring of 1801, .sev- 
eral families came from the same place. Part came 
by land, and part by water. During that season, 
wheat was carried to an old mill on Elk Creek, 
forty miles away, and in some instances, half was 
given for carrying it to mill and returning it in 
flour. 

Wednesday, October 21, 1801, a church of six- 
teen meudjcrs was constituted in Austinburg. 
This was the first church on the Reserve, and was 
fijunded by Rev. Josejih Badger, the first mission- 
ary there. It is a fact worthy of note, that in 
1802, Mr. Badger moved his family from Buffalo 
to this town, in the first wagon that ever came 
from that place to the Reserve. In 1803, noted 
revivals occurred in this part of the West, attended 
by the peculiar bodily phenomenon known as the 
" shakes " or "jerks." 

The surveying party which landed at the mouth 
of Conneaut Creek, July 4, 179(j, soon com]ileted 
their labors in this part of the Reserve, and ex- 
tended them westward. By the first of September, 
they had explored the lake coast as fiir west as the 
outlet of the Cuyahoga* River, then considered 

♦Cuyahoga, in the Indian language, signifies "crooked." — 
Hoice^ff Collections. 

"The Indians caUed the river 'Cnyahoghan-uk,' 'Lake River' 
It is, emphatically, a Lake river. It rises in lakes and empties into 
a lake." — Alwater^s Hi'Ujri/ of Ohio. 






t) Ty 






no 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



by all an important Western jilaee, and one des- 
tined to l)e a jrreat eommercial mart. Time has 
verified the ])r()phecie.s, a.s now the city of Cleve- 
land covers the site. 

As early a.s 1755, the mouth of the Cuyahoga 
River was laid down on the maps, and the Freneh 
had a station here. It wa.s also considered an im- 
portant po.st during the war of the Revolution, 
and later, of 1812." The British, who, atler the 
Revolution, refused to abandon the lake C(juntry 
west of the Cuyahoga, occu])ied its shores until 
1790. Their traders had a house in Ohio City, 
north of the Detroit road, ou the point of the hill 
near the river, when the surveyors arrived in 
17!'(i. Washington, Jefterson, and all statesmen 
of that day, regarded the outlet of the Cuyahoga 
as an im]iortant place, and Iieuce the early at- 
tempt of the surveyors to reach and lay out a town 
here. 

The corps of surveyors arrived early in Septem- 
ber, 17'.lli, and at oricc proceeded to lay out a town. 
It was named Cleveland, in hcjnor of Cicn. Moses 
Cleveland, the Land Comjianys agent, and for 
years a very prominent man in Connecticut, where 
he livt'd and died. By the IStli of ( )ctol>i^r, the 
surveyors had com|ileted the survey and left the 
placi!, leaving only Job \ . Stiles and family, and 
Edward I'ainc, who were the only perscjns that 
]iius.s(!d the succeeding winter in this place. Their 
rcsidcn(H^ wa.s a log cabin that stoo<l on a spot of 
ground long afterward occupied by the Commercial 
Bank. Their nearest neighbors were at Conne- 
aut, where Judge Kingsbury lived; at Fort 
McInto.sh, on the south or east, at the mouth of 
Big Beaver, and at the mouth of the river Raisin, 
on the w&st. 

The ne.vt season, the surveying jiarty catnc again 
to Cleveland, which they made their head<(uarters. 
Early in the spring, . I udge Kingsbury came over 
from Conneaiit, bringing with him Elijah (Junn, 
who had a short time before joined him. Soon 
aftctr, .Maj. Lorenzo Cart<'r and Ezekiel Hawley 
came with their families. These were about all 
who are known to have .settled in this place that 
.summer. The next year, 1 "i'H. Bodolplius Ed- 
wards and Nathaniel Doane and their families set- 
tled in Cleveland. Mr. Doane had been ninety- 
two days on his journey from Chatham, Conn. In 
the latter part of the summer an<I fall, nearly every 
person in the settlement was down with the bil- 
iou.s fever or with the ague. Mr. Doane's family 
consisted of nine persons, of whom Seth, a lad .six- 
teen years of age, was the only one able to care for 



them. Such was the severity of the fever, that 
any one having only the ague was deemed (|uite 
fortunate. Much suflcring for proper food and 
medicines followed. The only way the Doane 
fiimily was supj)lieil for two months or more, was 
through the exertions of this boy, who went daily, 
after having had one attack of the chills, to Judge 
Kingsbury's in N'ewburg — five miles away, where 
the Judge now lived — got a peck of corn. nia.shed it 
in a hand-mill, waited until a sec(md attack of the 
chills jKLssed over, and then returned. .\t one time, 
for several days, he was too ill to make the trip, 
during which turnips comprised the chii^f article 
of diet. Fortunately, Maj. Carter, having only 
the ague, was enabled with histru.sty rifle anil (iogs 
to ]irocuri^ an abvuidance of veni.son and other wild 
game. His family, being somewhat acclimated, 
suffered less than many others. Their situation can 
hardly now be realized. " Destitute of a ])hysician, 
and with few medicines, neces.sity taught them to 
use such means as nature had placed within their 
reach. They substituted pills from the extract of 
the bitternut bark for calomel, and dogwood and 
cherry bark fiir ((uiniiie.' 

In November, four men, who had .so liir recov- 
ered as to have ague attacks no oftencr than once 
in two or three days, starte<l in the only boat f<>r 
Walnut Creek, I'enn., to obtain a winter's sup]>ly 
of flour. When below Eudiil Creek, a storm 
drove them ;ishore, broke their boat, and eoni]ielled 
their return. During the winter and summer fol- 
lowing, the settlers had no flour, except that 
groujid in hand and cottee mills, which was, how- 
ever, consideri'd verj' good. Not all had even that. 
During the .summer, the Connecticut Land Com- 
pany opened the fii^st roiid ou the Reserve, which 
commenced about ten miles south of the lake 
shore, on the Penn.sylvania State line, and extended 
to Cleveland. In January, 17119, Mr. Doane 
moved to Doane's Corners, leaving only Maj. Car- 
ter's family in Cleveland, all the re.st leaving as 
soon as they were well enough. For fifteen months, 
the Major and his family were the only white ]icr- 
sons left on the town site. Duriim the s]iring, 
Wheeler W. Williams an.l Maj. WyatI built the 
first grist-mill on the iteserve, on the site ol' Niw- 
burg. It was looked u|ion as a very valuable acces- 
sion to the neighborhood. I'rior to this, each fam- 
ily had its own hand-mill in one of the corners of 
the cabin. The old mill is thus described by a 
pioneer : 

" The stones were of the common grindstone 
grit, about four inches thick, and twenty in diarae- 



^^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



Ill 



ter. The runner, or upper, was turned by hand, 
by a pole set in the top of it, near tlie outer edge. 
The upper end of the pole was inserted into a hole 
in a board fiisteued above to the joists, immedi- 
ately over the hole in the verge of the runner. 
One person fed the corn into the eye — a hole in 
the center of the runner — while another turned. 
It was very hard work to grind, and the operators 
alternately exchanged places." 

In 1800, several settlers came to the town and 
a more active life was the result. From this time, 
Cleveland began to progress. The 4th of July, 
1801, the first ball in town was held at Major 
Carter's log cabin, on the hill-side. John and 
Benjamin Wood, and K. H. Blinu were managers; 
and Maj. Samuel Jones, musician and ma.ster of 
ceremonies. The comi)any numbered about thirty, 
very evenly divided, for the times, between the 
sexes. " Notwithstanding the dancers had a rough 
puncheon floor, and no better beverage to enliven 
their spirits than sweetened whisky, yet it is doubt- 
ful if the anniversary of American independence 
wa.s ever celebrated in Cleveland by a more joyfiil 
and harmonious company than those who danced 
the scamper-down, double-.slniffle, western-swing 
and half-moon, that day, in Maj. Carter's cabin." 
The growth of the town, from this period on, re- 
mained prosperous. The usual visits of the Indi- 
ans were made, ending in their drunken carousals 
and fights. Deer and other wild animals fiirnished 
abundant meat. The settlement was coti.stantly 
augmented by new arrivals, so that, by 1814, Cleve- 
land was incorporated as a town, and, in 1836, as 
a city. Its harbor is one of the best on the lakes, 
and hence the merchandise of the lakes has always 
been attracted thither. Like Cincinnati ami Chil- 
licothe, it became the nucleus of settlements in this 
part of the State, and now is the largest city in 
Northern Ohio. 

One of the earliest settlements made in the 
Western Reserve, and by some clain)ed as the first 
therein, was made on the site of Youngstown, IMa- 
honing County, by a Jlr. Young, afterward a Judge, 
in the summer of 17S*6. During this summer, 
before the settlements at Cuyahoga and Conneaut 
were made, Mr. Young and Sir. Wilcott, proprie- 
tors of a town.ship of land in Northea-stern Ohio, 
came to their possessions and began the survey of 
their land. .lust when they came is not known. 
They were found here by Col. James Hillman, 
then a trader in the employ of Duncan & Wilson, 
of Pittsburgh, " who had been forwarding goods 
across the country by pack-saddle horses since 



1786, to the mouth of the Cuyahoga, thence to be 
shipped on the schooner Mackinaw to Detroit. 
Col. Hillman generally had charge of all these 
caravans, consisting sometimes of ninety horses 
and ten men. They commonly crossed the Big 
Beaver four miles below the mouth of the She- 
nango, thence up the left bank of the Mahoning — 
called by the Indians " Mahoni" or " iVahonick," 
signifying the "lick" or " at the lick" — crossing 
it about three miles below the site of Youngstown, 
thence by way of the Salt Springs, over the sites 
of Milton and Ravenna, crossing the Cuyahoga at 
the mouth of Breakneck and again at the mouth 
of Tinker's Creek, thence down the river to its 
mouth, where they had a log hut in which to 
store their goods. This hut was there when the 
surveyors came, but at the time unoccupied. At 
the mouth of Tinker's Creek were a few log huts 
built by Moranan Missionaries. These were used 
only one year, as the Indians had gone to the Tus- 
carawas River. These and three or four cabins at 
the Salt Springs were the only buildings erected 
by the whites prior to 1796, in Northeastern Ohio. 
Tho.sc at the Salt Springs were built at an early 
day for the accommodation of whites who came 
from Western Pennsylvania to make salt. The 
tenants were dispossessed in 178.5 by Gen. Harmar. 
A short time after, one or two white men were 
killed by the Indians here. In 1788, Col. Hill- 
man settled at Beavertown, where Duncan & 
Wilson had a store for the purpose of trading 
with the Indians. He went back to Pittsburgh 
soon after, however, owing to the Indian war, and 
remained there till its close, continuing in his busi- 
ness whenever opportunity offered. In 1796, 
when returning from one of his trading expeditions 
alone in his canoe down the JIahoning River, he 
discovered a smoke on the bank near the present 
town of Youngstown, and on going to the spot 
found Mr. Young and ]Mr. Wolcott, as before men- 
tioned. A part of Col. Hillman s cargo consisted 
of whisky, a gallon or so of which he still had. 
The price of "fire-water" then was SI per quart 
in the currency of the country, a deerskin being 
legal tender for SI, and a doeskin for .50 cents. 
Mr. Young proposed purchasing a quart, and 
having a frolic on its contents during the even- 
ing, and insisted on paying Hillman his cus- 
tomary price. Hillman urged that inasmuch as 
they were strangers in the country, . civility re- 
quired him t<3 furnish the means for the entertain- 
ment. Young, however, insisted, and taking the 
deerskin used for his bed — the only one he had — 



"7" 



:^ 



112 



HISTORY OP OHIO. 



paid for liis quart of whisky, and an evening's 
frolic was the result. 

" Ilillman rcmaiued a few days, when they ac- 
e(iiii|)auied liim to Biuiver Town to celebrate the 
4lh, and then all returned, and Ilillman erected a 
cabin on the site of Youngstown. It is not cer- 
tain that they remained hero at this time, and 
hence the priority of actual settlemtMit is generally 
conceded to CoTUU'aut and Cleveland. The next 
year, in the fall, a Mr. Urown and one other per- 
son came to the banks of the Mahoning and made 
a permanent settlement. The same season Uriah 
Holmes and Titus Hayes came to the .same locality, 
and before \vint<;r cjuite a settlement was to bi^ seen 
here. It ijroeet^led i|uite imisperously until the 
wanton murder of two Indians oceum'd, which, 
tor a time, greatly excited the whites, lest the In- 
dians .should retaliate. Througii the efforts of 
Col. Ilillman, who had great influence with the 
natives, they agreed to let the murderers stand a 
trial. They were acipiitted ujion some technicality. 
The trial, however, pacified the Indians, and no 
trouble came from the unwarranted and unfortu- 
nate circumstance, and no chtH;k in the emigration 
or prosperity of the colf]ny occurred."* 

As .soon as an effective .settlement had been es- 
tablished at Youngstown, otliers were made in tlie 
surrounding country. One of the.se w;us bi'gun liy 
William ['"(■nton in 171)8, on the site of the pres- 
ent town of Warren, in TruniliuU County. He 
remaineil here alone one year, when he W:us joined 
by (Japt. Kphraim Quimby. Hy the hist of tSe]i- 
t(;mbi!r, the next year, the colony had incre;is(!d to 
sixteen, and from that date on continui^d pro.sper- 
ously. Once or twice they stood in fear of the 
Indians, a-s the nault of (juarrels induced by 
whisky. Sagacious persons generally saved any 
.serious outbreak and pacified the natives. Mr. 
Badger, the first missionary on the Re.-ierve, came 
to the setthunent here and on the Mahoning, ;us 
soon as each w:ls made, and, by his earnest labors, 
succeedt^d in forming churches and schools at an 
early day. He w:vs one of the most efhcient men 
on the Reserve, and throughout his long and busy 
life, w;us well kntiwn and greatly respected. He 
died in 1H4G, aged eighty-nine years. 

The settlements given are about all that were 
made liefore the close of 171(7. In following the 
narrative of these settlements, att<^ntion is paid to 
the chronological order, ius far a.s this can be don('. 
Like those settlements already made, many which 

* ReooUectlooB of Col. HUlm%n. — Loire's AnnaU. 4 



are given as occurring in the next year, 1798, 
were actually begun earlier, but were only tem- 
porary preparations, and were not considered as 
made until the next year. 

Turning again to the southern portion of Ohio, 
the Scioto, MiLskingum and Miami Valleys come 
prominently into notice. Throughout the entire 
Kiustern Stales they were still attracting attention, 
and an inerea.sed emigration, bu.sily occupying their 
verdant fields, was tln^ result. All about Chilli 
cothe was now well settled, and, up the banks of 
that stream, prospectors were selecting sites for 
their future homes. 

In 17il7, Robert Armstrong, George Skidmore, 
Lucas SullivuMt, William Ilomigan, dames Mar- 
shall, John Dill, Jacob (irubli, Jacob Overdier, 
Arthur O'llara, John Urickell, Col. Culbert.son, 
the Deardorfs, McHlvaius, Selles and others, came 
to what is now Franklin ('ounty, and, in August, 
Mr. Sullivant and .some others laid out the town of 
Franklinton, on the west bank of the Scioto, oppo- 
site the site i^f Columbus. The country about this 
lo(-ality had l(jng been the residence! of the Wyan- 
dots, who luul a large town on the city's .site, anil 
cultivated extensive fields of corn on the river bot- 
toms. The locality had been vi.sited by the whites 
as early ;us 1780, in some of their expeditions, and 
the fertility of the land noticed. As soon as police 
was a.ssured, th.e whites came and began a settle- 
ment, iis has been noted. Soon af\er Kranklinton 
W!us established, a .Mr. Springer and his .son-in-law, 
O.sborn, settled on the I5ig Darby, and, in the sum- 
mer of 171)8, a .scattering .settlement was made on 
Alum Creek. About the .same time settlers came 
to the mouth of the (lahannah, and along other 
watcr-eour.ses. Franklinton was the point to which 
emigrants came, and from which they always made 
their permanent location. For .si"'veral years there 
wiLs no mill, nor any such commodity, nearer than 
Chillieothe. A hand-mill was constructed in 
Franklinton, which was commonly u.sed, unless the 
settlers made a trip to Chillieothe in a canoe. 
Next, a horse-mill was tried ; but not till 1805, 
when Col. Kilbourne b\iilt a mill at Wortbinglon, 
settled in 1808, couM any efficient grin<ling be 
done. In 1780, a small store was ojienedin Frank- 
linton, by James Scott, but, for seven or eight 
years, Chillieothe was the nearest post office. 
Often, when the neighbors wanted mail, one of 
their number was furnished money to pay the 
pjstiigc on any letters that might be waiting, and 
sent for the mail. At first, as in all new localities, 
a great deal of sickness, fever and ague, prevailed. 



L^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



113 



As the people became acclimated, this, however, 
disappeared. 

The t^jwnship of Sharon in this county has a 
history similar to that of (rranville Township in 
Lickinj; County. It was settled by a " Scioto 
Company," formed in Granby, Conn., in the winter 
of 1801-02, consisting at first of eight associates. 
They drew up articles of association, among which 
was one limiting their number to forty, each of 
whom must be unanimously chosen by ballot, a 
single negative beingsuHicienttopreVentan election. 
Col. James Kilbourne was sent out the succeeding 
spring to explore the country and select and pur- 
chase a township for settlement. He returned in 
the fall without making any purchase, through 
fear that the State Constitution, then about to be 
formed, would tolerate slavery, in which case the 
project would have been abandoned. While on 
this visit. Col. Kilbourne compiled from a variety 
of sources the first map made of Ohio. Although 
much of it was conjectured, and hence inaccurate, 
it was very valuable, being correct as fiir as the 
State was then known. 

"As soon as information was received that the 
constitution of Ohio prohibited slavery. Col. Kil- 
bourne purchased the township he had previously 
selected, within the United States military land 
district, and, in the spring of 1803, returned to 
Ohio, and began improvements. By the succeed- 
ing December, one hundred settlers, mainly from 
Hartford County, Conn., and Hampshire County, 
Miuss., arrived at their new home. Obeying to the 
letter the agreement made in the East, the first 
cabin erected was used for a schoolhouse and a 
church of the Protestant Episcopal denomination ; 
the first Sabbath after the arrival of the colony, 
divine service was held therein, and on the arrival 
of the eleventh family a school w;is opened. This 
early attentiim to education and religion has left 
its favorable impress upon the people until this day. 
The first 4th of July was uni(piely and a]>pro]iri- 
ately celebrated. Seventeen gigantic trees, em- 
blematical of the seventeen States forming the 
Union, were cut, so that a few blows of the ax, at 
sunrise on the 4th, prostrated each successively 
with a tremendous crash, forming a national salute 
novel in the world's history."* 

The gi'owth of this part of Ohio continued 
without interruption until the establishment of the 
State capital at Columbus, in 1810. The town was 
laid out in 1812, but, as that date is considered re- 

*nowe'8 CollectioDB. 



mote in the early American settlements, its history 
will be left to succeeding pages, and there traced 
when the history of the State capital and State 
government is given. 

The site of Zanesville, in Mu.skingum County, 
was early looked upon as an excellent place to form 
a settlement, and, had not hostilities opened in 
1791, with the Indians, the place would have been 
one of the earliest settled in Ohio. As it was, the 
war so disarranged matters, that it was not till 
1797 that a permanent settlement was effected. 

The Muskingum country was principally occu- 
pied, in aboriginal times, by the Wyandots, Dela- 
wares, and a few Seneeas and Shawanees. An In- 
dian town once stood, years before the settlement 
of the country, in the vicinity of Duncan's Falls, 
in Muskingum County, from which circumstance 
the place is oft«n called "Old Town." Near Dres- 
den, was a large Shawanee town, called Wakato- 
maca. The graveyard was quite large, and, when 
the whites first settled here, remains of the town 
were abundant. It was in this vicinity that the 
venerable Maj. C;iss, father of Lewis Cass, lived 
and died. He owned 4,000 acres, given him for 
his military services. 

The first settlers on the site of Zanesville were 
William McCulloh and Henry Crooks. The lo- 
cality was given to P]benezer Zane, who had been 
allowed three sections of land on the Scioto, Mus- 
kingum and Hockhocking, wherever the road 
crossed these rivers, provided other prior claims 
did not interfere, for opening "Zane's trace." 
When he located the road across the Muskingum, 
he selected the place where Zanesville now stands, 
being attracted there by the excellent water privi- 
leges. He gave the section of land here to his 
brother Jonathan Zane, and J. Mclutirc, who 
leased the ferry, established on the road over the 
Muskingum, to William McCulloh and Henry 
Crooks, who became thereby the first settlers. The 
ferry was kept about where the old upper bridge 
was afterward placed. The ferry-boat was made 
by fastening two canoes together with a stick. 
Soon after a flat-boat was used. It was brought 
from Wheeling, by Mr. Mclntire, in 1779, the 
year after the ferry w;is establi.shed. The road cut 
out through Ohio, ran from Wheeling, Va., to 
Maysville, Ky. Over this road the mail was car- 
ried, and, in 1798, the first mail ever carried 
wholly in Ohio was brought up from IMarietta to 
MeCulliih's cabin by Daniel Convers, where, by 
arrangement of the Postmaster General, it met 
a mail from Wheeling and one from Maysville. 



114 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



MfCulloli, who could liunlly read, was autliorizcil 
to a.ssort. tlu^ mails and scud each package in its 
jiropcr diicitidii. For this service lu; received 
$'M per annum ; but owing to his inability to read 
well, Mr. Convers generally pert'oruu>d tlie duty. 
At that time, the mails wet here once a week. 
Four years after, the settlement had so increased 
that a regular post office; w:is opened, and Thomas 
Dowden appointed Postmaster. lie ke|ithis office 
in a wooden building near the river bank. 

.Messrs. Zane and Mclntire laid out a town in 
ITitil, which they called Wcstbourn. When the 
]iost office was established, it was named Zanesville, 
and in a shurt time the village took the same name. 
A few families settliid on the west side of the river, 
soon after McCulloh arrived, and as this locality 
grew well, not long afti^r a store and tavern was 
opened here. Mr. Mclntire built a double log 
cabin, which was nsed as a hotel, aud in which 
Louis Philijijie, King of France, was once enter- 
tained. Although the fare and accommodations 
were of the pioneer period, the honorable guest seems 
to have enjoyed liis vi.sit, if the statements i if Lewis 
Cass in his " (!anip aud Court of Jiouis Philip]ie" 
may be believed. 

In 1804, Muskingum County was formed by the 
Legislature, and, fcjr a while, streniicms efforts made 
to secure the State ca]iital by the citizens of Zanes- 
ville. Tliey even ert-cted buildings for the? u.se of 
the Legislature and Governor, and during the ses- 
sions of 1810-1 1, the temporary seat of govern- 
ment was fixed here. When the permanent State 
capital was chosen in 1810, Zanesville was piussed 
by, and gave up the hope. It is now one of the 
most enterprising towns in the Muskingum \' alley. 

During the summer of ITi'", .lolui Knooji, then 
living four miles above Cincinnati, made several 
expeditions u]) the Miami Valley and selected the 
land on which he afterwanl located. The next 
.spring .Mr. Knoop. his brother I?eiijamin. Henry 
(Jarard, Benjamin Hamlet and John Tildus estab- 
lished a station in what isimw .Miami County, near 
the present town of Staunton \'illage. That sum- 
mer, Mrs. Knoop planted the first a]>])le-tree in 
the Miami* country. They all lived together for 
greatcT safety for two years, during which time 
they were occupied clearing their farms ami erect- 
ing dwellings. During the summer, the site of 
PiijuawiLs settled, and three young men located at a 
jilace known as " Freeman's Prairie." These who 

•Tin- woni Mliitni in tho Indian tonf^no Hlgniflod motlier. The 
MiamtH vffrv tho crlKiiiill owni-rs of thp valley by that namo, anfl 
afflmipfl thny vtvrv created there. 



settled at Piipia were Samuel llilliard. Job Garard, 
Shadrae Hudson, Jnnah Itiillins, Daniel Cox, 
Thomas llich, and a Mr. Hunter. The last name<l 
came to the .site of l*i(jua fir.st in 1797, and 
sel(!cted liis home. LTntil 1790, these named were 
the only ones in this locality ; but that year emi- 
gration set in, and very shortly occupied almost all 
the bottom land in Miami County. With the 
increase of emigration, came the comforts of life, 
and mills, stores and other necessary aids to civil- 
izatinn, were ere long to be .seen. 

The .site of Picpia is (piite hi.storic, being the 
theater of many important Indian occurrences, 
and the old home of the Shawanees, of which 
tribe Te<-umseh was a chief. During the Indian 
war, a fort called Fort Piipia was built, near the 
residence of Col. John Johnston, so long the faith- 
ful Indian Agent, The fort was abandoned at the 
clo.se of hostilities. 

When the Miami Canal was opened through this 
part of the State, the country began rapidly to 
improve, and is now jirobably one of the best por- 
tions of Ohio. 

About the same time the Miami was settled, a 
company of peojile tidui Pennsylvania anil A'ir- 
ginia, who wi^ri! principally of German and Iri.sh 
descent, located in Lawrence County, near the iron 
region. As soon as that ore was made available, 
that jiart of the State rajiidly tilled with settlers, 
most of whom engaged in the mining and working 
of iron ore. Now it is very )iros]ierous. 

Another settlement was made the same season, 
1797, on the Ohio side of the river, in Columbia 
County. The settlement progressed slowly for a 
while, owing to a few difficulties with the Indians. 
The celebrated Adam Poe had been here a.s early 
as 1782, and several localities are made locally 
famous by his and bis brother's adventures. 

In this county, on Little l?eaver ('reek, near its 
mouth, the second pa]ier-mill west of the Alle- 
ghanies was erected in lS0,5-(). It Wius the pioneer 
enter|iri.sc of the kind in Ohio, and was named the 
Ohio Paper-]\Iill. Its projirietors were John 
Bever ami Jnhn C<mlter. 

One of the most noted localities in the State is 
eomiiri.'<ed in Greene County. The Shawanee 
town, " ()ld Chillicothe," wason the Little Miami, 
in this county, about three miles north of the site 
of Xeiiia. This old Indian town was, in the an- 
nals of the West, a noteil place, and is frei|uently 
noticed. It is first mentiimed in 177.5, by Capt. 
Thomas Bullitt, of Virginia, who boldly advanced 
alone into the town and obtained the consent of 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



115 



the Indians to go on to Kentucky and make his 
settlement at the falls of the Ohio. His audacious 
bravery gained his re(juest. Daniel Boone was 
taken jirisoner early in 1778, with twenty-seven 
others, and kept for a time at Old Chillicothe. 
Through the influence of the British Governor, 
Hamilton, who had taken a great fancy to Boone, 
he and ten others were sent to Detroit. The In- 
dians, however, had an ei[ual fancy for the brave 
frontiersman, and took him back to Chillicothe, 
and adopted him into their tribe. Abf)ut the 1st 
of June he escaped from them, and made his way 
back to Kentucky, in time to prevent a universal 
massacre of the whites. In July, 1779, the town 
was destroyed by Col. John Bowman and one 
hundred and sixty Keutuckians, and the Indians 
dispersed. 

The Americans made a permanent settlement in 
this county in 1797 or 1798. This latter year, a 
mill was erected in the confines of the county, 
which implies the settlement wa.s made a short 
time previously. A short distance east of the 
mill two bloi-k -houses were erected, and it was in- 
tended, should it become necessary, to surround 
them and the mill with pickets. The mill was 
used by the settlers at " Dutch Station," in Miami 
County, fully thirty miles distant. The richness 
of the country in this part of the State attracted a 
great number of settlers, so that by 1803 the 
county was established, and Xenia laid out, and des- 
ignated as the c(}unty seat. Its first court house, 
a primitive log structure, was long preserved as a 
eurio.sity. It would indeed be a curiosity now. 

ZaTie's trace, pa.ssing from Wheeling to Mays- 
ville, cro.ssed the llockhocking* Kiver, in Fairfield 
County, where Lancaster is now built. Mr. Zane 
located one of his three sections on this rivi^r, 
covering the site of Zanesville. Following this 
trace in 1797, many individuals noted the desira- 
bleness of the locality, some of whom determined 
to return and settle. "The site of the city had 
iu former times been the home of the Wyandots, 
who had a town here, that, in 1790, contained 
over 500 wigwams and more than one 1 ,000 souls.. 
Their town was called Tarhec, or, in English, the 
Crdiiii'-towiijUwX derived its name from the prinei- 

* The word Hock'hock-ing in the Delaware language signifiee 
aboU!'-: the Shawam-es have it Wen-llm-kdgh-qnii Mepe, ie ; bottle 
rit)er. .lnlin White in the American Pinneer says: "Ahuut seven 
niilea nt)rt west uf Lanc^aftcr, there is a fall In the IlnckhDcking of 
about t*v. Ill-,' fi-et. Above thefall for a short distance, the creek 
is very iiai rinv and straight forming a neck, while at the falls il 
suddenly widens uu each side and swells into the appearance of the 
body of a bottle. The whole, when seen from above, appears exactly 
in the shape of a bottle, and from this fact the Indians called the 
river Hock-hock-ing.*' — Rowers Cf>Uec'ion-'. 



pal chief of that tribe. Another portion of the 
tribe then live<l at Toby-town, nine miles west of 
Tarhe-town (now lloyaltown), and was governed 
by an inferior chief called Toby. The chief's wig- 
wam in Tarhe stood on the bank of the prairie, 
near a beautiful and abundant sjiring of water, 
whose outlet was the river. The wigwams of the 
Indians were built of the bark of trees, set on 
poles, in the form of a sugar- camp, with one square 
open, fronting a fire, and about the height of a 
man. The Wyandot tribe that day numbered 
about 500 warriors. By the treaty of Greenville, 
they ceded all their territory, and the majority, un- 
der their chief, removed to ITpper Sandusky. The 
remainder lingered awhile, loath to leave the home 
of their ancestors, but as game became scarce, they, 
too, lefl for better hunting-grounds."* 

In April, 1798, Capt. Joseph Hunter, a bold, 
enterprising man, settled on Zane's trace, on the 
bank of the prairie, west of the crossings, at a 
place since known as " Hunter's settlement." For 
a time, he had no neighbcjrs nearer than the set- 
tlei-s on the Muskingum and Scioto Rivers. He 
lived to see the country he had found a wildernass, 
full of the homes of industry. His wife was the 
first white woman that settled in the valley, and 
shared with him all the privations of a pioneer 
lifb. 

Mr. Hunter had not been long in the valley till 
he was joined by Nathaniel Wilson, John and Al- 
len Green, John and Josejih McMulleii, Robert 
Cooper, Isaac Shat;fer, and a few others, who 
erected cabins and jilanted corn. The next year, 
the tide of emigration came in with great iiirce. 
In the spring, two .settlements were made in Green- 
field Township, each settlement containing twenty 
or UKjre families. One was called the Forks of 
the Hockhocking, the other, Yankeetowu. Set> 
tlements were also made along the river below 
Hunter's, on Rush Creek, Raccoon and Indian 
Creeks, I'leasant Run, Felter'sRun, at Tobeytown, 
Muddy I'rairie, and on Clear Creek. In the fall, 
— lyiil) — J.iseph ]>oveland and Hezekiah Smith 
built a log grist-mill at the Upper Falls of the 
Hockhocking, aft^Tward kn(}wn as Rock Mill. 
This was the first mill on this river. In the latter 
part of the year, a mail rcjute was estaljlished over 
the trace. The mail was carried through <.in horse- 
back, and, in the settlements in this locality, was 
lefl at the cabin of Samuel Coates, who lived on 
the prairie at the crossings of the river. 

*Lecture of George Anderson. — Hotce's Cotlectiona. 



116 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



In tlio fall of the next year, Ebenezcr Zanc laid 
(lilt Ijanta.ster. which, until 1805, was known :us 
New Lanciuster. The lots sold very rapidly, at 
$50 each, and, in less than one year, <(uito a vil- 
lajje apjK^ared. December 9, the Governor and 
.Indues of the Northwest Territory organized 
Fairtielil ("oiinty, and made Lancaster th(! county 
seat. The ne.\t year, Rev. John Wriuht, of the 
I'rcsbyterian ('lunch, and Revs. Asa Shinn and 
James Qninn, of the .Methodist Church, came, and 
i'niin that time on schools and cliuichcs Were main- 
tained. 

Not far from Lanc;ister are immense mural es- 
carpments of sandstone formation. They were 
noted among the aborigines, and were, probably, 
u.sed by tlu^ni as places of ontlook and dcfriise. 

The .same summer Fairlicld County was settled, 
the towns of IJethel and Williamsburg, in Cler- 
mont County, were settled and laid out, and in 
IcSOO, the county was erected. 

A S('ttlement was also made immediately south 
of Fairfield County, in Hocking County, by (Chris- 
tian Westenliavcr, a (lernian, from near Ilagers- 
town, iMd. He came in the spring of 171IS, and 
was .soon joined by several families, who formed 
(piitc a settlement. The territory included in the 
county remained a part of Ross, Holmes, Athens 
and Fairfield, until ISIS, when Hocking County 
was erect(^d, and Logan, which had been laid out 
in ISK), was made the county seat. 

The country coni|iri.scd in thc^ county is rather 
broken, es])ecially along the Ilockhocking River. 
Tbis brokim country wa.s a fiivorite resort of the 
Wyandot Indians, who could ea.sily hide in the 
numerous grottoes and ravines mad(! by the river 
and its ailliients .is the water cut its way through 
tile sandstone rocks. 

In 170S, .soon alter Zanc's trace was cut through 
the country, a ^\v. (Iraham located on the site of 
(Cambridge, in (iuernscy ("ounty. His was then 
the only <lwi^lling between Whci'ling and Zancs- 
ville, on tlu^ trace. He rciuaiiKMl here alone about 
two years, when he was suceec^ih^l by George Rey- 
nier, from Somerset, I'enn. Both t1ie.>ie jiersons 
kept a tavern and ferry over Will's Creek. Fn 
April, ISO:!, Mr. Reymcr was .succeccled by John 
Reatty, who eanic from Loudon, V^i. His family 
consisted of eleven )iersons. The Indians linnted 
in this vicinity, and were fre(piciil visitors at the 
tavern. In June, ISOCi, Cambridge! w;is laid out, 
and on llu? day the lots were offered for sale, si!V- 
cral families from the Rritish Isle of Guernsey, 
near the eoa.st of France, stopjK'd here on their 



way to the We.st. They were .satisfied with the 
location and purcha.scd many of the lots, and some 
land in the vicinity. They were soon followid by 
other families from the sami; place, all of whom 
settling in this locality gave the name to the county 
when it w;is erected in 1810. 

A settlement was made in the central part of the 
State, on Darby Creek, in Cnion County, in the 
summer of ITUS, by James and Jo.shna Kwing. 
The next year, they were joined by Samuel and 
David Mitclu'll, Samuel iNIitchell. Jr., Samuel 
Kirkpatrick and Samuel McCullough.and. in ISOII, 
by ti<Mirge and Samuel Reed, Robert Snodgrass 
and I'aul Hodgson. 

".lames Hwing's farm was the site of an an- 
cient ami noted Mingo town, which was deserted 
at the time the Mingo towns, in what is now Logan 
(jounty, were destroyed by (Jen. Logan, of Ken- 
tucky, in 1781). When Mr. Fwing took po.sses- 
sion of his farm, the cabins were still standing, 
and, among others, the remains of a blacksniith's 
shoji, with coal, cinders, ir<in-dross, etc. Jonathan 
AULn, formerly a )iri.soner among the Indians, 
says the shoj) was carried on hy a renega<le white 
man, named Rullcr, who lived among the Mingoes. 
K.vtensive fields bad formerly been cultivated in 
till! vicinity of the town."* 

Soon after the .settlement was established. Col. 
James Curry located here. He was (piitean iiiHir- 
ential man, and, in 1820, succeeded in getting the 
county formed from portions of Dilaware. I"'raiik- 
lin, Madison and Logan, and a part of the old In- 
dian Territory. Marysville was made the county 
seat. 

During the year 1780, a fort, calU^d Fort Steu- 
ben, was built on the site of Steubeiiviile, but was 
dismantled at the coiiilusion of hostilities in 17!t5. 
Thre(! years aller, Rezjtleel Williams and Hon. 
Jam(!S Ross, for whom Ross Cofinty was named, 
located the fjiwn of Steubeiiviile about the old 
fort, and, by lilxral offers of lots, soon attracted 
quite a number of .settlers. In 1S05, the town 
w:us incorporated, and tbcu had a i)o|iulation of 
■.several hundred ]iersons. Jefler.son County Wiis 
ereatwl by Gov. St. Clair. July 2!t, 17!t7, the year 
before Stiaibi^nville w:us laid out. It then included 
the large si-ope of country west of Feiiii.-iylvania ; 
cast and north of a line from the mouth of the 
Cuyahoga; southwanlly Ut the Muskingum, and 
cast to till' Ohio; including, in its territ<iries, the 
cities of Cleveland, Canton, Steubenvilleaml War- 

* IIowc'b ColloctionB. 



¥' 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



119 



ren. Only a short time, however, was it allowed 
to retain this size, as the increase in emigration 
rendered it necessary to erect new counties, which 
was rapidly done, especially on the adoption c " the 
State government. 

The county is rich in early history, prior to its 
settlement by the Americans. It was the home of 
the celebrated Minjio chief, Logan, who resid d 
awhile at an old Mingo town, a few miles below t le 
site of Steubenville, the place where the troo )S 
under Col. Williamscm rendezvoused on their i i- 
famiius raid against the Moravian Indians; aid 
also where Cnl. Crawford and his men met, wh( a 
starting on their unfortunate expedition. 

In the Reserve, settlements were often made 
remote from populous localities, in accordance with 
the wish of a jjroprietor, who might own a tract of 
country twenty or thirty miles in the interior. In 
the present county of Geauga, three families located 
at Burton in 1798. They lived at a considerable 
distance from any other settlement for some time, 
and were greatly inconvenienced for the want of 
mills or shops. As time progressed, however, 
these were brought nearer, or built in their midst, 
and, ere long, almost all parts of the Reserve could 
show some settlement, even if isolated. 

The next year, 1790, settlements were made at 
Ravenna, Deerfield and Palmj'ra, in Portage 
Ciiunty. lion. Benjamin Tappan came to the site 
of Ravenna in June, at which time he found one 
white man, a IMr. Honey, living there. At this date, 
a solitary log cabin occupied the sites of Buffalo and 
Cleveland. On his journey from New England, 
Mr. Tappan fell in with David Hudson, the founder 
of the Hudson settlement in Summit County. 
After many days of travel, they landed at a prairie in 
Summit County. Jlr. Tappan left his goods in a 
cabin, built for the purpose, under the careof ahired 
man, and went on his way, cutting a road to the 
site of Ravenna, where his land lay. On his return 
for a second load of goods, they found the cabin 
deserted, and evidences of its plunder by the In- 
dians. Not long after, it was learned that the man 
left in charge had gone to Mr. Hudson's settle- 
ment, he having set out immediately on his arrival, 
for his own land. Mr. Ta]ipan gathered the re- 
mainder of his goods, and started back for Ravenna. 
On his way one of his oxen died, and he found 
himself in a vast forest, away from any habitation, 
and with one dollar in money. He did not falter 
a moment, but sent his hired man, a faithful fellow, 
to Erie, Penn., a distance T)f one hundred miles 
through the wilderness, with the compass for his 



guide, requesting from Capt. Lyman, the com- 
mander at the fort there, a loan of money. At 
the same time, he followed the township lines to 
Youngstown, where he became acquainted with 
Col. James Hillman, who did not hesitate to sell 
him an ox on credit, at a f^iir price. He returned 
to his load in a few days, found his ox all right, 
hitched the two together and went on. He was 
soon joined by his hired man, with the money, and 
togetlier they spent the winter in a log cabin. He 
gave his man one hundred acres of land as a reward, 
and paid Col. Hillman for the ox. In a year or 
two he had a pro.sperous settlement, and when the 
county was erected in 1807, Ravenna was made 
the seat of justice. 

About the same time Mr. Tappan began his 
settlement, others were commenced in other locali- 
ties in this county. Early in May, 1799, Lewis 
Day and his son Horatio, of Granby, Conn., and 
Moses Tibbals and Green Frost, of Granville, 
Mass., left their homes in a one-horse wagon, and, 
the 29th of May, arrived in what is now Deerfield 
Township. Theirs was the first wagon that had 
ever penetrated farther westward in this region 
than Canfield. The country west of that place 
had been an unbroken wilderness until within a 
few days. Capt. Caleb Atwater, of Wallingford, 
Conn., had hired some men to open a road to 
Township No. 1, in the Seventh Range, of which 
he was the owner. This road passed through 
Deerfield, and was completed to that place when 
the party arrived at the jioint of their destination. 
These emigrants selected sites, and commenced 
clearing the land. In July, Lewis P]ly arrived 
from Granville, and wintered here, while those 
who came first, and had made their iuqirovements, 
returned East. The 4th of March, 1800, Alva 
Day (son of Lewis Day), John Campbell and 
Joel Thrall arrived. In April, George and Rob- 
ert Taylor and James Laughlin, from Pennsylvania, 
with their families, came. Mr. Laughlin built a 
grist-mill, which was of great convenience to the 
settlers. July 29, Lewis Day returned with 
his family and his brother-in-law, JIaj. Rogers, 
who, the next year, also brought his fiimily. 

"Much suffering was experienced at first on 
account of the scarcity of provisions. They were 
chiefly supplied from the settlements east of the 
Ohio River, the nearest of which was Georgetown, 
forty miles away. The provisions were brought 
on pack-horses through the wilderness. August 
22, Mrs. Alva Day gave birth to a child — a fe- 
male — the first child born in the township. 



120 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



Novciiilier 7, tin; first wedding took place. John 
('iiui])l)ell and iSarali Ely were joined in wedlock 
by Calvin Austin, Ksij., of Warren. He wa.s 
aeeoinj)anied from Warren, a distance of twenty- 
seven miles, by Mr. Pease, then a lawyer, after- 
ward a well-known Judge. They came on foot, 
there being no road; and, as they threaded their 
way through the woods, young Pease taught the 
Justice the marriiige ceremony by oft repetition. 

"In 1 802, Franklin Township wa.s organized, em- 
bracing all of Portage and i)arts of Trumbull and 
Summit Counties. About this time the settlement 
received accessions from all parts of the East. In 
February, 1801, Rev. Badger came and began his 
labors, and two years later i)r. Shadmc Bostwick 
organized a .Methodi.st Episcopal church.* The 
remaining settlement in this county, Palmyra, was 
begun about the same time as the others, by David 
Daniels, from Salisbury, Conn. Tin; ne.xt year he 
brought out his family. Soon after he was joined 
by Vj. N. and W. Bacon, E. Cutler, A. Thurber, 
A. I'reston, N. Hois, J. T. Baldwin, T. and C. 
(Jilbert, I). A. and S. Waller, N. Smith, Jo.seph 
Fisher, J. Tuttle and others. 

" When this region was first settled, there was 
iin Indian trail commencing at Fort Mcintosh 
( Beaver, Penn.), and extending westward to San- 
dusky and Detroit. The trail followed the highest 
ground. Along the trail, parties of Indians were 
fre(piently seen passing, for several years after the 
whites came. It seemed to be the great abcjriginal 
thoroughtiire from Sandu.sky to the Ohio Biver. 
There were several large ]iiles of stones on the 
trail in this locality, under which human skeletons 
have been discovered. These are supjjosed to be 
the remains of Indians slain in war, or murdered 
by their enemies, as tradition says it is an Indian 
custom for ejich one to cast a stone on the grave 
of an enemy, whenever he passes by. The.se stones 
ap])ear to have been jiicked u)) alimg the trail, and 
cast upon the hea])S at ditterent times. 

"At the point when^ this trail cros.ses Silver 
Creek, I'Vedriek Daniels and others, in 1S14, di.s- 
cov<'r<'d, jiainted on .s<>veral trees, various devices, 
evidently the- work of Indians. The bark was 
carefully shaved off two-thirds of the way around, 
and figures cut U]K)n the wood. On one of these 
was (h'lineated .seven Indians, c(|uii>ped in a par- 
ticular manner, one of whom w:us without a head. 
This was supjiosed to have been made by a party 
on their return westward, to give intelligence to 

* Jlowe's Collections. 



their fi'iends behind, of the lo.ss of one of their 
jiarty at this place ; and, on making search, a hu- 
man skeletim was discovered near by." * 

The celebrated Indian hunter, Brady, made his 
remarkable leap across the Cuyahoga, in this 
county. The county also contains Brady's Pond, 
a large sheet of water, in which he once made his 
escape irom the Indians, from which circumstance 
it received its name. 

The locality comprised in Clark County was 
settled the same summer as those in Summit County. 
John llum]ihries came to this part of the State 
with (_!en. Simon Kenton, in 1T90. With them 
came six families from Kentucky, who settled 
north of the site of Springfield. A fort was 
erected on Mad River, for security against the In- 
dians. Fourteen cabins were soon built near it, 
all being surrounded b}' a .strong ])ieket fence. 
David Lowery, one of the pioneers here, built the 
first flat-boat, to operate on the Great Jliami, and, 
in 181)0, made the first trip on that river, coming 
down fi-om Dayton. He took his boat and cargo 
on down to New Orleans, where he disposed of his 
load of " five hundred venison hams and bacon." 

Springfield w;ls laid out in ^larch. 1801. (Iriffith 
Foos, who came that spring, built a tavern, which 
he completed and opened in June, remaining in 
this jilaee till 1814. He often staled that when 
emigrating \V^est, his j)arty were four days and a 
half glutting from Franklinton, on the Scioto, to 
Springfield, a distam-e of fijrty-two miles. When 
crossing the Big Darby, they were oiiliged to carry 
all their goods over on horseback, and then drag 
their wagons across with ropes, while some of the 
party swam by the side of the wagon, to jirevent 
its up.setting. The site of the town was of such 
]iractical beauty and utility, that it soon attracted 
a larg(! number of settlers, and, in a few years, 
Springfield was incorporated. In 1811, a church 
was built by the residents for the use of all denom- 
inations. 

Clark County is made famous in aboriginal 
liistorv, as the birthplace and childhood home of 
the noted Indian, Tecumseh.f He was Ikjiu in 

• llowf 'a Collections. 

tl't'CiimSHli, or Tocunishc, wiw a son of Pnckrsliinwn, a mcmlur 
of Iho KiKcopoki' tribe, nnil Mi-tlioiitiuiki', of llie Tiirlle trllie of the 
Shiiwiinec nsllon. They ren.ovcil from FIoiMii to Oliio soon ufter 
IlieiriOiirringe. Tlie lalher, Piiekewliiiiwn, ro(*o t«) tlo-rank t>f a rliief, 
ami fi'H at ttie buttle of Point Pledsant, in 1774. .\fter his detitli, 
the mother, MethoatUNke, returned to the sooth, where Kbe died at 
an advanced nee. Tecnm-eh was liorn about the year 1768. He 
early showed a pa/<8ion (or war, and, when only ".^7 yean* of age, whs 
made a chief. The next year he removed to Deer Creek, in the 
vicinity of Urbana. ami from there lo the site of Piqim. on the 
Great Miami. In {''JH he accepted the invitation of the Delawares 
in the Ticiuity of White River, Indiana, and from that time made 



:^ 



HISTORY OP OHIO. 



121 



the old Indian town of Piqua, the ancient Piqua 
of the Shawanees, on the north side of Mad River, 
ahout five miles west of Sprinijfield. The town 
was destroyed by the Kentucky Rangers under 
Gen. George Rogers Clarke in 1780, at the same 
time he destroyed " Old Chillieothe." Immense 
fields of standing corn about both towns were cut 
down, compelling the Indians to re.sort to the hunt 
with more than ordinary vigor, to sustain them- 
selves and their wives and children. This search 
insured ."afety for some time on the borders. The 
site of Cadiz, in Harrison County, was settled in 
Ajjril, ITSHI, by Alexander Henderson and his 
family, from Washinirton County, Penn. Wlien 
they arrived, they found neighbors in tlie persons 
of Daniel Peterson and his family, who lived near 
the forks of Short Creek, and wlio liad preceded 
them but a very short time. The next year, emi- 
grants began to cross the ( )liio in great numbers, 
and in five or six years lar;;e settlements could be 
seen in this part of the State. The county was 
erected in 181-1, and Cadiz, laid out in 1803, made 
the county seat. 

While the settlers were locating in and about 
Cadiz, a few families came to what is now Monroe 
County, and settled near the present town of 
Beallsville. Sliortly after, a few persons settled on 
the Clear Fork of the i>ittle Muskingum, and a 
few others on the east fork of Duck Creek. The 



next season all tliese settlements received addi- 
tions and a few other localities were also occupied. 
Before long the town of Beallsville was laid 
out, and in time became quite populous. The 
county was not erected until 1813, and in 1815 
AVood.sfield was laid out and made the seat of 
justice. ■■' 

The opening of the season of 1800 — the dawn 
of a new century — saw a vast emigration west 
ward. Old settlements in Ohio received immense 
increase of emigrants, while, branching out in all 
directions like the rndii of a circle, other settle- 
ments were constantly formed until, in a few years, 
all jiarts of the State knew the presence of the 
white man. 

Towns sprang into existence here and there ; 
mills and factories were erected ; post offices and 
post-routes were established, and the comforts and 
conveniences of life began to appear. 

With this came the desire, so potent to the mind 
of all American citizens, to rule themselves through 
representatives chosen by their own votes. Hith- 
erto, they had been ruled by a Governor and Judges 
appointed by the President, who, in turn, appointed 
county and judicial officers. The arbitrary rulings 
of the Governor, St. Clair, had arrayed the mass 
of the people against him, and made the desire for 
the second grade of government stronger, and 
finally led to its creation. 



CHAPTER X. 

FORMATION OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT— OHIO A STATE— THE STATE CAPITALS— LEGIS- 
LATION— THE ''SWEEPING RESOLUTIONS "—TERRITORIAL AND STATE GOVERNORS. 



SETTLEMENTS increased sn rapidly in tliat i 
jiart. of the Northwest Territory inehided in 
Ohio, during the decade from 1788 to 171*8, 
des}iite the Indian war, that the demand for an 
electinn of a Territorial Assembly could not be 
ignored by <tov. 8t. Clair, who, having ascertained 
that 5,000 five males resided within the limits of 
the Territory, issued his proclamation October 29, 
1798, directing the electors to elect representatives 
to a General Assembly. He ordered the election 

his home with them. He was most active in the war of 1812 
against the Americane, and from the time he hpsan hie work to 
unite the tribes, his histniy is so closely idt^ntified therewith that 
the reader is referred to the history of tluit war in succeeding pages. 
It may notbe amiss to aav that all stories regarding the manner 
of his di'Hth are considfred ermneous. He was undoubtedly killed 
in the ont-^et of the buttle of the Thames in Caaada in 1814. and his 
body secretly buried by ihe Indians. 



to be held on the third Monday in December, and 
directed the representatives to meet in Cincinnati 
January 22, 1799. 

On the day designated, the representatives * 
assembled at Cincinnati, nominated ten persons, 
whose names were sent to the President, who 
selected five to constitute the Legislative Council, 

*Those elected were; from Washington County.Retum Jona- 
than Meigs and Paul Fearing; from Hamilton County, William 
Gofurtli, William McMillan, John Smith, John Ludlow, Robert 
Benhani. Aaron Caidw-ll and Isaac Martin; from St. Clair County 
(Illinois'), Sh--idnich Bond; from Knox County (Indiana), John 
Small; from lUniioIph County (Ulinoisl, John Edgar; from Wayne 
County, So'omon Sibley, Jacob Visgar and Charles F. Chabart de 
Joncavio; from Adams County, Joseph Darlington and Kathaniel 
Massie; from Jefferson County, James Pritchard; from Ross County, 
Th'>mnH Wo.thington, Eiias Langhani,SHmuel Findley and Edward 
Tithn. The five gentlemen chosen as the Upper House were all 
from counties afterward included in Ohio. 



4 



123 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



nr 1 '|ipCT House. These five were Jacob Burnet, 
JaiiK's Findley, Henry Vanderburgh, Robert 
Ohver and David A'aucc. On the lid of March, 
the Senate conlirincd tlieir nomination, and the 
Territorial (iovernment ol' Ohio* — or, more jirop- 
erly, the Northwest — wa.s complete. As this 
comprised the essential business of this body, it 
was prorogued by the Governor, and the Assembly 
directed to meet at the same place September 10, 
1795', and proceed to the enactment of laws for 
the Territory. 

That day, the Territorial Legislature met again 
at Cincinnati, but, for want of a quorum, did not 
organize until the 24th. The House consisted of 
nineteen members, seven of wliom were from Ham- 
ilton County, four from Ross, three from ^Vayne, 
two from Adams, one from Jefferson, one from 
Washington and one from Knox. Assembling 
both branches of the Legislature, Gov. >St. Clair 
addre.-ised them, reconnnciuling such me;i.sures to 
their consideration n», in his judgment, were suited 
to the condition of the country. The Council 
then organized, electing Henry \'anderburgh, Presi- 
dent; AVilliam C. Scheiick, Secretary; George 
Howard, Doorkeeper, and Abraham Carey, Ser- 
geant-at-arms. 

The House also organized, electing Edward Tif- 
fin, Sjieaker; John Reilly, Clerk; Joshua Row- 
land, Doorkeeper, and Abraham Carey, Sergeants 
at-arms. 

Tliis was the first legislature elected in the old 
Nortiiwe.stcrn Territory. During its first session, 
it pa.ssed thirty bills, of which the (lovernor vetoed 
eleven. They al.so elected William Henry Harri- 
son, then Secretary of the Territory, delegate to 
Congre.'^s. The Legislature continued in session 
till December 1!1, having much to do in forming 
new laws, when they were prorogued by the (Jov- 
ernor, until the first Monday in Xovember, ISOO. 
The second sessi<ui was held in Chillieothe, which 
had been designated as the seat of government by 
(longre.ss, until a |K!nuaneat capital should be 
.selected. 

May 7, 1800, Congress passed an act establish- 
ing Indiana Territory, iiicbnling all the country 
west of the Great Miami Kivcr to the Mississiiijii, 
and aj)pointed William Henry Marri.son its Gov- 
ernor. At the autunm .se.s,sion of the Legislalnre 

* Ohio npviT existed iw H Tumtory prolMT. It was Icnnwn, botli 
Ijeforo und atti-r tlie divinlcin of tiie NorttiweHt Territory, iw tiie 
"THfrit'Ty liiirtliweflt of ti»e Oiiio Rirer." Still, afl the country 
C'linprini-d in it^ liniilR wtu4 tli>' princijHii tiieiiteror action, tliOHliort 
r..«nnn' Kiven Iiere in maiie nccea'Miry in tlio lo^icnl conrwe of eventH. 
oliio, tu Oliio, noTer existed until the creation of the State in 
March, ieu3. 



of the eastern, or old part of the Territory, Will- 
iam McMillan and Paul Fearing were elected to 
the vacancies caused by this act. By the organ- 
ization of this Territory, the counties of Knox, St. 
Clair and Raudoljih, wei-e taken out of the juri,><- 
diction of the old Territoi-y, and with them the 
representatives, Henry \'andenbui-gh. Shadrach 
Bond, John Small anil John Edgar. 

Before the time fi)r the next .\ssembly came, a 
new election had occuri-etl. and a few changes were 
the result. Robert Oliver, of .^larietta, was cho- 
sen S])eaker in the ])lace of Henry A'andt-rburgh. 
There was considerable business at this si;ssion ; 
several new counties were to be erected ; the coun- 
try was rapidly filling with people, and where the 
scruples of the Governor could be overcome, some 
organization was made. He was very tenacious of 
his power, and arbitrary in his rulings, affiniiing 
that he, alone, had the power to create new coun- 
ties. This dogmatic exercise ftf his veto power, 
his rights as ruler, and his defeat by the Indians, 
all tended again.-^t him. resulting in his dLvplaee- 
ment by the J'resident. This was done, however, 
just at the timethe Territory came from the second 
grade of governnu*nt. and the State was created. 

The third .session of the Territorial l.iegislature 
continued from November 24, 18U1, to January 
28, 1802, when it adjourned to meet in Cincin- 
nati, the fourth Monday in November, but 
owing to rea.sons unide obvious by subsequent 
events, was never held, and the third session 
marks the decline of the Territorial government. 

.\])ril SO, 1802, Congress pa.ssed an act "to 
I enable the ])eo]>le of the eastei'n division ol' the 
territory northwest of the Ohio River, to form a 
' constitution and State government, and for the 
admission of such States into the I'nion on 
an e(|ual tooting with the original State.s, and for 
other ]mr|»ises." In pursuance of this act, an 
election had been held in ibis part of the Territm-y, 
and ini^inbtus of a constitutional convention eho- 
.sen, who were to meet at Chillieothe, Noveniljer 
1, to perforin the duty assigned them. 
1 The peo])le throughout the country contemplat- 
ed in the new Slate were anxious for the adojition 
of a Statt! government. The ai'bitrary acts of the 
Territorial Governor had lieighteiied this feeling ; 
the censiLs of the Territory gave it the lawliil 
number t)f inhabitants, and nothing stooil in its 
way. 

The convention met the day designated and 
proceeded at onee to its duties. When the time 
arrived for the opening of the Fourth Territorial 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



123 



Legislature, the convention was in session and had 
evidently about completed its labors. The mem- 
bers of the Legislature (eight of whom were mem- 
bers of the convention) seeing that a speedy 
termination of the Territcjrial government was inev- 
itable, wisely concluded it was ine.\pedient and 
unnecessary to hold the propo.sed session. 

The convention concluded its labors the 20th of 
November. The Constitution adopted at that time, 
though rather crude in some of its details, was an 
excellent organic instrument, and remained almost 
entire until llSal, when the present one was 
adopted. Either is too long for insertion here, 
but either will well pay a perusal. The one adopted 
by the convention in 1802 was never submitted 
to the people, owing to the circumstances of the 
times ; but it was submitted to Congress February 
19, 1803, and by that body accepted, and an act 
passed admitting Ohio to the Union. 

The Territorial liovernment ended March 3, 
1803, by the organizaticm, that day, of the State 
government, which organization defined the j)res- 
ent limits of the State. 

" We, the people of the Eastern Division of the Ter- 
ritory 01 the Uniteil States. N'ortliwest of the Hiver 
Ohio, having the riglit of admission into tlie General 
Government as a member of the Union, consistent with 
tlie Constitution of tlie United States, the Ordinance 
of Congress of one thousand seven hundred and eighty- 
seven, aiul of tlie law of Congress, entitled ' An act to 
enaWe the people of tlie Eastern Division of the Terri- 
tory of tlie United States Xortliwest of the River Ohio, 
to form a Constitution and a State tiovernmcnt, and for 
the admission of such State into the Union on an equal 
fooling with the original States, and for other purpo- 
ses ;' in order to establish justice, promote the well- 
fare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves 
and our posterity, do ordain and establish the follow- 
ing Constitution or form of government; and do mu- 
tually agree with each other to form ourselves into a 
free and independent Stale, by the name of the State 
of Ohm."*— Preamble, Constilution of 1S02. 

^\^len the convention forming the Constitution, 
completed its labors and jiresented the results to 
Congress, and that body passed the act forming 



* The name of the State is derived from the river forming its 
southern boiindai-y. Its origin is somewliat obscure, but is com- 
monly ascribed to th«> Indians. On this point, Col. Johnston says: 
" Tlie Sliawanoese called the Obio River 'Kis-ke-pi-Ia. Sepe, i. e., ^Eagle 
River.* The Wyan-tots were in the country generations before the 
Shawanoese, and, consequently, their name of the river is the prim- 
itive one and should stand in preference to all othera. Ohio may 
be called an improvement on the expression, ^0-he-zuh,* and was, no i 
doubt, adopted by the early French voyagers in their boat-songs, 
and is subsiantially the same wort as used by the Wyandots: the 
meaning applied by the French, fair and beautiful 'In belle river,* 
being the same precisely as that meant by the Indians — 'greal, 
grand and fair to look upon.' " — Hotoe^B Collectionn. I 

Webster's Dictionary Rives the word as of Indian origin, and ita 
meaning to be, '* Beautiful." 1 



the State, the territory included therein was di- 
vided into nine counties, whose names and dates of 
erection were as follows: 

Wa,shiugton, July 27, 1788; Hamilton, Janu- 
ary 2, 1700; (owing to the Indian war no other 
counties were erected till peace was restored); Ad- 
ams, July 10, 1797; Jefferson, July 29, 1797; 
Ro.s.s, Augu.st 20, 1798; Clermont, Fairfield and 
Trumbull, December 9, 1800; Belmont, Septem- 
ber 7, 1801. These counties were the thickest- 
settled part of the State, yet many other localities 
needed organization and were clamoring for it, but 
owing to St. Clair's views, he refused to grant 
their requests. One of the first acts on the as- 
sembling of the State Legislature, March 1, 1803, 
was the creation of seven new counties, viz., Gal- 
lia, Scioto, Geauga, Butler, Warren, Greene and 
Montgomery. 

Section Sixth of the "Schedule" of the Consti- 
tution required an election ibr the various officers 
and Representatives necessary under the new gov- 
ernment, to be held the second Tuesday of Janu- 
ary, 1803, these officers to take their seats and as- 
sume their duties March 3. The Second .\rticle 
provided for the regular elections, to be held on 
the second Tuesday of October, in each year. The 
Governor elected at first was to hold his office 
until the first regular election could be held, and 
thereafter to continue in office two years. 

The January elections placed Edward Tiffin in 
the Governor's office, sent Jeremiah Jlorrow to 
Congress, and chose an Assembly, who met on the 
day designated, at Chillieothe. Michael Baldwin 
was chosen Speaker of the Hou.se, and Nathaniel 
JLtssie, of the Senate. The As.sembly appointed 
William Creighton, Jr., Secretary of State ; Col. 
Thomas Gib.son, Auditor ; William JIcFarland, 
Treasurer; Return J. Meigs, Jr., Samuel Hun- 
tington and William Sprigg, Judges of the Su- 
preme Court ; Francis Dunlevy, Wyllys Silliman 
and Calvin Pease, President Judges of the First, 
Second and Third Districts, and Thomas Worth- 
ington and John Smith, United States Senators. 
Charles Willing Byrd was made the United States 
District Judge. 

The act of Congress forming the State, con- 
tained certain roiiuisitions regarding public schools, 
the " salt springs." ]iublic lands, taxation of Gov- 
ernment lands, Syiumes' purchase, etc., which the 
constitutional convention agreed to with a few 
minor considerations. These Congress accepted, 
and passed the act in accordance thereto. The 
First General Assembly found abundance of work 



■\^ 



'.£. 



134 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



to do regarding these various items, and, at once, 
set themselves to the task. Laws were passed re- 
garding all these ; new counties created ; officers 
appointed ii)rthc same, until they could he elected, 
and courts and macliiucry of guvernment put in 
motion. Presitlcnt Judges and lawyers traveled 
their circuits holding courts, ottcn in the cipcn air 
or in a log shanty ; a constable doing duty a.s 
guard over a jury, probably seated on a log under 
a tree, or in the bushes. The President Judge in- 
structed the officers of new counties in tlicir duties, 
and though the whole keeping of matters accorded 
with the times, an honest feeling generally pre- 
vailed, inducing each one to peribnn hi.s part an 
effectually a.s his knowledge permitted. 

The State continually tilled with people. New 
towns anise all over the country. Kxcejiting the 
occasional sicknesses caused by the new climate and 
fresh soil, the general health of the jMMiple im- 
proved as time went on. They were fully in ac- 
cord with the President, Jcffcr.son, and carefidly 
nurtured those jirinciplcs of per.sonal liberty en- 
grafted in the fundamrnt;il law of 1787, and later, 
in tiie Constitution of the State. 

Little if any change occurred in the natural 
cour.se of events, Ibllowing the change of govern- 
ment until Burr's expedition and plan of secession 
in 1805 and 180(i appeared. What his plans 
were, have never been definitely ascertained. His 
action rclat<!d more to the General (lovernment, 
yet Ohio wa.s called upon to aid in putting down 
his insurrection — feu- such it was thought to be — 
and defeated his ])urposes, whiitcver they were. 
His [ilans ended only in ignominious defeat; the 
breaking-up of one of the finest homes in tlu! 
Western country, and the ex]iulsion ol'bimself and 
all tho.^e whdWere actively engaged in his scheme, 
whatever its imports were. 

Again, for a period of four or five years, no 
exciting events occurred. Settlement,s continued ; 
mills and factories incrca-scd ; towns and cities 
grew ; counties were created ; trad(! enlarged, and 
naught save the common course of event.s trans- 
pired to mark the eoui-se of time. Other States 
were made from the old Northwest Territ<iry, all 
parts of which were rapidly i)eing occupied by 
settlers. The danger fnini Indian hostilities was 
little, and the adventurous whiles were ra]iidly 
occupying their country. One thing, however, 
was yet a continual source of annoyance to the 
.\mericans. viz.. the Hritish interference with the 
Indians. Tlicir traders did not scruple, nor tail 
im every opportunity, to aid these sons of the 



forest with arms and amuumilion a.s occasion 
offered, endeavoring to stir them up against the 
Americans, until events here and on the high .seas 
culminated in a declaration of hdstilities. aTi<l the 
war of 1812 was the result. The deluded red 
men found then, as they found in ITltfi, that they 
were made tdols by a .stronger jiower, and dro(iped 
when the time came that they were no longer 
needed. 

Before the opening of luKstilities occurred, how- 
ever, a series of acts passed the General As.sembly, 
causing cousidiirable excitement. These were the 
famous "Sweeping Resolutions," passed in 1810. 
For a few years jirior to their j)assage, considera- 
ble discontent prevailed among many of the legis- 
lators regarding the rulings of the courts, and by 
many of these embryo law-makers, the legislative 
power was considered onniipotent. They could 
change existing laws and contracts did they desire 
to, thought many of them, even if such acts con- 
flicted with the State and National Cimstitutions. 
The " Sweeping Resolutions " were brought about 
mainly by the action of the judges in declaring 
that justices of the peace could, in the collection 
of debts, hold jurisdiction in amounts not exceed- 
ing fif\y dollars without the aid of a jury. The 
Constitution of the United States gave the jury 
control in all such cases where the amount did not 
exceed twenty <liillars. There was a direct con- 
tradiction against the organic law of the land — to 
which every other law and act is subversive, and 
when the judges declared the legislative act uncon- 
stitutional and hence null and void, the Legisla- 
ture became sviddenly inflamed at their independ 
ence, and proceeded at once to punish the admin- 
istrators of justice. The legislature was one of 
the worst that ever controlled the State, and Wiis 
composed of many men who were not only igno- 
rant of common law, the necessities of a State, and 
the dignity and true import ol' their office, but 
were demagogues in every respect. Having the 
power to impeach officers, that body at once did 
so, having enough to carry a two-thirds majority, 
aiul removed several judges. iMMtber maturing 
their plans, the '-Sweepers. " as they were known, 
eon.strued the law ap])ointing certain jiulgcs and 
civil officers for .seven years, U) mean .seven years 
from the organization of the State, whether they 
had been officers that length of time or not. All 
officers, whether of new or old counties, were con- 
strued as included in the act, and, utterly ignoring 
the Constitution, an act was pa,ssed in January, 
1810, removing every civil officer in the State. 



9 "V 



±1 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



125 



February 10, they proceeded to fill all these va- 
cant oifiees, fi'om State officers down to the lowest 
county office, either by appointment or by ordering 
au election in the manner prescribed by law. 

The Constitution provided that the office of 
judges should continue for seven years, evidently 
seven years from the time they were elected, and 
not fi-om the date of the admission of the State, 
which latter con-struction this headlong Legisla- 
ture had construed as tlie meaning. Man_y of the 
counties had been organized but a year or two, 
others three or four years ; hence an indescribable 
confusion arose as soon as the new set of officers 
were appointed or elected. The new order of 
things could not be made to work, and finally, so 
utterly impossible did the justness of the proceed- 
ings become, that it was dropped. The decisions 
of the courts were upheld, and the invidious doc- 
trine of supremacy in State legislation received 
such a check that it is not likely ever to be repeated. 

Another act of the Assembly, during this pe- 
riod, shows its construction. Congress had granted 
a township of land for the use of a university, and 
located the township in Symmes' purchase. This 
Assembly located the university on land outside 
of this purchase, ignoring the act of Congress, as 
they had done before, showing not only ignorance 
of the true scope of law, but a lack of respect un- 
becoming such bodies. 

The seat of government was also moved from 
Chillicothe to Zanesville, which vainly hoped to be 
made the permanent State capital, but the next 
session it was again taken to Chillicothe, and com- 
missioners appointed to locate a permanent capital 
site. 

These commissioners were James Findley, Jo- 
seph Darlington, Wyllys Silliman, Reason Beall, 
and William McFarland. It is stated that they 
reported at first in favor of Dublin, a small town 
on the Scioto about fourteen miles above Colum- 
bus. At the session of 1812-13, the Assembly 
accepted the proposals of Col. James Johnston, 
Alexander McLaughlin, John Kerr, and Lyne 
Starling, who owned the site of Columbus. The 
Assembly also decreed that the temporary seat of 
government should remain at Chillicothe until the 
buildings necessary for the State officers should be 



erected, when it would be taken there, forever to 
remain. This was done in 1816, in December of 
that year the first meeting of the Assembly being 
held there. 

The site selected for the capital was on the east 
bank of the Scioto, about a mile below its junction 
with the Olentangy. "Wide streets were laid out, 
and preparations for a city made. The expecta- 
tions of the founders have been, in tliis respect, re- 
alized. The town was laid out in the springof 1812, 
under the direction of iMoses Wright. A short 
time af^er, the contract for making it the capital was 
signed. June 18, the same day war was declared 
against Great Britain, the sale of lots took place. 
Among the early settlers were George jNIcCor- 
mick, George B. Harvey, John Shields, IMichael 
Patton, Alexander Patton, William Altman, John 
Collett, William McElvain, Daniel Kooser, Peter 
Putnam, Jacob Hare, Christian Heyl, Jarvis, George 
and Benjamin Pike. William Long, and Dr. John 
M. Edminson. In 1814, a hou.se of worship was 
built, a school opened, a newspaper — The Wtsterii 
Intelligencer and Columbus Gazette, now the 
Ohio State Jijurnal — was started, and the old 
State House erected. In 1816, the "Borough of 
Columbus" was incorporated, and a mail route once 
a week between Chillicothe and Columbus started. 
In 1819, the old United States Court House was 
erected, and the seat of justice removed fi'oni 
Franklinton to Columbus. Until 1826, times were 
exceedingly " slow " in the new capital, and but lit- 
tle growth experienced. The improvement period 
revived the ca{)ital, and enlivened its trade and 
growth so that in 1834, a city charter was gi'anted. 
The city is now about third in size in the State, 
and contains many of the most prominent public 
institutions. The present cajntol building, one of 
the best in the West, is patterned soniewliat after 
the national Capitol at Washington City. 

From the close of the agitation of the '■ Sweeping 
Resolutions," until the opening of the war of 1812, 
but a short, time elapsed. In fact, scarcely had 
one subsided, ere the other was ujion the country. 
Though the war was national, its theater of opera- 
tions was partly in Ohio, that State taking an act- 
ive part in its operations. Indeed, its liberty 
depended on the war. 



^ 



^^ 



s w. 



v>' 



126 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



LIST OF TERRITORIAL AND STATE GOVERNORS, 

From llie orgatuzation of the first civil government in tht Northwest Territory (1788 to 1802), 0/ UJ/iicA the State of 

Ohio was apart, tintil the year 1880. 



(a) Arthur St. Clair 

*Charles Williuj; Bynl 

(4) Edward Tiffin 

(c) fThomas Kirkei- 

Suniuel Huutinj;liiii 

(d) lleturn Jonallian Meigs.. 

|(.)thniel Looker 

Thomas Wurllniigloii 

{e) Ethan .\llen lirowii 

fAllen Trimble 

Jeremiali Morrow 

A lien Tr i rnhlc 

Duncan Mc.Vrt luir 

Robert Lucas 

Joseph Vance 

W ilson Shannon 

Tliiuiias Corwin 

(/) Wilson .Shannon 

|Thomas W. Barlley 

Mordccai Barlle.v 

William Hebl 

(g) Seabnry Ford 

(A) Reuben Wood 

(.;)1[ William Medill 

Salmon I'. Chase 

W i lliam Uennison 

David Tod 

{k) .lohn Brougli 

jiCharles Anderson .. 

Jacob I). Cox 

KutherfcM-d li. Hayes 

Edward F. Noyes 

William Allen 

(/) Kulherl'ord B. Hayes 

(m) Thomas L. Young 

Kii'hard M. Bishop 

(Jharles Foster 



Hamilton 

Ross 

.\dams 

Trumbull 

Washingtcdi ... 

Hamilton 

Ross 

Hamilton 

Highland 

Warren 

Highlainl 

[loss 

Pike 

Champaign ... 

IJelmont 

Warren 

Belmont 

Uichland 

Itichland 

Uutler 

Geauga 

(^uyahoga 

Fairfield 

Hamilton 

Franklin 

Mahitning 

Cuyahoga 

Monlgoniery. 

Trumbull 

llamilfim 

Hamilton 

Ross 

Sandusky.. .. 

Hamilton 

Hamilton 

Sandusky 



Term 
Commenced. 



July 13, 



March 

March 

Dec. 

Dec. 

April 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Jan. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec, 

.\pril 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Jan. 

Dec. 

July 

Jan. 

Jan. 

Jan. 

Jan. 

Aug. 

.Ian 

Jan. 

Jan. 

Jan. 

Jan. 

March 

Jan. 

Jan. 



1788 

1802 

1803 

1807 

1808 

1810 

1814 

1814 

1818 

1822 

1822 

182( 

1830 

1 832 

18;3fi 

1838 

184(1 

1842 

1844 

1844 

1841 

184<» 

18-)( 

18.-,:: 

18r,(; 
18i;o 

1862 
18(14 
180.' 
18C)( 
18(18 
1872 
1874 
187( 
1877 
1878 
1880 



Term Ended. 



March 3, 
March 4, 
Dec. 12, 
Dec. 8, 
March 2f>, 
Dec. 8, 



Dec. 

Jan. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

.\pril 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Jan. 

Dec. 

July 

Jan, 

.Ian. 

.Ian. 

Jan. 

Aug. 

,la]i. 

Jan. 

.Ian. 

Jan. 

Jan. 

March 

Jan. 

Jan. 



1802 
18(13 
1807 
I808 
1810 
1814 
1814 
1818 
1822 
1822 
1826 
1830 
1832 
183(i 
1838 
1840 
1842 
1844 
1844 
184(5 
184!l 
ISriO 
1853 
1856 
1860 
1862 
18C>4 
1865 
1866 
1868 
1872 
1874 
1876 
1877 
1878 
1880 



fa) Arthur St. Clair.of PennitylTania, was GoTomor of the North- 
went Territory, of wliicholiio was a part, from .Inly 13, 178H,wtien ttie 
(Init civil Roveriinient Wiu( establiHlied ia the Territory, until atioilt 
the cI'Kie of ilie yntr Isip-J, wlien be was removed hy the Preeident, 

•Secretary of tlie Territory, and was acting Governor of tlie 
Territory after the removal of Gov. St. Clair. 

(6) It.'HiKNi.cl March II, l.S(l7. t'l accept the olTico of U. S. Senator. 

(c) Ketnrn .Fntiathiin Meijfit wan elected Governor on the second 
Tnewday of (tctoher, lso7, over Nathaniel Maasie, who contested the 
election of M<-i|^, on llie(;roiind that *'he hail not been a resident of 
tills Stale f.ir fonr years next jirecwling the election, as required hy 
the ('.omtitution,'* and the Genera] Assemtily, in Joint convention, 
declared tliat lie was not eligible. The othce was not Kiven tt 
M4ywie, nor doc.H It appear, fntrn the reci>nl« that he claimed It, but 
Thomas Kirk'-r, aettriK iJovcrnor, continued todischarpe the duties 
of thoofllroiuitil December 12,1808, when Samuel IlantiiiKton was 
inauRuraterl. he liavinR been elected on the second Tuewlay of 
October in that year 

id) Resigned March 2.1, 1814, to accept the olHco of Postmaster- 
Genorul uf the United States. 



(«) Resigned January 4, 1822. to accept the offlco of Oniled 
States Senator. 

(/) Resigned April 13. 1814, t,> accept the offlce of Minl»ter to 
Mexico. 

(;/, The result of the election iu 1S4S was not llnally deternnned in 
joint convention of the two houscii <if the General Assembly until 
.lanuary lit, 184y, and the inauguration did not Uike j.lace until the 
22d of that month. 

Ih) Resigned July 16, 18.V1 to accept the ofHce of Consul to \ ai- 

pa raise. 

(!) Elected in October, 18,W. for the regular term, to commence 
on the secon I Monday of January, ISM. 

(k\ Died August 2'.1, 180,'.. 

■I- Acting Governor. 

t Acting Goveriuir, vice Wil8<»n Shannon, resigned, 

% Acting Governor, vice Reuben Wood, resigned, 

8 Acting (Jovernor, vice John Brough, deceiuied. 

(li Itesigned March 2, 1877, to accept the ofllco of Prosldont of 
the United States. 

(m) Vice Rutherford B. Hayes, resigned. 



— * <?) 



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HISTOEY OF OHIO. 



137 



CHAPTER XL 

THE WAR OF 1812— GROWTH OF THE STATE— CANAL, RAILROADS AND OTHER IMPROVEMENTS 

—DEVELOPMENT OF STATE RESOURCES. 



IN June, 1812, war was declared against Great 
Britain. Before this, an act was p;isscd by Con- 
gress, authorizing the increase of tlie regular army 
to thirty-five thousand troops, and a large force of 
volunteers, to serve twelve months. I'uder this 
act, Return J. Meigs, tiien Uovernor of Ohio, in 
April and May, 1812, raised three regiments of 
troops to serve twelve months. They rendez- 
voused at Dayton, elected their officers, and pre- 
pared for the campaign. These regiments were 
numbered First, Second and Third. Duncan JIc- 
Artliur was Colonel of the First ; James Findlay, 
of the Second, and Lewis Cass, of the Third. 
Early in June these troops marched to Urbana, 
where they were joined by Boyd's Fourth Kegiment 
of regular troops, under command of Col. Miller, 
who liad been in the battle of Tij)pecanoe. Near 
the middle of June, this little army of about 
twenty-five hundred men, under command of Gov. 
William Hull, of Michigan, who had been author- 
ized by Congress to raise the troops, started on 
its northern march. Hy the end of June, the 
army had reached the Maumee, at\er a very severe 
march, erecting, on the way. Forts McAnhur, Ne- 
cessity and Findlay. By some carelessness on the 
part of the American ( J ovcrnment, no official word 
had been sent to the frontiers regarding the war, 
while the British had taken an early precaution to 
prepare for the crisis. Gov. Hull was very cai'e- 
ful in military etiquette, and refused to march, or 
do any offensive acts, unless commanded by his 
superior officers at Washington. While at the 
Maumee, by a careless move, all his personal 
effects, including all his plans, number and strength 
of his army, etc., fell into the hands of the enemy. 
His campaign ended only in ignominious defeat, 
and well-nigh paralyzed future effiirts. All Mich- 



igan fell into the hands (if the 



British. The com- 
:ood man. lacked bravery and 



mander, though a 
promptness. Had Gen. Harrison been in com- 
mand no such results would have been the case, 
and the war would have probably ended at the 
outset. 

Before Hull had surrendered, Charles Scott, 
Governor of Kentucky, invited Gen. Harrison, 



Governor of Indiana Territory, to visit Frankfort, 
to consult on the subject of defending the North- 
west. Gov. Harrison had visited Gov. Scott, and 
in August, 1812, accepted the appointment of 
Major General in the Kentucky militia, and, by 
hasty traveling, on the receipt of the news of the 
surrender of Detroit, reached Cincinnati on the 
morning of the 27th of that month. On the 3(lth 
he left Cincinnati, and the next day overtook the 
army he was to command, on its way to Dayton. 
After leaving Dayton, he was overtaken by an ex- 
press, informing him of his appointment by the 
Government as Commander-in-Chief of the armies 
of the Indiana and Illinois Territories. The army 
reached Piqua, September 3. From this place 
Harrison sent a body of troops to aid in the de- 
fense of Fort Wayne, threatened by the enemy. 
On the 6th he ordered all the troojis forward, and 
while on the march, on September 17, he was 
informed of his appointment as connnander of the 
entire Northwestern troops. He found the army 
j)oorly clothed for a winter camjiaign, now ap- 
proaching, and at once issued a stirring address to 
tlu! people, asking for food and comfortable cloth- 
ing. The address was not in vain. After his 
appointment. Gen. Harrisun pushed on to Au- 
glaize, where, leaving the army under command of 
Gen. Winchester, he returned to the interiorof the 
State, and establishing his headquarters at Frank- 
linton, began active measures for the campaign. 

I]arly in March, 1812, Col. John Miller raised, 
under orders, a regiment of infanti-y in ( )hio, and 
in July as.sembled his enlisted men at Chillicothe, 
where, placing them — only one hundred and forty 
in number — under command of Captain Angus 
Lewis, he sent them on to the frontier. They erect- 
ed a block-house at Piipia and then went on to 
Defiance, to the main body of the army. 

In July, 1812, Gen. Edward W. 'Tupper, of 
Gallia County, raised one thousand men for six 
months' duty. Under tirders from (rcn. AVinches- 
ter, they marched through Chillicothe and I'rbana, 
on to the BLnimee, where, near the lower end of 
the rapids, they made an ineffectual attempt to 
drive ofiF the enemy. Failing in this, the enemy 



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128 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



iittaikoil Tapper and his tronjjs, who, though worn 
(luwn with tiie iiiarrh and nut a Utile disori^anizcd 
throu>;h tho jealousies of the offieers, withstood 
the attaek, and rejiulsed the British and their red 
allies, who returned to Detroit, and tlie Americans 
to Fort MiArthur. 

In the tall of 1812, Gen. Harrison ordered a 
detachment of six hundred men, mostly nmunted, 
to destroy the Indian towns on the Alissisineway 
River, one of the head-waters of the Wabash. 
The winter set in early and with unusual severity. 
At the same time this expedition was carried on, 
Bonaparte w;ls retreatini*; from Moscow. Theexj)e- 
ditiun accouijilished its desij;n, thouj;'h the troops 
sutFcred irreally fnjni the cold, no less than two 
hundred men lieinj; more or less frost bitten. 

Gen. Harrison determined at once to retake 
Michif^an and establish a line of defense along the 
southern shores of the lakes. Winchester was 
sent U) occupy Forts Wayne and Defiance; Perkins' 
brigade to Lower Sandusky, to fortify an old 
stockade, and some Pennsylvania troops and artil- 
lery sent there at the same time. As soon as 
Gen. Harrison heard the results of the MissLs- 
ineway expedition, he went to Chillicothc to con- 
sult with Gov. Meigs about further movements, 
and the best methods to keeji the way between the 
Upper .Nliami and the Maumce continually ojien. 
He also sent (reii. Winchester word to move for- 
ward to the rapids of the Maumee and prepare for 
winter f|uartt^rs. This Wincliester did by the 
middle of Jaiuiary, 1818, establishing himself on 
the northern bank of the river, just above Wayne's 
old battle-gnmnd. He wa.s well fixed here, and 
wasenabledtogive his troops good bread, made from 
corn gatliered in Indian corn-fields in this vicinity. 

While here, the inhabitants of Frenchtown, on 
the Raisin River, about twenty miles from Di'troit, 
sent Wincliester Word claiTuing pmteetion from the 
threatened Britisii and Indian invasion, avowing 
themselv(!S in sympathy with the Americans. A 
council of war decideil in fiivor of their re([Uo.st, 
and Col. Lewis, with 5.">(l men, .sent to their relief. 
Soon after. Col. Allen wa.s sent with more troops, 
and th(' enemy Ciusily driven away from about 
Kreiichtowii. Word was sent to Gen. Winchester, 
who determiued to march with all the men he 
could spare to aid in holding the post gained. He 
left, the IDth of January, with 2.")(l men, and ar- 
rived on the evening of the 20th. Failing to 
take the neces,sary precaution, from some unex- 
plained rea.son, the enemy came up in the night, 
cstabli.shed his batteries, and, the next day, sur- 



prised and defeated the American Anuy with a 
terrible loss. Gen. Winchester was made a pris- 
oner, and, finally, those who were intrenched in 
the town surrendered, under promise of Proctor, 
the British commander, of protection from the 
Indians. This promise was grossly violated the 
next day. The savages were allowed to I'nter the 
town and enact a ma.s.sacre as cruel and bloody as 
any in the annals of the war, to the everlasting 
ignominy of tho Britisii General and his troops. 

Those of the American Army that escaped, ar- 
rived at the rapids on the evening of the 22d of 
January, and soon the sorrowful news .spread 
throughout the army and nations. Gen. Harrison 
set about retrieving the disaster at once. Delay 
could do no good. A fort was Imilt at the rapids, 
named Fort Meigs, and troops from the south and 
west hurriedly advanced to the scene of action. 
The investment and capture of Detroit was aban- 
doned, that winter, owing to the defeat at French- 
town, and expiration of the terms of service of 
many of the troojw. Others took their places, 
all jiarts of Ohio and bordering States .sending 
men. 

The erection of Fort jMeigs w:us an obstacle in 
the path of the British they determined to remove, 
and, on the 2Sth of February, 18i;5, a large band 
of British and Indians, under command of Proc- 
tor, Tecumseli. Walk-in-the-water, and other In- 
dian chiefs, ap])eared in the .Maumee in boatf, and 
pre])ared for the attack. Without entering into 
details regarding the investment of the fort, it is 
only necessary to add, that afler a prolonged siege, 
liusting to the early part of May, the British were 
obliged to abandon the fort, having been severely 
defeated, and sailed for the Canadian shores. 

Next followed the attacks on Fort Stephen.son, 
at Lower Sandusky, and other predatory excur- 
sions, by the British. All of the.se failed of their 
design; the defen.se of Maj. Croghan an<l his men 
constituting one of the most brilliant actions of the 
war. For tliegallant def'en.se of Fort Stejihenson by 
Maj. Croghan, then a young man, the army iiK^rited 
the highest honors. The ladies of Chillicothc voted 
the heroic Major a fine sword, while the whole 
land rejoici'd at the exploits of him and his liand. 

The deci.sivc efforts of tlie army, the great num- 
bers of men offered — many of whom Gen. Harrison 
Wiis obliged to send home, mucli to their di.sgust^ — 
Perry's victory on Lake Eric, September 10, 
1818 — all presaged the triumph of the American 
arms, soon to ensue. As soon as the battle on 
the lake w;i.s over, the British at Maiden burned 



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HISTOEY OF OHIO. 



129 



their stores, and fled, while the Americans, under 
their gallant commander, followed tlieni in Perry's 
vessel to the Canada shore, overtakinji them on 
the lliver Thames, October 5. In the liattle that 
ensued, Tecumseh was slaiu, and the British Army 
routed. 

The war was now practically ch.ised in the West. 
Ohio troops had done nobly in defendins; their 
northern frontier, and in regaining the Northwest- 
ern country. Gen. Harrison was soon after elected 
to Congi-ess by the Cincinnati district, and Gen. 
Duncan McArthur was appointed a Brigadier 
General in the regular army, and assigned to the 
command in his place. Gen. McArthur made an 
expedition into Upper Canada in the spring of 
1S14, destroying considerable projicrty, and driv- 
ing the British farther into their own dominions. 
Peace was declared early in ISl.'), and that spring, 
the troiips were mustered out (if service at Chilli- 
cothe, and peace with Kngland reigned sujireme. 

The results of the war in Oiiio were, for awhile, 
similar to the Indian war of 1795. It brought 
many people into the State, and opened new por- 
tions, before unknown. Many of the soldiers im- 
mediately invested their money in lands, and became 
citizens. The war drove many people from the 
Atlantic Coast west, and as a result much money, 
for awhile, circulatiHl. Labor and provisions rose, 
which enabled both workmen and tradesmen to 
enter tracts of land, and aided emigration. At the 
conclusion of Wayne's war in ITO.'i, probably 
not more than five thousand people dwelt in the 
limits of the State ; at the do.se of the war of 1812, 
that number was largely increa.scd, even with the 
odds of war against them. After the last war, the 
emigration was constant and gradual, building up 
the State in a manner that betokened a healthful 
life. 

As soon as the effects of the war had worn off, 
a period of depression set in, as a result of too 
free speculation indulged in at its close. Gradu- 
ally a stagnation of business ensued, and many 
who found themselves unable to meet contracts 
made in ■' flush ' times, found no alternative but 
to fail. To relieve the pressure in all parts of 
the We.st, Congress, about 1815, reduced the 
price of public lands from $2 to $1.25 
per acre. This measure worked no little 
hardship on those who owned large tracts of 
lands, for portions of which they had not fully 
paid, and as a consequence, these lands, as well 
as all others of this class, reverted to the 
Government. The general market was in New 



Orleans, whither goods were transported in flat- 
boats built especially for this pupose. This com- 
merce, though small and poorly repaid, was the 
main avenue of trade, and did much for the slow 
prosjierity prevalent. The few banks in the State 
found their bills at a discount abroad, and gradu- 
ally becoming drained of their specie, either closed 
business or failed, the major part of them adopt- 
ing the latter course. 

The steamboat began to be an important factor 
in the river navigation of the West about this 
period. The first boat to descend the Ohio was 
the Orleans, built at Pittsburg in 1812, and in 
December of that year, while the fortunes of war 
hung over the land, she made her first trip from the 
Iron City to New Orleans, being just twelve days 
on the way. The second, built by Samuel Smith, 
was called the Comet, and made a trip as far 
.south as Louisville, in the summer of 1813. The 
third, the Vesuvius, was built by Fulton, and went 
to New Orleans in 1814. The fourth, built by 
Daniel French at Brownsville, Pcnu., made two 
trips to Louisville in the summer of 1814. The 
next vessel, the ^Etna, was built by Fulton & 
Company in 1815. So fast did the business 
increase, that, four years after, more than 
forty steamers floated on the Western waters. 
Imjirovements in machinery kept pace with the 
building, until, in 1838, a competent writer stated 
there were no less than four hundred steamers in 
the West. Since then, the erection of railways 
has greatly retarded ship-building, and it is alto- 
g(>ther probable the number has increased but 
little. 

The question of canals began to agitate the 
Western country during the decade succeeding the 
war. They had been and were being constructed 
in older countries, and presaged good and prosper- 
ous times. If only the waters of the lakes and 
the Ohio River could be united by a canal run- 
ning through the nndst of the State, thought the 
people, prosperous cities and towns would arise on 
its banks, and commerce flow tlirough the land. 
One of the firmest fi-iends of such improvements 
was De Witt Clinton, who had been the chief man 
in forwarding the " Clinton Canal," in New York. 
He was among the first to advocate the feasibility 
of a canal connecting Lake Erie and the Ohio 
River, and, by the success of the New York canals, 
did much to bring it about. Popular writers of the 
day all urged the scheme, so that when the Assem- 
bly met, early in December, 1821, the resolution, 
offered by Micajah T. Williams, of Cincinnati, 



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130 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



for the appointment of a committee of five mem- 
bers to take into consideration so much of the 
Governor's mcssiuji; as related to canals, and sec if 
some feasible plan could not be ailopted whereby a 
beninninj; could be made, was ((uickly adojjtid. 

Tlie report of the committee, advisin;:; a survey 
and examination of routes, met with the approval 
of the Assembly, and commissiuncrs wi-re ap- 
pointed who were to employ an engineer, examine 
the country and report on the practicability of a 
canal between the lakes and the rivers. The com- 
missinners employed James (ieddes, <if Onondaga 
County, N. Y., as an engineer. He arrived in 
Columbus in June, 1822, and, before eight months, 
the corps of engineers, under bis direction, had 
examined one route. During the next two sum- 
mers, the examinations continued. A number of 
routes were examined and surveyed, and one, from 
Cleveland on the lake, to Portsmouth on the Ohio, 
Wius recommended. An<ither canal, from Cincin- 
nati to Dayton, on the Miami, was determined on, 
and preparations to commence work made. A 
Board of Canal Fund Commissioners was created, 
money was borrowed, and the morning of July 
4, IS25, the first shovelful of earth was dug near 
Newark, with imposing ceremonies, in the presence 
of l>e Witt Clinton, (lovernor of New York, and 
a mighty concourse oi' people assembled to witness 
the auspicious event. 

Gov. ('linton was escorted all over the State to 
aid in developing the energy ev(Tywhere ajiparent. 
The events were important ones in the history of 
the State, and, though they led to the creation of 
a vast debt, yet, in the end, the canals were a 
benefit. 

The main canal — the Ohio and Krie Canal — ■ 
was not coinpK'teil till 1S;!2. The Maumec Canal, 
from Dayton to Cinciniiati, was finished in 1S;{4. 
They co.st the State about Sli.'KIU.UOO. Kaeh of 
tlu^ main canals had branches leading to important 
towns, where their construction coulil be made 
without too much exjien.se. The Miami and Mau- 
mee Canal, from Cincinnati northward along the 
Miami River to Pifpia, thence to the Mauniee 
and on to the lake, was the largest canal niadt^, 
and, for many year?;, was one of the most imjiortant 
in the State. It joined the Wabiush Canal on the 
east«'rn boundary of Indiana, and thereby saved 
the construction of many miles by joining this 
great canal fnun Toledo to Kvansville. 

The largest artificial lake in the world, it is said, 
was built to su]p]ily water to th<' Miami Canal. It 
exists yet, though the canal is not much used. It 



is in the eiustern part of Mercer County, and is 
about nine miles long by from two to four wide. 
Tt was formed by raising two walls of earth from 
ten to thirty feet high, called res])ectively the east 
and west embankments ; the first of which is about 
two miles in length ; the sec(md, about four. Tlie.'^e 
walls, with the elevation of the ground to the 
north and south, formed a huge ba.sin, to retain 
the water. The reservoir w:us commenced in 1837, 
and finished in 1845, at an expense of several 
hundred thousand dollars. When tin-^t built, dur- 
ing the accumulatidii of water, much malarial 
disease jirevailed in the surrounding country, owing 
to the stagnant condition of the water. The citi- 
zens, enraged at what they considered an innova- 
tion of their rights, met, and, during a dark night, 
tore out a portion of the hnver wall, letting the 
water flow out. The damage cost thousands of 
dollars to repair. All who participated in the 
proceedings were liable to a severe imprisonment, 
but the state of ieeliiig was such, in Mercer County, 
where the offense was committed, that no jury 
could be found that would try them, and the afl'air 
gradually died out. 

The canals, so efficacious in their day. were, 
however, superseded by the railroads rajiidly find- 
ing their way into the West. From Hngland, 
where they were early used in the collieries, the 
transition to America was easy. 

The first railroad in the United States was built 
in the summer of 182t>, from the granite (|uarry 
belonging to the Bunker Hill Monument As.socia- 
tion to the wharf landing, three miles distant. The 
road was a slight decline from the ipniny to 
till! wharf, hence the loaded cars were pro 
julled by their own gravity. On their return, 
when empty, they were drawn up by a single 
horse. Other roads.or tramways, i|uickly fi)llowed 
this. They were built at the I'l iinsylviinia coal 
mines, in South Carolina, at New Orleans, and at 
Baltimore. Steam nnitive power was used in 1SI51 
or 1S.'!2, first in America on the HaltimcirecV Ohio 
Railroad, and in Charlestown, on a railroad there. 

To tran.sfer these highways to the West wms the 
question of but a few years' time. The ))rairies of 
Illinois and Indiana ofl'ered superior inducements 
to such enterjirises. ami. early in 1835, they began 
to be agitated there. In 1838, the first rail was 
laid in Illinois, at Meredosia, a little town on the 
Dlinois River, on wliiil is now the Wabash Railway. 

'■The first railroad made in Ohio," writes (!aleb 
Atwater, in his "History of Ohio," in 1838, "was 
fiaished in 183G by the people of Toledo, a town 



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HISTORY OF OHIO. 



131 



some two years old then, situated near the mouth 
of Maumee River. The road extends westward in- 
to Michigan and is some thirty miles in length. 
There is a road about to bo made from Cincinnati 
to Springfield. This road follows the Ohio River 
up to the Little Miami River, and there turns 
northwardly up its valley to Xcnia, and, passing 
the Yellow Springs, reaches Springfield. Its length 
must be about ninety miles. The State will own 
one-half of the road, individuals and the city of 
Cincinnati the other half This road will, no 
doubt, be extended to Lake Eric, at Sandusky 
City, within a few short years." 

"There is a railroad." continues Mr. Atwater, 
"about to be made from Painesvillc to the Ohio 
River. There are many charters for other roads, 
which will never be made." 

Mr. Atwater notes also, the various turnpikes as 
well as the famous National road from 15altiuiore 
westward, tlum completed only to the mountains. 
This latter did as much as any enterprise ever en- 
acted in building up and populating the West. 
It gave a national thoroughfiire, which, for many- 
years, was the principal wagou-way from the At- 
lantic to the Mississippi Valley. 

The railroad to wliich Mr. Atwater refers a.s 
about to be built from Cincinnati to Springfield, 
was what was known as the iMad River Railroad. 
It is commonly conceded to be the first one built 
in Ohio.* Its history shows that it was chartered 
March 11, 181^0, that work began in 1837; that 
it Wiis completed and opened for business from 
Cincinnati to Milford, in December, 1842; to Xe- 
nia, in August, 18-15, and to Springfield, in Au- 
gu.st, 1846. It wa.s laid with strap rails until 
about 1848, when the present form of rail was 
adopted. 

One of the earliest roads in < )bio was what was 
known as the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark Rail- 
road. It was chartered at first as the Monroeville 
& Sandusky City Railroad, March 9, 1835. March 
12, 183)!, the Mansfield & New Haven road was 
chartered; the Columbus & Lake Erie, March 12, 

1845, and the Huron & Oxford, February 27, 

1846. At first it ran only from Sandu.sky to 
Monroeville, then from Mansfield to Huron. These 



* Hon. E D. Mansfield states, in 1873, that the " first aetual piece 
of railroad laiil in Ohio, was made on the Cincinnati & Sandnsky 
Railroad ; hut, ahont the same time we have the Little Miami Rail- 
road, which was surveyed in 1836 and 1837. If this, the generally 
accepted opinion, is correct, then Mr. Atwater's statement as given, 
is wrong. His history is, however, generally conceded to he correct. 
Written in 1838, he surely ought to know whereof he was writing, 
aa the railroads were then only in construction ; but few, if any, 
in operation. 



two were connected and consolidated, and then ex- 
tended to Newark, and finally, by connections, to 
Columbus. 

It is unnecessary to follow closely the history of 
these improvements through the years succeeding 
their introduction. At first the State owned a 
share in nearly all railroads and cantils, but finally 
finding itself in debt about $15,000,00(1 ft.r .such 
improvements, and learning by its own and neigh- 
bors' experiences, that such policy was detrimental 
to the best interests of the jieople, abandoned the 
{)lan, and allowed private parties entire control of 
all such works. After the close of the Jlexiean 
war, and the return to solid values in 1 854 or there- 
abouts, the increase of railroads in all parts of (_)hio, 
as well as all parts of the West, was sim]ily marvel- 
ous. At this date there are more than ten thou- 
•sand miles of railroads in Ohio, alongside of which 
stretch innumerable lines of telegraph, a system of 
swifl mes.sages invented by Prof Slorse, and adopted 
in the United States about 1851. 

About the time railroad building began to as- 
sume a tangible shape, in 1840, occurred the cele- 
brated politictd campaign known in history as the 
" Hard Citler Campaign." The gradual encroach- 
ments of the slave power in the West, its arrogant 
attitude in the Congre.ss of the United States and 
in several ,Stat« legislatures : its forcible .seizure of 
slaves in the free States, and the enactment and 
attempted enforcement of the " fugitive slave" law 
all tended to awaken in the minds of the Northern 
people an antagonism, terminating only in the late 
war and the abolishment of that hideous system in 
the United States. 

The " Whig Party" strenuously urged the 
abridgment or confinement of slavery in the 
Southern States, and in the contest the party took 
a most active part, and elected William Henry 
Harrison President of the United States. As he 
had been one of the foremost leaders in the war of 
1812, a resident of Ohio, and one of its most pop- 
ular citizens, a log cabin and a barrel of cider were 
adopted as his exponents of popular opinion, as 
expressive of the rule of the common people repre- 
sented in the cabin and cider, in turn representing 
their primitive and simple habits tif life. Though 
a rugi;ed man when elected, he lived but thirty 
days after his inauguration, dying April 9, 1841. 
Jolin Tyler, the Vice President, succeeded him in 
the office. 

The building of railroads; the extension of com- 
merce ; the settlement of all parts of the State ; 
its growth in commerce, education, religion and 



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133 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



population, are the chief events friim 1841 to the an in.sane iJea that something could be had for 

iMexiean war. Hard times occurred ahout as often nothing. The bubble burst its often a.s inflated, 

as they do now, preceded l)j "flush" times, when ruining many people, but seemingly teaching few 

speculation ran rife, the jteople all infatuated with lessons. 



CHAPTER XII. 



MEXICAN WAR— CONTINUED 



GROWTH OF 
PART IN 



THE 
THE 



STATE— WAR 
CONFLICT. 



OF THE REBELLION— OHIO'S 



T 



III'] .^lexican War grew out of the (juestion of I disease and laid down his life. The regiment's 
the annexation of Texas, then a jirovinee of j Colonel, who had been wounded at Monterey, came 



Mexico, whose territory extended to the Indian 
TiTritory on the north, and on up to the Oregon 
Territory on the Pacific C'oiust. Texas had bei^n 
settled largely b}' Anu^ricans, who saw the condi- 
tion of art'airs that would inevitably ensue did the 
country remain umlcr Mexican rule. They first 
to(]k steps to secede from Mexico, and then a.sked 
the aid of America to sustain them, and annex the 
country to it.self 

The Wiiig party and nuui}' others opposed this, 
chiefly on the grounds of the extension of slave 
territory. But to no avail. The war came on, 
Jlexico w:us con(iuered, the war lasting from April 
20, l.S4(i, to May 3(1, 1.S48. Fifty thousand vol- 
unteers were callt!d for the war by the Congress, 
and §10,00(1.(1(10 placed at the disposal of the 
I'residi'iit, James K. I'olk, to sustain the army and 
prosecute the war. 

The ])art that Ohio took in the war may be 
briefly sunnned up a.s follows: 8he had five vol- 
unteer rcginicnts, five companies in the Fifteenth 
Infantry, and several inde])endent companies, with 
her full jiroportion among the regulars. When 
war w;ls declared, it was something of a crusade to 
many; full of romance to others; hence, many 
more were ofterod than could be received. It -was 
a cam])aign of romance to some, yet one of reality, 
ending in death, to many. 

When the first call for troops came, the First, 



home, removed to Minnesota, and there died. 
Lieut. Col. Weller went to California after the 
close of the war. He was a representative from 
that State in the halls of Congress, and, at last, 
died in New Orleans. 

The Second Reginient was commanded by Col. 
George W. Morgan, now of Mount Vernon ; Lieut. 
Col. William Irwin, of Lanca.ster, and Maj. Will- 
iam Wall, After the war closed, Irwin settled in 
Texas, and remained there till he died. Wall lived 
out his days in Ohio. The regiment was never in 
active field .service, but was a credit to the State. 

The officers of the Third Regiment were. Col. 
Samuel Curtis; Lieut. Col. (i. W. McCook and 
Maj. John Love. The first two are now dead ; 
the I^Iajor lives in Connellsville. 

At the close of the first year of the war, these 
regiments (First, Seccmd and Third ) were mustered 
out of service, as their term of eidistmeut had 
expired. 

When the second year of the war began, the 
call fur more tron])s on the part of the tlovernment 
inducid the Second Ohio Infantry to re-organize, 
and again enter the service. William Irwin, of the 
former organization, was cho.scn Colonel; William 
Latham, of Columbus, Lieutenant Colonel, and 
Jiink, of Cirdeville, Major, All of them 



are now dead 

The regular army was increased by eight 01 
Second and Third Regiments of infantry responded regiments of infixntry, the Third Dragoons, and 
at once, .\l<'xaiidi-r .Mitchell Wius nuidc Colonel of 
the First; John D. Wellerits Lieutenant Cnloml ; 



and (iiddings, of Dayton, its Major. Thomas 

Hanna, otie of the ablcjit lawyers in ( )hio, starteil 
with the First as its Major, but, before the regi- 
ment left the State, he was made a Brigadier 
(leneral of \oIuntcirs, and, at the battle of Mon- 
terey, distinguished liiui.self ; and there contracted 



the \'oltigcurs — light-armed .soldiers. In the Fif- 
teenth Itcginient of the- I'nited States Army, there 
were five ( )hio companii's. The others were three 
from Michigan, and two from Wisconsin. (^>1. 
Morgan, of the old Secoinl, was made Colonel of 
the Fifteenth, and John Howard, of Detroit, an 
old artillery officer in the regular army. Lieutenant 
Colonel. Samuel Wood, a captain in the Sixth 



^ ( 



liL^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



133 



United States Infantry, was made IMajnr ; but was 

afterward succeeded by Mill, of Vermont. 

The Fitteentli wa.siu a number of skirmishes at first, 
and later in the battles of Coutreras, Cherubuseo 
and Chapultepec. At the battle of Cherubuseo, 
the Colonel was severely wounded, and ^laj. Mill, 
with several officers, and a large number of men, 
killed. For gallant service at Coutreras, Col. Mor- 
gan, though only twenty-seven years old, was made 
a Brevet Brigadier General in the United States 
Army. Since the war he has delivered a number 
of addresses in Ohio, on the campaigns in Mex- 
ico. 

The survivors of the war are now few. Though 
seventy-five thousand men from the United States 
went into that conflict, less than ten thousand now 
survive. They are now veterans, and as such de- 
light to recount their reminiscences on the fields of 
Mexico. They are all in the decline of life, and 
ere a generation passes away, few, if any, wiU be 
left. 

After the war, the continual growth of Ohio, 
the change ,in all its relations, necessitated a new 
organic law. The Constitution of 1852 was the 
result. It re-affirmed the political principles of 
the "ordinance of 1VS7 " and the Constitution of 
1802, and made a few changes necessitated by the 
advance made in the interim. It created the 
office of Lieutenant Governor, fixinjf the term of 
service at two years. This Constitution yet stands 
notwithstanding the prolonged attem]it in 187.^-74 
to create a new one. It is now the orsianic law of 
Ohio. 

From this time on to the opening of the late war, 
the prosperity of the State received no cheek. 
Towns and cities grew ; railroads midtiplied ; com- 
merce was extended ; the vacant lands were rapidly 
filled by settlers, and everything tending to the 
advancement of the people was well prosecuted. 
Banks, after much tribulation, had become in a 
measure somewhat secure, their only and serious 
drawback being their isolation or the confinement 
of their circulation to their immediate localities. 
But signs of a mighty contest were apparent. A 
contest almost without a parallel in the annals of 
history; a contest between freedom and .slavery; 
between wrong and riglit ; a contest that could 
only end in defeat to the wrong. The Republican 
party came into existence at the close of President 
Pierce's term, in 1 855. Its object then was, prin- 
cipally, the restriction of the slave power ; ultimately 
its extinction. One of the chief exponents and sup- 
porters of this growing party in Ohio, was Salmon P. 



Chase ; one who never faltered nor lost faith ; and 
who Wiis at the helm of State; in the halls of Con 
gress; chief of one the most important bureaus of 
the Government, and, finally. Chief Justice of the 
United States. When war ciune, after the election 
of Abraham Lincoln by the Republican party, Ohio 
was one of the first to answer to the call for troops. 
Mr. Chase, while Governor, had re-organized the 
militia on a sensible basis, and rescued it from the 
ignominy into which it had fallen. When Mr. 
Lincoln asked for seventy-five thousand men, 
Ohio's quota was thirteen regiments. The various 
chaotic regiments and militia troops in the State 
did not exceed 1,50(1 men. The call w;ls issued 
April 15, 1801 ; by the 18th, two regiments were 
organized in Columbus, whither the.se companies 
had gathered ; before sunri.se of the 1 9th the Jir.st 
and second regiments were on their way to Wash- 
ington City. The President had only asked for 
thirteen regiments; thirti/ were gathering; the 
Government, not yet fully comprehending the 
nature of the rebellion, refused the surplus troops, 
but Gov. Dennison was authorized to put ten 
additional regiments in the field, as a defensive 
me;isure, and was also authorized to act on the 
defensive as well as on the offiinsive. The immense 
extent of southern border made thLs necessary, 
HA all the loyal people in West Virginia and Ken- 
tucky asked for help. 

In the limits of this history, it is impossible to 
trace all the steps Ohio took in the war. One of 
her most talented sons, now at the head of one of 
the greatest newspapers of the world, says, regard- 
ing the action of the people and their Legislature : 

" In one part of the nation there existed a grad- 
ual growth of sentiment against the Union, ending 
in open hostility again.st its integrity and its Con- 
stitutional law; on the other side stood a resolute, 
and determined people, though divided in minor 
matters, firmly united on the question of national 
supremacy. The people of Ohio .stood squarely 
on this side. Before this her people had been di- 
vided up to the hour when-t- 

"'That fierce and sudden flash across the rugged black- 
ness bi'oke. 

And, with a voice that shook the land, the guns of Sum- 
ter spoke; 

********* 

And whereso'er the summons came, there rose the 

angry din. 
As when, upon a rocky coast, a stormy tide sets in.' 

" All waverings then ceased among the people 
and in the Ohio Legislature. The Union must be 






>y 



134 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



preserved. Tlie white heat of patriotism and fe- 
alt}' to the fla^ tliat had been vietorious in three 
wars, and iiad never met but temporary defeat 
then mehcd all parlies, and dissolved all liesitation, 
and, Ajiril 1 S, 1 Sti I , by a unanimous vote oi' 
ninety-nine Kejiresentatives in its favor, there wa.s 
pa.s.sed a l)ill appropriating $5()(),Ut)0 to earry into 
effect the recpiisition of the President, to ])roteet 
the National Uoverument, of whieli sum $45(),()U(t 
were to piirehasc arms and ecpupments for the 
troops rei(uired by that nHjuisition as tlie (juota of 
Ohio, and S5(),tK)(l as an extraordinary contingent 
fund for the Governor. Tiie connni.ssiuners of tlie 
State Sinking Fund were authorized, by the same 
bill, to borrow this money, on the G per cent bonds 
of the Slate, and to i.ssue for the same certificates, 
freeing sueli bonds fi-om ta.xation. Then followed 
other such legislation that declared the projierty of 
volunteers free from executicju for debt during 
their term of service; that declared any resident 
of the State, who gave aid and comfort to tlu; 
enemies of the Union, guilty of trea.son against 
the State, to be punished by imprisonment at hard 
labor for life; and, as it had become already evi- 
dent that thousands of militia, bi^yond Ohio's 
cjuota of the President's call, would volunteer, the 
Legislature, adopting the sagacious sugirestion of 
Gov. Dennison, resolved that all excess of volunteers 
should be retained and ))aid for .service, under 
direction of the (loveriior. Thereupon a bill 
was pa,s.sed, authorizing the acceplanc(^ of volunteers 
to form ten regiments, and ]iroviding $500,(100 
for their arms anil eiiuipments, and 81,500,000 
more to be disbursed for troops in ease of an in- 
va.sion of the State. Tlwn other legislation was 
enacted, looking to and jiroviiling against the ship- 
ment from or through the State of arms or nm- 
nitions of war, to States either assuming to be 
neutnd or in open rebellion; organizing the whole' 
body of the State militia; providing suitable offi- 
cers f<)r duty on the staff t)f the Governor; re- 
quiring contracts for subsistence of volunteers to 
be let to the lowest bidder, and authorizing the 
apjiointment of additional general othcers. 

" Hefore thi' adjournment of that Legislature, 
the Speaker of th(^ IIou.se had resigned to take 
comtnand of one of the regiments then about to 
start for Washington City; two leading Senators 
liad been ajiiiointed Urigadier (lenerals, and njany, 
in fact nearly all, of the other mcnd)ers of both 
hou,ses had, in one capacity or another, (-ntercd tlii^ 
military service. It w:ls the first war legislature 
over elected in Ohio, and, und(T sudden j)rc.ssure. 



nobly met the first shock, and enacted the first 
me;Lsures of law for war. Laboring under difficul- 
ties insc]iarable from a condition so unexpected, 
and in the performance (if duties so novel, it may 
be historically stated that fir j)atriotisra, zeal and 
ability, the Ohio Legislature of IStil was the 
equal of any of its successors ; while in that exu- 
berance of patriotism which oljliterated party lines 
and united all in a common effort to meet the 
threatened integrity of the United States as a 
nation, it surpa,ssed them both, 

"The war was fought, the slave power forever 
destroyed, and uiuhr additional amendments to her 
organic law, the Tnited States wi])e(l the stain of 
human slavery from her escutcheon, liberating over 
four million liuman beings, nincteen-twi'ntieths of 
whom were native-born residi^nts. 

"When Lee surriMulcred at Apjiomattox Court 
House, Ohio had two hundred n^gimcnts of all 
arms in the National service. \u the cour.se of 
th(' war, she had furnished two hundred and thirty 
regiments, besides twenty-six independent batteries 
of artillery, five indi'pendent companies of cavalry, 
several companies of sharpshooters, largi' parts of 
five regiments credited to the West Virginia con- 
tingent, two regiments credited to the Kentucky 
contingent, two transferred to the United States 
colored troojis, and a large proportion of the rank 
and file of the Fifty-fourth and Sixty-fifth Mas,sa- 
eliusetts Regiments, also colored men. Of the.se or- 
ganizations, twenty-three were infantry reginients 
furnished onthe fir.st call of the I'residcnt, an ex- 
cess of nearly one-half over the State's {piota ; one 
hundred anil ninety-one were infantry regimeiit.s, 
furnished on sub.sequent calls of the I'rcsident — 
one hundred and sevi^nteen tor three years, twenty- 
seven for one year, two fi>r six months, two for 
three months, and forty-two for one hundred days. 
Thirteen were cavalry, and three artillery for three 
years. Of these tliree-years troops, over twenty 
thousand re-enlisted, a.s veterans, at the end of 
their long term of .service, to fight till the war 
would end. ' 

As original members of the.se organizations, Ohio 
furnished to the National ,service the magnificent 
army of :U0,(ir)4 actual soldiers, omitting from 
the above number all tho.se who paid commuta- 
i tion money, veteran enlistnuMits, and citizens who 
enlisted as soldiers or sailors in other States. 'I'he 
count is made from the rejiorts of the Provost 
Marshal General to tin' War |)(>partment, Penn- 
sylvania gave not quitch "JS.OOO more, while Illinois 
fell .18,000 behind; Indiana, ll(i,000 less; 



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HISTORY OF OHIO. 



137 



Kentucky, 235,000, and Miissachusetts, 104,000. 
Thus Ohio more than maintained, in the National 
army, the rank among lier .sister.s wliioli her popu- 
lation supported. (Jhio furnished more troops than 
the President ever required of her ; and at the 
end of the war, with more than a thousand men in 
the camp of the State who were never mustered 
into the service, .she still had a credit on the rolls 
of the War Department for 4,332 soldiers, beyond 
the aggregate of all quotas ever assigned to her; 
and, besides all these, 6,479 citizens had, in lieu of 
personal service, paid the commutation ; while In- 
diana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and New York 
were all from five to one hundred thousand behind 
their quotas. So ably, through all those years of 
trial and death, did she keep the promise nf the 
memorable dispatch from her first war ( Jovt-rmir : 
" If Kentucky refuses to fill her quota, Ohio will 
fill it for her." 

"Of these troops 11,237 were killed or mor- 
tally wounded in action, and of these (),r)t)3 were 
left dead on the field of battle. They fought on 
well-nigh every battle-field of the war. Witlun 
forty-eight hours after the first call was made fur 
troops, two regiments were on the way to W'ash- 
ington. An Ohio brigade covered the retreat from 
the first battle of Bull Run. Ohio troops formed 
the bulk of army that .saved to the T^nion the 
territory afterward erected into West A'irginia ; 
the bulk of the army that kept Kentucky from 
seceding; a large part of the army that cajttured 
Fort Douelson and Island No. 10; a great part of 
the army that from Stone River and Cliickamauga, 
and Mission Ridge and Atlanta, swept to the sea 
and captured Fort McAllister, and north through 
the Carolinas to Virginia." 

When Sherman started on liis famous march to 
the sea,someone said to Pre.sident Lincoln, "T hey 
will never get through; they will all be captured, 
and the I^nion will be lost." " It is impossible," 
replied the President ; "it cannot be done. There 
is a mic/hfi/ siffht of fight in one hundred thou- 
sand Western men." 

Ohio troops fought at Pea Ridge. They charged 
at Wagner. They helped redeem North Carolina. 
They were in the sieges of Vicksburg, Charleston, 
Mobile and Richmond. At Pittsburg Landing, 
at Antietam, Gettysburg and Corinth, in the 
AVilderness, at Five Forks, befnre Nashville and 
Appomattox Court House ; " their bones, reposing 
on the fields they won and in the graves they fill, are 
a perpetual pledge that no flag shall ever wave over 
their graves but that flag they died to maintain." 



Ohio's soil gave birth to, or furnished, a Grant, 
a Sherman, a Sheridan, a McPherson, a Roseerans, 
a McClellan, a McDowell, a Mitchell, a Gilmore, a 
Hazen,a Sill, a Stanley, a Steadman.and others — all 
but one, children ofthe country, reared at West Point 
for such emergencies. Ohio's war record shows 
one General, one Lieutenant General, twenty Major 
Generals, twenty seven Brevet Major Generals, and 
thirty Brigadier Generals, and one hundred and 
fifty Brevet Brigadier Generals. Her three war 
Governors were William Dennison, David Todd, and 
John Brough, She furnished, at the same time, 
one Secretary of War, Edwin JI, Stanton, and 
one Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon P. Chase. 
Her Senators were Benjamin F. Wade and John 
Sherman. At least three out of five of Ohio's 
able-bodied men stood in the line of battle. On 
the head stone of one of these soldiers, who gave 
his life for the country, and who now lies in a 
National Cemetery, is inscribed these words : 

'• We charge the living to preserve that Constitution we 
liave died to tlefend." 

The close of the war and return of peace brought 
a period of fictitious values on the country, occa- 
sioned by the immense amount of currency afloat. 
Property rose to unheard-of values, and everything 
with it. Ere long, however, the decline came, and 
with it " hard times." The climax broke over the 
country in 1873, and for awhile it seemed as if 
the country was on the verge of ruin. People 
found again, as preceding generations had found, 
that real value was the only basis of true prosper- 
ity, and gradually began to work to the tact. The 
Government established the specie basis by- 
gradual means, and on the 1st day of January, 
1879, began to redeem its out.standing obligations 
in coin. The efi'ect was felt everywhere. Busi- 
ness of all kinds .sprang anew into life. A feeling 
of confidence gTew as the times went on, and now, 
on the thre.shold ofthe year 1880, the State is en- 
tering on an era of steadfitsl prosperity ; one which 
has a sure and certain foundation. 

Nearly four years have elaped since the great 
Centennial Exhibition was held in Philadelphia; 
an exhibition that brought fi-om every State in the 
Union the best products of her soil, factories, and 
all industries. In that exhibit Ohio made an ex- 
cellent display. Her stone, iron, coal, cereals, 
woods and everything pertaining tu her welfare were 
all represented. Ohio, occupjaiig the middle ground 
of the LTnion, was expected to show to foreign na- 
tions what the valleys of the Mississippi and Ohio 



t^ 



138 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



coulil jirciduec. The State nobly stood the tost 
and ranked foremost amonj^ all others, ller cen- 
tennial buildiiii; was among the first completed 
and among the neatest and best on the grounds. 
During the summer, the Centennial Comuiissiou 
extended invitations to the Governors of the several 
States to ajijioiut au orator and uami! a day for his 



delivery of an address on the history, progress and 
resources of his State. Gov. Hayes named the 
lion. Edward I). Mansfield for this purpose, and 
August !)th, that gcmtlemaii delivered an address 
so valuable for the matter which it contains, that 
we here give a .synoiisis of it. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

(IHIO IN THE CENTENNIAL— ADDRESS OF EDWAKD D. MANSFIELD, LL. V., nilLADELrHU, 

AUGUST '.I, 1870. 



ONE hundred years ago, the w1k)1o territory, 
from the Alleghany to the Rocky Mountains 
was a wilderness, inhabited only by wild beasts and 
Indians. The Jesuit and Moravian missionaries 
were the only white men who had penetrated the 
wilderness or beheld its mighty lakes and rivers. 
While the thirtiu'n old colonies were declaring 
their independence, the thirteen new States, whicb 
now lie in the western interior, had no existence, 
and gave no sign of the future. The solitude of 
nature was unbroken by the .steps of civilization. 
The wi.se.st statesman had not conlcm|ilatiHl the 
probability of the coming States, and the boldest 
patriot did not dream that this intc^rior wilderness 
should .soon contain a greater poj)ulation than the 
thirteen old States, with all the added growth of 
one hundred years. 

Ten years at\er that, the old States had ceded 
their Westeini lands to the General Government, 
and the Congress of the United States had pa.s.sed 
the ordinance of 17.'^5, for the survey of the pub- 
lic territor}', and, in 17S7, the celebrated ordinance 
which or'jinized the Northwestern Tc^rritory, and 
dedicated it to fn-edom and intelligence. 

Fith'cu years after that, and more than a (|uarter 
of a eeutury after the Declaration of Indepind- 
ence, the State of Ohio was admitted into the 
Union, being the seventeenth which acce]ited the 
ConstitutiiMi of the United States. It has .since 
grown up to be great, populous and jtrospcrous 
under the influence of those ordinances. At her 
admittance, in 1803, the tid<,- of emigration had 
begun to flow over the Alleghanies into the Valley 
of tiie Mis.sis.sippi, and, although no steamboat, no 
railroad then existed, nor even a stage coach helped 
the immigrant, j'et the wooden " ark " on the 
Ohio, and the heavy wagon, slowly winding over 



tlu! mountains, bore the.se tens of thousands to the 
wilds of Kentucky and the plains of Ohio. In 
the spring of 1T.S8 — the first year of settlement — 
four thousand five hundred persons pii.s.sed the 
mouth of the Muskingum in three months, and 
the tide continued to ]>our on lor half a century in 
a widening stream, mingled with all the races of 
Europe and America, until now, in the hundredth 
year of America's independence, t he fi ve States (jf the 
Norlhwestern Territory, in the wilderness of 177(1, 
contain ten millions of people, enjoying all the 
blessing's which ]]cace and jirosperity, freedom and 
Christianity, can ccjufcr upon any peo]ile. Of tlu-se 
five States, born under the ordinance of 17H7.0hio 
is the first, oldest, and. in many things, the greatest. 
In sonu^ things it is the greatest State in the Union. 
Let us, then, attempt, in the briefest terms, to 
draw an outline portrait of this great and remark- 
able commonwealth. 

Let us ob.serve its physical aspects. Ohio is 
just one-sixth part of the Northwestern Territory 
— tO,0(M) s(|nare miles. It lies between 1/ake l''rie 
and the Ohio River, having 2110 miles of navigable 
waters, on one side flowing into the Atlantic Ocean, 
and on the other into the (iulf of Mexico. Through 
the lakes, its vessels touch on tl.tMIO miles of 
interior coa.st, and, through the Mis,si.'<sippi, on 
l!(),00() miles of river coa.vt; so that a citizen of 
Ohio may pursue his navigation through 42,000 
miles, all in his own coinilry. and all within naviga- 
ble reach of his own State. He who has circunmavi- 
gated the globe, has gone but little more tlian 
half the di.stance which the citizen of Ohio finds 
within his natural reach in this vast interior. 

Looking upon the surface of this State, we find 
no mountains, no barren sands, no marshy wastes 
no lava-covercd plains, but one broad, compact 



t 



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HISTORY OF OHIO. 



139 



body of arable land, intersected with rivers and 
streams and running waters, while the beautiful 
Ohio flows tranf(uilly by its side. More than three 
times the surfixce of Belgium, and one-third of the 
whole of Italy, it has more natural resourec;- in 
proportion than either, and is capable of ultimately 
supporting a larger population than any ecpial sur- 
face in Europe. Looking from this great arable 
surface, where upon the very hills the gxass and 
the forest trees now grow exuberant and abundLmt, 
we find that underneath this surface, and easily 
accessible, lie 10,000 square miles of coal, and 
4,000 square miles of iron — coal and iron enough 
to supply the basis of manufacture for a world ! 
All this vast deposit of metal and fuel does not in- 
terrupt or take from that arable surface at all. 
There you may find in one place the same machine 
bringing up coal and salt water fi'om below, while 
the wheat and the corn gi'ow upon the surface 
above. The immense masses of coal, iron, salt and 
freestone deposited below have not in any way 
diminished the fertility and production of the soil. 

It has been said by some writer that the char- 
acter of a peopile is shaped or modified by the 
character of the country in which they live. If 
the people of Switzerland have acipuri;d a certain 
air of liberty and indej)endence from the rugged 
mountains around which they live; if the people 
of Southern Italy, or beautiful France, have ac- 
quired a tone of ease and politeness from their 
mild and genial cHuk;, so the people of Ohio, 
placed amidst such a wealth of nature, in the tem- 
perate zone, should show the best fruits of peace- 
ful industry and the best culture of Christian 
civilization. Have they done so? Have their 
own labor and arts and culture come up to the ad- 
vantages of their natural situation? Let us exam- 
ine this growth and their product. 

The first settlement of Ohio was made by a 
colony from New England, at the mouth of the 
Muskingum. It was literally a remnant of the 
officers of the Revolution. Of this colony no 
praise of the historian can be as competent, or as 
strong, as the language of Washington. He says, 
in answer to inquiries addressed to him: "No col- 
ony in America was ever settled under such favor- 
able auspices as that which has jvist commenced at 
the Muskingum. Information, prosperity and 
strength will be its characteristics. I know many 
of the settlers personally, and there never were 
men better calculated to promote the welfare of 
such a community ;" and he adds that if he were 
a young man, he knows no country in which he 



would sooner settle than in this Western region." 
This colony, left alone for a time, made its own 
government and nailed its laws to a tree in the vil- 
lage, an early indication of that law-abiding and 
peaceful spirit which has since made Ohio a just 
and well-ordered couinmnity. The subseijuent 
settlements on the Miami ami Scioto were made by 
citizens of New Jersey and Virginia, and it is cer- 
tainly remarkable that among all the early iumii- 
gration, there were no ignorant people. In the 
language of Wa.shington, they came with " infor- 
mation," qualified to promote the welfiire of the 
community. 

Soon after the settlement on the IMuskiugum 
and the Miami, the great wave of migration 
flowed on to the plains and valleys of Ohio and Ken- 
tucky. Kentucky had been settled earlier, but the 
main body of emigrants in subsequent years 
went into Ohio, influenced partly by the great 
ordinance of 1787, securing freedom and schools 
forever, and partly by the greater security of 
titles under the survey and guarantee of the 
United States Government. Soon the new State 
grew up, with a rapidity which, until then, was 
unknown in the history of civilization. On the 
Muskingum, where the buffalo had roamed; on 
the Scioto, where the Shawanees had built their 
towns ; on the Miami, where the great chiefs of 
the Miamis had reigned ; on the plains of San- 
dusky, yet red with the blood of the white man ; 
on the Maumee, where Wayne, by the victory of 
the " Fallen Timbers," had broken the power of 
the Indian confederacy — the emigrants from the 
old States and from Europe came in to cultivate 
the fields, to build up towns, and to rear the insti- 
tutions of Christian civilization, until the single 
State of Ohio is greater in numbers, wealth, and 
education, than was the whole American Union 
when the Declaration of Independence was made. 

Let us now look at the statistics of this growth 
and magnitude, as they are exhibited in the cen- 
sus of the United States. Taking intervals of 
twenty years, Ohio bad : In 1810, 45,365 ; in 
1830, 937,903; in 1850, 1,980,329; in 1870, 
2,665,260. Add to this the increase of population 
in the last sLx years, and Ohio now has, in round 
numbers, 3,000,000 of people — half a mOlion 
more than the thirteen States in 1776 ; and 
her cities and towns have to-day six times the 
population of all the cities of America one hund- 
red years ago. This State is now the third in 
numbers and wealth, and the first in some of 
those institutions which mark the progress of 



3<^ 



^1 



140 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



mankind. That a small part of the wilderne.ss of 
177(5 should be moro populous than the whole 
Union wa.s then, and that it should have made a 
social and moral advance greater than that of any 
nation in the .same time, must be regarded as one 
of the most startling and instructive facts which 
attend this year of commemoration. If such has 
been the social growth of Ohio, let us look at its 
physical development; this is best expressed by the 
aggregate productions of the labor and arts of a 
people applied to the earth. In the census statistics 
of the United States these are expressed in the 
aggregate results of agriculture, luiuing, manufact- 
ures, and commerce. Let us simplify these statis- 
tics, by comjniring the aggregate and ratios' as 
between several States, and between Ohio and some 
countries of Eurojje. 

The aggregate amount of grain and potatoes — 
farinaceous food, jiroduccd in Oliio in 1870 was 
184,988,413 bushels, and in 1.S74, tliere were 157,- 
323,5i)7 bushels, being the largest aggregate 
amount raised in anj' State but one, Illinois, and 
larger per square mile than Illinois or any other 
State in the country. The j)romises of nature 
were thus vindicated by the labor of man ; and 
the industry of Ohio has ftdfiUed its whole duty 
to the sustenance of the country and the world. 
She hits raised more grain than ten of the old 
States together, and mure than half rai.sed by 
Great Britain or by France. I have not the 
recent statistics of Kuro])e, but .^Ic(Iregor, in his 
statistics of natit>ns for 1S32 — a jieriod of pro- 
found peace — gives the following ratios for the 
leading countries of Kuro])e: Great Britain, ana 
12(I,:{L'4 miles; amount of grain, 2(i2, 5(1(1,000 
bushels; rate per sijuare mile, 2.1!I0 to 1; 
Austria — area 258, ()08 miles ; amount of grain, 
30(!,.S(l(l,(MMIbu.shels; rate l)er square mile, 1,422 to 
1 ; France — area 215,858 miles; amount tjf grain, 
233,847,:J00 bushels ; rate per .s(|uare mile. 1,080 
to 1. The State of Ohio — area per square miles, 
40,(J()0; amount of grain, 1511.0(1(1,(1(1(1 bn.'^hels ; 
rate per .si|uare mile, 3.750. Combining the great 
countries of (Jreat Britain, Au.-itria. and I'rance, 
we find that they had 5!t4,785 square miles and 
produced 8()3, 147. 3(10 bushels of grain, which was, at 
the time the.se statistics were taken, 1,450 bushels per 
STjuare mile, and ten bushels to each oiii' of the 
population. Ohio, on the oiIht liatid. had l>,750 
bushels per .s<|uare mile, and lil'ty bushels to each 
one of the )io]iulalion ; that is, there was five 
time.s as much grain rai.sed in Ohio, in proportion 
to the people, as in these great countries of Europe. 



As letters make words, and words express ideas, so 
these dry figures of statistics express facts, and 
these facts make the whole history of civilization. 

Let us now look at the statistics of dimiestic 
animals. These are always indicative of the state 
of .society in regard to the jihysieal comforts. The 
hor.se must furnish domestic conveyances ; the 
cattle must furnish the products of the dairy, as 
well as meat, and the sheep must furnish wool. 

Let us see how Ohio compares with other States 
and with Europe : In 1870, Ohio had 8,818,000 
domastic animals; Illinois, 0,925,000; New York, 
5,283,000; Pennsylvania, 4,493,000; and other 
States less. The |iroportion to pojmlation in these 
States was, iu Ohio, U) each jierson. 3.3 ; Illinois, 
2.7; New York, 1.2; Peimsylvania, 1.2. 

Let us now see the pro]>ortion of domestic ani- 
mals in Europe. The results given by .MeGregor's 
.statistics are : In Great Britain, to each ])erson, 
2.44; IUis.sia, 2.00 ; France, 1.50; I'russia, 1 .02; 
Au.stri;i, 1.00. It will be seen that the prop(Olion 
in (ireat IJritain is only two-thirds that of Ohio; 
in France, only one-half; and in Austria and 
Prussia only one-third. It may be said that, in 
the course of civilization, the number of animals 
diminishes ;».s the density of population incre;ises ; 
and, therefore, this result might have been ex- 
pected ill the old countries of Europe. ]{ut this 
does not a]iply to Hu.-^sia or Germany, still Icvs to 
other States in this country. Ku.ssia in Europe 
has not more than half the density of jxijiulation 
now in Ohio. Austria and Prussia have less than 
150 to the .sipiare mile. The whole of the north 
of Europe has not .so den.-^e a ]iopulation as the 
State of Ohio, still le.ss have the States of Illinois 
and Missouri, west of Ohio. Then, therefore, 
(_)hio showing a larger ])roi)orti(Ui of domestic ani- 
mals than the north of Euro])e. or States we.st of 
her, with a po])ulation not so dense, we see at once 
there nmst be other causes to produce such a 
phenomemm. 

Looking to some of the incidental results of this 
va.st agricultural production, we see that the United 
States exports to iMiropi' immense amounts of 
grain and provisions ; and that there is manufact- 
ured in this country an immen.-ic amount of wooh'U 
goods. Tlu'n. taking these statistics of the raw 
material, we find that Ohio produces (nic-Jiflh of 
all tin; wool; oiu-mvinlli of all the cheese; une- 
ilijlilli of all the corn, and oiie-lcntfi of all the 
wheat; and yet Ohio has but a /(/iirtfriith ])art of 
the jiopulation, and onr-iljhliith part of the sur- 
face of this country. 



HISTOKY OF OHIO. 



141 



Let us take another — a commercial view of this 
matter. We have seen that Ohio raises five times 
as much grain per square mile as is raised per 
S((uare mile in the empires of Great Britain, France 
and Austria, taken together. After making allow- 
ance for the differences of living, in the working 
classes of this country, at least two-thirds of the 
food and grain of Ohio are a surjjlus beyond the 
necessities of life, and, therefore, so much in the 
commercial balance of exports. This corresponds 
with the fact, that, in the shape of grain, meat, 
liquors and dairy products, this va.st surplus is con- 
stantly moved to the Atlantic States and to Europe. 
The money value of this exported product is equal 
to 81(10,000,000 per annum, and to a solid capital 
of $1,500,00(1,000, after all the .su.stenance of the 
people has been taken out of the annual crop. 

We are speaking of agriculture alone. We are 
speaking of a State which began its career more 
than a ((uarter of a century after the Declaration 
of Independence was made. And now, it may be 
asked, what is the real cause of this cxtracirdinary 
result, which, without saying anything invidious of 
other States, we may safely say has never been 
surpassed in any country? We have already 
stated two of the advantages possessed by Ohio. 
The fir-st is that it is a compact, unbroken body of 
arable land, surrounded and intersected by water- 
courses, equal to all the demands of commerce and 
navigation. Next, that it was .secured forever to 
freedom and intelligence by the ordinance of 1787. 
The intelligence of its future people was secured 
by immense grants of public lands for the purpose 
of education; but neither the blessings of nature, 
nor the wisdom of laws, could obtain such results 
without the continuous labor of an intelligent 
people. Such it had, and we have only to take 
the testimony of Washington, already quoted, and 
the statistical results I have given, to ]irove that 
no people has exhibited more steady industry, nor 
has any people directed their labor with more in- 
telligence. 

After the agricultural capacity and production 
of a country, its most important ])hysical feature 
is its mineral products; its capacity for coal and 
iron, the two great elements of material civiliza- 
tion. If we were to take away from Great Britain 
her capacity to produce coal in such vast quanti- 
ties, we should reduce her to a third-rate position, 
no longer numbered among the great nations of the 
earth. Coal has smelted her iron, run her steam 
engines, and is the basis of her manufactures. 
But when we compare the coal fields of Great 



Britain with those of this country, they are insig- 
nificant. The coal fields of all Europe are small 
compared with those of the central United States. 
The coal district of Durham and Northumberland, 
in England, is only 8SII square miles. There are 
other districts of smaller extent, making in the 
whole probably one-half the extent of that in 
Ohio. The English coal-beds are represented as 
more important, in reference to extent, on account 
of their thickness. There is a small coal district 
in Lancashire, where the workal>ie coal-beds are in 
all 150 feet in thickness. But this involves, as is 
well known, the necessity of going to immense 
depths and incurring immense expense. On the 
other hand, the workable coal-beds of Ohio are 
near the surface, and some of them require no ex- 
cavating, except that of the horizontal lead from 
the mine to the river or the railroad. In one 
county of Ohio there are three beds of twelve, six 
and four feet each, within fifty feet of the surface. 
At some of the mines having the best coal, the 
lead from the mines is nearly horizontal, and just 
high enough to dump the coal into the railroad 
cars. These coals are of all qualities, from that 
adapted to the domestic fire to the very best qual- 
ity for smelting or manufacturing iron. Recollect- 
ing these facts, let us try to get an idea of the coal 
district of Ohio. The liituminous coal region de- 
escending the western slopes of the Alleghanies, 
occupies large portions of Western Pennsylvania, 
West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennes.see. I 
suppose that this coal field is not less than fifty 
thousand square miles, exclusive of Western Mary- 
land and the southern ternjinations of that field in 
Georgia and Alabama. Of this vast field of coal, 
exceeding anything found in Europe, about one- 
fifth part lies in Ohio. Prof Mather, in his 
report on the geology of the State (first Geologi- 
cal Report of the Stat«) says: 

" The coal-measures within Ohio occupy a space 
of about one hundred and eighty miles in length by 
eighty in breadth at the widest part, with an area 
of about ten thoasand S(|uare miles, extending 
along the Ohi(i from Trumbull County in the north 
to near the mouth of the Scioto in the south. 
The regularity in the dip, and the moderate incli- 
nation of the strata, afford fiicilities to the mines 
not known to those of most other countries, espe- 
cially Great Britain, where the strata in which the 
coal is imbedded have been broken and thrown out 
of place since its deposit, occasioning many slips 
and faults, and causing much labor and expense in 
again recovering the bed. In Ohio there is very 



i) "V 






1-12 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



little difficulty of this kind, the faults being small 
and seldoin found." 

Xow, takiuf; into consideration these geolof^ical 
facts, let us look at the extent of the Ohio coal 
field. It occupies, wholly or in part, thirty-si.x 
counties, including, geographically, 14,000 S(juare 
miles ; but leaving out fractions, and reducing the 
Ohio coal field within its narrowest limits, it is 
10,000 si|uare miles in extent, lies near the surface, 
and has on an average twenty feet thickness of work- 
able coal-beds. Let us compare this with the coal 
mines of Durham and Northumberland (Kngland), 
the largest and best coal mines therc^ That coal 
district is estimated at S.IO .s((uare mill's, twelve 
feet thick, and is calculated to contain 9,000,000,- 
000 tons of coal. The coal field of Ohio is twelve 
tiiues larger and one-third thicker. Kstiniated by 
that standanl, the coal field of Ohio contains 180,- 
000,000,0(10 tons of coal. Marketed at only S2 
per ton, this coal is worth S:i60, 000,000,000, or, 
in other words, ten times as much as the whole 
valuation of the rnileil States at the present time. 
But we need not undertake to estimate either its 
quantity or value. It is enough to say that it is a 
quantity which wc can scarcely imagine, which is 
tenfold that of Hngland, and which is enough to 
supply' the entire continent lor ages to come. 

After coal, iron is beyond doubt the nio.st val- 
uable mineral product of a State. As the mate- 
rial of manufacture, it is the most important. 
What are called the " precious metals" are not to 
be compared with it as an element of indu.stry or 
profit. Hut since no manufactures can be success- 
fully carried on without I'uel, coal becomes the first 
material element of the arts. Iron is unquestion- 
ably the ne.xt. Ohio liius an iron district extending 
from the mouth of the Scioto Kivcr to some ])oint 
north of the .Mahoning llivcr, in Trumbull County. 
The whole length is nearly two hundred miles, and 
the breadth twenty miles, making, as near iis we can 
ascertain, 4,000 s(|uare miles. The iron in tliLs dis- 
trict is of various (pialities, and is manufactured 
lart^ely into bars and ca,-itings. In this iron dis- 
trict are one hundred furnace.', forty-four rolling- 
mills, and fifteen rail-mills, bi'ing the largest mim- 
ber of either in any State in the Union, except 
only Pennsylvania. 

.Ml hough only the seventeenth State in itsadmis- 
.sion, I find that, by the census .statistics ol' 1S7I), 
itisthe third State in the productionof ironand iron 
manufactures, .\lready, aii<l within the life of 
one man. this State begins to .show what must in 
future time be the vast results of coal and iron, 



applied to the arts and manufactures. In the 
year 1874, there were 42(t,()00 tons of pig iron 
produced in Ohio, which is larger than the jirod- 
nct of any State, except Pennsylvania. The 
product and the manufacture of iron in Ohio 
have increased so rai)idly, and the basis for 
increase is .so great, that we may not d(uibt that 
Ohio will continue to be the greatest producer of 
iron and iron fabrics, except only Pennsylvania. 
At Cincinnati, the iron nianufiicture of the Ohio 
Valley is concentrating, and at Cleveland the ores 
of Lake Superior are being smelted. 

After coal and iron, we may place sail among 
the necessaries of life. In i-onncction with the 
coal region west of the Allejihanii's, there lies in 
Pennsylvania, West Mrginia, and ( )hio, a large 
space of country underlaid by the salt rock, which 
already jiroduces inimen.se amiumts of salt. Of 
this, Ohio has its full proportion. In a large 
section of the southeastern |iortion of the State, 
salt is [iroduceil without any known limitation. 
At Pomeroy and other ]ioiiits, the .salt rock lies 
about one thousand I'eet below the surface, but 
salt water is brought easily to the surface by the 
steam engine. There, the salt rock, the coal 
seam, and the noble sandstone lie in successive 
strata, while the green corn and the yellow wheat 
bloom on the surface above. The Stat<' of Ohio 
jiroduced, in 1874, 3,500,000 bushels of salt, 
being one-fifth of all produced in the Fnited 
States. The salt section of Ohio is exceeded oidy 
by that of Syracuse, New York, and of Saginaw, 
Michigan. There is no definite limit to the 
und<'rlying .salt rock of Ohio. and. therefore, the 
liroductioii will be proportioned oidy to the extent 
of the demaiiil. 

Having now considered the resources and the 
))roduct.s of the soil and the mines of Ohio, we 
may properly ask how far tlie jieojile have employed 
their resources in the increase of art and manu- 
fiiCture. We have two modes of conqiarison, the 
rate of increase within the State, and the ratio 
they bear to other States. The aggregate value 
of the products of manufacture, exclu.sive of 
mining, in the la.st three censuses were: in 1850, 
J;tl2.t;!l2.00(l; in 18(i0, 8121,001.000; in 1S70, 

S;2t;o,7i:!,ooo. 

The ratio of inere;use was over 100 per cent in 
each t<'n years, a rate far beyond that of the in- 
crease of pojiulation. and nnich beyond the ratio of 
increa.se in the whole country. In 1850, th<; man- 
ufactures of Ohio were one-sixteenth i)art of the 
aggregate in the country; in 1800, one-fifteenth 



J. 



liL^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



143 



part; in 1870, one-twelfth part. In addition to 
this, we find, ft'om the returns of Cincinnati and 
Cleveland, that the value of the manufactured prod- 
ucts of Ohio in 1875, must have reached $400,- 
000,000, and, by reference to the census tables, it 
will be seen that the ratio of increase exceeded that 
of the great manufacturing States of New York, 
Massachusetts and Connecticut. Of all the States 
admitted into the Union prior to Ohio, Pennsylvania 
alone has kept pace in the progress of manufacture. 
Some little reference to the manufacture of leading 
articles may throw some light on the cause of this. 
In the production of agricultural machinery and 
implements, Ohio is the first State ; in animal and 
vegetable oils and in pig iron, the second; in cast 
iron and in tobacco, the third ; in salt, in machinery 
and in leather, the fourth. These facts show how 
largely the resources of coal, iron and agriculture 
have entered into the manufactures of the State. 
This great advance in the manufactures of Ohio, 
when we consider that this State is, relatively to 
its surface, the first agricultural State in the 
country, leads to the inevitable inference that its 
people are remarkably industrious. When, on 
forty thousand square miles of surface, three mill- 
ions of people raise one hundred and fifty million 
bushels of gi-ain, and produce manufactures to the 
amount of $269,000,000 (which is fifty bushels 
of breadstuff to each man, woman and child, and 
$133 of manufacture), it will be difiicult to find 
an}' community surpassing such results. It is a 
testimony, not only to the State of Ohio, but to 
the industry, sagacity and energy of the American 
people. 

Looking now to the commerce of the State, we 
have said there are six hundred miles of coast line, 
which embraces some of the princijial internal ports 
of the Ohio and the lakes, such as Cincinnati, Cleve- 
land, Toledo and Portsmouth, but whoso commerce 
is most wholly inland. Of course, no comparison 
can be made with the foreign commerce of the 
ocean ports. On the other hand, it is well known 
that the inland trade of the c<nintry far exceeds 
that of all its foreign commerce, and that the larg- 
est part of this interior trade is carried on its 
rivers and lakes. The materials for the vast eon- 
sumption of the interior, must be conveyed in its 
vessels, whether of sail or steam, adapted to these 
waters. Let us take, then, the ship-building, the 
navigation, and the exchange trades of Ohio, as 
elements in determining the position of this State 
in reference to the commerce of the country. At 
the ports of Cleveland, Toledo, Sandusky and Cin- 



cinnati, there have been built one thousand sail and 
steam vessels in the last twenty years, making an 
average of fifty each year. The number of sail, 
steam and all kinds of vessels in Ohio is eleven 
hundred and ninety, which is equal to the number 
in all the other States in the Ohio Valley and the 
Upper Mississippi. 

When we look to the navigable points to which 
these vessels are destined, we find them on all this 
vast coast line, which extends fi'om the Gulf of 
Mexico to the Yellowstone, and from Duluth to 
the St. Lawrence. 

Looking again to see the extent of this vast in- 
terior trade which is handled by Ohio alone, we 
find that the imports and exports of the principal 
articles of Cincinnati, amount in value to $500,- 
000,000; and when we look at the great trade of 
Cleveland and Toledo, we shall find that the an- 
nual trade of Ohio exceeds $7ttO,000,000. The 
lines of railroad which connect with its ports, are 
more than four thousand miles in length, or rather 
more than one mile in length to each ten square 
miles of surface. This great amount of railroads is 
engaged not merely in transporting to the Atlantic 
and thence to Europe, the immense surplus grain 
and meat in Ohio, but in carrying the largest part 
of that greater surplus, which exists in the States 
west of Oliio, the granary of the West. Ohio 
holds the gateway of every railroad north of the 
Ohio, from the Mississippi to the Atlantic, and 
hence it is that the great transit lines of the coun- 
try pass through Ohio. 

Let us now turn from the progress of the arts 
to the progress of ideas ; from material to intellect- 
ual development. It is said that a State consists 
of men, and history shows that no art or science, 
wealth or power, will compensate for the want of 
moral or intellectual stability in the minds of a 
nation. Hence, it is admitted that the strength 
and perpetuity of our republic must consist in the 
intelligence and morality of the people. A re- 
public can last only when the people are enlight- 
ened. This was an axiom with the early legislators 
of this country. Hence it was that when Vir- 
ginia, Connecticut and the original colonies ceded 
to the General Government that vast and then un- 
known wilderness which lay west of the Allegha- 
nies, in the valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi, they 
took care that its future inhabitants should be an 
educated people. The Constitution was not formed 
when the celebrated ordinance of 1787 was passed. 

That ordinance provided that, " Religion, mor- 
ality, and knowledge being necessary to good 



^- 



>> 



144 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



government and the happiness of mankind, schools 
and the means of education shall he forever en- 
couraged;" and by the ordinance of 17S5 for the 
survey of public lands in the Northwestern Terri- 
tory, Section Iti in each townsliip, that is, one 
thirty-sixth part, w;is reserved for the iiiaiiiteuauce 
of public schools in said t<iwnships. As the State 
of Ohio contained a little nion^ than twenty-five 
millions of acres, this, together with twd special 
grants of three townships to universities, amounted 
to the dedication of 74(),((()(l acres of land to the 
maintenance of schools and colleges. It was a 
splendid endowment, but it was many years before 
it became available. It w;is sixteen years aflcr the 
passage of this ordinance (in 1808), when Ohio 
entered the Union, and legislation upon this grant 
became possible. The Constitution of the State 
pursued the langu;ige of the ordinance, and de- 
clared that "schools and the means of education 
shall forever beeucouraged by legislative provision." 
The (lovernors of Ohio, in successive messages, 
urged attention to tliLs subject uj)on the people ; 
but the thinness of .settlemeut, making it impossi- 
ble, exc(^i)t in few districts, to collect youth in suf- 
ficient numbta"s, and inijiossible to sell or lease 
lands to advantage, caused the delay of efficient 
school .system for many years. In 1 825, however, 
a general law establishing a school system, and levy- 
ing a tax for its sujiport, was |)asscd. 

This was again enlarged and increased by new 
legislation in 1S3G and 184(5. From that time to 
this, Ohio luus had a broad, liberal and efficient sys- 
tem of public iu.struetion. The taxation for schools, 
and the number enrolled in them at ditl'erent ])e- 
riods, will best show what has been dune. In 
1855 the tot;d taxation for school jiurjioses was 
$2,672,827. The ])r()portion of youth of school- 
able age enrolled was (17 per cent. In 1874 the 
amount raised by taxatinn was 87,425,1155. The 
number enrolled of schoolable age was 70 per 
cent, or 707,!>48. 

As the schoolable age extends to twenty-one 
years, and as there are very few youth in school 
after fifteen years of age, it ibllows that the 70 
per cent of schoolable youths enrolled in the {)ub- 
lic schools must comprehend nearly the wliole 
number between four and fitlecn years. It is im- 
portant to observe this fact, Ixjcause it lias been 
inferred that, as the whole number of youth be- 
tween five and twenty-one have not been enrolle<l, 
therefore tlu^y are not educated. This is a 
mistake; nearly all over fifteen years of age have 
been in the public schools, and all the native 



youth of the State, and all foreign born, young 
enough, have had the benefit of the public schools. 
But in couse(|ucnce of the large number who 
have come from other States and from foreign 
countries, there are still a few who are classed by 
the census statistics among the "illiterate;" the 
prnjKirtinn of this cla.ss, however, is less in propor- 
tion than in twenty-eight other States, and less in 
proporticin than in Connecticut and Ma.ssachu.sctts, 
two of the oldest States most noted for jiojiular 
education. In fact, every youth in Ohio, under 
twenty-one years of age, may liave the benefit of a 
public education ; and, since the system of graded 
and high schools has been adojited, may obtain a 
common knowledge from the aljdiabet to the classics. 
The enumerated branches of study in the ]>ub- 
lic schools of Ohio are thirty-four, including 
mathematics and astronomy, French, (Jerman and 
the classics. Thus the State which wa.s in the 
heart of the wilderness in 1771). and was not a 
State until the nineteenth century had begun, now 
presents to the world, not merely an unrivaled de- 
velopment of material pros))erity, but an unsur- 
passed system of pojiular education. 

In what is called the higher education, in the 
colleges and univi-i-sities. embracing the classics 
and sciences taught in regular classes, it is the pop- 
ular idea, and one which few dare to (juestion, that 
we must look to the E;ustcrn States for superiority 
and excellence ; but that also is becoming an as- 
sumption without proof; a jjroposition difficult to 
sustain. The facts in regard to the education of 
universities and colleges, their faculties, students 
and course of instruction, are all set forth in the 
complete statistics of the Hureau of Education for 
1874. They show that the State of Ohio had the 
largest number of such institutions; the largest 
number of instructors in their faculties, excei>t one 
State, New York; and the largest number of .stu- 
dents in regular college classes, in projuirtion to 
th(ur ]io]mlation, except the two States of Connect- 
icut and iMa.ssachu.setts. l'erha]is, if we look at 
the statistics of classical students in the colleges, 
disregarding ])reparatory and irregular courses, we 
.shall get a more accurate idea of the ])rogre,ss of 
the higher education in those States which claim 
the best. In Ohio, 3(5 , colleges, 258 teachers, 
2,139 students, proportion, 1 in 124; in Penn- 
sylvania, 27 colleges, 23!t teachers, 2,155!) students, 
proportion, 1 in 15(1; in New York, 2(j colleges, 
343 t<'achers, 2,7(54 students, proportion, 1 in 17(5; 
in thesix NewKnglaixlSlates, 17 colleges, 252 teach- 
ers, 3,341 students, pru]jortion, 1 in 105; in Illi- 



r^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



145 



nois, 24 colleges, 219 teachers, 1,701 students, 
proportion, 1 in 140. 

This shows there are more collegiate itistitutions 
in Ohio than in all New England ; a greater num- 
ber of college teachers, and only a little smaller ratio 
of students to the population ; a greater number of 
such students than either in New York or Pennsyl- 
vania, and, :is a broad, general fact, Ohio has made 
more jirogress in education than either of the old 
States which formed the American Union. Such 
a fact is a higher testimony to thestrenglh and the 
beneficent influeuce of the American ( Jovernment 
than any which the statistician or the historian 
can advance. 

Let us now turn to the moral aspects of the 
people of Ohio. No human society is found with- 
out its poor and dependent classes, whether made 
so by the defects of nature, by acts of Providence, 
or by the accidents of fortune. Since no society 
is exempt from these classes, it must be judged 
not so much by the fact of their existence, as by 
the manner in which it treats them. In the civil- 
ized natiims of antiipiity, such as Greece and 
Rome, hospitals, infirmaries, orphan homes, and 
asylums for the infirm, were unknown. These 
are the creations of Christianit}', and that must be 
esteemed practically the most Christian State which 
most practices this Christian beneficence. In ( )hio, 
;is in all the States of this country-, and of all 
Christian countries, there is a largo number of the 
infirm and dependent classes; but, although Ohio 
is the third State in population, she is only the 
fourteenth in the proportion of dependent classes. 
The more important point, however, was, how does 
she treat them? Is there wanting any of all 
the varied institutions of benevolence? How does 
.she compare with other States and countries in 
this respect? It is believed that no State or coun- 
try can present a larger proportion of all these 
institutions which the benevolence of the wise and 
good have suggested for the alleviation of suffer- 
ing and misfortune, than the State of Ohio. With 
3, .500 of the insane within her borders, she has 
five great lunatic asylums, capable of accommodat- 
ing them all. She has a.sylums for the deaf and 
dumb, the idiotic, and the blind. She has the 
best hospitals in the country. She has schools 
of reform and houses of refuge. She has "homes" 
for the boys and girls, to the number of 800, who 
are children of soldiers. She has penitentiaries 
and jails, orphan asylums and infirmaries. In 
every county there is an infirmary, and in every 
public institution, except the penitentiary, there is a 



school. So that the State has used every human 
means to relieve the suffering, to instruct the igno- 
rant, and tp reform the criminal. There are in 
the State 80, 000 who come under all the various 
forms of the infirm, the poor, the sick and the 
criminal, who, in a greater or less degree, make 
the dependent class. For these the State has 
made every provision which humanity or justice 
or intelligence can recjuire. A young State, de- 
veloped in the wilderness, she challenges, without 
any invidious comparison, both Europe and Amer- 
ica, to show her superior in the development of 
humanity manifested in the benefaction of public 
institutions. 

Intimately connected with public morals and 
with charitable institution.s, is the religion of a 
people. The people of the Unit^id States are a 
Christian people. The people of Ohio have man- 
ifested their zeal by the erection of churches, of 
Sunday schools, and of religious institutions. So 
far as these are outwardly manifested, they are 
made known by the social statistics of the census. 
The number of church organizations in the leading 
States were: In the State of Ohio, 6,488 ; in 
the State of New York, .5,627 : in the State of 
Pennsylvania, 5,984 ; in the State of Illinois, 4,298. 
It thus appears that Ohio had a larger number 
Cif churches than any State of the Union. The 
number of sittings, however, was not cpute as 
large as those in New York and Pennsylvania. 
The denominations are of all the sects known in 
this country, about thirty in number, the majority 
of the whole being IMethodists, Presbyterians and 
Baptists. Long before the American Indejiend- 
ence, the Moravians had settled on the Mahoning 
and Tuscarawas Rivers, but only to be destroyed ; 
and when the peace with (ireat Britain was made, 
not a vestige of Christianity remained on the 
soil of Ohio ; yet we see that within ninety years 
fi'om that time the State of Ohio was, in the num- 
ber of its churches, the first of this great Union. 

In the beginning of this address, I said that 
Ohio was the oldest and first of these great States, 
carved out of the Northwestern Territory, and that 
it was in some things the greatest State'of the 
American LTnion. I have now traced the physi- 
cal, commercial, intellectual and moral features of 
the State during the seventy-five years of its 
constitutional history. The result is to establish 
fully the propositions with which I began. These 
facts have brought out : 

1. That Ohio is, in reference to the square 
miles of its surface, the first State in agriculture 



^ (■ 






146 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



of the American Union; this, too, notwithstand- 
ing it has 800,000 in cities and towns, and a large 
development of capital and products in nianu- 
facturis. 

2. That Ohio has raised more grain persipuire 
mile than cither France, Austria, or (ircat Britain. 
They raised 1,450 bushels per s<juarc mile, and 
10 bushels to each person. Ohio raised 15,750 
bushels per sijuare mile, and 50 bushels to each 
one of the ]iopulatioii ; or, in other words, five 
times the pro]jortioii of grain raised in Kurope. 

3. Ohio was the first State of l]\c Union in 
the production of domestic animals, being far in 
advance of either New York, I'enn.sjlvania or Illi- 
nois. The i)rop(n'tion of domestic animals to each 
person in Ohio was three and one-third, and in 
New York and Pennsylvania less than half that. 
The larg(,'st prop(}rtion of domestic animals jiro- 
duced in Europe was in (ircat Britain and Ku.ssia, 
neither of wiiich come near that of Ohio. 

4. The coal-field of Ohio is va.stly greater than 
that of (Ireat Britain, and we need make no com- 
parison with other States in regard to coal or iron; 
for the 10,000 scpiare miles of coal, and 4.000 
square miles of iron in Ohio, are enough to su]iply 
the whole American continent fir ages to come. 

5. Neither need we conijiare tile results of 
connnerce and navigation, since, from the ports of 
Cleveland and Cincinnati, the vcs.sels of Ohio 
touch on 42,000 miles of coa.st, and her 5,000 
miles of railroad carry her products to every part 
of the American continent. 

(i. Notwithstanding the immense proportion 
and jiroduets of agriculture in Ohio, yi^t she luis 
more than kept pace with New York and New 
Kngland in the |irogrc.ss of manufactures during 
the liLst twenty years. Her coal and iron are pro- 
ducing their legitimate results in making her a 
great manufaetiiriiii; State. 

7. Ohio is the first Stat<' in the Union as to 
the proportion of youth attending school; and tin; 
States west of the Alh'ghanics and north of tlu^ 
Ohio have more youth in school, projiortiiuialilv, 
than New Kngland and New York. The tacts on 
this siAjcct arc .so extraordinary that I may be 
excused for giving them a little in det^iil. 

The pro]iortion of youth in Ohio attending 
school to the po]>idation, is 1 in 4.2; in Illinois, 1 
in 4.3; in IVnn>ylvania, 1 in 4.S; in New York, 
I in 5.2 ; in Connecticut and Maasaehusetts, 1 in 
8.7. 

Th<',><e proportions show that it is in the AVest, 
and not in (he KiLst, that education is now advanc- 



ing; and it is here that we .see the stimulus given 
by the ordinance of 1787, is working out its great 
and beneficent results. The land grant for educa- 
tion Wits a great one, but, at last, its chief effort 
was in stimulating popular education; for the State 
of (Jliio has taxed itself tens of millions of dollars 
beyond the utmost value of the land grant, to 
fi)und and maintain a system of public education 
which the world has not surpa.s.sed. 

We have .seen that above and beyond all this 
material and intellectual develojuncnt, Ohio has 
provided a vast benefaction of asylums, hospitals, 
and infirmaries, and special schools i'or the sujiport 
and instruction of the de])cndent clas.scs. There is 
not within all her borders a single one of the deaf, 
dumb, and blind, of the poor, sick, and insane, not 
an orphan or a vagi'ant, who is not [irovided for 
by the broad and generous liberality of the State 
and her jieojile. A charity which the cla.ssie ages 
knew nothing of, a beneficence which the splendid 
hierarchies and aristocracies of Kurojie cannot 
equal, has been exhibited in this young State, 
whose name was unknown one hundred years ago, 
who.sc people, from EinM])e to the Atlantic, and 
from the .\tlantic to the Ohio, were, like Adam 
and Kve, cast out — "the world be/ore I hem wliere 
to chouse." 

Lastly, we see that, although the third in pop- 
ulation, and the .seventeenth in admi.ssjon to the 
Union, Ohio had, in 1870, (),400 churches, the 
largest number in any one State, and nuuiljcring 
amimg them every form of Christian worship. 
The people, whose fields were rich with grain, 
whose mines were boundless in wealth, and whose 
coirnnerce extended through thousands of miles 
of lakes and rivers, came heri'. as they came to 
New I'lngland's rock-bound coast — 

" Willi Creeilom to worsliip Goil." 

The church and theschoolhouse rose beside the 
gri'cn fields, and the morning bells rang forth to 
cheerful children going to school, and to a Chris- 
tian people going to the church of (iod. 

Let us now look at the po.ssibilities of Ohio in 
the future develojimcnt of the American Uepub- 
lican Republic. The two most populous parts of 
Europe, becau.se the most food-)iroducing, are the 
Nctherlanils and Italy, or, more preei.sely. Belgium 
and ancient Ijondiardy ; to the present time, their 
Jiojiulation is. in round numbers, three hundred to 
the si|uare mile. The <lensity of population in 
England proper is about the same. We may 
xssumc. therefore, tliat three hundred to the s(juare 



SI .I 



HISTOKY OF OHIO. 



147 



mile is, in round numbers, the limit of comfortable 
subsistence under modern civilization. It is true 
that modern improvements in agricultural machin- 
ery and fertilization have greatly increased the 
capacity of production, on a given amount of 
land, with a given amount of labor. It is true, 
also, that the old countries of Europe do not 
possess an equal amount of arable land with Ohio 
in proportion to the same surface. It would seem, 
therefore, that the density of po]iulation in Ohio 
might exceed that of any part of Europe. On 
the other hand, it may be said with truth that the 
American people will not become so dense as in 
Europe while they have new lands in the West 
to occupy. This is true ; but lauds such as those 
in the valley of the Ohio are now becoming 
scarce in the West, and we think that, with her 
great capacity for the production of grain on one 
hand, and of illimitable quantities of coal and 
iron to manufacture with on ^he other, that Ohio 
will, at no remote period, reach nearly the density 
of Belgium, which will give her 10,000,000 of 
people. This seems extravagant, but t]w. tide of 
migration, which flowed so fast to the West, is 
beginning to ebb, while the manufactures of the 
interior offer greater inducements. 

With population comes wealth, the material for 
education, the development of the arts, advance 
in all the material elements of civilization, and the 
still grander advancements in the strength and 
elevation of the human mind, coni|uering to itself 
new realms of material and inti'llectual power, 
acquiring in the future what we have seen in the 
piust,a wealth of resources unknown and undreamed 
of when, a hundred years ago, tlu; fathers of tlie 
republic declared their independence. I know 
how easy it is to treat this statement with ea,sy 
incredulity, but .statistics is a certain science ; the 
elements of civilization are now measured, and we 
know the progress of the human race as we know 



that of a cultivated plant. We know the resources 
of the country, its food-producing capacity, its 
art proees.ses, its power of education, and the unde- 
fined and illimitable power of the human mind 
for new inventions and unimagined progress. With 
this knowledge, it is not difficult nor unsafe to say 
that the future will produce more, and in a far 
greater ratio, than the p:ist. The pictured scenes 
of the prophets have already been more than ful- 
filled, and the visions of beauty and glory, which 
their imagination failed fully to describe, will be 
more than realized in the bloom of that garden 
which republican America will present to the 
eyes of astonished mankind. Long before another 
century shall have passed l)y. the single State of 
Ohio will present fourfold the population with which 
the thirteen States began their independence, more 
wealth than the entire Union now has ; greater 
universities than any now in the country, and a 
development of arts and manufacture which the 
world now knows nothing of. You have seen 
more than that since the Constitution w;is adopted, 
and what right have you to say the future shall 
not equal the past ? 

I have aimed, in this address, to give an exact 

picture of what Ohio is, not more for the sake of 

; Ohio than as a representiition of the products 

which the American Republic has given to the 

{ world. A State which began long after the 

I Declaration of Independence, in the then unknown 

wilderness of North America, jiresents to-day 

I the faire.st example of what a rejiulilican govern- 

j ment with Christian civilization can do. Look 

I upon this picture and upon those of Assyria, 

of Greece or Rome, or of Europe in her best 

i estate, and say where is the civilization of the 

earth which can equal this. If a Roman citizen could 

say with pride, " Cu'is Romanus sum" with far 

greater pride can you say this day, "I am an 

American citizen." 




s ^ 



148 



HISTOHY OF OHIO. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



EDUCATION* — EARLY SCHOOL LAWS — NOTES— INSTITLTES AND EDUCATIONAL JOURNALS- 
SCHOOL SYSTEM — SCHOOL FUNDS— COLLEGES \NU UNIVERSITIES. 



WIIKX the survey of tlie Nortliwcst Terri- 
tory wa.s ordered by CoiiKre.ss, Mareh 2(1, 
17S5, it wa.s (lecTi,'eil tliat every sixteenth section 
of land sJKiuld be reserved for the "maintenance 
of public schools within each township." The 
ordinance of 17H7 — thanks to the New Kngland 
As.sociates — proclaimed that, " religion, morality 
and knowledfre beini^ essential to sood i;overnment., 
.sehools and the means of education should forever 
l)e encouraged." The .State Constitution of 1802 
declared that "schools and the means of instruc- 
tion should be encourasced by legislative provision, 
not inconsistent with the rights of conscience." 
In lS;j."), through tlu; persevering efforlsof Nathan 
(iuilford. Senator from Hamilton County, Kphraim 
Cutler, Hepre.sentative from Washington County, 
and other friends of education, a bill wa.s pa.s.sed, 
"laying the ibundation for a general .system of 
comnion .schools." This bill provided a ta.x of one- 
half mill, to be levied by the County Commis- 
sioners for school purpo.ses ; ]>rovided for school 
examiners, and made Township Clerks and County 
Auditors .school officers. In 182il, this county 
ta.x was rai.sed to three-fourths of a mill ; in 18S4 
to one mill, and, in 188(1, to one and a half mills. 
In .March, I8H7, Samuel Lewis, of Hamilton 
County, was appointed State Superintendent of Com- 
mon Schools. Ilewasa veryenergetie worker, trav- 
eling on horsi'back all over the State, delivering ad- 
dres.ses and encouniging .school officers ami teachers. 
Through his efforts much good was done, and 

• From thi' ScIkhiI C'ommU^loiinrM' Ri'porm, principally tho«o of 
Thimi^i* W. Ilifrvpy, A. M. 

N',TC 1.— Tile nmt school iniiitht in Ohio, or In Ihn Northwonlprn 
T<'rrll..r)t. win lu IT'.U. Tht- nn.1 Irnchcr wii* Mjij Aui>Un Topper, 
i.|(li'Mti4'*n of (o-n. ilpiiJAmln Tilpi*r, lH,(h Krv..hHionnry nlli'on). 
The room ocoiiplinl waM I to* Hiinio tut ttml In utiicb th(» finti Court wiu 
liftd, AO<l wiu "llnnh.ll in Ihn noiiliwent Mock-hooio'ol lh'^^arrliii>n, 
i'alli',1 lhi. Htockioh*. lit Mitrlflla. I>iihri({ iIm* Iriilliin wiir nrliool 
wiut aIfw tan^lit lit Fort Hiirniitt. T'oint .Mnri'.lCa, urid ut othf,r Hut- i 
tli,ni,.ntii. A mf^'tioK wiiM hpW in M«rl<»tlM. April ",.'!». I7'.*7, to con- ' 
itl<l»r till) frortlon of A HchiMil linililinp "UitiililF. for thi> inntniction I 
of till, youth, iiihI for conflnctlnic rcliK'lonii nri-rii-i"!. KpriolulionH 
wi.ro <iilo|.tPil which li.,l to lhi< criK^tion of « linllillnt: cnll<.<l llio 
MnnkinKHni Ai-ndi-iny. The hiilltlInK wim of fraiiu-. forty fci'l Ioiik 
and twinly-fonr fc.l wiili, anil In yi>ti IfTKintaniliipR TJiLliniliiiuK 
wan twclvi, rent liitfh, with no iirchi'd ci'lIInK It Mtoixl njioii a Hlono 
founilndon, thrro uti-pn froni tlio Ktounil. ThiTi- wiTptwochlmni-yii 
anil a lohby pniJiM-tlon Thi-n' wan n ci-llar iimliT Ihi- wholi- tiuilil- 
inir. It Rtooil upon a lioaiitiriil lot, frontlnfc thp Munklnpum RlTer, 
■ml about fixty fi"--t Imck fioni the uln-i'l. Some largo iroea were 



many important features engratteil on tlu' .school 
system. He resigned in ISMD, when the officewas 
abolisheil, and its duties imposed on the Secretary 
of State, 

The most important adjunct in early education 
in the State Wiis the college of teachers organized 
in Cincinnati in 1881, Albert Pickett, Dr. Joseph 
Ray, William II. McGuffey — so largely known by 
his Lleadcr.s — and Milo (). Williams, were at its 
head. Leading men in all parts of the West at- 
tendeii it,s meetings. Their published deliberations 
did much for the advancement of education among 
the jicople. Through the efforts of the college, 
the fir.st convi'ntion held in Ohio tor educational 
purposes was called at Columbus, January 18, 
188(i. Two years after, in December, the first 
convention in which the ditterent .sections of the 
State were represented, was held. At both these 
conventions, all the needs of the schools, both com- 
mon and higher, were ably and fully discussed, 
and appciils made to the people for a more cordial 
support of the law. No succe.s,sful attempts were 
made to organize a permanent educational .society 
until December, 1847, when the Ohio State Teach- 
ers' Association was formed at Aknjn, Summit 
County, with Samuel (lalloway as I'resident ; T. 
W. Harvey, Hecording Secretary ; .M. D. Leggett, 
Corresponding Secretary ; William Howeii, Trca.s- 
urer, ami .M. V. Cowdrey, Chairmanof the Kxecutive 
Committee, This A.s.sociation entered ujion it.s 
work with commendable earnestness, and Iius since 

upon (ho lot anil on the tttreet in front. Acrotui the street was au 
open common, and lieyond that the river. Imno.iliately ojijiosltfl 
tho door, on onteriiiR, wim a liniad ainle, and, iit tin- end of the 
aisle, against ttie wall, waa a desk or pulpit. On the ri^ht and left 
of the pulpit, at^aiiiHt the wall, and frontitii; the pulpit, wiut a row 
of Blips. Oti each side of the door, facing the pulpit, were two slips, 
find, at each end of the n>oni, one slip These slip- were stationary, 
and were fitted with desks that coiii,! he let town, and there were 
IxixcH In the desks for holding InsiRs and papers. In the center of 
the room was an o|H>n space, which could he filled with movable 
aeata. The first sctiool was oponod hero in 1800." — l^etUr of A. T. 

NoTR 2 — Another evidence of tho diameter of the New Kngland 
Assoclati,s is th-< founding of a public library as early as IIW, or 
before Another was also established at Ilelprc about the same time. 
Atinndant evidence proves tho existence of thesft libraries, all fond- 
log to tile fact that the early settlers, tliongli conquering u wlider- 
ni-BH and a savage fop, would not allow tlieir mental faculties to 
lack for food. The ciianictor of the books shows that '* solid " 
reading prodorolnatod. 



^ 



IL^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



149 



never abated its zeal. Semi-annual meetings were 
at first held, but, since 1858, only annual meetings 
occur. They are always largely attended, and al- 
ways by the be.st and most energetic teachers. 
The Association has given tone to the educational 
interests of the State, and ha.s done a vast amount 
of good in popularizing education. In the spring 
of 1851, Lorin Andrews, then Superintendent of 
the JIassillun school, resigned his place, and be- 
came a common-school missionary. In July, the 
Association, at Cleveland, made him its agent, and 
instituted measures to sustain him. He remained 
zealously at work in this relation until 1853, when 
he resigned to accept the presidency of Kenyoii 
College, at Gambler. Dr. A. Lord wa.s then chosen 
general agent and resident editor of the Journal 
of Education, which positions he filled two years, 
with eminent ability. 

The year that Dr. Lord resigned, the ex officio 
relati(]n of the Secretary of State to the common 
schools was abolished, and the office of school com- 
missioner again created. H. H. Barney was 
elected to the place in October, 1853. The office 
has since been held by Rev. Anson Smyth, elected 
in 1856, and re-elected in 1859; E. E. White, 
appiiiuted by the Governor, November 11, 18G3, 
to till the vacancy caused by the resignation of C. 
W. H. Cathcart, who was elected in 18t;2; John 
A. Norris, in 18(55; W. D. Henkle, in 18(18; 
Thomas W. Harvey, in 1871; C. S. Smart, in 
1875, and the present incumbent, J. J. Bums, 
elected in 1878, his term expiring in 1881. 

The first teachers' institute in Northern Ohio 
was held at Sandusky, in September, 1845, con- 
ducted by Salem Town, of New York, A. D. Lonl 
and yV. V. Cowdrey. The second was held at Char- 
don, Geauga Co., in November of the same year. 
The first institute in the southern part of the 
State was held at Cincinnati, in February, 1837; 
the first in the central part at Newark, in March, 
1848. Since then these meetings of teachers have 
occurred annually, and have been the means of 
great good in elevating the teacher and the public 
in educational interests. In 1848., on petition of 
forty teachers, county commissioners were author- 
ized to pay lecturers from surplus revenue, and the 
next year, to appropriate $100 for institute pur- 
poses, upon pledge of teachers to raise half that 
amount. By the statutes of 18(54, applicants for 
teachers were required to pay 5(1 cents each as an 
examination fee. One-third of the amount thus 
raised was allowed the use of examiners as trav- 
eling expenses, the remainder to be applied to in- 



stitute instruction. For the year 1871, sixty-eight 
teachers' institutes were held in the State, at which 
308 instructors and lecturers were employed, and 
7,158 teachers in attendance. The expense incurred 
wa.s Sl(5,361.i)ll. of which 810,127.13 was taken 
from the institute fund ; 82,730.34, was contrib- 
uted by members; $U80, by county commis- 
sioners, and the balance, $1,371.50, was ob- 
tained from other sources. The last report of the 
State Commissioners — 1878 — shows that eighty- 
five county institutes were held in the State, con- 
tinuing in session 748 days; 41(5 instructors were 
employed; 11,466 teachers attended; 822,531.47 
were received from all sources, and that the ex- 
peases were $19,587.51, or $1.71 per member. 
There was a balance on hand of $9,460.74 to com- 
mence the next year, just now closed, whose work 
has been as progressive and thorough as any former 
year. The State Association now comprises three 
sections; the general a.ssociation. the superintend- 
ents' section and the ungraded school section. All 
have done a good work, and all report progress. 

The old State Constitution, adopted by a con- 
vention in 1802, was supplemented in 1851 by 
the present one, under which the General Assem- 
bly, elected under it, met in 1852. Harvey Rice, 
a Senator from Cuyahoga County, Chairman of 
Senate Committee on " Common Schools and 
School Lands," reported a bill the 29th of March, 
to provide "for the re-organization, supervision 
and maintenance of common schools." This bill, 
amended in a few particulars, became a law 
March 14, 1853. The prominent features of the 
new law were : The substitution of a State school 
tax for the county tax ; creation of the office of 
the State Scliool Commissioner; the creation of a 
Tuwiiship Board of Education, consisting of repre- 
sentatives from the subdistricts ; the abolition of 
rate-bills, making education free to all the youth of 
the State; the raising of a fund, by a tax of one- 
tenth of a mill yearly, " for the purpo.se of fur- 
nishing school libraries and apparatus to all the 
common .schools." This " librarj' tax " was abol- 
ished in 186(1, otherwise the law has remained 
practically unchanged. 

School journals, like the popular press, have 
been a potent agency in the educational history of 
the State. As early as 1838, the Ohio School 
Director was issued by Samuel Lewis, by legisla- 
tive authority, though after six months' continu- 
ance, it ceased for want of support. The same 
year the Pexfalozzian, by E. L. Sawtell and H. 
K. Smith, of Akron, and the Common School 



J^ 



\m 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



Advocate, of Cincinnati, were issued. In 184(5, 
the Schiiol Joiiiiiid Ijegan to be (inblislii'd by A. 

D. Lord, of Kirtland. The same year saw the 
Free School Vtarion, by W. Bowen, of Massillon, 
and the School Friend, by W. B. Smitli & Co., 
of Cincinnati. The next year, \V. H. Moore & 
Co., of Cincinnati, started the Western School 
Journal. In 1851, the Ohio Teacher, by 
Tlionias Rainoy, appeared; the News ami Edu- 
cator, in ISli;}, and the Educational Times, in 
18(j(i. In 1S5(I, Dr. hord'a Journal of Educa- 
tion was uiiit<!d with the School Friend, and 
became tlie recofrnized or^an of the teachers in 
Oliio. Tlie Doctor remained its principal editor 
until 185(1, when he was succeeded b}' Anson 
Smyth, who edit<'d tlie journal one year. In 1857, 
it was edited by John D. Caldwell ; in 1858 and 
and 185'J, by \V. T. Cojrjieshall ; iti 1800, by Anson 
Smyth airain, when it passed into the hands of 

E. K. White, who yet controls it. It hiis an 
immense circulation among Ohio teachers, and, 
though coniiiet<!d by other journals, since started, 
it maintains it.s place. 

The .school system of the State may be briefly 
explained as follows: Cities and incorporated vil- 
lages are iudejicudent of township and county con- 
trol, in the management of .schools, having boards 
of education and examiners of their own. Some 
of them are organized for school jiurpose.s, under 
special act.s. I<]ach township has a board of edu- 
cation, composed of one member from each sub- 
district. The town.ship clerk is clerk of this board, 
but has no V(jte. Kacli subdistrict has a local 
board of trust<,!es, which mantiges its school affairs, 
subject to the advice and control of the township 
board. The.se officers are elected on the first 
Monday in April, and liold their offices three 
years. An enumeration of all the youth between 
the ages of five and twenty-one is made yearly. 
All ])ublic schr)ols are recjuired to be in .session at 
least twenty-four weeks each year. The township 
clerk report.s annually such fact-s concerning school 
affairs as the law reipiires. to the county auditor, 
who in turn reports to the State Commissioner, 
who collects the.se reports in a general report to 
llu! Li'gislature each 3'ear. 

.V hoard of examiners is appointed in each 
county by the I'robate Judge. This board has 
powi'r to grant certificates for a term not exceed- 
ing two years, and good only in the cotinty in 
which they are executed; they may be revoked on 
sufficient cause. In 1804, a State Board of 
Examiners was created, with power to Issue life cer- 



tificates, valid in all parts of the State. Since 
then, up to January 1, 187!', there have been 188 
of these issued. They are considered an excellent 
t(!st of scholarship and ability, and are very credit- 
able to the holder. 

The school funds, in ISflo, amounted to $3,271,- 
275. CG. They were the proceeds of appropriations 
of land by Congress for .school jiurposes, upon 
which the State pays an annua! interest of (> per 
cent. The fnnds are known as the \'irginia Mili- 
tiiry School Fund, the proceeds of eighteen (piar- 
t(!r-townships and three sections of land, selected 
by lot from lands lying in the United States 
Military Reserve, appropriated for the u.se of 
schools in the Virginia Military Reservation; the 
United States Military School Fund, the proceeds 
of one thirty-.sixth part of the land in the United 
States Military District, appropriated "for the u.se 
of schools within the same;" the Western Reserve 
School Fund, the proceeds from fourteen quarter- 
townships, situated in the United States Military 
District, uid l!7,758 acres, most of which Wius lo- 
cated in I'efiance, Williams, Paulding, \'an Wert 
and Putnam Counties, apjirojiriated f()r the u.se of 
the schools in the Western Reserve; Section 
16, the jiroceeds from the sixteenth .section of 
each township in that part of the State in which 
the Indian title was not extinguished in 180.'i; the 
Moravian School Fund, the proceeds from one 
thirty-sixth part of each of three tracts of 
4,000 acres situated in Tuscarawas County, orig- 
inally granted by Congress to the Society of United 
Brethren, and recouveyed by this Society to the 
United States in 1 8H4. The income of these funds 
is not distributed by any uniform rule, owing to 
defeet.s in the granting of the funds. The territo- 
rial divisions designated receive the income in 
proportion to the whole number of youth therein, 
while in the remainder of the State, the rent of 
Section 10, or the interest on the proceeds 
arising from its sale, is ])aid to the inhabitants of 
the originally surveyed townships. In these terri- 
torial divisions, an increase or decrea.se of pojjula- 
tion nuist necessarily increa.se or diminish the 
amount each youth is entitled to receive; and the 
iortunate location or judi<ious sale of the sixteenth 
section may entitle one town.ship to receive a large 
sum, while an adjacent townshiji receives a mere 
pittance. This ine(|uality ol' benefit may bo good 
for localities, but it is certainly a detriment to the 
State at large. There seems to be no legal remedy 
for it. In addition to the income from the before- 
mentioned funds, a variable revenue is received 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



151 



from certain fines and licenses paid to either county 
or township treasurers for the use of schools; 
from the sale of swamp lands ($25,720.07 allotted 
to the State in 1850), and from personal property 
escheated to the State. 

Aside ft-om the funds, a State school tax is fixed 
by statute. Local taxes vary with the needs of 
localities, are limited by law, and are contingent 
on the liberality and public spirit of different com- 
munities. 

The State contains more than twenty colleges 
and universities, more than the same number of 
female seminaries, and about thirty normal schools 
and academies. The amount of property invested 
in these is more than §(), 000,000. The Miami 
University is the oldest college in the State. 

In addition to the regular colleges, the State 
controls the Ohio State University, formerly the 
Agricultural and Mechanical College, established 
from the proceeds of tlu- land scrip voted by Con- 
gress to Ohio for such purposes. The amount 
realized from the sale was nearly §500,(100. This 
is to constitute a permanent fund, the interest only 
to be used. In addition, the sum of §800. 000 
was voted by the citizens of Franklin County, in 
consideration of the location of the college in that 
county. Of this sum $111,000 was paid for three 
hundn^d and fifteen acres of land near the city of 
Columbus, and $112,000 for a college building. 



the balance being expended as circum.stances re- 
quired, for additional buildings, laboratory, appa- 
ratus, etc. Thorough instruction is given in all 
branches relating to agriculture and the mechanical 
arts. Already excellent results are attained. 

By the provisions of the act of March 14, 1853, 
township boards are made bodies politic and cor- 
porate in law, and are invested with the title, care 
and custody of all school property belonging to 
the school district or township. They have control 
of the central or high schools of their townships ; 
prescribe rules for the district schools ; may appoint 
one of their number manager of the schools of the 
township, and allow him reasonable pay for his 
si^rvices; determine the text-books to be used; fix 
the boundaries of districts and locate sclioolhouse 
sites ; make estimates of the amount of money re- 
([uired ; apportion the money among the districts, 
and are required to make an annual report to the 
County Auditor, who incorporates the same in his 
re]iort to the State Commissioner, by whom it 
reaches the Legislature. 

Local directors control the subdistricts. They 
enumerate the children of school age. employ and 
dismis-i teachers, make contracts for building and 
furnishing sehoolhouses, and make all necessary 
provision for the convenience of the district schools. 
Practically, the entire management rests with 
them. 



CHAPTER XV. 



AGRICULTURE— AREA OF THE STATE— EARLY AGRICULTURE IN THE WEST— JL\RKETS— LIVE 

STOCK — NURSERIES, FRUITS, ETC. —CEREALS — ROOT AND CUCURBITACEOUS 

CROPS— AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS— AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES— 

POMOLOGICAL AND HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 



" Oft ilid the harvest to their sickles yield, 

Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke ; 

How jocund did they drive their teams afiehi ! 

How bowed the woods beneath their sturdy stroke." 

THE majority of the readers of these pages are 
farmers, hence a resume of agriculture in the 
State, would not only be appropriate, liut valuable 
as a matter of history. It is the true ba.sis of 
national prosperity, and, therefore, justly occupies 
a foremost place. 

In the year 1800, the Territory of Ohio con- 
tained a population of 45,305 inhabitants, or a 
little more than one person to the square mUe. At 



this date, the admission of the Territory into the 
Union as a State began to be agitated. When the 
census was made to ascertain the legality of the 
act, in conformity to the "Compact of 1787," no 
endeavor was made to ascertain additional statis- 
tics, as now ; hence, the cultivated land was not 
returned, and no account remains to tell how 
much existed. In 1805, three years after the ad- 
mission of the State into the Union, 7,252,850 
acres had been purchased from the General Gov- 
ernment. Still no returns of the cultivated lands 
were made. In 1810, the population of Ohiowa.s 
230,760, and the land purchased from the Gov- 



"V~ 



153 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



eminent amounted to 9,933,150 acres, of wliicli 
auiouut, however, 3,5()9,314 acres, or more than 
oue-tliird, was lield hy aou-resideuts. Of the lands 
occupied liy resident land-owners, there appear to 
have been 100,908 acres of first-rate, 1,929,(;00 
of second, and 1,538,745 acres of third rate lands. 
At this period there were very few export.s from 
the farm, loom or shop. The people still needed 
all they ]iroduced to sustain tlieni.selves, and were 
3'et in that pioneer jieriod where they were obliged 
U) produce all they wanted, and 3'et were ojieuing 
new farms, and hriuging the old ones to a productive 
state. 

Kentucky, and the country on the Monongahela, 
lying along the western slopes of the Alleghany 
Mountains, having been much longer .settled, had 
begun, as early as 1795, to .send considerable quan- 
titie->i of flour, whisky, bacon and tobacco to the 
lower towns on the ^lissLisippi, at that time in the 
possession of the Spaniards. At the French set- 
tlementti on the Illinoi^i, and at Detroit, were 
being raised much more than could be used, and 
these were exporting also large (piantities of the.se 
materials, jis well ;ls peltries aiul such commodities 
as their nomadic lives furnished. As the Missis- 
sippi was the natural outlet of the West, any at- 
tempt to ini|iede its free navigation by the various 
powers at times controlling its outlet, would lead 
at once to violent outbreaks among the Western 
settlers, some of whom were aided by unscrujiulous 
persons, who thought to form an indejiendent 
Western country. I'rovidence .seems to have had 
a watchful eye over all lhe.se events, and to have 
so guided them that the attempts with such objects 
ill view, invariably ended in di.sgrace to their per- 
petrators. This outlet to tile West was thought 
to Im; the only one that could ciirry their j)roduce to 
market, for none of tlie Westerners then dreamed 
of the imiiien.se sy.steiii of railways now <(ivering 
that part of the lliiioii. As soon lus ship-building 
eommeiK'i'd at Marietta, in the year ISOO, the 
farmers along the borders of thi' Ohio ami .^Iusk- 
iiiguni Rivers turned their attention to the culti- 
vation of hemp. in ailditimi tolheirotliererups. Inu 
tew years siifliiii'iit was rai.sed, not only lo furnish 
eorilage to the ships in the West, but large c(uan- 
lities Were Worked up in the various rope-walks 
and s<-iit lo the .\tlaiilic cities. Iron bad ben 
discovered, and Ibrges on llie .liiniala were busy 
convening that nece.xsary ami valued material into 
implements of inilustry. 

By the year 1S05, two .ships, seven brigs and 
three schuoncra had been built aud rigged by the 



citizens of Marietta. Their construction gave a 
fresh impetus to agriculture, as by means of them 
the surplus products could be carried away to a 
ftjreign market, where, if it did not bring money, 
it could be exchanged for merchandise etjually 
valuable. Captain David Devoll was one of the 
earliest of Ohio's shipwrights. He settled on the 
fertile Muskingum bottom, about five miles above 
Marietta, soon after the Indian war. Here he 
built a "floating mill," for making flour, and, in 
ISOl, a shij) of two hundred and fitly Ions, called 
the Muskingum, and the brig Hliza (Jreene, of one 
hundred and fifty tons. In 1804, he built a 
schooner on his own account, and in the spring 
of the next year, it was fini.shed aud loaded for a 
voyage down the Mis.sis,sippi. It was small, only of 
seventy tons burden, of a light draft, and intended 
to run on the lakes east of New Orleans, In 
shape and model, it fully sustained its name. Nonpa- 
reil. Its complement of sails, small at first, was 
completed when it arrived in New Orleans, It 
had a large cabin to accommodate passi'iigcrs, was 
well and finely painted, and ,sit gracefully on the 
water. Its load was ofa.ssorted articles, and shows 
very well the nature ofexjiorts of the day. It con- 
sisted of two hundred barrels ol'flour, fifty barrels of 
kiln-dried corn meal, four thou.-^and iinuiuls of 
chee.se, six thou.saiid of bacon, one hundred .sets 
of rum ])uneheoii shooks, and a few grindstones. 
The flour and uu'al were made at Captain Deviill's 
floating mill, and the cheese made in Helpre, at that 
date one of Ohio's most flourishing agricultural dis- 
tricts. The Captain and others carried on boating as 
well astlu! circumstances of the days permitted, fear- 
ing (Inly the hostility of the Indians, and the duty 
the Spaniards were liable to levy on boats going 
down to New Orleans, even if they did not take 
it into their erratic heads to .stop the entire navi- 
gation of the great river by vesst'ls other than 
their own. By such means, nierchandise was car- 
ried on almost entirely until the construction of 
canals, and even then, until modern times, the 
flat-boat was the main-stay of the shipjier inhabit- 
ing the country adjoining the ujijier Ohio and 
Mi.ssissip])i Rivers. 

Commonly, very little stock was kept beyond 
what WMs neces.siiry for the use of the lifcLilv and 
to perform tlu; labor on the farm. Tim Scioto 
N'alley was ]>erhaps the only exception inVdo to 
lhisg<>neral condition. Horses were broug1il|kth(^ 
emigrants from the East and were <^haracteris1.ic 
ol' that region. In the French settlement.s in Illi- 
nois and about Detroit, French ponies, marvels of 



f 



!£: 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



155 



endurance, were eliiefly used. They were iiupractic- 
able in hauling the immense emigrant wagons over 
ihe mountains, and hence were comjiaratively 
unknown in Ohio. Until 1828, draft horses 
•wtn-e chiefly used here, the best strains being 
brought by the "Tunkers," " Mcnnonites," and 
'• Ormish," — three religious sect«, whose members 
were invariably agriculturists. In Stark, Wayne, 
Holm(!s, and Richland Counties, as a general thing, 
they congregated in communities, where the neat- 
ness of their farms, the excellent condition of 
their stock, and the primitive simplicity of their 
manners, made them conspicuous. 

In 1S28, the French began to .settle in Stark 
County, where they introduced the stock of horses 
known ils " Selim," "Flurizcl," "Post Boy" and 
"Timolen." These, crossed upon the descents of 
the Norman and Conestoga, produced an excellent 
stock of farm horses, now largely u.^ed. 

In the Western Reserve, blooiled horses were in- 
troduced a.s early as 1825. John I. Van Meter 
brought fine hor.ses into the Scioto Valley in 181.5, 
or thereabouts. Soon after, tine horses were 
brought to Steubenville from Virginia and Penn- 
sylvania. In Northern Ohio the stock Wits more 
miscellaneous, until the introduction of improved 
breeds from 1815 to 1885. By the latter date 
the strains of horses had greatly improved. The 
same could be said of other parts of the State. 
Until after 1825, only farm and road horses were 
required. That year a race-course — the first in 
the State — was established in Cincinnati, shortly 
followed by others at Chillicothe, Dayton and Ham- 
ilton. From that date the race-horse steadily im- 
proved. Until 1888, however, all race-courses 
were rather irregular, and, of those named, it is 
difficult to determine which one has priority of 
date over the others. To Cincinnati, the prece- 
dence is, however, generally given. In 1838, the 
Buckeye Course was established in Cincinnati, and 
before a year had elapsed, it is stated, there were 
fifteen regular race-courses in Ohio. The efiect 
of these courses was to greatly stimulate the stock 
of racers, and rather detract fi-om draft and road 
horses. The organization of companies to import 
blooded horses has again revived the interest in 
this class, and now, at annual stock sales, these 
strains of horses are eagerly sought after by those 
having occasion to use them. 

Cattle were brought over the mountains, and, 
for several years, were kept entirely for domestic 
uses. By 1805, the country had so far settled 
that the surplus stock was fattened on corn and 



fodder, and a drove was driven to Baltimore. The 
drove was owned by George Renick, of Chillicothe, 
and the feat was looked upon as one of great im- 
portance. The drove arrived in BiUtimore in ex- 
cellent condition. The impetus given by this 
movement of Mr. Renick stimulated gri'atly the 
feeding of cattle, and le<l to the improvement of 
the lireed, heretofore only of an ordinary kind. 

Until the advwit of railroads and the shipment 
of cattle thereon, the number of cattle driven to 
eastern markets from Ohio alone, was estimated at 
over fifteen thousand annually, whose value Wiis 
placed at $000,000. Besides this, large numbers 
were driven fi-om Indiana and Illinois, whose 
boundless jirairies gave fi'ee scope to the herding of 
cattle. Improved breeds, ''Short Horns," "Long 
Horns" and others, were introduced into Ohio as 
early as 1810 and 1815. Since then the stock 
lias been gradually improved and acclimated, until 
now Ohio ]irodiu-es as fine cattle as any State in 
the Union. In some localities, especially in the 
Western Reserve, cheesemaking and dairy interests 
are the chief occupations of whole neighborhoods, 
where may be found men who have grown wealthy 
in this business. 

Sheep were kept by almost every family, in pio- 
neer times, in order to be supplied with wool for 
clothing. The wool was carded by hand, spun in 
the cabin, and fieiiuently dyed and woven as well 
as shaped into garments there, too. All emigrants 
brought the best household and farming imple- 
ments their limited means would allow, so also did 
they bring the best strains of horses, cattle and 
sheep they could obtain. About the year 1809, 
Mr. Thomas Rotch, a Quaker, emigrated to Stark 
County, and brought with him a small flock of 
Merino sheep. They were good, and a part of 
them were from the original flock brought over 
from Spain, in 1801, by Col. Humphrey, United 
States Minister to that country. He had brought 
200 of these sheep, and hoped, in time, to see 
every part of the United States stocked with Me- 
rinos. In this he partially succeeded only, owing 
to the prejudice against them. In 1816, JMessrs. 
Wells ct Dickenson, who were, for the day, exten- 
sive woolen manufacturers in Steubenville, drove 
their fine flocks out on the Stark County Plains 
for the sunmier, and brought them back for the 
winter. This course was pursued for several years, 
until farms were prepared, when they were per- 
manently kept in Stark County. This flik-k was 
originally derived from the Humphrey importation. 
The failure of Wells & Dickenson, in 1824, placed 



156 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



a good portion of this flock in the hands of Adam 
Ilildc'ljraud, and became tlie basis oi'his celebrated 
flock. Mr. T. S. Ilumrickhouse, of Coshocton, 
in a communication regarding sheep, writes a.s fol- 
lows: 

" The first merinos brought to Ohio were doubt- 
less by Setli Adams, of Zanesvillc. They were 
nuiiiphrcy's Merinos — undoubtedly the b(!st ever 
imported into the I'nited States, by whatever 
name called. He kept them part of the time in 
Washington, and afterward in Muskingum County. 
He had a sort of partnership agency from Gen. 
Humphre)' for keeping and selling them. They 
were scattered, and, had they been taken care of 
and appreciated, would have laid a better found- 
ation of flocks in Ohio than any sheep brought 
into it from that time till 1S52. The precise date 
at which Adams brought them cannot now be as- 
certained; but it was prior to 1813, perhaps as 
early as 1804." 

'•The first Southdowns," continues Mr. Ilum- 
rickhou.se," "New Leicester, Lincolnshire and Cots- 
wuld sheep I ever .siiw, were brought into Co.shocton 
County from lOnglaiid by Isiiac Maynaril, nephew 
of the famous Sir John, in 1834. There were 
about ten Southdowns and a trio of each of the 
other kinds. He was oft'ered S500 for his Lin- 
colnshire ram, in Buff'alo, as ho passed through, 
but refused. He Wius selfish, and unwilling to put 
them into other liands when he went on a farm, 
all in the woods, and, in about three years, most of j 
them had ]peri.shed. ' 

The raising and improvement of sheep ha.s kept 
Steady tread with the growth of the State, and 
now Ohio Wool is known the world over. In (|uan- 
tity it is e(|ual to any State in America, while its 
quality is unc(|ualcd. 

The first stock of hogs brought to ( )liio were 
rather j)(jor, scrawny creatures, and, in a short 
time, when left to themsi^lvcs to pick a livelihood 
from the beech mast and other nuts in the woods, 
degenerated into a wild condition, almost akin to 
their originators. As the country settled, however, 
they were gathereil from their lairs, and, by feed- 
ing them corn, the farmers soon brought them out 
of their .xemi-barbarous state. Improved breeds 
were introduced. The laws fur their ))roteetiou 
and guanling were made, and now the hog of to- 
day shows what improvement and civilization can 
do for any wild animal. The chief city of the 
State has become famous as a slaughtering place; 
lier bacon and sides being known in all the civil- 
ized wnrld. 



Other domestic animals, mules, as.sfts, etc., have 
been brought to the State as occasion re(|uired. 
Wherever their use ha.s been demanded, they have 
been obtained, until the State has her complement 
of all animals her citizens can u.se in their dail}' 
labiirs. 

Most of the early emigrants brought with them 
young fruit trees or gi-afbs of some favorite variety 
from the ''old homestead.' Hence, on the West- 
ern Reserve are to be found chiefly — especially in 
old orchards — New England varieties, while, in the 
localities immediat^-ly south of the Reserve, Penn- 
sylvania and Maryland varieties predominate ; but 
at Marietta, New England fruits are again found, 
as well as throughout Southeastern Ohio. (.)ne of 
the oldest of these orchards was on a Mr. Dana's 
farm, near Cincinnati, on the Ohio River bank. It 
consisted of five acres, in which apple seeds and 
seedlings were planted as early as ITiHI. Part of 
the old orchard is yet to bo seen, though the trees 
arc almost ]i;ust their usefulness. Peaches, pears, 
cherries and a]iples were i)lant<;d by all the pioneers 
in their gardens. As soon as the seed produced 
seedlings, these were transplanted to some liillside, 
and the orchard, in a few years, was a productive 
unit in the life of the .settler. The first fruit 
brought, was, like everything else of the pioneers, 
rather inferior, and admitted of nmch cultivation. 
Soon steps were taken by the more enterprising 
settlers to obtain Ijetter varieties. Israel Putnam, 
as early as 1791), returned to the East, partly to 
get cions of the choicest apples, and, partly, on 
other business. He obtained (juitc a (|uantit}' of 
choice apples, of some forty or fifty varieties, and 
set them out. A portion of them were distrib- 
ut<!d to the .settlers who had trees, to ingraft. 
From these old grafts arc yet to be traced some of 
the best orchards in Ohio. Israel I'utnam was one 
of the most ])riiniincnt men in early Ohio days. 
lie was always active in promoting the interests of 
the .settlers. .Vnicing his earliest eff'orts, that of 
improving the fruit maj' well be mentioned, lie 
and his brother, Aaron W. Putnam, living at Bel- 
))re, opposite Blennerha.sset's Island, began the 
nursery business soon after their arrival in the 
West. The apples brought by them from their 
Connectii-ut home were used to commence the busi- 
ness. These, and the apples obtained from trees 
planted in their gardens, gave them a beginning. 
They were the only two men in Ohio engiiged in 
the bu.siness till 181". 

In early times, in the central jiiu-t of Ohio, 
there existed a curious character known as ''.lohnnv 



^HV 









HISTORY OF OHIO. 



157 



A]iijk'.<L'fcl." His real name was John Chapman. 
Ho reeeived his name from his habit of planting, 
along all the streams in that part of the State, 
apple-seeds from which sprang many of the old 
orchards. He did this as a religious duty, think- 
ing it to be his especial mission. He had, it is 
said, been disappointed in his youth in a love 
affair, and came West about 1800, and ever after 
followed his singular life. He was extensively 
known, wa.s ((uite harmless, very patient, and did, 
without doubt, much good. He died in 1S47, at 
th(! house of a Mr. Worth, near Fort Wayne, 
Indiana, who had long known him, and often 
befriended him. He was a minister in the 8wed- 
enborgian Church, and, in his own way, a zealous 
worker. 

The .settlers of the Western Reserve, coming 
from New England, chiefly from Connecticut, 
brought all varieties of fruit known in their old 
homes. The.se, whether seeds or grafts, were 
planted in gardens, and as soon ;is an orchard 
could lie cleared on some favorable hillsidt!, the 
young trees were transplanted there, and in time 
an orchard was tlie result. Much confusion 
regarding the kin<ls of fruits thus produced arose, 
partly from the fact that the trees grown from 
seeds did not alway.s prove to be of the .same (|ual- 
ity as the seeds. Climate, soil and surrounilings 
often change the character of such fruits. 
Many new varieties, unknown to the growers, 
were the result. The fruit thus produced was 
often of an inferior growth, and when grafts were 
brought from the old New England home and 
grafttid into the Ohio trees, an improvement as 
well ius tlie old home fruit wa.s the result. After 
the orchards in the Reserve began to bear, the 
fruit was very often taken to the Ohio River for 
shipment, and thence found its way to the South- 
ern and Eastern seaboard cities. 

Among the individuals prominent in introducing 
fruitsintotheState, wereMr. Dille. of Euclid, Judge 
Fuller, Judge \Vhittlesey, and Mr. Lindley. 
George Hoadly was also very prominent and ener- 
getic in the matter, and was, perhaiis, the first to 
introduce the pear to any e.xtent. He was one of 
the most persistent and enthusiastic amateurs in 
horticulture and pomology in the West. About 
the year 1810, Dr. Jared Kirtland, father of 
Prof. J. P. Kirtland, so well known among 
horticulturists and poniologists, came fnim C(jn- 
necticut and settled in Portland, Mahoning 
County, with his family. This family has done 
more than any other in the State, perhaps, to 



advance fruit culture. About the year 1824, 
Prof. J. P. Kirtland, in connection with his brother, 
established a nursery at Poland, then in Trumbull 
County, and brought on from New England above 
a huudred of their best varieties of apples, cherries, 
peaches, pears, and smaller fruits, and a j'ear or 
two after brought from New Jersey a hundred of 
the best varieties of that State ; others were ob- 
tained in New York, so that they possessed the larg- 
est and most varied stock in the Western country. 
These two men gave a groat impetus to fruit cult- 
ure in the West, and did more than any others 
of that day to introduce improved kinds of all 
fruits in that part of the United States. 

Another prominent man in this branch of indus- 
try Wits Mr. .Vndrew H. Ernst, of Cincinnati. 
Although not so early a settler as the Kirtlands, 
he was, like them, an ardent student and propa- 
gator of fine fruits. He introduced more than 
six hundred varieties of apples and seven hun- 
dred of pears, both native and foreign. His 
object was to test by actual experience the most 
valuable sorts for the diversified soil and climate 
of the Western country. 

The name of Nicholas Longworth, also of Cin- 
cinnati, is one of the most extensively known of any 
in the .science of horticulture and pomology. For 
more than fifty years he made these his especial 
delight. Having a large tract of land in the 
lower part of Cincinnati, he established nurseries, 
and jilanted and disseminated every variety of 
fruits that could be found in the United States- 
East or West — making occasional importations 
from European countries of such varieties as 
were thought to be adapted to the Western climate. 
His success has been variable, governed by the 
sea.son, and in a measure by his numerous experi- 
ments. His vineyards, cultivated by tenants, gen- 
erally Germans, on the European plan, during the 
latter years of his experience paid him a hand- 
some revenue. He introduced the famous Catawba 
grape, the standard gi'ape of the West. It is 
stated that Mr. Longworth bears the same relation 
to vineyard culture that Fulton did to steam navi- 
gation. Others made earlier effort, but he was the 
first to establish it on a permanent basis. He has 
also been eminently sueces.sful in the cultivation of 
the strawberry, and was the first to firmly establish 
it on Western soil. He also brought the Ohio SiVer- 
bearing Raspberry into notice in the State, and 
widely disseminated it throughout the country. 

Other smaller fruits were brought out to the 
West like those mentioned. In some cases fruits 



1.-.8 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



indifienous to the soil were cultivated and improved, 
and a.s improved fruits, arc known favorably wlierc- 
ever used. 

In chronology and importance, of all tlu! cereals, 
corn stands foremost. During the early pioneer 
period, it was the staple article of footl iijr both 
man and bea.st. It could be made into a varic^ty 
of forms of liMid, and as such was not <inly palata- 
ble but highly nutritious and strengthening. 

It is very difficult to determine whether corn 
originated in America or in the Old World. Many 
prominent botanists as.sert it is a native of Turkey, 
and originally was known its " Turkey wheat." Still 
others claimed to have found mention of maize in 
Chinese writings antedating the Turkish di.scovery. 
Grains of maize were found in an Egyptian mum- 
my, which goes to prove to many the cereal wa.s 
known in .\frica since the earliest times. Maize 
was found in America wlu'n first visited by white 
men, but of its origin Indians could give no ac- 
count. It had always been known among them, 
and constituted their chief article of vegetable diet. 
~ It was cultivated exclusively by their sipiaws, the 
men considering it beneath their dignity to engage 
in any manual labor. It is altogether probable corn 
was known in the Old World long before the New 
was discovered. The Arabs or Crusaders probably 
introduced it into Kurope. IIow it was introduced 
into America will, in all probability, remain un- 
known. It may have been an indigenous plant, 
like many others. Its introduction into Ohio dates 
with the settlement of the whites, especially its 
cultivation and use as an article of trade. True, 
the Inclians had cultivated it in small i|uantities; 
each lodge a little for it.self, but no effort to make 
of it a national su)>])ort began until the civilization 
of the while race became established. From that 
time on, the increiuse in cro]is has grown with the 
State, and, excepting the great corn States of the 
Wrst, Ohio produces an amount eipial to any State 
ill the I'nion. The .statistical tables printed in 
agricultural reports show the acres planted, and 
bushels grown. Figures speak an unanswerable 
logic. 

Wheat is probably the next in importance of the 
cereals in the Stale. Its origin, like corn, is lo.st 
in the misis of antii|uity. Its biTry Wi\s no doubt 
used as fond l)y the ancients for ages anterior to 
any liistnrical rccnrds. It is ollen called corn in 
old writings, ami iinrjer that nam^ is fre<|Uently 
mentionril in thi' Bible. 

'•.\s far back in the vistas of ages as human 
records go, we find that wheat has been cultivated, 



and, with corn, aside from animal food, has formed 
one of the chief alimentary articles of all nations; 
but as the wheat plant has nowhere been found wild, 
or in a state of nature, the inference has lieen 
drawn by men of un(|uestioned scientific ability, 
that the original plant from which wheat has been 
derived was either totally annihilated, or else cul- 
tivation has wrought so great a dnuigc. that the 
original is by no means obvious, or manifest to bot- 
anists." 

It is supposed by many, wheat originated in 
Persia. Others affirm it was known and cultivated 
in Egypt long ere it found its way into Persia. It 
was certainly grown on the Nile ages ago, and 
among the tombs are found grains of wheat in a 
perfectly sounil condition, that umpiestiiuiably 
have been buried thou.sands of years. It may be, 
however, that wheat was grown in Persia fiixt, and 
thence found its way into Kgyjit and Africa, or. 
vice versa. It grew first in Kgypt and .\frica and 
thence cros-sed into Persia, and from there found 
its way into India and all parts of Asia. 

It is al.so claimed that wheat is indigenous to 
the island of Sicily, and that from there it spread 
along the shores of the Mediterranean into Asia 
Minor and Egypt, and, as communities advanced, 
it was cultivated, not only to a greater extent, but 
with greater success. 

The goddess of agriculture, more especially of 
grains, who, by the (Jreeks, was called Demeter, 
and, by the Romans, Ceres — hence the name ce- 
reals — Wiis .said to have her home at Knna. a fertile 
region of that i.sland, thus nidieating the .source 
fnmi which the (I reeks and Romans derived their 
Ciriifiii. Homer mentions wheat and sjielt as 
bread; al.so corn and iiarley, and describes his 
heroes as using them as fodder for their horses, as 
the people in the South of Euro)ie do at ])resent. 
Rye was introduce<l into Greece from Thrace, or 
by way of Thrace, in the time of Galen. In 
CiKiiar's time tlu( Romans grew a species of wheat 
enveloped in a husk, like barley, and by tliem 
called '' Far." 

During the excavations of Ilerculaneuni and 
Pompeii, wheat, in an excellent state of ]>rc.serva- 
tion, was fre<|ucntly found. 

Dr. ,\nsoii Hart, Superintendent, at onetime, of 
Indian .\ffaiis in Oregon, slates that he tlnMid 
numerous palchcs of wheat and flax growing wild 
in the Vackemas country, in I'pper Orei^on. There 
is but little dcmbt that both cereals were intro- 
duced into Oregon at an early period by the Hud- 
son Bay, or other fur companies. Wheat was al.so 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



159 



found by Dr. Boyle, of Columbus, Ohio, growing 
in a similar state in the Carson Valley. It was, 
doubtless, brought there by the early Spaniards. 
In 1530, one of Cortez's slaves found several grains 
of wheat accidentally mixed with the rice. The 
careful negro planted the handful of grains, and 
succeeding years saw a wheat crop in Mexico, 
which found its way northward, probably into 
Califirnia. 

Turn where we may, wherever the foot of civil- 
ization has trod, there will we find this wheat 
plant, which, like a monument, has jierpetuated 
the memory of the event; but nowhere do we find 
the plant wild. It is the result of cultivation in 
bygone ages, and has been produced by " progress- 
ive development." 

It is beyond the limit and province of these 
pages to discuss the composition of this important 
cereal ; only its historic properties can be noticed. 
With the advent of the white men in America, 
wheat, like corn, came to be one of the staple prod- 
ucts of life. It followed the pioneer ov(>r the 
mountains westward, where, in the rich Missis- 
sippi aud Illinois bottoms, it has been cultivated 
by the French since 1(190. When the hardy New 
Englanders came to the alluvial lands adjoining 
the Ohio, Muskingum or Miami Rivers, they 
brought with them this "staff of life," and forth- 
with began its cultivation. Who sowed the first 
wheat in Ohio, is a (piestion Mr. A. S. Guthrie 
answers, in a letter published in the Agricultural 
Report of 1857, as follows: 

" My father, Thomas Guthrie, emigrated to the 
Northwest Territory in the year 1788, and arrived 
at the mouth of the Jluskingum in July, about 
three months after Gen. Putnam had arrived with 
the first pioneers of (_)hio. My father brought a 
bushel of wheat with him from one of the frontier 
counties of Pennsylvania, which be sowed on a 
lot of land in JIarietta, which he cleared for that 
purpose, on the second bottom or plain, in the 
neighborhood of where the Court House now 
stands." 

Mr. Guthrie's opinion is corroborated by Dr. 
Samuel P. Ilildretli, in his " Pioneer Settlers of 
Ohio," and is, no doubt, correct. 

From that date on down through the years of 
Ohio's growth, the crops of wheat have kept pace 
with the advance and growth of civilization. The 
soil is admirably adapted to the growth of this ce- 
real, a large number of varieties being grown, and 
an excellent (|uality produced. It is firm in body, 
and, in many ca.ses, is a successful rival of wheat 



produced in the great wheat^producing regions of 
the United States — Minnesota, and the farther 
Northwest. 

Oats, rye, barley, and other grains were also 
brought to Ohio fi-om the Atlantic Coast, though 
some of them had been cultivated by the French 
in Illinois and about Detroit. They were at first 
used only as food for home consumption, aud, until 
the successful attempts at river and canal naviga- 
tion were brought about, but little was ever sent 
to market. 

Of all the root crops known to man, the potato 
is probably the nuist valuable. Next to wheat, 
it is claimed by many as the staff of life. In 
some localities, this assumption is undoubtedly 
true. What would Ireland have done in her fam- 
ines but for this simple vegetable? The potato is 
a native of the mountainous districts of tropical 
and subtropical America, probably from Chili to 
Mexico ; but there is considerable difficulty in 
deciding where it is really indigenous, and where 
it has s^iread after being introduced by man. 
Humboldt, the learned savant, doubted if it had 
ever been found wild, but scholars no less famous, 
and of late date, have expressed an opposite 
opinion. In the wild ]ilant, as in all others, the 
tubers are smaller than in the cultivated. The 
potato had been cultivated in America, and its 
tubers used for food, long before the advent of the 
Europeans. It seems to have been first brought 
to Europe by the Spaniards, from the neighbor- 
hood of Quito, in the beginning of the sixteenth 
century, and spread through Spain, the Netherlands, 
Burgundy and Italy, cultivated in gardens as an 
ornament only and not for an article of food. 
It long received through European countries the 
same name with the l)atata.s — sweet potato, which 
is the plant meant by all English writers down to 
the seventeenth century. 

It appears that thi? potato was brought from 
Virginia to Ireland by Hawkins, a .slave-trader, 
in 1565, and to England by Sir Francis Drake, 
twenty years later. It did not at first attract much 
notice, and not until it was a third time imported 
from America, in 1623, by Sir Walter Raleigh, 
did the Europeans make a practical u.se of it. 
Even then it was a long time before it wa.s exten- 
sively cultivated. It is noticed in agricu'tural 
journals as food for cattle only as late as 1719. 
Poor people began using it, however, and finding it 
highly nutritious, the Royal Geographical Society, 
in 1663, adopted measures for its propagation. 
About this time it began to be used in Irclftnd as 



160 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



food, and from the beginningof the eighteenth coiit- 
ur)', its use has never declined. It is now kiiuwu 
in every quarter of the wurld, and has, by cultiva- 
tion, been greatly improved. 

The inhabitants of America learned its use 
from the Indians, who cultivated it and other 
root crops — rutabagas, radi.shes, etc., and taught 
the whites their value. A\'hen the pioneers of 
Ohio eame to its iertile valleys, they brought 
improved species with them, which l)y cultiva- 
tion and soil, are now greatly incrca.sed, and are 
among the standard crops of the State. 

The cucurbitaccdus plants, .si|uaslies, etc., were, 
like the potato and similar root crops, indigenous 
to America — others, like the melons, to Asia — 
and were among the staple foods of the original 
inhabitants. The early French missionaries of 
the West speak of both root crojis and cucurbi- 
taceous plants as in useamong theaboriginal inhab- 
itants. "They arc very sweet and wholesome," 
wrote Mar<|uette. Othersspcak in the same terms,, 
though .xcime of the |)lants in this order had found 
their way to these valleys thmugli the .Spaniards 
and others thriiugli early Atlantic ("oast and .Mex- 
ican inhabitants. Their use by the settlers of the 
West, esiiecially Ohio, is traced to New Kngland, 
as the first settlers came from that portion of the 
Union. They grow well in all parts of the State, 
and by cultivation have been greatly improv('d in 
(piality and variety. All cueiirbitaeeous jilants 
rei|uire a rich, porous soil, and by ])roper atten- 
tion to their cultivation, excellent results can be 
attained. 

Probably the earliest and luost important ini]ile- 
ment of husbandry known is the plow, (irain, 
plants and roots will not grow well unless the .soil 
in which they art^ planted be pni]Hrly stirnul, 
hence the fir.^t ri'i|uii'i'ment was an instrument that 
wouM fulfill such I'oniliiions. 

The first imjilcincnls were rude indi'cd ; geiXT- 
.illy, stout woodi'ii sticks, drawn ihnmgli tlie earth 
by thongs attached to rude ox-yokes, or fasteneil 
to the animal's horns. Such jilows were in use 
among the ancient Kgyptians, and may yet be 
found among uncivilized nations. The Old Test.a- 
nient furnishes minierous instances of the use of 
the plow, while, on the ruins of ancient cities and 
among the |iyramids of Kgyjit, and on the buried 
walls of Babylon, and other extinct cities, are rude 
dniwings of this useful implement. .\s the use 
of iron bi'came apparent and general, it was util- 
ized for plow-jioinis, where the wood alone woulil 
not penetrate the earth. They got their plow- 



shares sharpened in ()1<1 Testament days, also 
coulters, which shows, beyond a doubt, that iron- 
pointed plows were then in use. From times 
mentioned in the Bible, on heathen tomlis, and 
ancient catacombs, the imjirovement of the ]ilow, 
like other farming tools, went on, as the race of 
man grew in int<'lligence. Kxtensivc manors in 
the old country reepiired incrciused means of turning 
the ground, and. to meet these demands, ingenious 
mechanics, from time to time, invented improved 
plows. Strange to sa}', however, no improvement 
was ever made by the farmer himself This is ac- 
counted for in his habits of life, and, too often, 
the disposition to'-Uike things as they are." When 
America wius settled, the plow had become ;in im- 
plement capable of turning two or three acres j)er 
day. Still, and for many years, and even until 
lately, the mold-board was entirely wooden, the 
point only iron. Later developments changed the 
wood for stiH^l, which now alone is used. Still 
later, especially in prairie States, riding jilows are 
used. Like all other imjirovements, they were 
obliged to combat an obtuse public mind among 
the ruralists, who slowly combat almost every 
move made to better their condition. In many 
places in .\merica, wooden plows, straight ax 
handles, and a stone in one end of the bag, to bal- 
ance the grist in the other, are the rule, and for no 
other reason in the world are they maintained than 
the laconic answer: 

" i\Iy father did so, and why should not I? Am 
I better than he?" 

After the plow comes the barrow, but little 
changed, save in lightness and beauty. Formerly, 
a log of wood, or a brush harrow, snjijilied its 
place, but in the Statcof Ohio, the toothed instni- 
meiit has nearly always been used. 

The hoe is lighter made than formerly, and is 
now made of ,stecl. At first, tlu^ eomnion iron 
hoe, sharpened by the blacksmith, was in constant 
use. Now, it is rarely seen outside of the South- 
ern States, where it has long been t\i6 chief' iuiple- 
ment in agriculture. 

The various small plows for the cultivation of 
corn and such other crops as neeessitati-d their use 
arc all the result of modern civilization. Now, 
their number is large, and, in many places, there 
are two or more attadu'd to one carriage, whose 
opiTatiir rides. These kinds are much us<'d in the 
^\'est<•ru States, whose rootless and stoneless soil is 
ailinirably adapted to such machinery. 

When the grain became ripe, ini|)lements to cut 
it were in demand. In ancient times, the sickle 



1^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



IGl 



was the only instrument used. It was a short, 
curved iron, whose inner edge wa.s sharpened and 
serrated. In its mo.st ancient form, it is duubtt'ul 
if the edge was but little, if any, serrated. It is 
mentioned in all ancient works, and in the Bible is 
frequently referred to. 

" Thrust in the sickle, for the harvest is 
ripe," wrote the sacred New Testament, while 
the Old chronicles as early as the time of Moses: 
"As thou beginnest to put the sickle to the 
corn." 

In more modern times, the handle of the sickle 
was lengthened, then the blade, which in time led 
to the scythe. Both are yet in use in many parts 
of the world. The use of the scythe led some 
thinking person to add a '• finger " or two, and to 
change the shaj)e of the handle. The old cradle 
was the result. At first it met considerable oppo- 
sition from the laborers, who brought forward the 
old-time argument of ignorance, that it would 
cheapen labor. 

Whether the cradle is a native of America or 
Europe is not accurately decided; probably of the 
mother country. It came into common u.se about 
1818, and in a few years had found its way into 
the wheat^producing regions of the West. Where 
small crops are raised, the cradle is yet much used. 
A man can cut fi-om two to four acres per day, 
hence, it is much cheaper than a reaper, where the 
crop is small. 

The mower and reaper are comparatively mod- 
ern inventions. A rude reaping machine is men- 
tioned by Pliny in the first century. It was pushed 
by an ox through the standing grain. On its 
front was a sharp edge, which cut the grain. It 
was, however, impracticable, as it cut only a por- 
tion of the grain, and the peasantry preferred the 
sickle. Other and later attempts to make reapers 
do not seem to have been successful, and not till 
the present century was a machine made tifcat would 
do the work required. In 182(i, Mr. Bell, of 
Scotland, constructed a machine which is yet used 
in many pai-ts of that country. In America, Mr. 
Hus-sey and Mr. McCormick took out patents for 
reaping machines of superi.jr character in 1833 
and 1S34. At first the cutters of these machines 
were various contrivances, but both manufacturers 
soon adopted a serrated knife, triangular shaped, at- 
tached to a bar, and driven through '■ finger 
guards " attached to it, by a forward and backward 
motion. These are the common ones now in use, 
save that all do not use serrated knives. Since 
these pioneer machines were introduced into the 



harvest fields they have been greatly improved and 
changed. Of late years they have been constructed 
so as to bind the sheaves, and now a good stout 
boy, and a team with a " harvester," will do as 
much as many men could do a few years ago, and 
with much greater ease. 

As was expected by the inventors of reapers, 
they met with a determined resistance from those 
who in former times made their living by harvest- 
ing. It was again absurdly argued that they would 
cheapen labor, and hence were an injury to the 
laboring man. Indeed, when the first machines 
were brought into (Jliio, many of them were torn 
to pieces by the ignorant hands. Others left fields 
in a body when the projirictor brought a reaper to 
his farm. Like all such fallacies, these, in time, 
pai5.scd away, leaving only their stain. 

Following the reaper came the thresher. As 
the country filled with inhabitants, and men in- 
creased their possessions, more rapid means than 
the old flail or roller method were demanded. At 
first the grain was trodden out by horses driven over 
the bundles, which were laid in a circular inclosure^ 
The old flail, the tramping-out by horses, and the 
cleaning by the sheet, or throwing the grain up 
against a current of air, were too .slow, and 
machines were the result of the demand. In Ohio 
the manufacture of threshers began in 1846, in 
the southwestern part. Isaac Tobias, who came 
to Hamiltiin from Miamisburg that year, com- 
menced building the threshers then in use. They 
were without the cleaning attachment, and sinipl}' 
hulled the grain. Two years later, he began 
manufiicturing the combined thresher and cleaner, 
which were then coming into use. He continued 
in business till 1851. Four years after, the in- 
creased demand for such machines, consequent 
upon the increased agricultural products, induced 
the firm of Owens, Lane & Dyer to fit their estab- 
lishment for the manufiicture of threshers. They 
afterward added the manufacture of steam engines 
to be used in the place of horse power. Since 
then the manufacture of the.se machines, as well as 
that of all other agricultural machinery, has greatly 
multiplied and improved, until now it seems iis 
though but little room for imjirovement remains. 
One of the largest firms engaged in the manufact- 
ure of threshers and their component machinery is 
located at Mansfield — the Aultman & Taylor 
Co. Others are at JIassillon, and at other cities 
in the West. 

Modern times and modern enterprise have devel- 
oped a marvelous variety of agricultural implements 



162 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



— too many to bo mentionerl in a volume liko 
this. Under sijcc-ial isulijeets they will oeciL-iionally 
be found. Tlie fanner s lil'e, so eliecrle.ss in jiioneer 
times, and .so full of weary labor, i.s daily becom- 
ing le.ss laboriiiu.s, until, if they as a ehuss profit 
by the advances, they can find a life of ease 
in farm pursuit.s, not attaitiable in any other 
profe-ssiun. Now machines do almost all the work. 
They sow, cultivate, cut, bind, thr&sli, winnow 
and carry the f^rain. They, cut, rake, loa<l, mow 
and dry the hay. They husk, shell and clean the 
corn. They cut and sj)lit the wodd. They do al- 
most all ; until it seems a.s though the d»y may 
come when the fanner can sit in his hou.se and 
simply guide the affairs of his farm. 

Any occu]iatiipn jirospers in i>roportion to the 
interest taken in it In' its members. This interest 
is always heightened by an exchange of views, hence 
.societies and periodicals e.vercLse an influence at 
first hardy realizeil. This feeling among prominent 
agriculturi.st.s leil to the fi)rmation of agricultural 
societies, at first by counties, then districts, then 
by States, and lastly by ivssociations of States. 
The day may come when a national agricul- 
tural fair may be one of the annual attractions of 
America. 

Without noticing the early attempts to found 
such societies in Kurope or America, the narrative 
will begin with those of Ohio. The first agricul- 
tural society organized in the Buckeye State was 
the Ilamihon County .Agricultural Society. It.s 
exact (late of organization is not now preserved, 
but to a certainty it is known that the Society held 
public exhibitions as a County Society prior to 
182:-$. Previous to that ilate there were, doubt- 
lesw, .small, private I'xhibitions held in older local- 
ities, probably at .Nlarietta, but no regular organi- 
Ziition .seems to have bi^en maintained. The 
Hamilton County Society held it.s fiiirs annuallv, 
with marked success. Its successor, the present 
Society, is now one of tlic largest county societies 
in Ihc Union. 

During the legislative session of 1832-33, the 
subject of agrieiilture seems to have agitated tlie 
minds of file fiouiile through their representatives, 
for the records of that session show the first laws 
pa.s.scd for their benefit. The acts of that body 
K<'em to have been productive of some good, for, 
though no records of the number of societies or- 
ganized at that ilate exist, yet the record .shows 
that '• many societies have been orgiinized in con- 
formity to this act." etc. No doubt many societies 
held fairs from this time, lor a greater or li.'.ss 



number of jeai-s .Vgricultural journals* were, 
at this period, rare in the State, and the .subject of 
agricultural impruveinent did not receive that at- 
tention from the ]ire.ss it does at this time ; and, 
for want of public spirit anil attention to sustain 
these fairs, the^' weri^ gradually discontinued until 
the new act respecting their organization was 
passed in 1846. However, records of several 
county societies of the yciirs between 1832 and 
18-t(> yet exist, showing that in some parts of the 
State, the interest in these fairs was by no means 
diminished. The Delaware County Society re- 
ports for the year 1833 — it was organized in June 
of that year — good jjrogress for a beginning, and 
that much interest was manifested by the citizens 
of the county. 

Ross County helil its first exhibition in the 
autumn of that year, and the report of the mana- 
gers is ipiite cheerful. Nearly all of the exhibited 
articles were sold at auction, at greatly advanced 
prices from the current ones (jf the day. The en- 
try seems to have been free, in an open inelosure, 
and but little revenue was derived. Little was ex- 
pected, hence no one w;is disappointed. 

Washington County reports an excellent cattle 
show for that year, and a number of premiums 
awarded to the successful exhibitors. This .same 
year the Ohio Importation Company was org-an- 
ized at the Ross County fair. The Company began 
the next sea.son the imi)ortalion of fine cattle from 
England, and, in a fi-w years, did incalculable good 
in this resjiect, as well lus make considerable money 
in the enterprise. 

These societies wen; re-organized when the law 
of 1S4IJ went into effect, and, with those that had 
gimc down ami the iu\v! ones start<'d, gave an im- 
petus to agriculture that to this day is felt. Now 
every county Inus a society, while district, Stat* 
and inter-Stat« socictitis arc annually held; all 
promoti\-# in their tendency, and all a benefit to 
every one. 

The Ohio State Hoard of .Vgriculture was organ- 
ized by an act of the liCgislaturt', pa.s,sed I'ebruary 
27, IS III. Since then various amendnunls to the 
organic law liave been pa.s.sed from time to time as 

• Tlin IKtutem TVfltrwM puhllnliwl in Cincinnati, In 1826. It wm 
" inlHCi-llitncoiui," tmt contjiiniMl many oxcellont articlcH on ngri- 
cullurr. 

The F^irm^a' Rtwrii wna piil>IiHliod In Cincinnati, in I8:jl, and 
continiii'il forspTerul y«'arH. 

Thf fihio Fnnnrr was piihlitilied at Ilalavla, Clermont County, in 
IKtl, l.y linn. SanuicI M.dary. 

ThoHf woro tti« oarly aKricnlttiral Journal)*, Homo of wlilcli ypt 
Kurvlvp, though in m-w niimcN.iind unth-r lu-w tnitnngpu]«>rit. otliers 
havi-. iiU«(, sincn Iti'on aildfd. nomo of whirh Imvo an ».xci*edin(;Iy 
largo circulation, and arc an inlluence for much good In the State. 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



163 



the necessities of the Board and of agriculture in 
the State demanded. The .same day that tlie act 
was passed creating the State Board, an act was 
also pa.ssed providing for the erection of count}' and 
district societies, under which law, with subsequent 
amendments, the present county and district agri- 
cultural societies are managed. During the years 
from 1846 down to the present time, great improve- 
ments have been made in the manner of conduc t 
ing these societies, resulting in exhibitions unsur- 
passed in any other State. 

Pomology and horticulture are branches of in- 
dustry so closely allied with agricuhure that a 
brief resume of their operations in Ohio will be 
eminently adapted to these pages. The early 
planting and care of fruit in Ohio has already been 
noticed. Among the earliest pioneers were men of 
fine tastes, who not only desired to benefit them- 
selves and their country, but who were possessed 
with a laudable ambition to produce the best fruits 
and vegetables the State could raise. For this end 
they studied carefully the topograph)' of the coun- 
try, its soil, climate, and various influences upon 
such culture, and by careful experiments with fruit 
and vegetables, produced the excellent varieties now 
in use. Mention has been made of Mr. Longworth 
and Mr. Ernst, of Cincinnati ; and Israel and Aaron 
W. Putnam, on the Muskingum River ; Mr. Dille, 



Judges Fuller and Whittle.sey, Dr. Jared Kirtland 
and his .sons, and others — all jiractical entluisia.sts in 
these departments. At first, individual eft'orts alone, 
owing to the condition of the country, could be 
made. As the State filled with settlers, and means 
of communication became better, a desire for an in- 
terchange of views became apparent, resulting in 
the establishment of periodicals devoted to these 
subjects, and societies where different ones could 
meet and discuss the.se things. 

A Horticultural and Pomological Society was 
organized in Ohio in 18()6. Before the organiza- 
tion of State societies, however, several distinct or 
independent societies existed ; in fact, out of these 
grew the State Society, which in turn produced 
good by stimulating the creation of county societies. 
All these societies, aids to agi'iculture, have pro- 
gressed as the State developed, and have done much 
in advancing fine fi'uit, and a taste for festhetic cul- 
ture. In all parts of the West, their influence is 
seen in better and improved fruit ; its culture and 
its demand. 

To-day, Ohio stands in the van of the V/estern 
States in agriculture and all its kindred associa- 
tions. It only needs the active energy of her 
citizens to keep her in this place, advancing 
as time advances, until the goal of her ambition is 
reached. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



CLIMATOLOGY— OUTLINE— VARIATION 



IN OHIO— ESTIM. ATE 
— VAKIABILITV. 



IN DEGREES— RAINFALL— AMOUNT 



TH E climate of Ohio varies about four degrees. 
Though originally liable to malaria in many 
districts when first settled, in conseijuence of a 
den.se vegetation induced by summer heats and 
rains, it has became very healthful, owing to clear- 
ing away this vegetation, and proper drainage. The 
State has became as favorable in its sanitary char- 
acteristics as any other in its locality. Ohio is re- 
markable for its high productive capacity, almost 
every thing grown in the temperate climates being 
within its range. Its extremes of heat and cold 
are less than almost any other State in or near the 
same latitude, hence Ohio sufli^rs less from the ex- 
treme dry or wet seasons which afft'ct all adjoining 
States. These modifications are mainly due to the 
influence of the Lake Erie waters. These not 



only modify the heat of summer and the cold of 
winter, but apparently reduce the profusion of 
rainfall in summer, and favor moisture in dry pe- 
riods. No finer climate exists, all c<inilitions consid- 
ered, for delicate vegetable growths, than that por- 
tion of Ohio bordering on Tiake Erie. Tliis is 
abundantly attested by the rec-ent extensive devel- 
opment there of grape culture. 

Mr. Lorin Blodget, author of ''American Clima- 
tolog)-,' in the agricultural report of 1853. says; 
"A district bordering on the Southern and West- 
ern portions of Lake Erie is more favorable in this 
respect (gi'ape cultivation) than any other on the 
Atlantic side of the Rocky Mountains, and it will 
ultimately provi' capable of a very liberal extension 
of vine culture." 



r^ 



!>£ 



164 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



Experience has proven Mr. Blodget correct in 
'his theory. Now extensive fields of grapes are 
everywhere found on the Lake Erie Slope, while 
other small fruits find a sure footing on its soil. 

" Con.sidering the climate of Ohio. by isother- 
mal lines and rain shadings, it mu.st be borne in 
mind," says Mr. Blodg(tt, in his description of 
Ohio's climate, from which these facts are drawn, 
" that local influences often reipiire to be considered. 
At tiie .Sijulli, from Cincinnati to 8teubenvil!e, the 
deep river valleys are two degrees warmer than the 
hilly districts of the Sixme vicinity. The lines are 
drawn intermediate between the two extremes. 
Thus, Cincinnati, on the plain, is 2° warmer than 
at the Observatory, and 4' warmer for each year 
than Ilillsboro, Highland Countj' — the one being 
50tl, the other l,()0(t, feet above sea-level. The 
immediate valley of the Ohio, from Cincinnati to 
Gallipolis, i.s about 75° for the summer, and 54° 
for the year; while the adjacent hilly districts, 
HOO to 500 feet higher, are n.it above 7:5° and 52° 
respectively. For the summer, generally, the 
river valley.s arc 73° to 75° ; the fevel and central 
portions 72° to 73°, and the lake border 70° to 
72°. A peculiar mildness of climate belongs to 
tlie vicinity of Kelley's Island, Sandusky and 
Toledo. Here, both winter and summer, the cli- 
mate is 2° warmer than on th(^ hi'_'lilan<l ridge ex- 
tending from Norwalk and (Hnilin to Hudson and 
the northeastern border. This ridge varies from 
500 to 750 feet above the lake, or S50 to 1,200 
feet above sea level. This high belt has a summer 
temperature of 70°, 27° for the winter, and 4!l° 
for the year ; while at Sandusky and Kelley's 
I.sland the summer is 72°, the winter 29°, and the 
year 50°. In the central and eastern parts of 
the State, the winters are com)iarativcly cold, the 
average falling to 32° ovit tin: ninre li'vcl districts, 
and to 21)° on the highlands. The Ohio River 
valley is about 35°, hut the highlands near it fall 
to 31° and 32° for the winter. " 

As early as lS2t, several persons in the State 
began taking iIk; temperature in their respective 
localities, for the spriu',:, sumimT, autumn ami win- 
ter, averaging them for the entire year. I'Vom limi: 
to lime, the.se were giithered and pulilished, inducing 
fit hers to tuke a step in i lie same direction. Not 
long since, a gcDcrul table, fruiu about forty local- 



ities, was gathered and compiled, covering a period 
of more than a (|uarter of a century. This table, 
when averaged, showed an average temperature of 
52.4°, 9n evenness of temperature not equaled 
in many bordering States. 

Very imperfect observations have been made 
of the amount of rainfall in the State. Until 
lately, only an individual here and there through- 
out the State took enough interest in this matter 
to faithfully olwervo and reconl the averages of 
several years in succes-sion. In conse(|uence of 
this fact, the ilhistration of that feature of Ohio's 
(dimate is less satisfactory than that of the 
temperature. "The actual rainfall of different 
months and years varies greatly, " says Mr. Hind- 
get. "There may be more in a month, and, 
again, the quantity may ri.se to 12 or 15 inches 
in a single month. For a year, the variation may 
be from a minimum of 22 or 25 inches, to a maxi- 
mum of 50 or even GO inches in the southern part 
of the State, and 45 to 48 inches along the lake 
border. The average is a fixed quantity, and, 
although re(iuiring a period of twenty or twenty- 
five years to fix it absolutely, it is entirely certain 
and unchangeable when known. On charts, the.se 
average quantities are rejiresented by' depths 
of shading. At Cincinnati, the last fifteen years 
of observation somewhat reduce the average of 
48 inches, of former years, t^) 4(1 or 47 inches." 

Spring and summer generally give the most rain, 
there being, in general, 10 to 12 inches in the 
spring, 10 to 14 inches in the summer, and 8 to 
10 inches in the autumn. The winter is the most 
variable of all the seasons, the southern j)art of 
the State having 10 inches, and the northern part 
7 inches or los-s — an average of 8 or inches. 

The charts of rainfall, compiled for the State, 
show a fall of 30 inches on the lake, and 41! inches 
at the Ohio River. Hetween these two ]Hiints, the 
fall is marked, beginning at the north. !!2, 34, 3(; 
and 38 inches, all near the lake. FarlluT down, 
in the latitude of Tu.scarawas, Monroe ami Mercer 
Counties, the fall is 40 inches, while the soutli- 
westerri ])art is 42 and 44 inches. 

The clearing away of forests, the drainage of 
the land, and other causes, have lessened the rain- 
fall, making considerable difference since the days 
of the aborigines. 



^1 



^^ 



PART II. 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



CHAPTER I* 



INTRODUCTORY— TOPOGRAPHY— GEOLOGICAL SURVEY— EARLY BEGINNINGS AND GROWTH OP 
THE AGRICULTURAL SYSTEJI— PHYSICAL AND MATERIAL RESOURCES OF THE COUNTY. 



LOGAN County lies just north of the 
western half of the State, and is 
bounded on the north by Auglaize and Hardin 
Counties, on the east by Union, on the south 
by Champaign, and on the west by Shelby and 
Auglaize. Its form is that of a rectangle, 
lying east and west, its southern line being 
broken by the absence of a tier of lots in 
the southern margin of Miami and Union 
townships. The area according to the latest 
available appraisement report, that of 1870, 
is 281,'-}96 acres, of which 101,137 acres are 
arable or plow land, 59,-346 acres, pasture or 
meadow land, and 120,823 acres are unculti- 
vated or wood land. The forthcaming report 
of the present year will show some changes 
in these figures indicating the extent to which 
the reclaiming of uncultivated lands has been 
carried, especially in the townships of Stokes 

*■ For the Topographical and Geological features of this 
chapter, the writer is principally indebted to the brief paper 
of Franklin C. Hill, found in the report of the State Geologi- 
cal Survey. In the divLsion of the liegislalive appropriation 
for the purposes of this survey, among the several counties 
of the State in accordance with their geological importance, 
but a small part was devoted to Logan County, and the re- 
port is, therefore, less exhaustive than might have been de- 
sired. The scope of the present worl^, however, does not 
contemplate original researches in this department, and the 
paper is embodied in this chapter essentially aa it appears in 
the volume issued by the State. 



and Bokes Creek. The average assessed val- 
uation of farming lands by the last report, 
exclusive of buildings, was $29.66 per acre. 

The boundary lines of the county are all 
nearly level, and hold an elevation of be- 
tween 1,000 and 1,200 feet above tide-water, 
falling where the Miami River goes out on 
the west to about 975 feet, but the centre has 
been upheaved until the summit, on John 
W. Hogue's farm, one and one-half mile> east 
of Bellefontaine, has reached the height of 
1,540 feet, which equals 1,108 feet above low 
water at Cincinnati, and 975 feet above Lake 
Erie, and is the highest point yet measured in 
Ohio. This point lies upon the great arch 
that traverses the State from Cincinnati to 
the lake shore between Sandusky and Toledo 
and was probably the highest peak in what 
was originally a low chain of mountains. 

The general form of the county is that of 
a flat cone, about 500 feet in height, from 
which the water-fall drains off in all direc- 
tions; the county is situated, however, just 
south of the great water-shed, and the streams 
ultimately find their way into the Scioto or 
Miami rivers. This cone has been cleft from 
north to south to the depth of some 300 feet 
by the valley of Mad River, leaving a summit 



9 V 



^ 



ir.fi 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



on the east at Wickersbani's Corners (called 
"Jerusalem," on the county map) only twen- 
ty-five feet lower than the one on Hogue's 
farm; the valley thus formed is drained prin- 
cipally by the Mad R iver, which rises in Jef- 
ferson Tosvnship and flows southwesterly 
through the county. The character of this 
stream is accurately discribed by its name, 
and in its headlong course furnishes an inex- 
haustible water-power for the numerous flour- 
ing mills that are located on its banks. The 
upper part of the valley is drained by Rush 
Creek, which finds its way into the Scioto in a 
northeastwardly direction, receiving in its 
course through Mill Creek and the Darby, 
the drainage of the eastern edge of the coun- 
ty. The waters falling on Hogue's summit, 
and flowing through the streets of Bellefon- 
taine, as "Possum Run," fall into Blue 
Jacket, thence into Buckongehelas, and so into 
the Great Miami, whence they are taken at 
Port Jefferson, into the summit-level of the 
Miami canal, and there are divided, part flow- 
ing southward into the Ohio and the Mexican 
Gulf, and part going northward to Lake Erie 
and the St. Lawrence. The Great Miami, ris- 
ing in the southern part of Hardin County, 
flows southwardly through the western half 
of Logan, until within two and a-half miles of 
the southern boundary, and suddenly turtiinn- 
to the west by north, flows out into Shelby 
County. 

The county is everywhere traversed by a 
number of iiright sparkling runs, tiiat find 
their origin in the innumerable springs that 
issue from the gravelly deposit which forms 
the foundation of the soil. Scattered over 
the surface are numerous small lakes or ponds 
that owe their origin to the same source. Of 
these. Rush Creek l>ake. Silver, Black, Dake's, 
and Twin Lakes are tho most imjmrtant. 
Several of these are valuable for their ice 
crop, and some furnish considerable fish. 
One, the Indian Lake, in Stokes and Rich- 



land townships, is now included in the Lewis- 
ton Reservoir, which was designed to col- 
lect and hold in reserve the rainfall of that 
region for the benefit of the State canals. 

Although the entire surface of the country 
is covered deep in drift or its derivaties, yet 
the upheaval of the centre exposes three for- 
mations of rook, and there is good reason to 
snj)pose that a fourth would be visible but for 
the immense deposit of gravel in the Miami 
Valley. These formations are Huron shale, 
or black slate, shown in the hills about the 
head of Mad River, the corniferous limestone, 
best scci'i in the Bellefontaine, Mackachack 
and Middleburg quarries, and the water-lime 
rock, exposed in one place on the Mackachack, 
and in numerous ones in the neighborhood of 
Belle Centre and Northwood, while it is the 
Niagara that is supposed to lie under the 
the drift in the Miami Valley. 

The Huron shale, lying the highest, and 
being, from its soft, laminated structure, most 
subject to the wear of the elements, has been 
cut down by frost and water until only two 
irregular islands are left. The smaller of 
these islands, lying directly east of Bellefon- 
taine, in Rush Creek, Lake and Jefferson 
townships, is the the last outlier of its forma- 
tion east of the anticlinal axis of the State, 
or, rather, is directly on the crown of the 
arch. Its northern end is hidden under the 
drift, but must lie somewhere near the village 
of Harper, and the southern is found about 
three miles southwest of Zanesfield, where a 
deep cut was begun through it some years 
since on the line of tho Delaware Railroad, 
giving a length of about nine miles, with an 
average width of some two and a half or 
three miles. The second or larger island lies 
east of Zanesfield and AVest Liberty, and un- 
derlies Pickereltown and Wickersham Cor- 
ners in Rush Creek, and the towrishi])S of 
Jefferson, Perry, Moiu-oe and Zane, with a 
span extending into the northern edge of 



,^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



167 



Champaign County. It is about twelve miles 
long by three wide, and within its limits are to be 
found the finest and most characteristic expos- 
ures. The thickness of the slate under Hogue's 
summit, by actual measurement by the level, is 
110 feet, and 136 feet, by careful barometrical 
estimate, un'der Wickersham's Corners. 

Immediately below these Huron shale 
islands lies one large island of corniferous 
limestone, which can be traced through Rush 
Creek, Jefferson, Perry, Zane, Monroe, Lib- 
erty, Lake, Harrison and McArthur town- 
ships. Its thickness is probably between 00 
and 100 feet, but nowhere in the county have 
both top and bottoiQ been exposed at the 
same place, and the records kept of boring 
are so imperfect as to be worthless. The 
largest quarries are those of Messrs. Scarf's at 
Bellefontaine, of Gen. A. S. Piatt on the 
Mackachack, in Monroe Township, and Mr. J. 
B. Sharpe at Middleburg. Messrs. Scarf's 
quarry has been worked for a depth of over 
twenty feet, chiefly for lime, 1,000 bushels of 
which are produced by twenty-five cords of 
wood. The product is of good quality and color, 
but difficult to ship, on account of the rapidity 
with which it air-slacks, only three or four 
days being required to reduce it. Some 
courses show hydraulic qualities, but no sys- 
tematic experiments have been made with it, 
nor can any estimate be made of the amount 
of business done. Gen. Piatt's quarry has 
been worked to about the same depth, and 
the lime produced by the same expenditure 
of fuel, and of perhaps rather better quality. 
The building stone has all been consumed in 
the neighborhood. It is capable of being work- 
ed to fine eifect, as the General's own mansion 
abundantly testifies. Mr. Sharpe's quarry at 
Middleburg has been worked to about the same 
depth as the others, but with more system, and 
exposes the rock better. The section may be 
described as follows, in a descending series : 



Feel. 

Covering of drift 2 

First course, much broken G 

Second course, solid 4 

Oclierous seam 

Third course, firm, thin layers 8 

Fourth course, solid 4 

Fifth course, solid 

Total 25 

Numerous small quarries have been opened 
all around the edges of the island, both for 
stone and for lime, but they are only worked 
occasionally, and for local purposes. 

The geological scale of the State calls for a 
b^d of Oriskany sandstone under the cornif- 
erous, and of Hamilton above it, but there are 
no traces of either to be found in Logan 
County. Remains of the former are found 
scattered about the country in the form of 
huge boulders, from which, at an early date, 
grindstones were formed; and in the clay are 
found small fragments with corners sharply 
defined, as though but recently broken. A 
popular explanation is, that from the combined 
action of the upheaval and the glacier, this 
formation was crushed into fragments and 
pushed bodily from its position, leaving only 
these fragments to mark its early existence. 
Dr. Newberry, in Vol. I., p. 141, speaks of 
Oriskany sandstone at West Liberty, but this 
is most probably a mistake. In Gen. Piatt's 
quarry, on the Mackachack, a bed of fine sand- 
stone exists, that has been quarried and re- 
duced to sand for plastering, with excellent suc- 
cess, but it is only a local deposit in the upper 
layers of the corniferous, fifty-five feet above 
the top of the Helderberg, in the same field. 
These small sandstone deposits are quite com- 
mon in that neigborhood, and, in fact, the 
whole appearance of the rocks is so sandy 
that Mr. George G. Shutnard reported the 
following section in the prospectus of the 
" Logan and Champaign Petroleum Compa- 
ny," in 1865 : 



168 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



1 Drift, f;riive] and hniiltlers of sienite, gneiss, 

red feldspar, Lornbleude and mica schist 
qiiiiriz, grindstone, etc 20 feet 

2 Bliiclc and dark brown ))ituniinous slate 40 *' 

3 Hard, fine grained, light-gray, silicioussand- 

stone (as far as exposed) 8 " 

4 Black and dark brown bituminous slate 60 " 

5 Hard, Light-blue, fine-grained selicious sand- 

stone 4 " 

6 Black and dark brown bituminous slate, con- 

taining large septarian segregations and 
nodules of iron pyrites 150 " 

7 Hard, light-gray calcareo-silicioussandstonc, 

thicknessas far as exposed 20 " 

277 

Mr. J. H. Tnskeep, who worketj tlie drill for 
the said company, reports the section obtained 
on B. Ewing's land, in the southern part of 
Monroe Township, as follows : 

Slate 6 feet 

Flint ,5 " 

Sandstone 639 " 

KedSlale 12 " 

Blue Limestone 43 " 

705 

; 

At that point patience, hope and funds 
failed, and the project was abandotied. It is 
much to be regretted that a more careful or 
more skillful record was not kept of this bor- 
ing. The "flint five feet" evidently was the 
upper course of the Corniferous, but it is dif- 
ficult to understand what could be included 
in "1)39 feet of sandstone." Mr. Shninard's 
second, third and fourth divisions evidently 
refer to the Huron-shale, and his fifth to the 
upper courses of the Corniferous, but his si.\th 
and seventh would seem to be purely inunri- 
nary or very much confused. There are tra- 
ditions of a former sandstone quarry on the 
hill-top east of Zanesficld, from which the 
neighborhood was siip])lied with grindstones 
and some still hope that it will be re-discov- 
ered. There is now a large mass of Wavcrly 
sandstone lyi'ig on the siile of a slate valley 
on the Mackachack, half buried in gravel and 
the debris of slate, and it has been propo.sed 
to open a quarry in it. It would doubtless 



yield fine blocks of beautiful stone, Imt as 
soon as fairly opened it would probably fail 
from exhaustion. From all that has been dis- 
covered, therefore, the Oriskany sandstone 
should be dropped from the Logan County 
scale. 

Below the corniferous lies the great sheet 
of Helderberg, or water-lime, the lowest for- 
mation yet seen in the county. It has been 
worked on Gen. A. S. Piatt's land, on the 
Mackachack, and at Northwood, Huntsville, 
Richhind and Bolle Centre. At the latter 
point, in Anderson's quarry, probably the best 
and largest in the county. Much of the stone 
in this tuiarry is in thin and smooth courses, 
and makes excellent flagging, 'i'he yield of 
stone is stated at about 1,000 perches annual- 
ly, worth $1.25 per perch in Belle (^entre. 
Some of it is shij)i)ed on the Sandusky Rail- 
road, but local demand consumes the greater 
part of it, and all of the lime burned. At the 
depth of fifteen feet a course is reached that 
is of so little value that it is avoided. As 
there is only two feet of " stripping," it is 
easier to extend the work sideways than 
downwards. 

The conformation of the surface of Logan 
County indicates that under Miami, Pleasant, 
and Bloomfield townships perhaps the Hel- 
derberg stone has been scoured off, atid that, 
were the masses of drift penetrated, the first 
fixed rock found would be the Niagara. But 
the highest point where the Niagara has been 
worked is Tremont, in Clarke County, and the 
location of that formation in the Logan Coun- 
ty geological map is a matter of pure conjec- 
ture. It follows then, that, though attaininga 
high barometrical elevation, Logan County is 
geologically very low, and any attempts to find 
coal (T petroleum are likely to be disappoint- 
ed. The geological formations that are found 
here are older than the coal deposits, and while 
the latter might be foinid above such forma- 
tions it cannot be found below them. 



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^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



169 



The resources stored in the ffeologrical form- 
ations of Logan County are numerous and im- 
portant. The rocks yield building stone in 
sufficient quantities and quality for all local 
demands, although peculiar circumstances and 
a freak of fashion at present bring stone from 
distant counties for the more important struc- 
tures. Lime is supplied for building and 
farming purposes in such quantities and at 
such prices as to defy competition from abroad. 
It is thought that the islands of Huron shale 
are capable of supplying hydraulic lime, 
though it is at present entirely undeveloped. 
Beds of clay exist in every township, suitable 
for brick, tile, and coarser pottery, and are 
now worked to some extent. In 1876, eleven 
tile works were reported whose combined 
product for the year reached to about 100,000 
rods of drain tile of various sizes, and with a 
demand that was equal to the supply. Un- 
derlying the marsh, at the head of Rush Creek 
Lake, is an immense deposit of white shell 
marl, that would be of great value to the 
poorer lands of the hills, and doubtless simi- 
lar beds exist in other parts of the county. 
The vast beds of gravel scattered over most 
of the townships furnish an inexhaustible sup- 
ply for the construction of the admirable pikes 
which are found everywhere throughout the 
county. The chief source of wealth in Logan 
County, however, is its rich and varied soil, 
which, in common with the whole valley of 
the Miami, has acquired a widespread reputa- 
tion for its luxuriant production. The soil is 
almost wholly derived from the drift-gravel 
and clays. Although much of it is at first wet 
and heavy, it proves, under proper drainage 
and tillage, rich and generous in its yield. In 
the valleys of the Miami and Mad Rivers, oaks 
and hickories prevail, but on the higher lands 
sugar-maples take their place, mixed with, 
and, on the flat clay lands, overpowered and 
driven out by, the beech. Tulip, or, as it is 
often called, poplar or white wood, elm, ash. 



sycamore, basswood, dogwood, sassafras, and 
other trees are found in large numbers, but 
oaks and hickories, sugar and beech largely 
prevail and give character to the forests. At 
no time of the year is this so apparent as in 
the early spring, when, in passing from an oak 
region to a maple one, as in going from West 
Liberty to Zanesfield, points of view may be 
chosen so that the landscape on one side will 
appear bleak and b^e as midwinter, while on 
the other, the hills are clothed with the ver- 
dure of June, and the dividing lines will be 
as sharp and well defined as if the woods had 
been laid out and planted by the art of the 
landscape gardeuer. 

The settlers found here a heavily tim- 
bered country, with here and there little 
patches of prairie that bore a heavy growth 
of rank grass. These open spots were 
probably the site of sunken lakes, some of 
them showing unmistakable signs of the 
watery foundation beneath them. The whole 
country, notwithstanding its high elevation, 
was wet and swampy. To erect here a home 
and render the land subject to an annual 
tribute for the maintenance of the familj", 
taxed the powers of the pioneers to their ut- 
most. It was an even-handed struggle for 
subsistence, and anything accomplished might 
safely be set down as an improvement. This 
was practically true for the first fifteen years 
in the history of a settlement. An average of 
from three to five years were consumed be- 
fore the frontier farm could be relied upon to 
furnish a support, and in the meanwhile the 
fare furnished by the abundance of game and 
wild fruits was eked out by economical pur- 
chases of corn from the older settlements. 
After erecting a cabin with the aid of hospit- 
able neighbors, from five t o ten acres were 
felled and " chojiped over." After this come 
the universal bee for rolling, and then the 
burning. The latter required close atten- 
tion, and it was no unusual thing for the 






^ 



170 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



pioneer to continue liis laliors far into the night 
— the husband chopping by the light of the 
blaze and the wife tending the fires. The great 
advantage seemed to be in getting ready for 
the rolling bee as early as possible, for when 
the season once set in there was a constant 
demand for the services of the pioneer in the 
fields of his neighbors for upwards of three 
months. It was no unusual thing for a neigh- 
borhood to 1)8 engaged every working day for 
six weeks in " rolling bees " without any in- 
termission. Many were thus called upon when 
they could least afford the time, but from the 
necessities of the situation there was no re- 
fusal possible, and huge as this demand ap- 
pears, it will not be considered exorbitant 
when it is remembered that the neighborhoods 
covered an area of from ten to fifteen miles 
s(.[uare. At this day the reckless destruc- 
tion of timber in that early period seemed 
wasteful in the extreme, and the tendency, 
under the circumstances which surrounded 
the pioneer, was to underrate the value of 
timber, and to carry the work of clearing to 
the very verge of denuding the land of this 
impf)rtaiit aid to agriculture. This tendency 
has not been so marked in Logan County as 
in some of the northern and northeastern 
counties of the State. In some parts of this 
county, owing to the low, swampy character 
of the lanil, the original forests have not yet 
been disturbed and each year considerable 
timber is cut olf for the ])urp(jse of clearing 
the land. A\'uod is still the principal article 
in use for fuel in the country districts. In the 
older portions of the county the scarcity of 
timber is beginning to attract attention and 
less of it is sacrificed to supply the villages 
with fuel. Here coal is beginning to be pretty 
generally used, partly ou a'-coutit of its con- 
venience and partly on account of the cost. 

The prevailing system of agriculture in Lo- 
gan County may properlj' be callod that of 
mixed hu!^bandry. Specialties find little favor 



among the farmers. The practice is to culti- 
vate the various kinds of grain and grasses, 
and to raise, keep and fatten stock, the latter 
business engaging, however, hardly' more than 
a tenth of the farmers. Writing as early as 
1840, of the agriculture of Logan County and 
the rest of the Miami Valley, Dr. Drake says : 
" The agri('ulture of this, as of other new coun- 
tries, is not of the best. Too much reliance is 
placed on the extent and fertility of their 
fields, by the farmers, who in general, consid- 
er these a substitute for good tillage. They 
frequently plant double the quantity they can 
properly cultivate, and thus impoverish their 
lands, and sufl'er thcni to become infi'sted with 
briars and noxious weeds. The kind of cer- 
eals generally cultivated are Indian corn, 
wheat, rye, oats, and barley. The first is 
found on every plantation, but fiourish(>s best 
in a calcareous soil, where, with good culture, 
it will yield from sixty to one hundred bushels 
per acre. Wheat is raised almost as generally 
as Indian corn, and is perhaps better adapted 
to the soil of most parts of the Miami country. 
Twenty-two bushels may be stated as the 
average produce per acre, though it sometimes 
amounts to forty. Its medium weight is 
sixty pounds per bushel. The bearded wheat 
with reddish chaff seems latterly to be pre- 
ferred, as least liable to injury fronj the wee- 
vil and Hessian fly. Before the settlement of 
this country, the woods ab.oundod in grass and 
herbage, proper for the subsistence of cattle, 
but these have long since disappeared, ex- 
cept in the remote situations. In the prairies, 
however, when the whole energy of the soil is 
employed in producing gra.sses and herbace- 
ous plants instead of trees, the pasture is still 
luxuriant, anil the business of gra/.ing ex- 
tremely profitable. It is chiefly in Cham|iaigii 
and Greene Counties that this remafk is true. 
In the former t'100,0(IO, it is estimated, an; 
annually received for fat cattle. The prairies 
are likewise found to support hogs, which 



^ «- 




LOGAN COUNTY COURT HOUSE 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



17c 



grow and fatten on the numerous fleshy roots 
with which those tracts abound. Sheep, both 
domestic and foreign, are alreadj' diflfused ex- 
tensively through the Miami country. They 
are in general healthy, and rather prone to 
excessive fatness. Their flesh is said to be 
superior in flavor to. that of the sheep of the 
Atlantic States." The criticisms of Dr. Drake 
upon the agriculture of 1820, are not entirely 
out of place to-day. Provided with a rich and 
varied soil, the average farmer has not felt 
the need of studying the principles of such 
branches of learning as relates to agriculture, 
and frequently hesitated to receive or reject 
the teachings of science. A few persons, how- 
ever, were found at a comparatively early 
day, who brought to the business of farming 
that amount of patient investigation which 
the greatest interest of this country demands. 
Farmers are becoming more and more solicit- 
ous to learn from others, and the husbandry 
of the country has made a marked advance 
during the last sixty years, and is still rapidly 
improving in every respect. 

Owing to the richness of the soil the sub- 
ject of fertilizers has not received the atten- 
tion which it has obtained in the less favored 
portions of the State. Phosphates are never 
used and land plaster, ordy in comparatively 
few instances. In many cases scarcely ordi- 
nary care has been exercised in preserving 
the ordinary accumulations of the barnyard, 
much less to add to this by artificial means. 
This neglect has not been so seriously felt on 
account of the remarkable qualities of most 
of the farming land in this county. Indeed, 
the application of manure requires fine dis- 
crimination. It is not an infrequent thing 
to see a crop of grass or wheat partially 
spoiled by the lack of judgment in the appli- 
cation of manure. On the other hand, fields 
are to be found that have been constantly 
cropped for from ten to forty years. This 
practice has, in most cases, borne its legiti- 



mate result, and has awakened a decided in- 
terest in the subject of the science of farming. 
Rotation of crops is now generally practiced, 
corn being the first crop planted on sod 
ground, followed by another crop of corn and 
that by wheat. With the latter crop the 
manure is generally used, as it is thought it 
shows the largest result and leaves a better 
soil for the grass which follows. Deep plow- 
ing with the Michigan double plow was prac- 
ticed to a considerable extent some years 
since with good effect. Crops grown upon 
land so treated furnished an increased yield 
upon those grown upon shallow plowed land. 
Their heavy draft soon made these plows un- 
popular, though a few are still found in use 
in the county. The practice of deep plow- 
ing, however, is still maintained, and is now 
generally accomplished by a heavy steel 
plow drawn by three horses. The great ob- 
jection to the double plow, that it buried 
the surface soil too deep, was not felt here to 
be a serious evil. A year or two was neces- 
sary to reap the full benefit of the sub-soil- 
ing, but when this was carried on every year 
the soil becomes thorouglily acted upon by 
the elements and thoroughly mixed through- 
out, and in a few years of this treatment the 
farmer has a fine, friable soil ten to fifteen 
inches deep. 

Artificial drainage has been a necessity 
from the first. In 187G eleven county ditches, 
with an aggregate length of nearly twenty- 
five miles, the longest of which reaches a dis- 
tance of five and two-fifths miles. These 
were constructed at a cost of §11,170. Since 
then several other important ditches have 
been constructe i. In addition to these there 
are thirty township ditches, with an aggre- 
srate lenn-th of eio-ht and five-eighths miles, 
which have been constructed at a cost of 
$3,10-1:. The first drain-tile were introduced 
about 18G0, and have rapidly grown in the 
public estimation with each succeeding j'car. 



r 



^ 



174 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUXTY. 



There are some fit'ti^-un drain-tile estal)Hsli- 
ments in the country, the oldest of wliich was 
started not far from 1870. These manufac- 
tories have found a ready sale for all they 
could niaki^, disposinjr in the last ten years 
of not far from 300,000 rods of their 
product. Farms are everywhere beinj^ 
greatly improved by under draining and 
ditching. Low lands that wore nearly an en- 
tire waste, and rolling lands of the character 
called " spouty," are being reclaimed, so that 
the untillable land, if all collected into a body, 
would scarcely cover a section. The very 
summits are wheat fields, and though now in 
some parts of the county the first clearings 
are being made the whole available land is 
destined soon to be brought under the plow. 
The land thus reclaimed produces the finest 
crops; can be cultivated much sooner after a 
rain, and from eight to ten days earlier in the 
spring. 

The subject of grass land has not attained 
the imiiortance it dofs in a country chiefly de- 
voted to grazing. Wheat ajid corn are the 
principal products and sources of revenue, 
and grass is cultivated for the use of such 
stock as the system of mixed husbandry 
adopted here requires. Timothy and red top 
grasses are mainly relied upon for the supply 
of hay, meadows being turned over about once 
ill four years. Meadows are never turned over 
to pasturago, the grass lanils being seeded for 
the especial purpose for which they are de- 
signed. .Mowing lands ard but little under- 
drained, and then only where the natural l:iy 
of the land demands it to carry off the settling 
nioistiire. Top dressing for meadows has re- 
ceived but little attention, the manure being 
generally applied to the second crop of corn 
or wheat just before seeding. Orchard and 
blue grass have been introduced in a limited 
way of late years, experiments with mixtures. 
of the.se grasses have proved, it is thought, its 
value as pasture. None of tiie former is sown 



for hay , although it is highly recommeded 
by some. Millet and Hungarian grass 
have been used to some extent for the 
past fifteen or twenty years, and are in de- 
mand more or less every year. The latter is 
the one principally used, and furnishes a valu- 
able substitute for a failing crop of meadow 
grass, or when the acreage has been tempo- 
rarily cut down too low for the necessities of 
the farm. The average yield of the county 
is from one and a quarter to one and a tliinl 
tons per acre. In the matter of clover lands 
the farmers scorn fully alive to the importance 
of their proper use. The market demand for 
seed, however, which makes it a cash article 
with a ready sale, proves a great temptation 
to raise it for the market. It is frequently 
sown in combination with timoth}' for the 
purpose of producing a quality of hay highly 
esteemed for milch cows and siieep. It is 
used to some extent for pasturage, but the 
predominant purpose, perhaps, is for seed. 
The acreage turned under has been snuill 
though there are evidences of an iniprovemont 
in this direction. 

The history of wheat-growing in Logan 
County really begins with the building of the 
railroads. Before this the principal product 
was Indian corn, and what little wheat was 
used wiis obtained from the older counties. 
The railroads, however, brought a market for 
this cereal right to the door of the producer — 
a fact that gave an impetus to its cultivation. 
In its early culture the usual discouragements 
were met. The rust proved a great plague, 
and the Hessian fly worked considerable de- 
struction at times. There is less complaint 
of these during late years, and in most j)arts 
of the county wheat is considered a fairly re- 
liable crop. Its greatest enemies now are the 
occasionally cold, snowless winters. The large 
admixture of clay in the soil of the county 
makes the wheat peculiarly susceptible to the 
damaging action of heavy frosts. For the 



-.|V 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



175 



past three years, however, the yield of this 
grain has been unusually large, and the 
largest acreage ever known in the county 
was reaped this year. This fact is due large- 
ly to the good prices which wheat has com- 
manded of late, and to the fact that a dry 
May, last year, prevented the grass from 
'• catching " ou pieces that were newly " seed- 
ed down." The variety sown in later years 
has been the Scott, the supremacy of which is 
now disputed by the Fultz. Experiments 
have been made with the Genesee, White; 
Mediterranean, Golden Drop, and Amber, 
which have made some friends, but the Scott 
still maintains its hold upon the best farmers. 
No particular system has been adopted in tho 
cultivation of this grain. The practice of 
plowing " barefallows " during the summer, 
and then replowing or harrowing deeply be- 
fore sowing in wheat, is still continued to 
some extent. Corn stubble ground is most 
frequently used for growing tliis crop. When 
the manure is used with wheat it is thorough- 
ly harrowed in and the seed then drilled in, 
the character of the soil obviating the necessi- 
ty of plowing. The practice of sowing upon 
the same ground for several successive years 
is becoming much less common, though still 
followed in some localities where the soil 
seems well nigh exhaustless. This grain is one 
of the principal sources of revenue, and has 
given Logan County the reputation of a great 
grain country. The grain is usually threshed 
in the barn-yard, where it is hauled for con- 
venience in handling the straw. The horse- 
power thresher is still used, but the steam- 
power is rapidly supplanting it among the 
farmers. 

Rye and barley are but little cultivated. 
In former years rye was in considerable de- 
mand for local distilling, but this demand has 
long since passed away. It is now grown oc- 
casionally as a winter pasture for sheep. 
After pasturing it closely, it is turned under. 



save occasionally when it is allowed to grow 
for the straw which finds. a slight demand for 
the purpose of binding corn fodder. Barley 
is raised to some extent in the southern part 
of the county whore the nearness to the brew- 
ery markets of Springfield and Dayton render 
it a profitable crop. Buckwheat has but a 
nominal place in the list of grains grown in 
Logan County, the product barelj' supplying 
the meagre home demand. 

The home demand for oats is large, and but 
little more than enough to supply this is 
raised. The crop is inclined to run to one or 
the other extreme, and the complaint is usu- 
ally that the growth is too rank or too short. 
It is usually sown on the thinnest soil, and a 
wot, drizzling April and May gives it such a 
rank growth that it lodges on the ground and 
frequently proves an entire failure. In case 
of dry weather, during these months, the crop 
is put back and often proves so short, both in 
straw and yield, that it is hardly worth the 
expense of harvesting. Rust occasionally 
complicates matters^ and, amidst all these 
difficulties, the crop is looked upon as gen- 
erally uncertain. 

The corn crop, however, while not grown to 
the exclusion of the others, is the one upon 
which the farmers of Logan County most con- 
fidently rely, and the land devoted to its cul- 
ture is only limited by the necessity of the 
situation. It is far more stable in its yield, 
less liable to disease, and may be slighted in 
its cultivation with greater impunity than any 
other crop. The soft varieties of seed are 
generally preferred, and are usually planted 
in sod ground. A second crop is frequently 
grown on the same ground, to be followed by 
wheat and then sod. It is usually well put in, 
the ground being prepared with considerable 
care and worked until the crop " tassels out." 
The old rule of "going through " the field a 
certain number of times before " laying by " 
the crop has long since been abandoned 



!) \ 



176 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



by the better fanners. The last plowing, 
after the corn has reached the height of 
five or six feet, is considered the most eifective 
in its cultivation, but the exigencies of the 
season often prevent the farmer's bestowing 
this crowning attention. The lands, being in 
the hands of small farmers or renters, are gen- 
erally worked by the proprietor alone, and 
the clover and wheat cutting, coming close 
together, frequently obliges the small farmer 
to slight his corn. When, however, the farm- 
er is able to hire help, or has boys who can 
be trusted to do the work, the plow is kept 
going through the corn — an expense that is 
amply paid by the increased yield. The crop 
is usually cut and "shocked up" in the field, 
where it is husked in the fall. After the 
husking the fodder is "re-shocked" and left 
imtil needed for feeding. The custom of 
husking from the standing stalk, which was 
early much in vogue, has been abandoned 
some time since, as wasteful of time and ma- 
terial. 

The other crops that occupy, or have occu- 
pied, a prominent place among the agricul- 
tural products of tlic county, arc potatoes, 
tlax and sorghum. The quality of the soil is 
well adapted to the raising of potatoes, and 
farmers who have given considerable atten- 
tcntion to the proper cultivation of this highly 
prized and indispensable esculent, have al- 
ways been well rewarded for their labor and 
pains-taking. It is a staple vegetable, uni- 
versally used, always coniinands a fair price, 
and its general cultivation for exportation 
would undoubtedly prove highly renumera- 
tive. The fact, however, seems to have been 
overlooked or ignored, and no more are ])ro- 
duccd than are used in the county. The 
leading variety is the Early Rose, with the 
Peerless and Peachblow cultivateil in consid- 
erably (jiinntities. The Snowflake is highly 
prized and ciillivalcd to some extent, while 
other varieties are cultivated as experiments. 



The average yield of this crop is good, and it 
is not often seriously affected by insects or 
disease. 

Flax, although grown in tliis county to some 
extent every year, is subject to violent fluc- 
tuations in the acreage devoted to its culti- 
vation. It is now raised exclusively for the 
seed, which has become an important ar- 
ticle of commerce, considerable amounts be- 
ing purchased by the grain dealers of the 
county. It is an exacting crop and the fiber 
is only incidentally valuable, owing to theim- 
salable condition in which it has to be sold; 
an amount of discouragement which is only 
overbalanced by the fact that the seed fre- 
quently commands a high price, and is always 
a cash article. Years ago, when an oil mill 
and a flax mill were regular establishments of 
the county, this crop proved quite a source of 
revenue, but since the decay of those institu- 
tions this crop has been of less importance. 

The history of the cultivation of' sorghum 
cane in Logan County is similar to that of most 
other parts of the State. The first introduc- 
tion of this cane was received by the farmers 
with great enthusiasm, and high hopes were 
entertained that in this would be found a 
substitute for the sugar-cane that would prove 
a valuable addition to the resources of their 
farms f<ir home supply, if not a source of in- 
come. The first seed was brought in .about 
1860, and small bags of seed, containing about 
half a pint, sold readily for §1 each. Small plats 
were ])lanted with this seed, and almost every 
farmer did a little in the way of experiment- 
ing with the new crop. The new venture 
rapiilly gained ground, and the means of con- 
rerting it into molasses was jirovidcd on every 
hand. The first product, in most cases, owing 
to the lack of information on the subject and 
the carelessness with which its manufacture 
was conducted, was sorry stuff. To the skep- 
tical part of the farming community, this re- 
sult was received as the inevitable outcome of 



ik^. 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



177 



the experiment, and discouraged the experi- 
menters in proportion to the satisfaction it 
gave the self-assurance of the doubters. An- 
other cause which contributed to the same 
end, was the exercise of a ruinous economy 
on tlie part of the mass of farmers. Instead 
of purchasing new seed for each planting, and 
sparing no pains to make a fair test of this 
new crop, the majoritj' of those who planted 
it borrowed seed of their neighbors, or used 
that saved from their own crop, and allowed 
the work of the farm to seriously interfere 
with the cultivation of the sorghum. The re- 
sult was that the cane deteriorated in quan- 
tity and quality, and the whole thing was 
voted a failure. This was true of many of the 
early experimenters, but quite a considerable 
number of the farmers are yet cultivating this 
cane with creditable results. The manufac- 
ture of the molasses is still carried on by sev- 
eral establishments in a limited way, and by 
careful and intelligent handling of the cane, 
produce a first-class article, which has at- 
tained a considerable local reputation. 

Tobacco has been cultivated to a very lim- 
ited extent, simply for the private use of the 
producer, and it may well be hoped that its 
culture may not be further e-xtended. It is 
an exacting crop upon the land, and, sooner 
or later, the exhaustive process will ultimately 
work the deterioration of any neighborhood or 
farming district where its culture is a promi- 
nent part of the farming operations. 

The forests of I^ogan County are abund- 
antly supplied with the sugar maple, and the 
people have not been slow to utilize these 
trees in the way of making sugar. It was the 
practice, at an early date, to make the product 
into ," crumb sugar," as in this shape it ans- 
wered the needs of the household to better 
advantage, and this practice continued, until 
of late years it has become more profitable in 
the shape of large cakes. Large quantities 
are shipped abroad every sjDnug, several firms 



making a specialty of this business during the 
season. The product of the county is largely 
made in the eastern part, where single farms 
sometimes produce 5,000 pounds. Here it is 
made as important a branch of farm industry 
as the wheat culture, and is nearly as valua- 
ble a source of revenue. Sugar brings the 
manufacturer an average price of ten cents per 
pound, many of them turning their product to 
a more profitable account by furnishing cus- 
tomers abroad themselves. 

Fruit culture, so far as it involves especial 
attention and care, mav safely be said to be 
in its infancy in Logan County. The first 
settlers deprived for a time of its use, and 
realizing the great demand in every family 
for this important article of food, early set 
about planting orchards. Coming to this far 
off country, they supplied themselves with 
seeds of the different kinds of fruits, grains 
and vegetables they were accustomed to at 
home, and prominent among these were the 
apple, peach, pear and cherry. The garden 
patch, first cleared, received these, to be 
transplanted in a year or two into the firstfew 
acres cleared. The soil and climate were 
congenial; the trees grew at once, thriftily, 
and in a few years yielded fruit. There are 
still some remains of those orchards of natural 
fruit, but most of them have disappeared. 
Pears, peaches and cherries seemed in their 
native element, flourished without signs of 
disease, and produced bountifully the most 
luscious fruit. About 1 830, pears and peaches 
began to be affected with disease, and have 
since acquired a character for uncertainty for 
which they are noted there to-day. Grafting 
and the planting of grafted fruit trees began 
here about 1840. At that time there was a 
nursery between Salem and New Lisbon, in 
Columbiana County, that had a wide reputa- 
tion for the excellence of its stock, and which 
supplied most of this part of the State. The 
favorite varieties were the Yellow Bcllflower, 



r 



178 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



Golden Pippin, Pound Pippin, Seek-no-fur- 
ther, Pin nock. Maiden Blush and Trenton 
Early. Most of the farmers bad a few trees of 
each of the best varieties, but after seeing them 
once well set, exercised but little further care 
in promoting their growth. The orchard 
culture of apples has only of late years begun 
to command the serious attention of farmers. 
The old orchards have been prolific producers, 
and in favorable seasons considerable amounts 
have been marketed. Before the railroads 
were built, large quantities of the fruit was 
dried and hauled to Springfield or Sandusky, 
almost every well-regulated farm being pro- 
vided with a dry-house. This abundance, 
together with the fact that the home market 
is 80 readily supplied from other points, has 
made the farmers careless on the subject, and 
the fact is becoming apparent that if some- 
thing is not done soon to renew these old 
orchards, there will be an interval when there 
will be a great scarcity of apples. Mr. Isaac 
Akey, near Bellefontaino, and Benjamin 
Knight, east of Zanesfield, are making some- 
thing of a specialty of fruit growing and 
have the largest orchards in the county. 
Among the varieties now found are the King 
of Tompkins County, Baldwin, Talpahakin, 
Northern Spy, and Roll's Jeanette. The latter 
is not a largi- apple, but it is noted for its 
wintering qualities. The first on the list is a 
favorite apple here, some of the fruit measur- 
ing fourteen and a half inches in circumfer- 
ence, and at the same time retaining its fine 
flavor and smooth grain. This is a fine mar- 
ket apple and always commands a good price. 
The demand of a market apple is for size and 
not so much for the grain or flavor. The 
apple is the hardiest and most reliable of all 
fruits for this region, and there arc probably 
more acr<;s in apple orchards than in all other 
fruits combined. 

Peaches, by roiwon of the »nifa\»orabli'nnss 
of the climate, are, of late y<'ars, exceedingly 



uncertain, and are but little planted. Late 
frosts in the spring usually cut off the crop, 
either in the blossom or when the young 
fruit has just formed, and, in addition to this 
danger, there occurs, every few years, a win- 
ter of such severity that even the trees them- 
selves are seriously injured or destroyed. The 
case of cherries of the finer kinds is very sim- 
ilar to that of peaches, as the trees are some- 
what tender, and the blossoms are liable to be 
destroyed by late frosts. The hardier kinds, 
such as the Early Richmond, the Morellos, 
and May Duke, are planted most, but with 
indifferent success, save in the case of the 
latter. Mr. Akey set out at one time abcmt 
120 black Morellos, which bore one fair crop 
but failed ever afterward, and were cut down 
without realizing a second crop. Pears are 
planted in a small way, principally in gar- 
dens; but no extensive pear orchard exists in 
the county. The great enemy to this fruit is 
the "fire-blight," for which no effective rem- 
edy has been found. The first symptom of 
this disease is the dying of the ends of the 
twigs. From this point the blight follows up 
the twig to the body of the tree, when it splits 
the bark and loosens it clear aroimd the trunk. 
Mr. George Foot has tried a remedy which 
seems to be beneficial. It occurred to him 
that to drive in rusty nails might be of advan- 
tage, and, having a tree that seemed destined 
to be destroyed anyway, he gathered a lot of 
old nails and drove them into the trunk and 
some of the larger branches. This seemed to 
arrest the disease, and, so confident was he in 
the effect of the iron, that he procured a quan- 
tity of iron turnings, which he placed in close 
contact with the main roots after clearing 
away the dirt. The effect, thus far, has been 
good, not a sign of the blight showing itself 
on any of the trees thus treated. So prevalent 
and ruinous is this disease that out of 260 
trees planted by Mr. Akey, about 1862, but 
fifty are now alive. The Bartlett, Flemish 



-l^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



179 



Beauty, Genesee, and White Doyane are the 
favorite varieties. Plums are scarcely grown 
at all, owing to the prevalence of the curcu- 
lio insect, although the trees grow well and 
remain healthj'. Mr. Foot has made some 
experiments with this fruit, and has been suc- 
cessful in growing some fine plums. A fine 
tree of a species of the egg plum gave promise 
of bearing fine fruit, but the insect took them 
all off each year. By making bags for the 
fruit, and fastening on to keep the insects off, 
a few were matured that measured nine inches 
around them. Such fruit was worth saving, 
and he resolved to try an experiment. He se- 
cured a quantity of gas-tar and putting it in 
a skillet set it afire and moved it about under 
the trees after they had bloomed, giving them 
a thorough smoking every morning. Having 
a brood or two of chickens, he placed them 
under the trees, which he shook thoroughl}' 
after every smoking. That year he succeed- 
ed in raising some fine plums. This year he 
has repeated the treatment, save the smoking 
process. After each shaking, the chickens 
seem to find a great many insects, which they 
eagerly devour, and the tree hangs so loaded 
with fine fruit that every limb has to be sup- 
ported to prevent its breaking down. The 
saving remedy is thought to be in the shaking 
and the chickens. 

The abundant fertilitjf of the soil has had 
the effect to divert the majority of the farmers 
from devoting a great deal of attention to 
stock growing. Probably not more than one- 
third make this department of agriculture the 
leading pursuit, though among these may 
properly be included a majority of the wealth- 
ier farmers. Among this portion of the farm- 
ing community a persevering, patient, investi- 
gating spirit has been manifested that has ac- 
complished large results for the stock of the 
county. No class of farm stock has been 
slighted in this respect, though perhaps horses 
and sheep have profited most. It is quite 



natural that the early history of the horse in 
Logan County should be somewhat obscure. 
In the early settlement the nature of farm 
work called for the steady strength, the free- 
dom from accident, and the easy keeping of 
the ox, and horses found no general demand 
until the pioneers could afford the luxury of 
travel. It was not long before this demand 
made a marked change in the character of the 
teams, which has continued, until now one 
would scarcely meet with an ox team upon 
the road in a month's travel through the 
coun1;ry. The early native stock of horses 
was known as the "Virginia Spot," some of 
the animals being a " vivid calico " color. 
The first effort to improve on the common 
stock of horses was by the importation of the 
Black Hawk strain in 1833. The horse, the 
name of which has been forgotten, was im- 
ported from Tennessee, and was considered a 
capital general purpose horse. Closely fol- 
lowing this horse came a " Cleveland Bay," 
introduced by John Enoch. This strain of 
horse had then, as now, a high reputation as 
fine coach horses and roadsters, and added 
such features to the native stock as admirably 
paved the way for their further improvement. 
Another strain of the same class of horses was 
the " Sir Archie" stock, brought in by John 
Houser. The stallion brought here was a 
gaj-, high-headed horse, " rangy," about six- 
teen hands high, and of a dark brown color. 
He was greatly sought by breeders, and his 
stock obtained a ready sale as roadsters or 
coach horses. About 18-18, Benjamin Butler 
introduced a strain of horses from Scotland, 
known as the Scotchman's. The horse brought 
to Logan County was imported by a Clarke 
County firm. The stock of this horse occu- 
pied a very prominent place among the horses 
of the eastern part of the county, and was 
considered a capital animal for farming pur- 
poses. The best judges of horses in the 
county believe this strain to be the origin of 



180 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



the Clydesdale. It had the same general 
characteristics, but not in quite so perfect a 

form. 

The Morgan strain came about this time 
into the county and brought a style of horse 
that was greatly needed. The general bent 
of horse-breeders seems to have l)een toward 
the heavy " general purpose " horse. The 
Morgan brought speed, action, and remarka- 
ble endurance, and became at once a general 
favorite. This class of horses are yet referred 
to as the ideal horse, and the wish is often 
expressed that the old strain with its former 
ciiaracteristics were back here again. The 
Normans were introduced about 1858, by 
Andrew Herd. The horse was sired by 
"Nonesuch," "Louis Naj)oleon," or "Old 
Bob," as he was variously known. This horse 
is really what is strictly classified as the Perch- 
oron, but is known in the books and among 
dealers as a Fercheron-Norman. " Old Bob " 
was the lirst horse of the kind ever brought 
west of the Alleghany Mountains. He was 
bought by Charles Fullington and brought to 
Union County in 1851, and some time after 
became the property of Louis Lee, of Dela- 
ware. These horses originate in the prov- 
inces of La Perche and Normandy, in France, 
and are noted for their docility, excellent 
lioalth, and a hardy, clastic temperament. 
Tiiey are ]K>ssossed of great bone, muscle, 
tendon and hoof, which gives them immense 
strength and value as draft horses. Their 
color is a fine silver-gray, which is regarded 
as the best adapted to wiflistand the burnin"- 
rays of the sun in the licld or on the high- 
way. The chief value of this class of horses 
in this county, however, is their availability 
for market purposes. They mature early and 
sell readily for from 8'i50 to ?inOO when three 
years old. But few of these horses are kept 
for use in the county, as most of the farmers 
are unwilling to put so much money in a 
horse, and the active demand for them ren- 



dering them a cash article proves too great a 
temj)tation to part with them. The Clydes- 
dale strain was introduced a few years ear- 
lier. " Lord Clyde," a fine black animal of 
this strain, was exhibited in Libana about 
185^, and attracted considerable attention 
from horsemen. The horse belonged to the 
Union County Importing Company, and 
made a season in Champaign County that 
year. Many in the south j)art of Logan bred 
to him, getting some fine colts, and this stock 
is yet to be found in that part of the county. 
Among the latest horses is " Harry Clay," 
imported from Kentucky by Wellwood in 
1873. He is a fine, bfack horse, with good 
speed, action, and endurance. There are 
colts of his getting in the county seven years 
old, and this stock is rapidly growing in the 
public esteem as roadsters. The branch of 
stock-raising is rapidly taking on larger pro- 
portions, some of the best farmers giving it 
special attention. The result is that in blood, 
size, fine style, symmetry of form, and the 
enduring qualities of the horse, Logan 
County is excelled but by few counties in the 
State. It is estimated by competent judges 
that the aver.ige horse is fifteen and a half 
hands high and weighs about 1,200 pounds. 
This is a good average, and it is but natural 
that the county should be the resort of buy- 
ers for other markets. Largo numbers are 
sold every year, and yet the numbers do not 
seem to decrease. 

The mule seems to have made friends in 
Logan County comparatively early. Soon 
after 1835 the donkey was introduced and 
was bred some for foreign markets. In IS I'*, 
Zaehias Brown introduced the first Spanisli 
jack, an importation from Kentucky, and 
overcame the objection to those animals by 
selecting mares and engaging to buy the foal at 
the age of four or five months. Considerable 
interest was oxcitcd in this new departure, 
and among others, J. M. Dickinson became 



hN. r- 



i. 



HISTORY OF LOGAJf COUNTY. 



ISl 



prominently identified in the enterprise. In 
1856, he had a jack sixteen hands high and 
weighing 1,200 pounds, and in the follow- 
ing year had ISO mules on his farm. There 
was at that time a brisk trade in these ani- 
mals with the East and West Indies, and con- 
siderable monej- was engaged iu the traffic. 
The introduction of the large breed of horses 
put an end to this industry. The horses were 
just as easily raised, less trouble on the farm, 
more docile and reliable, and add to these 
qualities that of being just as marketable, 
and the explanation of the cause of thojr 
superceding the mule is complete. A large 
number of these animals are still found in the 
county in use as teams, and are found for the 
ordinary purposes of the farm as valuable as 
horses, and bring nearly as good a price. 

The introduction of cattle into the county 
was as early as the coming of the first settlers. 
Cows were a necessary part of the pioneer's 
outfit, without which his chances for obtain- 
ing a reasonably comfortable existence were 
very poor indeed, and few families were with- 
out them. But once here, it required all the 
care and diligence of the settler to protect 
them against the ravages of wild beasts and 
disease. The wolves took off the yearlings, 
and frequently made successful attacks upon 
the cow; the murrain, a little later, took off 
scores of these animals, and long journeys 
were frequently undertaken to replace the 
animals thus lost. Then the marshes and the 
rank vegetation took their quota, so that, in 
spite of the employment of all the available 
children of the settlement as herders, and the 
dosing of cattle with alum, soot and soft soap, 
hundreds fell victims to the snares of a new 
country. Under such circumstances the effort 
was narrowed down to a struggle to maintain 
rather than to improve the breed. The " Ohio 
Importing Company" made their first impor- 
tation of Short-horn Durhams in 1834, and 
exhibited the animals at the State Fair of that 



year. TJie result of that enterprise was to 
turn the attention of the whole farming com- 
munity to that class of cattle. It was not 
until 1838 that the first Short-horn Durham 
stock was brought into this county. In that 
year Joshua Folsom and Samuel McCulloch 
introduced this class of cattle, which rapidly 
grew in public favor. Farmers thus had an 
opportunity of comparing improved breeds 
with the native cattle, and were not slow to 
fall in with the popular tide that was then 
making toward the Short-horns. The " Dev- 
ons " were introduced about the same time, 
but they failed to enlist any strong attach- 
ment, and the breed soon became extinct 
here. During the last four or five years the 
" Alderneys" have been introduced as milk 
stock, and are being tried pretty extensively 
for a new experiment. Among those who 
have this kind of stock are Bissell, Allen, 
Roberts and Staymate. The latter has eight 
cows, all registered stock, but the experiment 
is so new here that no judgment has been 
formed in regard to them by the public. The 
interest in the registered and fine grade stock 
of the Short-horn breed of cattle has suffered 
no decrease by this comj)etition. This class 
of cattle is very widely diffused through the 
county, and quite a number of fine herds are 
found here. Among those the more impor- 
tant are those of Gre&n Brothers, consisting 
of thirty head, and Dickinson Brothers. The 
latter herd is now reduced to fourteen head, 
with the Duke of Pleasant Run, No. IS, as their 
breeding animal. Others who are interested 
in this stock, and have small herds, are James 
Smith, .James Easton, William McKinnon and 
John Kizer. 

Sheep were introduced among the first set- 
tlers, but the boldness and numbers of the 
wolves made sheejo-raising a burden upon 
their resources that taxed them to the utter- 
most. The bounty offered by the State and 
county authorities for wolf scalps stimulated 






182 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



the liuiiters in the destruction of these trouble- 
some animals, and sheep began to multiply 
during the second decade of the settlement 
here. Almost every family during this period 
kept a few sheep, in order to be supplied with 
wool for clothing. The wool was carded " by 
hand," sjjun in the " cabin," and not unfre- 
qnt'iitly <lyod and wove, as well as shaped 



into garments, and worn there, too. The ear- 
liest attempt at improving these native flocks 
was about 1835. In this year considerable 
interest was manifested in this enterprise, and 
the first flock by A. ^Yilliams attracted wide 
attention among the farmers of Logan County. 
The following list, compiled in 1862, gives the 
status of the flocks at that time: 



Names and post-office address of the 
owner of the flock. 



James McCIure, Belle Centre. 
James Forsythc, " 

M. I/. Anderson, " 
J. K. Milchel, 

Puvid Wallace, lluulsville 

John Pollock, " 

Nathan Watkins, Zanesficld 

Joseph V. James, " 

Ediih Williams, Vickcrelton 

E. S. Mann, East Liberty 

John Oiitland, " 

Daniel Skidmore, " 

William .^kidmore," 

Isaac Skidmore, " 

Joshua Sidmore. " 



154 

40 

34 

4«i 

40 

60 

(il 

140 

125 

127 

100 

98 

135 

135 

100 



Quality of sheep. 



Who commenced tlieW'hen and where pa- 
flock, rents were obtained. 



Three fourthsMerino 10 y. ago, J. McC. 

10 " J. F 

Seven-eighths I 

Halt \ ' 



Three-fourihs D. W 

Full J. P 

" '1856, K. Watkins. 

Three-fourths to full,1862 

1835, A. Williams. 
Five-eighths. 
Full 



Scvcn-eii:litlis. 



Jones, Vermont. 



Massachusetts. 
Washington t^o., I'a. 
1850, Addison, Vt. 
Originally Vermont. 



Among the names of those who introduced 
the Spanish Merino sheep should bo mentioned 
Cook, Dean, lieal, Fisher and Dickenson. In 
1850 the Merino sheep interest had a decided 
set-back. Parties hailing from Vermont 
brought a flock of sheep througli the county, 
and sold the sheep in small parcels at high 
prices. In a short time exposure to the 
weather proved that the sheep were only 
common sheep, that liad been ingeniously 
colored, and had been easily passed off 
upon the unskilled and suspecting farmers. 
The high j)rices of 1S60, however, revived 
this industry, and the Merinos sprang into a 
popularity that they have maintained since. 
Abotit threi.'-fourthsof tlie sheep in the co\in- 
ty to-day are registered or gcjod grade Meri- 
nos, which yield a flocce averaging from six 
to nine ])ounds in weight. Among the 
Merino flwks in Logan County that of Fisher 



Brothers is the most important. Other flocks 
arc owned by Moot, Ray, J. C. Smith, John 
Outland, and his brothers, Ezra and " Nan," 
M. C. Smith and J. M. Dickerman. The latter 
controls about 1,000 head of these sheep, 
from forty to sixty of which only are regis- 
tered. Cotswolds and Southdowns have been 
introduced but they have been allowed to 
deteriorate until there are few full-blooded 
sheep of this kind in the county. 

The %Voo(1s breed of hogs is e.xtinrt in this 
county, and where it used to take two 
years to make a two hundred pomnd 
hog, a three and four hundred pound hog 
can bo made in nine to twelve months. 
The principal breeds are the Chester ^Vhite, 
Berkshire, Magie and Harkreeder. The 
Chester White was introduced in 1840. The 
Berkshire was introduced later and proved 
a rough, coarse-boned hog, and was soon 



(3 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



183 



abandoned. A cross between these two 
breeds produced a good animal for mar- 
ket purposes. Soon after the Berkshires 
the Berks, or Baldfaces as they were popuhir- 
ly known, were introduced. They were a 
black hog with a white face, and were for a 
time were highly prized. The Magie, Poland 
China and Harkreeder are a later introduc- 
tion, and crosses representing several of these 
breeds may be called the present s-tock. 
Large numbers are annually sold, and the 
trade forms one of the more important sources 
of revenue. 

A noticeable and favorable feature of the 
agriculture of the county is the modest size 
of the average farm. There are a number of 
large landholders in the county, but the prop- 
erty is divided into small divisions and 
occupied by tenants, so that the average farm 
is not over eighty acres. These farms are 
generally well tilled, the buildings well im- 
proved, and a general well-to-do air of neat- 
ness and comfort prevails everywhere through- 
out the farming community. Improved ma- 
chinery is being generally introduced, and 
some of the latest inventions have found a 
demand that the dealers have been unable to 
supply. 

The number of important villages and tiie 
excellent railroad facilities furnish an exc^el- 
lent market for all the farmer has to sell. 
Maple sugar, wheat, wools and pork are the 
chief productions of the county, and large 
quantities are bought by the merchants and 
dealers in Beilefontaine and West Liberty. 
These dealers have established their trade for 
these exports in Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, and 
the East, and are ready to take all that is 
brought in. In the matter of public roads 
the county is in advance of most of its sister 
counties. There are over 200 miles of grav- 
eled pike that make muddy roads a thing 
unknown in this county. This applies to all 
the main thoroughfares in the county, but in 



the matter of cross-roads the district super- 
visors have caught the spirit of enterprise and 
are hauling the gravel, which is found every- 
where in abundance, upon these roads, and 
are making them second only to the pikes. 
The latter are let by contract an dcost from 
§1,500 to $3,000 per mile. The bridging of 
the county is not an important expense. The 
principal streams are the Mad and Miami 
Rivers. These are generally spanned by the 
old covered wooden bridges, save where they 
have been renewed within the past five years. 
Iron bridges are now being introduced, and 
the more important crossings will probably, 
before many years, be spanned by iron struc- 
tures. 

The Logan County Fair Association is a 
marked feature of the agricultural interests 
of this county and has done much to incite a 
healthy emulation among the farmers. It 
was organized in 1851 by the adoption of a 
constitution signed by some fifty citizens of 
the county, and electing the following officers: 
Luther Smith, of Jefferson Township, Presi- 
dent; John Hogue, of Washington Township, 
Vice President; N. R. Usher, of Lake Town- 
ship, Secretary; B. S. Brown, Treasurer, and 
J. M. Glover, of Liberty Township, Jacob 
Smith, of Monroe, William Boggs, of Miami, 
William Z. Schwyhart, of Bokes Creek and 
Elijah Beal, of Harrison, managers. The 
first fair was held by the Association on what 
are now the out-lots of McCullock's addition 
to Beilefontaine, southeast of the village. 
There was no enclosure nor entrance fees, 
and most of the entries of horses were made 
by taking them from the teams that had 
brought the people to the fair. It was wet 
weather and the poorly-drained fields were 
trodden into one mass of mud. On this ac- 
count the domestic manufactures were exhib- 
ited in the court house. Among the pre- 
miums paid we find the following received 
the hio-hest awards: 



V 



— i. 



184 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUXTY. 



T. W. Bnird — General purpose sfalUon 94.00 

E. Bailey—Stallion for sa.ldlc 4.00 

Tlicophiius Fulk— Mare and coll 4.00 

I'eter Snioek — 3 year colt ^.011 

K. S. Kobcrls— 2"year colt '-'.00 

John Horn — Sucking colt 2.00 

James K. Milncr — Draft horse 2.00 

L. Sinitli and Z. Brown — Jack 4.00 

James A. Jones — I'air mules 2.00 

Smith and Brown — Sucking mule 2.00 

AVilliam Kiser — 3 year bull 4. 00 

1! S. Hoberls— Yeaning bull 2.00 

Wm. Hoggs— Bull calf. 3.00 

John Poisell— Milch cow— 1380 lb 2.00 

John Denny — 2 year heifer 2.00 

Wm. Boggs — Yearling heifer 2.00 

Mm. Kiser — Sucking heifer calf 2.00 

Wm. Boggs — Working cattle, 3 year 3.00 

Alilligan and Wallace — l-'ine wool buck 3.00 

" " Buck for all )uirpose 2.tl0 

" " Three fine wool ewes 3.00 

Wm. Kiscr — Boar, coarse made 2.00 

Beside these entries were an excellent 
lot of fine wooled, buck and ewes exliibited 
by Lutiier Smith, and an Irish Grazier hog by 
Win. Collins. In the exhibition at the court 
house were carpets of wool, cotton and rags, 
flannel, fancy work and quilts, and " one ex- 
quisitelj' wrought enameled shell casket in- 
wrought with a tcmjiting bunch of grapes." 
Among the few fruit exhibits was a basket of 
Catawba grapes and two samples of apples. 
Of the premiums on field crops, James Elliot 
got the first premium on an acre of corn, which 
yi(!ldcd one hundred bushels. In regard to 
Jacob Ilorn who claimed a yield 105 bushels 
and fifteen (|uarts of corn from an acre, the re- 
cord adds: "which two persons ctntify to, but 
there being a lack of alTidavits debar the man- 
agers the pleasure of awarding to him the 
lircniium." James Brown received the prem- 
ium on the oat crop, the yield on nine acres 
uvoraging sixty bushels and sixteen jiounds 
])er acre. Zachias Brown cut the prem- 
ium acre of grass, getting 0,470 pounds 
of timothy. In potatoes M. Anderson 
took the pn.Mnium for a quarter of an acre 
which yielded seventy- three and one half 



bushels. In regard to this season the record 
says: "The society agreeably to arrange- 
ments, held its first annual fair, October 29 
and 30, and although the weather was ex- 
ceedingly bad, it was conceded by all very 
creditable to the county." In the following 
year seven acres of land lying on the Zanos- 
field road, east of Bellcfontaine was pur- 
chased. This was enclosed and the fairs 
held here until 1859. The early history 
of the society was not that of a vigorous 
institution. Most of the managers were 
farmers, who were not well adapted, per- 
haps, to the duties which the new enter- 
prise devolved upon them, and the affairs 
languished for some years. In 185G a change 
was made in the business management and a 
more vigorous administration came into 
power. The whole business was systemitized, 
speakers were secured to deliver addresses, 
and a generous expenditure devoted to ad- 
vertising. The result was at once apparent. 
The receipts ran up from about $300 annual 
income to some -^1,100, and the ground soon 
proved too small to accommodate the people 
who gathered each year. In 1859, twenty- 
five acres were secured south of town on the 
West Liberty pike, where the fairs are now 
held. Here five halls have been erected, the 
largest of which is forty by eighty feet, and a 
fine trotting track laid out a third of a mile 
long. There are about 2,400 entries drawing 
about 82,500 in premiums. The attendance is 
remarkable for a county fair, 15,000 people fre- 
quently iittending in a single day. It is strictly 
a county fair save two races which are free for 
all. In the trotting race of this character a 
purse of ^500 is offered which has been suc- 
cessful in attracting some good horses and a 
considerable increase in the attendance. 



r 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



185 



CHAPTER IT. 

PREHISTORIC RACES— THE MOUND BUILDERS— INDIAN' TRICES— EARLY WARS WITH THE WHITES 

— LEWISTOWN RESERVATION— PROMINENT CHARACTERS DURING 

THE INDIAN DOMINATION. 



rr'IHE earliest history of Logan County, in 
_1_ common with that of the State, is veiled 
in myster}', and what share it had in the pre- 
historic times can only be conjectured. It is 
the opinion of antiquarians that three distinct 
races have inhabited North America prior to 
the coming of the present inhabitants. Of 
these, the builders of those magnificent cities, 
the ruins of which strew for miles the plains 
of Central America were the first. "Tlie 
mind is startled," says an eminent writer on 
this subject, " at the remoteness of their an- 
tiquity, when we consider the vast sweep of 
time necessary to erect such colossal struct- 
ures of masonry, and afterward convert them 
into the present utter wreck. Comparing 
their complete desolation with the ruins of 
Baalbec, Palmyra, Thebes and Memphis, they 
must have been old when the latter were be- 
ing built." Of this race, no trace has been 
found within the limits of this country, and 
whether Ohio ever shook under the step of 
their marching, or its wilds ever echoed to 
their cries, is still an open question. " The 
second race," continues the same writer, "as 
determined by the character of their civiliza- 
tion, were the Mound Builders, the remains 
of whose works constitute the most interesting 
class of antiquities found within the limits of 
the United States. Like the ruins of Central 
America, they antedate the most ancient rec- 
ords; tradition can find no account of them, 
and their character can only be partially 
gleaned from the internal evidences which 
they themselves afford. They consist of the 
remains of what were, apparently, villages, al- 



tars, temples, idols, cemeteries, monuments, 
camps, fortifications, etc. The farthest relic 
of this kind, ever discovered in a northeast- 
ern direction, was near Black River, on the 
south side of Lake Ontario; thonce they ex- 
tend in a southwestern direction by way of 
the Ohio, the Mississippi, Mexican Gulf, Tex- 
as, New Mexico and Yucatan, into South 
America. Some of the most interesting and 
extensive of these works are found in Ohio. 
At the mouth of the Muskingum, or Licking 
River, near Newark, at Circleville on the 
Scioto, and on Paint Creek near Chillicothej 
are found some of the most elaborate of these 
mounds, stored with some of the most impor- 
tant relics ever discovered. But with all the 
discoveries and investigations made thus far, 
but little progress has been made toward a 
knowledge of their origin, civilization or des- 
tiny. They existed hen;, and built the works 
over which the archaeologists spend their 
efforts in vain. Col. "Whittlesey, writing of 
this race, says : " There is no evidence that 
they had alphabetical characters, picture writ- 
ing or hieroglyphics, though they must have 
had some mode of recording events. Neither 
is there any proof that they used domestic 
animals for tilling the soil, or for the purpose of 
erecting the imposing earthworks they have 
left. A very coarse cloth of hemp, flax or net- 
tles, has been found on their burial hearths, and 
around skeletons not consumed by fire." The 
more important of these mounds being found 
in the southern part of the State, it is con- 
jectured that the remains found in the north- 
ern part may have been built by portions of 



f 



^k 



\ 



< > — 



ISO 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



the race not cotemporary with the builders 
of the southern structures. Tlie difference in 
the extent and importance of these northern 
remains seems to indicate a people far less in 
numbers as well as in industry, and whose 
principal occupation was to war among them- 
selves or aj^ainst their neifrhbors. Along the 
water-shed in this State, which lies along the 
southern line of Wyandot and Crawford Coun- 
ties, and through the middle of Hardin, extend- 
ing irregularly east and west, th'^re is a space 
wher^ but few of these ancient earth works ap- 
pear. It is conjectured, therefore, that this 
space was the "debatable ground" of the 
war-like tribes of the Mound Builders, and 
that the works found on either side of this line 
were the outposts of opposing forces. What- 
ever the truth may be in regard to these fan- 
ciful theories, the fact that this county was the 
scene of the busy activities of this strange 
people seems to be well substantiated. No 
remains, however, indicating that this people 
ever had a permanent residence in this coun- 
ty arc found within the present limits of 
Logan county. Important earthworks, built 
in all probability by this race of giants, are 
found in Hardin county on the north, and in 
Champaign on the south, and large numbers 
of implements, weapons and ornaments have 
been found here, clearly indicating tliat this 
territory was frequently traversed, and was the 
scene of their temporary habitation, at least. 
Along the valley of Uush Creek, in the U>wn- 
sliip of the same name, are found low mounds 
of gravel, heaped up some eight or ten feet in 
height and measuring some forty or fifty feet 
in diameter. The soil all altout is of an en- 
tirely dilVcrent nature and it has been supposed 
by son)o that these were remains of that an- 
cient |)coplc. Other mounds of similar con- 
struction, have been found elsewhere in the 
county, but an intelligent examination into 
their structure reveals the fact that they must 
have been deposited by an ice-floe during the 



glacial period. Of the stone relics, large num- 
bers have been found, and several fine collec- 
tions have been made in the- county. A 
round-ended ax is said to have been discover- 
ed, similar to those found among the remains 
of the Swiss Lake Builders, weighing some- 
thing over one hundred pounds. A fine col- 
lection of these relics was made by Franklin 
C. Hill, who made the geological survey of 
the county for the State, and in his communi- 
cation to the Assistant Geologist of the State, 
he described the collection as follows: " It is 
almost impossible to describe these relics 
without drawings, nor is it easy to classify 
them, as the dividing lines between axes, 
hatchets, and hammers, and between arrows 
and spear heads, etc., are by no means sharp 
and clear. They maj', however, be roughly 
divided as follows: 



Grooved fixes 11 

Ungrooved axes 12 

Hammers 3 

.Spear and arrow heads 44 

Pestles 7 

Total 



Rolling Pin 1 

Grindstone 1 

Slate ornaments I?) 9 

Flint fragments 14 



.102 



By far the finest and best among the axes is 
a large one of polished black gneiss. It 
measures seven inches by four, with a cutting 
edge two and five-eighths inches long, and for 
symmetry of form and finish of workmanship 
will rank with the best of its kind, though not 
with the largest. It weighs but five pounds, 
while one in Cincinnati weighs fourteen, and 
we have an account of one weighing eighteen 
pounds. The next in point of size is an ax 
of ]>ale bluish slate, as remarkable for eccen- 
tricity of sliepe as the other for symmetry. 
Cut obliquely to the stratification of the stone, 
its edge is thrown to one side as if for hewing 
to a line, and the body is curiously twisted, so 
that the edge makes a decided angle with the 
poll, as if to produce the effect of the bent 
helve of the broadax. But this is probably 
accidental rather than iiitcntiunal, and is due 



n-' 



A 

3 >> 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



187 



either to defects of the stone or the un- 
skillfulness of the maker. 

The other axes are as variable in size and 
shape as in material. Some have cuttina: 
edges, others are sharpened to points, and 
others, still, are blunted until there is almost 
no distinction to be made between them and 
the hammers, which are simply ovate stones 
with shallow grooves cut around them. The 
term, ' ungrooved ax,' though constantly met 
with in print, is not often used by the people. 
Their ideas of an ax imply a handle passing 
through or lashed to the head. But the relics 
from the Swiss Lake dwellings show axes 
passing through their helves. A knotted club 
has a hole mortised through its heavy end, into 
the upper part of which an ungrooved ax is 
fitted, and as every blow on the edge serves 
to drive the ax more firmly into its handle, 
the implement or weapon must have been a 
very efficient one. The term ' skinner,' usu- 
ally applied to these axes, is probably a mis- 
nomer. 

The most noticeable of the arrow heads is a 
large flat one, made of flint, that resembles 
moss agate. It measures four and three- 
fourths inches by two and one-eighth, and is 
about one-fourth of au inch in thickness. Its 
size and regular shape make it conspicuous in 
the collection, but its full beauty cannot be 
seen until it is held up against a strong light. 

An arrow head of blue and white flint is 
also worth notice. It measures four inches by 
one and five-eighths, and is very regularly 
formed, while the edges are sharp and beauti- 
fully serrated with notches of about one- 
twelfth of an inch long. It must have been a 
very efficient weapon, capable of giving severe 
wounds. A fine black spear head was unfor- 
tunately broken into three pieces, and the 
middle one, about one inch in lengtli, was 
lost. When entire it measured six inches in 
length. 

The seven pestles, or mullers, show as many 



difl'erent forms, all well adapted to their pur- 
pose, which was, doubtless, to grind grain. 

The stone described as a " rolling pin " for 
want of a better name is, perhaps, the poorest 
specimen in the collection, and the one most 
liable to be distrusted. Made of micaceous 
and crumbling stone, it seems scarcely fit for 
any use. Its length is nine and three-fourths 
inches, and its diameter varies from one 
fourth to one and one-half inches, its general 
shape being that of a cylinder with rounded 
ends. 

It is by no means clear for what purpose 
the mass of brown sandstone, which is called 
" grindstone " in the list, was intended. In 
shape it rudely approaches the ordinary grind- 
stone, having a diameter of about six inches, 
and a thickness of three. On each of its flat 
sides are two confluent hemi-spherical cavities 
of about one and one-half inches in diameter. 
The two pairs of cavities happen to be placed 
at right angles with each other, though prob- 
ably by accident. Dr. H. H. Hill, of Cincin- 
nati, has several similar stones in his collec- 
tion, and suggests that they were possibly 
used to round the ends of horn and bone im- 
plements. This stone was found in Belle- 
fontaine. 

The nine slate ornaments differ entirely in 
shape and workmanship from the other relics, 
and seem to have been made by a different 
race of men. I have called them ornaments 
because unable to imagine any use to which 
they could be applied, and yet they seem 
equally foreign to our ideas of decoration. 
Four of them are simply oblong slabs, of 
about four inches in length by two in breadth, 
and one-fourth of an inch in thickness, 
pierced with one or two holes each. One is 
apparently intended to be suspended by one 
end, as shown by the position of the hole. 
The other end is shaped somewhat like an 
arrow-head. Its length is five inches; breadth, 
one and a half, and thickness, five-sixteenths. 



~7y 






A 



^ 



188 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



Possibly it was a Pliallus. A sixth piece is 
almost semi-circular, being about five inches 
by two and a half. It seems to be half of the 
oriffinal instrument, which must have had the 
form of an ancient, double-edged battlc-ax. 
The break has been through the eye, which 
was bored very truly, the hole being about 
two inches long by half an inch in diameter." 
This collection is preserved in the museum 
of the State Agricultural College by itself, 
and is very creditable to the county. There 
are large numbers of these stone relics yet in 
the county, but they have long ago lost their 
attraction save for the few to whom they 
speak a " various language." Among the 
stone relics to be found here are many of the 
Indian tribes, who, if the more modern 
theories are to be accepted, are a far more 
ancient people. But whether we consider the 
red Indian the original possessor of this land 
or the natural successor of the Mound Build- 
er, his early history is equally obscure. The 
In<lians were found in full possession of the 
whole country so far as the earliest white ex- 
plorers could determine, but the character 
of their customs and habits of life, and the 
uncertainty of their vague traditions, have 
left but little material for the use of the his- 
torian. The earliest pioneers found this State 
inhabited by the Iroquois, Delaware's, Shaw- 
aiiocs, Miamis, Wyandots and Ottawas. 
These nations were all subject to the warlike 
Iroquois or Five Nations, and occupied their 
rohpcctivc lands subject to the pleasure of 
their conquerors. The first of these tribes 
occupied that part of the State east of the 
Cuyahoga River, and a lino drawn irregularly 
south from the source of that river to the 
Ohio. The Wyandots and Ottawas occupied 
a strip of country forty miles wide lyin" 
along the south and west shore of Lake Erie, 
west of the Cuyahoga River. The rest of the 
State was divided in latitudinal sections, ocoi- 
piod by the Delawnros, Shawaiioos and Mi- 



amis, proceeding west of the Iroquois terri- 
tory in the order named. The Shawan- 
oes, or Shawnees, occupied the site of 
Logan County. They occupied the coun- 
try contiguous to tiio Wyadots, extending 
in a strip some fifty miles wide from 
about the middle of the Wyandot coun- 
try on each side of the Mad River, 
and continuing in that course to the Ohio. 
The nation was divided into several tribes 
with villages, on the Scioto, Mad and Great 
Miami Rivers, and on the upper waters of the 
Miami of the I-ake, being, as Col. Johnston 
terms it, "in the light of tenants-at-will 
under the Wyandots." They were the de- 
voted friends and allies of the latter tribe, 
though on good terms with no otliers save 
when warring with the whites. 

The earliest French geographers place the 
home of the Shawauoes in the basin of the 
Cumberland River. About 1C72, it is said, 
they migrated to South Carolina to escape the 
fury of the all-conquering Iroquois. In 1G9S, 
however, having obtained consent of the 
powers in Pennsylvania, a part of the Nation 
settled on the banks of the Susquehanna, 
where they attracted other tribes of their Na- 
tion, until 1733 their braves nundiered fully 
one-half of the fighting Indians in that sec- 
tion of the country. In 1T51, feeling more 
able to cope with their old enemy, they re- 
turned to the valley of the Ohio and located 
just below the mouth of the Scioto River. 
The larger part of the Nation soon after 
crossed over into this State, taking up their 
abode in the unoccupied valley of the Scioto. 
Heretofore, though bearing the name of a 
quarrelsome and warlike people . among the 
natives, they were chiefly known to white ex- 
plorers as a " restless nation of wanderers." 
From this period forward, however, they 
turned upon the whites, and during the sixty 
years of blood that pioneered the way of civ- 
ilization in Ohio, they were foremost with the 



Ti' "^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



191 



scalping-knife and fire-brand. Under the 
leadership of Black-hoof they aided in de- 
feating Braddock in 1784, and in the 
following year, emboldened by success, they 
carried their savage slaughter as far east as the 
Blue Ridge. To make head against this tide of 
savage war, Maj. Lewis was sent with a party 
of troops, in January of 1750, to attack the 
upper Shawanoese towns, situated on the Ohio, 
three miles above the mouth of the Great 
Kanawha. The towns were destroyed but 
the Indians maintaining an undaunted front, 
and boldly attacking the troops, barely failed 
of success. During the early part of the war 
between the French and English, the greater 
part of the Shawanoe nation under Black-hoof, 
was won over to the cause of the English, and 
were engaged in a bloody battle fought on the 
site of Piqua, Miami County. On this occa- 
sion, the Miamis, Wyandots, Ottawas, and 
other northern tribes, adhered to the French, 
made a stand here and fortified — the Canadian 
traders and French assisting. The Delawares, 
Shawanoes, and other tribes, adhering to the 
English interest with the English traders, at- 
tacked the French and their Indian supporters. 
The siege after continuing a week, and entail- 
ing great loss upon the attacking party, was 
finally given up. Soon after the contest, how- 
ever, the Miamis having lost all their proper- 
ty outside of the fort, with their allies left this 
part of the country, and the Shawanoes taking 
their place called the village which occupied 
the site of Piqua, "Chillicothe," after the 
tribe of that name, and another village located 
three miles north of this point they named 
Piqua, from the name of a tribe of their 
nation. 

The treaty which ended the war between 
the French and English was ratified at Paris 
in February, 1703. In the meanwhile the In- 
dians who had changed their allegiance from 
the French to the English, found small reason 
to congratulate themselves on the chancje. 



Their principal ground of complaint had been, 
that their former allies took forcible posses- 
sion of their lands, and used whisky as a 
means of securing the advantage in every 
transaction. In these respects they soon 
learned that the English were not better than 
the French, while in other respects they were 
much less friendly. The latter were a merrj', 
easy-going race, fond of gaiety, delighting in 
adventure, and easily affiliating with the sav- 
ages. The English, on the contrary, absorbed 
only in the pursuit of gain, and making no at- 
tempt to conceal their contempt for their 
ignorance, treated the savages witii such arro- 
gance as to give rise to a wide-sjjread feeling 
of discontent. . Notwithstanding the treaty, 
the French traders did not hesitate to foster 
tills feeling and urge the malcontents to rise 
on the English. The tribes were thus " fit 
for stratagems and spoils," when Pontiac, in 
the fall of 1702, broached his plan of a war of 
extermination against the English, from De- 
troit to Niagara. The Shawanoes entered 
into his plan with great zest, and it was 
through their influence that a number of the 
western tribes were induced to join the con- 
federacy. On the 27th of April following the 
treaty of peace between the French and Eng- 
lish, the representatives of the confederated 
tribes, met to arrange the final plans for the 
new war. On the first of the following month 
the struggle for Indian indepentlence was be- 
gun at Detroit; and one after another of the 
frontier posts from the first point of attack to 
the Fort at Niagara were swei)t with the 
besom of destruction. Everywhere the Shaw- 
anoes were prominent in the bloody work, 
and under such leaders as Black-hoof and 
Blue Jacket, achieved a. wide-spread reputa- 
tion for warlike prowess. But Fort Pitt and 
the post at Detroit still held out, and ere they 
coidd be reduced the forces of Gen. Brad- 
street and Col. Boquet put an end to the con- 
federacy, the Shawanoes and Delawares being 



^^ 



192 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



the last to yiekl. In 1774, the dispute be- 
tween the aiitliorities of Pennsylvania and 
Virginia led to the inevitable result of involv- 
ing the natives. To provoke the latter to as- 
sault the Pennsylvanians, the partisans of 
Virginia basely niurdered on the soil of the 
former State a number of Indians, decoyed 
into the hands of the whites by proffers of 
friendship and rum. Among the murdered 
Indians was a relative of the famous Mingo 
chief, Logan. This cold-blooded butchery 
provoked the savages into terrible deeds of 
reprisal, and led to the " Dunmore war." In 
the summer of 1T74, an expedition under Col. 
McDonald marched into the Muskingum 
country and destroyed the Shawanoese town 
of Wapaughtomica. Though suing for peace, 
they were not subdued, and only took advan- 
tage of the cessation of hostilities to place 
their non-combatants out of the reach of the 
whites. In the fall of this year, in company 
with the Wyandots and Delawares, the Shaw- 
anoes, under the general command of Corn- 
stalk, made a furious attack upon a division 
of Lord Duninorc's army under Gen. Lewis, 
at Point Pleasant, on the Virginia side of the 
Ohio. After a bitter and prolonged strunfgle 
the Indians retired discomfited, and shortly 
after sued for peace in earnest. The Revolu- 
tionary struggle between the Colonies and 
Great liritain breaking out soon after, no 
formal treaty arrangements were made. 

"At the connnencemcnt of the struggle of 
the American colonies for independence, the 
scattered settlements west of the Allegheny 
mountains had little to fear from the hostile 
armies of Great Britain. Their dread was of 
a more merciless foe. Nor were their fears 
groundless; for the Indians of the North- 
west, influenced by British gold, and the 
machinations of English traders and emissaries, 
sffon gave evidence of h<istile intentions. 
KxpIatiHtionsby the Americans that the ques- 
tions in dispute could not affect their interests. 



were made in vain. It was to no purpose 
that they were exhorted to take part on neither 
side. Painted and jilunied warriors were 
early upon the war-path, carrying death and 
destruction to the dismayed borderers — the 
direct result of a most ferocious policy inaug- 
urated by England — letting loose, in the 
language of Chatham, 'the horrible hell- 
hounds of savage war,' upon the exposed 
settlements." 

The warfare thus begun was made up, on 
the side of the savage, of predatory incursions 
of scalping parties, the tomahawk and scalp- 
ing-knife sparing neither age or sex, while the 
torch laid waste the homes of the unfortunate 
bordermen. As a natural conse((uence retalia- 
tory expeditions followed. These were not 
always successful. At times they were highly 
disastrous. Occasionally, however, the foe 
received a merited chastisement. 

The centre of British power and influence, 
in the Northwest, was at Detroit, where Henry 
Hamilton, a vulgar ruffian, was in command; 
succeeded, however, before the close of the 
war, by Arentz Schuyler de Peyster, who, 
although carrj'ing out the policy of the British 
government, did so in the spirit of a " high- 
toned gentleman." Indian depredations re- 
ceived their inspiration and direction from this 
point. It was here the Wyandots from the 
Sandusky were enlisted in the interests of 
Great Britain. It was here these Indians and 
the Shawanoese frontier, Scioto and Miami 
rivers, received aid to murder, pillage' and 
destroy on the border settlements of Pennsyl- 
vania and Virginia. The frontiers of these 
colonies suffered terribly by this irregular 
warfare, legitimate, from the stand-point of 
tlic savages, but murderous and wanton in its 
instigators. 

In the Spring of 1778, there ajipoarod >ipon 
the theater of conflict a new element of des- 
truction to helj) on the work of destruction 
and death — tories, outlaws, and deserters from 



fij- 



?)l>> 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



193 



the States; renegades among the Indians — 
" of that horrid brood," wrote Hugh H. 
Brackenridge, of Pittsburg, in 1782, " called 
refugees whom the Devil has long since 
marked as his own." By these desperadoes 
and go-betweens, the hostile tribes were in- 
flamed to a white-heat of rapacity against 
the frontier settlements.* 

To the student of Indian history it will 
seem superfluous to attempt to justify or 
extenuate the conduct of these tribes, but the 
majority of the readers of to-day are not 
versed in the history of the North American 
Indian. Popular resentment point to the ex- 
parte statements in regard to the Western 
tribes as a true account of their whole race, 
ignoring the fatal efiFect that one hundred 
years contact with civilization has wrought. 
The whites found the Indians possessing this 
land with all "the divine right" of Kings; 
their rulers, descending from a race of kings 
whose dynasties were old before that of the 
proudest white monarch began, made treaties, 
formed alliances, oppressed the weak, respect- 
ed the powerful, and determined the differences 
by war in right king-like fashion. But they 
were more than kings; in the cool recesses of 
the woods they had their homes, and here 
beyond the reach of the luxuries and vices of 
a corrupt civilization, " the wigwam blaze 
beamed on the tender and helpless, and the 
council fire glared on the wise and daring." 
The whites found these Western kings 
accessible, ready to make commercial treaties, 
and willing to make reasonable grants of land. 
The early traders, left alone and unprotected 
among these people, supported themselves 
upon their bounty, received their daughters as 
wives, and grew rich upon their trade, and 
yet for these gifts the red savages received at 
the hands of the white barbarians nothing but 
the basest treachery and ingratitude. As the 
_* Butterfield's " Crawford's Campaign against Sandusky, 



country was explored, and the white popula- 
tion increased, the ru/ht of the Indians dropped 
out of sight and his existence was acknowl- 
edged only as an awkward obstacle in the 
way of accomplishing the greedy designs of 
the \yhites. Just preceding the breaking out 
of the war of the Revolution, Royal Gover- 
nors and public oiEcials rioted in greedy 
land-speculations that depended for their 
value upon the extermination of the In- 
dians. The natives were not blind to this 
policy, and expostulated with their white 
'■'■Protectors.''^ — Said they, " where shall we 
go? You drive us farther and farther West; by 
and by you will want all the land," and history 
has verified their desponding prediction. 

In all the early wars, the Indians were used 
by the one faction or the other as a "cats- 
paw," and were the greatest sufferers in a 
contest in which the success of either party 
was alike inimical to them. Outraged and 
betrayed thus on all hands, they were readily 
enlisted against the dominant party, whether 
French, English or American, and in this 
attitude fell readilyinto the plans of the British, 
at Detroit, at the beginning of the war between 
the Colonies and England. The Shawanoes 
were especially accessible to British influence. 
Their leaders, who were counted among the 
most intellectual and ablest chieftains of the 
Ohio tribes, had long ago fathomed the policy 
of the colonial powers, and had felt the pres- 
sure which was destined to drive them from 
their hunting-ground. They were, therefore, 
bitterly hostile toward the frontier settlers of 
Pennsylvania and Virginia, and had lent their 
heartiest co-operation to the various efforts 
made by the Indians to resist the encroach- 
ments of the whites. In the end they had 
suffered the loss of several villages, many 
braves, and had endured innumerable pri- 
vations, and now that the aid of the British 
promised an opportunity for revenge and the 
hope of staying the progress of the settlements. 



-^h- 



it^ 



lf>4 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



thev eagerly entered into the alliance. The 
nation was early on the war-path, and signal- 
ized their attacks by their terrible success. 
In one of their raids into Kentucky the Shaw- 
anoos captured Daniel Boone with twenty- 
seven others, and brought them to their village 
of Old Chillicothe, situated on the Little Miami, 
about three miles north of Xenia (this village 
was named after the one on tlu; Piqua plains, 
which occupied the site of Westfall, Pickaway 
County, and was burned by Lord Diinraore 
in 1774:). Hamilton, who was in command at 
Detroit at that time, persuaded the nation to 
bring Boone to him, and otfered his captors a 
large ransom, which they persistently refused, 
and bringing him back to their town adopted 
him into a family, and did their utmost to 
make him contented. " lie mingled with their 
sports, shot, fished, hunted and swam with 
them, and had become deeply ingratiated in 
their favor, when, on the 18th of June, they 
t(x>k him to assist them in making salt in the 
Scioto Valley, at the old salt wells, near or 
at the present town of .lackson, in the county 
of that name. They remained a few clays, 
and when he returned to old Chilicothe, his 
heart was agonized by the sight of 450 war- 
riors, armed, painted and ecpiipped in all the 
paraphernalia of .savage splendor, ready to 
start on an c.\pi<dition against Boonesborousrh. 
To avert the cruel blow that was about to fall 
upon his friends, he alone, on the mornino- of 
the Kith i>( .tunc, escaped from his Indian com- 
panions, and arrived in time to foil the plans 
of the enemy, and not ordy saved the borou-fh 
which he himself had founded, but probably 
all the frontier ])arts of Kentucky, from de- 
vastation." 

* "In the following year an expedition was 
organized to retaliate upon the Sliawanoes for 
these excursions, and in .fuly, 1770, Col. John 
Bowman, with 150 Kentuckians, marched 
ogaiiuit the town. The party rendezvoused 

• " HWriricnl Collwtloiw of Ohio." 



at the mouth of the Licking, and at the end 
of the second night got in sight of the town 
undiscovered. It was determined to wait 
until daylight in the morning before they 
would make the attack ; but by the impru- 
dence of some of the men, whose curiosity 
exceeded their judgment, the party was dis- 
covered by the Indians before the officers and 
men had arrived at the several positions 
assigned them. " As soon as the alarm was 
given, a fire commenced on both sides, and 
was kept up, while the women and children 
were seen running from cabin to cabin in the 
greatest confusion, and collecting in the most 
central and strongest. At clear daylight it 
was discovered that Bowman's men were from 
seventy to 100 yards from the cabins in which 
the Indians had collected, and which they ap- 
peared determined to d(!fend. Having no 
other arms than tomahawks and rillcs, it was 
thought imprudent to attempt to storm strong 
cabins, well defended by ex])ert warriors. In 
consequence of the warriors collecting in a 
few cabins contiguous to each other, the re- 
mainder of the town was left unprotected; 
therefore, while a fire wiis kept up at the port- 
holes, which engaged the attention of those 
within, fire was set to thirty or forty cabins, 
which were consumed, and a considerable 
(|uantity of property, consisting of kettles 
and blankets, were taken fnmi those cabins. 
In searching the woods near town, 133 horses 
were collected. 

About 10 o'clock Bowman anil his ])arty 
commenced their march homeward, after hav- 
ing 7iine men killed. AVhat loss the Indians 
sustained was never known, except Blaektish, 
tlieir prinei])al chief, who was wounded 
through the knee. The party had not march(>d 
more than eight or ten miles on their return 
home before the Indians appeared in consider- 
able force on their rear, and began to press 
hard upon that quarter. Bowman selected 
his ground and formed his men in a square. 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



195 



but the Indians declined a close engagement, 
only keejjing up a scattering fire. It was 
soon discovered that their object was to re- 
tard their march until they could procure re- 
inforcements from the neighboring villages."* 
This maneuver being repeated several times, 
about 100 of the rangers, mounted on their 
captured ponies, charged upon the savages, 
scattering them in every direction and put- 
ting an end to the attack. This expedition 
did but little more than to exasperate the sav- 
ages, and they showed their contempt for the 
power of the whites by repeated excursions 
of more or less magnitude during the fall of 
that year. In the meantime, Gen. Georgt; 
Rodney Clarke, who had emigrated to Ken- 
tucky, and been engaged two years before in 
capturing the English and French outposts in 
Illinois, turned his attention to the marauding 
Shawanoes and determined to bring them to 
terms, and on the 'Zd of August, 1780, took 
up his march for their towns. In the after- 
noon of the 6th the expedition reached the 
site of old Chillicothe, which Bowman had 
partially burned the year before, without en- 
countering any force of the enemy. On arriv- 
ing at this town they found it not only aban- 
doned, but most of the houses burned down, or 
burning, having been set on fire that morning. 
The army encamped on the ground that night, 
and on the following day cut down several 
hundred acres of corn, and about four o'clock 
in the evening, took up their line of march for 
the Piqua towns, situated about twelve miles 
above Chillicothe, on the Mad River. The 
town was built in the manner of French vil- 
lages, extending along the margin of the river 
for more than three miles. According to 
Drake, the biographer of Tecuraseh, "the 
principal part of Piqua stood upon a plain, 
rising fifteen or twenty feet above the river. 
On the south, between the village and the 
river, there was an extensive prairie; on the 

"Notes on Kentucky. 



northwest, some bold cliiTs, terminating near 
the river, on the west and northwest, level 
timbered land, while on the opposite side of 
the stream another prairie, of varying width, 
stretched back to the high grounds. The 
river sweeping by in a graceful bend; the pre- 
cipitous, rocky cliffs; the undulating hills, 
with their towering trees; the prairies, gar- 
nished with tall grass and brilliant flowers, 
combined to render the situation of Piqua 
both beautiful and picturesque. At the period 
of its destruction, Piqua was quite populous." 
There was a rude log hut within its limits, 
surrounded by pickets, but the Indians, when 
attacked, feared to enter it, and took post in 
their houses. The force of Clarke numbered 
about 1,000 men, and its divisions were 
commanded by Cols. Logan, Lynn, Floyd, 
Harrod and Slaughter. The whites came 
upon the village on the morning of the 8th of 
August. They had marched most of the 
night before, and, after a short rest, were on 
the march by sunrise on the 8th, and arrived 
in sight of Piqua about two o'clock in the af- 
ternoon. The Indian road from Chillicothe 
to Piqua, which the army followed, crossed 
the river about a quarter of a mile below the 
town. There were but two avenues l)y which 
the town could be reached, viz: from up and 
down the river. These three avenues of ap- 
proach were occupied by the different divi- 
sions of the armj', an arrangement which was 
expected would result in the capture of 
the entire band, which consisted of Sha- 
wanoes, Mingoes, Wyandots and Delawares, 
numbering, it is said, nearly 4,000 warriors. 
But Col. Logan who had charge of the lower 
division was delayed, and did not reach its 
position before the attack commenced, and it 
is said never saw an Indian during the whole 
action. The fight was bitterly contested on 
both sides, but a defection of a large body of 
Mingoes and the artillery of the whites ren- 
dered the contest short, and the Indians were 



1% 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



thoroughly beaten. The loss on both sides 
was about equal, each having about twenty 
killed. On the following day the army de- 
voted its attention to the destruction of the 
village and crops; the amount of corn de- 
stroyed at the villages of Cliillieothe and 
Piqua being estimated at 500 acres. These 
towns were never rebuilt by the Shawanoes, 
tlic inhabitants removing to the Great Miami, 
where they built a town and named it from 
the one destroyed. This was a severe blow, 
and gave the hunters jilenty of occupation to 
provide for their families, which resulted in 
an extended cessation of hostilities on the 
border. Two years later Gen. Clarke organ- 
ized another expedition, numbering 1,000 
men, for the purpose iif lireaking up the now 
Piqua towns which the Shawanoes had built 
on the Great Miami, after the destruction of 
the old towns on the Mad River. They 
started from Kentucky after corn planting, 
and proceeded without regard to their former 
trail, crossing the Mad River, not far from the 
present site of Dayton, and, keeping up the 
cast side of the Miami, crossed it about four 
miles below the Piqua towns. The Indians 
seem to have been taken completely by sur- 
prise, and shortly after gaining the bottoms 
on the west side of the river, the army came 
upon a party of Indians mounted, and with 
tJieir squaws, going to Pi()ua to hold some 
frolic or festival. The Indians fled from their 
towns, leaving most of their property behind. 
Here the army remained over night, the na- 
tives gathering about in the hazel bush, and 
doing such small damage as occasion afforded- 
But few lives were lost on either side; and 
after destroying the village and the store of 
the trader, Lriramie, the army returned to 
Kinitutky. Notwithstanding these repeated 
chastisements, the ShawanocB maintained an 
undaunted front, and avenged these compar- 
atively slight flaniiiges by repeated forays 
upon the border, that never failed to add to 



the bloody trophies of their savage war. 
" On Easter Sundaj-, ^Milh^r's block-house, on 
the Dutch fork of Buffalo Creek, in Washing- 
ton County, Ohio, was attacked bj' a party of 
seventy Shawanoes." * This was not long after 
the attack on their towns in l^SS, and illus- 
trated how difficult it was to quiet these im- 
placable foes of the whites. 

"The war of the Revolution was now vir- 
tually ended. The western border war, how- 
ever, which it had evoked, was still raging 
with undiminished fury. Lord Cornwallis 
had surrendered, and the murdering forays of 
the Indians of the north were at an end; but, 
in the west, there was no cessation of 
predatory incursions of the savages.* The 
repeated successes of Boquet, Dunmore, 
Bowman and Clarke, while not subdu- 
ing the Sliawanoes, had driven them from 
their old haunts, and had concentrated the 
hostile tribes in the northwestern part of the 
State. Retreating from the Scioto and the 
lawer waters of the Great Miami, the Shawa- 
noes had rebuilt their destroyed towns in this 
section; Chillicothe oh the Upper and Lower 
Piqua, on the upper waters of the two Miami 
Rivers, and tlie Mackacliaek towns — Macka- 
chack. Pigeon Town, and Wapatomica— on 
the Mad River. After the destruction of their 
principal town on the Muskingum, by Broad- 
head in 1781, the Delawares had retreated 
from that river and set up their lodges among 
the Shawanoes and Wyandots — the village 
chief, Buckongehelas, locating in one of the 
Mackachack towns — and were now, in 1782, in 
close alliance with these tribes. The rallying 
point for these tribes seemed to be at Upper 
Sandusky. "That most of the scalping parties 
j)rowling upon the frontiers came from San- 
dusky, was well known; not, liowever, that all 
the savages depredating upon the settlements 
were Wyandots; but tha«t their tovm was the 

* Buttcrficld'g Crawford's Campaign, 1782. 



i. 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



197 



grand rallying point for the British Indians 
before starting for the border. The pressing 
need, therefore, for its destruction, none failed 
to appreciate. On a line running nearly 
north and south from near the mouth of the 
of the Sandusky River to the head of 
the Miami were located Wyandots, Sha- 
wanoes, Delawares and Mingoes."* On 
this line, about equally distant from the 
two extremes, was the objective point of an 
expedition then fitting out under Col. Wil- 
liam Crawford. The disastrous termination 
of this expedition, and the cruel fate of its 
gallant leader, is well known. The Indians 
kept a strict watch upon the border, and long 
before the expedition reached its destination, 
its object was known, and measures for 
defence concerted. The Delawares and Wy- 
andots were to keep the whites in check while 
the more remote nations — the Shawanoes and 
Mingoes, came to their relief. Word had 
been sent to Detroit, and troops were ex- 
pected from there. On the 4th of June 
Crawford's command came in sight of the 
enemy. "The Indians had chosen a favora- 
ble point for the assembling of their forces. 
It was not far distant from the two traces — 
the one leading northeast to the Half-king's 
town; the other, northwest to Pipe's town — 
branching off from the springs, the spot where 
Upper Sandusky now stands."f The fight 
that ensued was a stubborn one, in which the 
advantage was more with the whites, perhaps, 
than with their opponents, and on the follow- 
ing day the troops felt confident of victory. 
In the afternoon of the second day, however, 
matters took a serious change for the expedi- 
tion. Reinforcements from Detroit arrived, 
and soon after them some 200 Shawanoes 
came upon the field. The only question then 
for the expedition was how to secure their re- 
treat in the safest manner. As soon as it was 

*Eutterneia. 
tButturtield. 



dark they began to make preparations to with- 
draw, the Indians discovering their intentions 
as they were about to start. They at once be- 
gan a furious attack, throwing the troops into 
disorder, inflicting severe loss upon them, in 
the way of killed and captured. The main body, 
finally shaking off their pursuers, reached the 
point from whence they started in safety, but a 
number that were separated from the troops in 
the confusion of the fight were either shot _'or 
captured. A party of six, one of whom was 
John Slover, a guide to the expedition, and 
who had been captured when a boy, and 
adopted into the Shawanocse tribe, had reach- 
ed a point within twenty miles of the Tuscar- 
awas, in what is now Wayne County. "Here 
they were ambuscaded l)y a party of Shawa- 
noes, who had followed their path all the way 
from the Sandusky Plains. The Indians kill- 
ed two of tlie men at the first fire. One es- 
caped, and Slover, with two men, were made 
prisoners. Strange to say, one of the Indians 
was of the party which captured Slover when 
a boy, in Virginia. He was recognized by 
him; came up and spoke to him, calling him 
by his Indian name — Mannucothe. He up- 
braided him, however, for coming to war 
against them. 

The three prisoners were taken back to the 
Plains, where the Indians had some horses 
they had taken, which had belonged to the 
Americans. These were found; and after the 
whole party had mounted, they started for the 
Shawanoes towns upon the Mad River, in 
what is now Logan County. On the third 
day after their capture, they came in sight of 
a small Indian village. Hitherto, the savages 
had treated their prisoners kindly, giving 
them a little meat and flour to eat, which they 
had found, or taken from other captives. 
Now, however, the Indians began to look 
sour. The town they were approaching was not 
far from Wapatomica, their principal village 
— situated just below what is now Zanesfield, 



\ 



Jt 



198 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



ill Logan Coiinty — to which the savages iii- 
tendoil to take their prisoners. The inhab- 
itants of the vilhige, which they were nearing, 
came out with clubs and tomahawks — struck, 
beat and abused the three captives greatly. 
Tho3' seized one of Slover's coni])anions, the 
oldest one, stripped him naked, and with coal 
and water painted him black. The man 
seemed to surmise, that this was the sign that 
he was to be burnt, and shed tears. He asked 
Slover the meaning of his being blacked; 
but the Indians, in their own language, for- 
bade him telling the man wliat was intended. 
They assured the latter, speaking English to 
him, that he was not to be hurt. " 

A warrior had been sent to Wapatomica, to 
aiMjuaint them with the arrival of the prison- 
ers, and prepare them for the frolic; and, on 
the approach of the captives, the iniiabitants 
came out with guns, clubs and tomahawks. 
The three were told they had to run to the 
council-house, about 300 yards distant. 
The man who was painted black was about 
twenty yards in advance of the otiier two in 
running the gainitlet. They made him their 
principal ol)ject; men, women and children 
beating him, and those who iuid guns firing 
loads of powder into his lli'sli as he ran naked, 
j)utting the mu/zles of their guns up to his 
body; shouting, hallooing and beating their 
drums in the meantime. 

The indiappy man had reached the dour of 
the council-house, beaten and woutxlcd in a 
shocking manner. Slover and his coiii|)aiiion, 
having already arrived, then had a lull view 
of the spectacle — a most horrid one! They 
had cut liim with their tomahawks, shot his 
body blai-k, and burnt it into holes with loads 
of pi)wdcr blown into it. A large wadding 
had made a wound in his shoulder, whence 
the l)l<x>d gushed very freely. 

The unfortunat*' man, agreeable to the dec- 
larations of till" savages when he first set out, 
had reason to think himself secure when the 



door of the council-house was reached. This 
seemed to be his hope, for, coming vip with 
great struggling and endeavor, he laid hold of 
the door, but was pulled back and drawn 
away by the enemy. Finding now that no 
mercy was intended, he attempted several 
times to snatch or lay hold of some of their 
tomahawks, but, being weak, could not effect 
it. Slover saw him borne off; and the In- 
dians were a long time beating, wounding, 
pursuing and killing him ! The same even- 
ing Slover saw the dead body close by the 
council-house. It was cruelly mangled; the 
blood mingled with the powder was rendered 
black. He saw, also, the same evening the 
body after it had been cut in two pieces — the 
limbs and head about 200 yards on the out- 
side of the town, stuck on poles. 

The same evening Slover also saw the 
bodies of three others at Wapatomica, in 
the same black and mangled condition. These, 
he was told, had been put to death the same 
day, and just before his arrival. One of these 
was William Harrison, the son-in-law of Craw- 
ford; another, j'oung William Crawford, a 
nephew. The third body Slover could not 
recognize, but he believed it to be Major John 
McClelland, fourth in command of the expi'- 
dition. The ne.xt day the bodies of these 
men were dragged to the outside of the town, 
and their cor])ses given to the dogs, except 
their limbs and heads, which were stuck on 
jjoles ! Such were the awful resiilts of the 
wild orgies at Wapatomica. 

The surviving comjtanion of Slover, shortly 
after, was sent to another town, to be, as the 
latter presumed, either burnt or executed in 
the same manner as the other comrades had 
been. In the evening the Indians assembled 
in the council-house. It was a large building 
about fifty yards in length, and about twenty- 
fiv(! vards wide. Its height was about sixteen 
feet. It was built with s|)lit ])(ilcs .■md cov- 
ered with bark. Tin' liist thing doni' ujxm 



-SJv?' 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



19!) 



the assembling of the savages was to examine 
Slover. This was done in their own tongue, 
as he spoke the Miami, Shawanoese and Dela- 
ware languages, especially the first two, with 
fluency. They interrogated him concerning 
the situation of his country, its provisions, the 
number of its inhabitants, the state of war 
between it and Great Britain. He informed 
them that Cornwallis was taken. The next 
day Capt. Matthew Elliot, with James Girty, 
came to the council. The later was the bro- 
ther of Simon Girty and an adopted Sha- 
wanoese. The former assurred the Indians 
that Slover had lied; that Cornwallis was not 
taken, and the Indians seemed to give full 
credit to his declaration. Hitherto Slover 
had been treated with some appearance of 
kindness, but now the savages began to alter 
their behavior toward him. 

The council at Wapatomica lasted fifteen 
days, from fifty to one hundred warriors being 
usually present, and sometimes more. Every 
warrior was admitted, but only the chiefs or 
head warriors had the privilege of speaking 
— these being accounted such, from the num- 
ber of scalps and prisoners they had taken. 
The third day Alexander McKee was in coun- 
cil, and afterward was generally present. 
He spoke little. He asked Slover no ques- 
tions; indeed, did not speak to him at all. 
He then lived about two miles out of the 
town; had a house built of square logs, with 
a shingle roof. He was dressed in gold-laced 
clothes. He was seen bj' Slover at the town 
the latter first passed through. On the last 
day of the council, save one, a "speech" came 
from Detroit, brought by a warrior who had 
been counseling with De Peyster, the com- 
manding officer at that place. The "speech" 
had long been expected, and was in answer 
to one sent some time previous to Detroit. 
It was in a belt of wampum, and began with 
the address, "My Children:" and inquired 
why the Indians continued to take prisoners. 



" Provisions are scarce; when prisoners are 
brought in we are obliged to maintain them; 
and some of them run away and carry tidings 
of our aifairs. When any of your jjeople fall 
into the hands of the rebels, they show no 
mercy; why, then, should you take prisoners? 
Take no more prisoners, my children, of any 
sort — man, woman or child." 

Two days after, all the tribes that were 
near, being collected in council — Ottawas, 
Chipjiewas, Wyandots, Mingoes, Delawares, 
Shawanoes, Monseys, and a part of the Che- 
rokees— it was determined to take no more 
prisoners, and in the event of any tribe not 
present, taking any, the others would rise 
against them, take away the captives and 
put them to death. They laid jilans also 
against the settlements of Kentucky — the 
Falls (Louisville) and Wheeling. About 
this time, twelve men were broiight in 
from Kentucky, three of whom wore burnt 
in Wampatoraica. The remainder were dis- 
tributed to other towns, where they shared the 
same fate. 

The council was now over, and on the fol- 
lowing day about forty warriors accompanied 
I)y George Girty, an adopted Delaware, a 
brother of Simon and James Girty, came 
early in the morning around the house where 
Slover was. He was sitting before the door. 
They put a rope around his neck, tied his 
arms behind his back, stripped him naked 
and blacked him in the usual manner. Girt}', 
as soon as he was tied, cursed him, telling 
him he would get what he had many years 
deserved. Slover was led to a town about 
five miles away, to which a messenger had 
been dispatched to desire them to prepare to 
receive him. Arriving at the town, he was 
beaten with clubs and the pipe ends of the 
tomahawks, and was kept for some time tied 
to a tree before a house-door. In the mean- 
time, the inhabitants set out for another 
town about two miles distant, where Slover 



200 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



was to lie burnt, and where he arrived about 
three o'clock in the afternoon. They wen; 
now at Mackachack, not far from the present 
site of West Libert)', in Logan County. 

At Mac-kaciiack there was a council-house 
also, as at AVapatomica, but part only of it 
was covered. In the part without a roof was 
a post about sixteen feet in height; around 
this, at a distance of four feet, were three 
piles of wood about three feet high. Slover 
was brought to the post, bis arms tied behind 
him, and the thong or cord with which they 
W(?re bound was fastened to it ; a rope was 
also put about his neck and tied to the post 
about four feet above his head. While they 
were tying him, the wood was kindled and 
began to flame; just then the wind began to 
blow, and in a very short time the rain fell 
violently. The fire, which by this time had 
begun to blaze considerably, was instantly 
e.\tinguished. The rain lasted about a 
quarter of an hour. 

When it was over, the savages stood 
amazed, and were a long time silent. At last 
one said they would let him alone till morning, 
and have a whole day's frolic in burning him. 
The, sun at this time, was about three hours 
high. The rope about his neck was untied, 
and making him sit down, they began to dance 
arouml him."* He was afterward allowed to 
lay down to rest under guard of three In- 
dians, anil during the night he made his es- 
cape, reaching his home in safetj'. 

Their success in this campaign greatly em- 
boldened the savages, and they carried out 
their plans concerted at Wapatomica, with 
terrible fatality among the s<'attered settle- 
ments of Kentucky and Pennsylvania. On 
the 11th of September, George Girty, at the 
head of ilOO Indians, reinforced by a i)arty of 
forty rangers from Detroit, and some small 
cannon, ma<le an unsuccessful attack on the fort 
at Wheeling. As late as Ai)ril 1(1, 1783, Gen. 

•BullvrOi-UI. 



Irvine wrote Gen. Lincoln, Secretary of War: 
"Savages have lately killed and taken a 
number of families, at nearly the same time, 
in many different places of the country, as 
well on the frontiers of Virginia as Penn- 
sylvania. Not less than seventeen persons 
are said to be killed and scalped in a small 
settlement on Wheeling Creek."* The great- 
est alarm prevailed along the border, and the 
frequent inroads of the savages had so inti- 
midated the settlers that many were leaving 
their homes for the east, to places of greater 
security. The whole frontier was in danger 
of being surrenderiKl before measures could 
be adopted to check the savages. In January, 
1785, a treaty was concluded with the Wyan- 
dot, Delaware, Chippewa and other nations, 
at Fort Mcintosh, but the Shawanoes could 
not be induced to bury the hatchet, and, in 
the following year. Gen. Clarke projected an- 
other expedition against the hostile tribes, a 
part of the troops lead by himself to attack 
the towns on the Wabash, and a jiart under 
Col. Benjamin Logan to attack the Shawa- 
noese towns on the Mad Kiver. This expedi- 
tion started out in the fall, Col. Logan separat- 
ing from the main command at the Falls of 
the Ohio, proceeding to the Mackachack towns. 
Gen. William Lytic, who was a boy of six- 
teen at the time, accom]>anied the expedition 
under Logan, and thus describes the march 
and its results, in Howe's Historical Collec- 
tions of Ohio: " We came in view of the two 
first towns, one of which stood on the west 
bank of the Mad River, and the other on the 
northeast of it. They were separated by a 
prairie, half a mile in extent. The town 
on the northeast was situated on a 
high, commanding point of land that pro- 
jected a small distance into the prairie, at 
the foot of which eminence broke out sev- 
eral lino springs. This was the residence 
of the famous chief of the nation — Moluntha. 

•DullerfR-ld. 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



21)1 



His flag was flying at the time, from the top 
of a pole sixty feet high. We had advanced 
in three lines, the commander with some horse- 
men marching at the head of the centre line 
and the foot men in their rear. Col. Robert 
Patterson commanded the left, and I think 
Col. Thomas Kennedy the right. When we 
came in sight of the towns, the spies of the 
front guard made a halt, and sent a man back 
to inform the commander of the situation of the 
two towns. He ordered Col. Patterson to at- 
tack the town on the left bank of the river. 
Col. Kennedy was also charged to incline a 
little to the right of the town on the east side 
of the prairie. He determined himself to 
charge with the centre division, immediately 
on the upper town. As we approached within 
half a mile of the town on the left, and about 
three-fourths from that on the riffht, we saw 
the savages retreating in all directions, mak- 
ing for the thickets, swamps and high prairie 
grass, to secure them from the enemy. As we 
came up with the flying savages, I was dis- 
appointed, discovering that we should have 
little to do. I heard but one savage, with 
the exception of the chief, cry for quarter. 
They fought with desperation, as long as they 
could raise knife, gun or tomahawk, after 
they found they could not screen themselves. 
We dispatched all the warriors we overtook, 
and sent the women and children prisoners 
to the rear. We pushed ahead, and had not 
advanced more than a mile, before I discover- 
ed some of the enemy. AVhen I arrived within 
fifty yards of them, I dismounted and raised my 
gun. I discovered at this moment some men of 
the right coming up on the left. The warrior I 
was about to shoot held up his hand in token of 
surrender, and I heard him order the Indians 
to stop. By this time, the men behind had 
arrived, and were in the act of firing upon the 
Indians. I called to them not to fire, for the 
enemy had surrendered. The warrior that 
had surrendered to me came walking toward 



me, calling his women and children to 
follow him. I advanced to meet him, with 
my right hand extended, but, before I could 
reach him, the men of the right wing' had sur- 
rounded him. I rushed in among their horses. 
While he was giving me his hand, several of 
our men asked to tomahawk him. I informed 
them that they would have to tomahawk me 
first. We led him back to the place where 
his flag had been. We had taken thirteen 
prisoners. Among them were the chief, his 
three wives — one of them a young and hand- 
some woman, another of them the famous 
grenadier squaw, upwards of six feet high — • 
and two or three fine young lads. The rest were 
children. One of these lads was a remarka- 
bly interesting youth, about my own age and 
size. He clung closely to me, and appeared 
keenly to notice everything that was going on. 
When we arrived at the town, a crowd of 
our men pressed around to see the chief. I 
stepped aside to fasten my horse, my 
prisoner clinging close to my side. A 
young man by the name of Curner had been 
to the springs to drink ; he discovered 
the young savage by my side, and came run- 
ning towards me. The young Indian sujs- 
posed he was advancing to kill him ; as I 
turned around, in the twinkling of an eye he 
let fly an arrow at Curner, for he was armed 
with a bow. I had just time to catch his arm 
as he discharged the arrow, which passed 
through Curner's dress and grazed his side. 
The jerk I gave his arm undoubtedly pre- 
vented his killing Curner on the spot. I took 
away his arrows, sternly reprimanding him, 
and led him back to the crowd which sur- 
rounded the prisoners. At the same moment, 
Col. McGary, the same man who had caused 
the disaster at the Blue Licks some years 
before, coming up, Gen. Logan's eye caught 
that of McGary. 'Col. McGary,' said he, 
'you must not molest these prisoners.' ' I 
will see to that,' McGary replied. Coming 



20-2 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



up to the chief, his first salutation was the 
quostioii : ' "Were you at the defeat of the 
Blue Lieks?' The Indian, not knowing the 
meaning- of the words, or not understandinjr tli(> 
purport of the question, answered in the ailirni- 
ative. McGary instantly seized an ax from 
the hands of the grenadier squaw, and raised 
it to make a blow at the chief. I throw up 
my arm to ward oif the blow, when the ax 
came down, the handle striking my wrist and 
nearly breaking it, while the blade sank into 
the head of the chief to the eyes, who fell 
dead at my feet. Provoked beyond measure 
at this wanton barbarity, I drew my knifo 
for the purjiose of avenging his cruelty by 
dispatching him. My arm was arrested by 
one of our men, which prevented me inflict- 
ing the thrust. McGary escaped in the crowd. 

A detachment was then ordered off to two 
other towns, distant six or eight miles. The 
men and j)ris(iners were ordered to march 
down to the lower town and encamp. As we 
marched out of the upper town, we fired it, 
collecting a large i)ile of corn for our horses, 
and beans, ])unq)kins, etc., for our own use. 
Next morning, Gen. Logan ordered another 
detachment to attack a town that lay seven 
or<'ightmilcstothe north ornorthwest of where 
we then were. This town was also burnt, to- 
gethiT with a large block house lliat the Eng- 
lish had built there, of huge size and thick- 
ness, and the detachment returned that niirht 
to the main body. Jlr. Isaac Zane was at 
that time living at this last village, he being 
married to a squaw, and having at the place 
his wife and several I'hildren at the time." 

It ap|)ears that the warriors were absent 
hunting, and the occupants of the towiis were 
principally the non-combatants of the nation. 
A deserting Frenchman warnerl these of their 
danger, but the troops, arriving so much 
sooner than was expected, effected a complete 
surprise an<l a easy virtorj'. As it was, tiie 
expedition resulted in tin- destni.tion of ei"-ht 



large towns, and a large number of corn- 
fields, captured seventy or eighty prisoners, 
and killed some twenty fighting men, among 
whom was the chief, Moluntha. .Jonathan 
Alder was living with the Indians at that 
time in one of the ujjper towns. A runner 
brought the tidings, one morning, that Mack- 
achak had been destroyed, when the 
S(piaws and children, taking what they could 
with them, retreated two days' march to the 
head waters of the Scioto, where they suf- 
fered much for the want of food. There was 
not a man among them capable of hunting, 
and they were compelled to subsist on paw- 
paw.s, muscles and craw-fish. In about eight 
days they returned to Zanc's town, tarried a 
short time, and from thence removed to Hog 
Creek, where they wintered; their principal 
living, at that place, was raccoons, and tliat 
with little or no salt, without a single bite of 
bread, hominy or sweet corn. In the spring, 
they moved back to the site of their village, 
where nothing remained but the ashes of their 
dwellings, and their corn burnt to charcoal. 
They remained here during the sugar season, 
and then removed to Blanchard's Fork, where, 
being obliged to clear the land, they were en- 
abled to raise but a scanty crop of corn. 
While this was growing, they fared hard, and 
managed to eke out a bare subsistence by 
eating a kind of wild potato and poor rac- 
coons, that had been suckled down so poor 
that the dogs would hardly eat them. For 
fear of losing a little, they threw them on the 
fire, singed the hair off, and ate the skin and 
all.* 

In spite of these privations, these implaca- 
ble foes of the whites still continued their 
single-handed warfare against the settlements. 
The erection of Fort Ilarmer, in 178.5, on the 
right bank of the Muskingum, where it joins 
the Ohio, and the erection of Fort Washing- 
ton on the site of Cincinnati, in ITS'J, witli 

■Il..Hf. 



u^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



203 



the numerous settlements that gathered about 
them, aroused the Indians to greater deeds of 
violence. Early in this year, a treaty was 
made with the Wyandot, Chippewa, Potta- 
watomie, and Sac nations, in which . the 
treaty of Fort Mcintosh was renewed and con- 
firmed. It did not produce the favorable re- 
sults anticipated, as the Indians resumed hos- 
tilities in the same year. In the fall of this 
year, therefore, fitting out a force of 1,300 
men, Gen. Harmer proceeded to attack the 
towns on the Miami of the Lake, near the site 
of Fort Wajne. The tribes made a common 
cause, and united to defeat him. Harmer suc- 
ceeded in burning the towns, but, dividing 
his force to devastate the country, he was at- 
tacked with great fury by the allied Indians, 
and beaten in detail, when, disheartened by 
the loss of some 400 of his men, he retreat- 
ed, entirely unsuccessful in his projjosed in- 
imidation of the savages. The Indians, em- 
boldened by their success, redoubled their 
efforts to drive the ])ale faces beyond the 
Ohio, and in the following year Gov. St. Clair, 
collecting a force of some 3,000 troops, set 
out for the towns on the Maumee. The 
object of this expedition was to estab- 
lish a fort at the Miami village, that stood 
on the site of Fort Wayne, Ind. On the even- 
ing of November 3, the army reached a branch 
of the Wabash, in the northern part of what 
is now Darke County. Here they were at- 
tacked on the following morning before sun- 
rise by some 3,000 Indians, and thoroughly 
defeated, with a loss of some GOO men killed. 
In these actions the whole Shawanoese nation 
was engaged, and their chief led the united 
forces of the allied savages. These successes 
on the part of the Indians now thoroughly 
alarmed the whites, and the attacks upon the 
frontier, becoming so frequent and disastrous, 
that emigration was almost suspended. 

" President Washington now urged forward 
the vigorous prosecution of the war for the 



protection of the Northwest Territory, but 
various obstacles retarded the enlistment and 
organization of a new army. In the spring of 
179-1 the American Army assembled at Gr(!en- 
ville, in Darke County, Ohio, under the com- 
mand of Gen. Anthony Wayne, a bold, ener- 
getic and experienced officer of the Revolu- 
tion. His force consisted of about 3,000 
regular trooj)s, and 1,500 volunteers from 
Kentuckj'."* On his advance Gen. Wayne 
directed his march to the Shawanoese town of 
Blue Jacket, at the junction of the Maumee 
and Auglaize rivers. Here the savages had a 
large town, extending a mile or two along the 
east bank of the Auglaize River, provided 
with fine orchards, wjiich the French had 
planted, and surrounded by a thousand acres 
of corn. On the approach of the troops the 
natives retired, and assembled their comliined 
forces, composed of Shawanoes, Delawares, 
Miarais, Pottawattomies, Chippewas, Ottawas 
and Senecas, at the rapids of the Maumee. 
The night previous totlu; battle a council was 
held at Presque Isle, when it was decided not 
to attack Gen. Wayne's forces at night. On 
the question of meeting him on the following 
day there was a diversity of opinion — Little 
Turtle, a prominent chief of the Miamis, op- 
posing the fight, and Blue Jacket, then in 
chief command, strongly urging the Indians 
to meet the troops. The latter prevailed, and 
on the following day, August 20, the hostile 
forces met, resulting in a disastrous defeat to 
the Indians. After remaining: on the ground 
for some days, the army returned to Blue 
Jacket Town, laying waste the villages and 
corn fields for some fifty miles on each side of 
the Maumee. On arriving at their destina- 
tion they proceeded to build Fort Defiance. 
The result of this action was very dishearten- 
ing to the Indians, but buoyed up by the 
memory of their former victories, they con- 
tinued to hold out against the whites. 



ei[^ 



2M 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



Wayne's plan of occupyinjr their country and 
devastating their oorti fields and villiif^es put 
another face ujion alfairs, and though urged to 
resistance by Girty, Elliott and McKee, who 
had great inlluence with the Indians, and were 
ably backed by the British authorities, the hos- 
tile tribes concluded a ])ermanent peace with 
Gen. Wayne, at Greenville, on the ."kd of 
August, 1T95. There were 1,130 savages 
j)resent, and among them the chiefs, Tarhe, 
IJuckongehelas, Ulack Hoof, Blue Jacket and 
Little Turtle. By this treaty the line between 
the United States lands and those of the In- 
dians was fixed, beginning "at the mouth of 
Cuyahoga Hiver, and from thence up the same 
to the portage between that and the Tus- 
carawas branch of the Muskingum; thence 
down that branch to the crossing ])laco above 
Fort Laurens; thence westerly to a fork of that 
branch of the Great Miami River, running into 
the Ohio, at f)r near which fork stood Loramie's 
store, and where commenced the portage be- 
tween the Miami of the Ohio and St. Mary's 
River, •which is a branch of the Miami which 
runs into Lake Erie; thence a westerly 
course to Fort Recovery, which stands on 
the branch of the Wabash; thence south- 
erly in a direct line to the Ohio, so 
as to intersect that river opposite the 
mouth of the Kentucky or Cuttawa river." 
This line passes through the central part of 
Logan (.'ounty, in a southwesterly direction, 
dividing the township of Bnke's Creek, Rush 
Creek, Wa.'ihington, Bloomlield, and forming 
the northern bounilary of the townshii)s of 
Harrison and Lake. Thus, after over forty 
years of the bitterest warfare against the 
whites, and that with scarcely an interruption, 
the Shawancjos buried the hatchet, not to dig 
it up again against the whites. This peace, 
however, was not brought about by any sud- 
den conversion of sentiment, but from the dic- 
tates of j)rudence, in the face of circumstances 
which left exterminatidii as the only alterna- 



tive. Although the site of the Mackachack 
towns were thus ceded to the Government, 
the Indians, after the general pacification, re- 
turned and re-built their waste places. As 
late as 1800 the ^\'yandots had a village on 
the siteof Zanesfield, which they called Zane's- 
town. In the same vicinity was Solomon's 
Town, where Tarhe, " The Crane," a noted 
Wyandot chief, resided. On the site of Belle- 
fontaine the Shawanoe chief. Blue Jacket, had 
a viliafire, and not far away was Read's Towns 
where there were a few caljins. Three miles 
north of the site of the county seat was the 
village of the Delaware chief, Buckongehelas, 
and Lewistown, on the Great Miami. Wapato 
mica was not re-built, but a trading station on 
McKee's Creek, four miles south of Bellefon- 
taine was known as McKee's Town. The 
Shawanoes had settled a town on the Au- 
glaize River, which they called Wapaghko- 
netta,* after a noted chief of the tribe, and 
continued to live here in considerable num- 
bers. 

It was hardly to be expected, however, that 
the nature of these implacable foes of the 
whites shoidd be so suddenly changed as never 
again to harbor thoughts of revenge. Not 
long after the conclusion of the treaty at 
Greenville, the far-famed Tecninseh became a 
chief among his pc^ople, the Shawanoes. Not- 
withstanding he had shared in the crushing 
defeat administed at the battle of the Fallen 
Timbers, by Gen. Wayne, he did not share 
the prudent counsels of the older chiefs, 
Black-hoof and Blue Jacket, but moving about 
among the people of his own and other tribes, 
secretly fostered their expiring hope for re- 
dress and revenge against the whites. In 1805, 
through the influence of his brother and him- 
self, a large part of the Shawanoese nation 
wius ind\iced to settle at Greenville, Vrhen his 
brother, assuming the office of Prophet, by 
a j)retended sorcery, acrpiired a wonderful 

♦Wapakonctto, the coanty scat of Auglaize County. 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUXTY. 



205 



influence over the tribes that came in contact 
with the scheming brothers. 

The eifect of all this upon the newly recon- 
ciled savages was soon apparent in this 
vicinity, and notwithstanding the powerful 
efforts of Black Hoof and the other more 
prudent chiefs, Tecumseh actually appeared 
on the Miami at the mouth of Stony Creek, 
a mile below the site of the village of De- 
Grafl, at the head of 700 warriors, painted 
and plumed for war. The settlers who had 
built their cabins in the vicinity, were greatly 
alarmed at the reports, and sent out Col. 
Ward, Col. McPherson and Simon Kenton, to 
learn their business. Kenton was spokesman, 
and putting a bold front on the mat!:er, said 
all they cared to know was their disposition, 
" for," said he, " we have plenty of men to 
meet you." After a council of the chiefs 
present, a peaceful answer was returned, and 
the threatened war was deferred. A little 
incident occurred at this time, however, which 
shows how much the peaceful answer was 
probably due to Kenton's attitude. An In 
dian who had abused a settler's wife some time 
before, had been whippe i by Kenton's order, 
and at this meeting the fellow appeared 
sulky. Kenton, observing him, calling his 
comrades one side, told them he had nothing 
to defend himself with if the savacre should 

o 

attack him, and was furnished with a dirk. On 
returning to the Indians, Kenton, carrj'ing the 
knife in his hand, struckit into the trees as if 
inviting an attack from his sulky adversary. 
This confident carriage had its effect upon 
the savage, who approached Kenton with 
outstretched hand, remarking, " Me veil}- good 
fliend."* These peaceful overtures, though 
gladly received, were accepted with many 
mental reservations, and in the following year 
a fort was erected in what is now Mad River 
Township, Champaign County. 

These manifestations of hostility soon 

'Antrim's History Logan and Cliampaign Counties. 



caught (he watchful eyes of Gen. Harrison, 
and in the fall of 1807 he sent an address to 
the Shawanoes Chiefs, in which he exhorted 
them to send away the people at Greenville. 
This address resulted in the removal of Te- 
cumseh and his followers, in the spring of 
1808, to the lands on the Tippecanoe. As 
matters progressed it became evident that 
the Indians under the lead of Tecumseh were 
bent on again trj'ing conclusions with the 
whites, and after various efforts at compro- 
mises Gen. Harrison met the hostile savages, 
November 7, 1811, and gained the brilliant 
triumph of Tippecanoe. At the very out- 
set of the war of 1812, Tecumseh was on 
hand, with his followers, ready to join hands 
with the British, who had befriended 
him to • the extent of furnishing him 
with the munitions of war in the preceding 
year. In all these hostile manifestations, how- 
ever, it was but a small j)art of the Shawanoe 
nation that followed the lead of this rash 
chief. The greater part of the nation had 
gradually withdrawn before the advance of 
the settlements, and had their villages at Wa- 
pagh-ko-netta, on Hog Creek and the upper 
waters of the Mauniee. The unsettled condi- 
tion of Indian affairs, however, made some 
precautionarj' measures necessary to secure 
the continued friendship of this powerful 
tribe, and for this purpose Gov. Meigs came 
to Urbana in the spring of 1813 to confer 
with the Shawanoes and Wyandottes.* In 
these negotiations, " Col. James McPherson, 
one of the Zanes, and perhaps one of the 
Walkers," were engaged to bear proposals 
for a council to these tribes. It was in the 
latter part of June before the council con- 
vened, but its results were very satisfactory 
to the government. The Indians expressed 
themselves as friendly to the United States 
Government, and accepted the proffered sup- 
port and protection offered by the Governor. 
*Antrim'sHistory. 



^ 



V 



2(W 



IIISTOUY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



A fort was erected soon afterward at Zane's 
town for the protection of their women and 
children, and was in charge of Col. McPher- 
son. 

Others of the friendly tribes were placed 
under the care of Col. Johnston at Pi([ua, 
Miami county, and at Upper Sandu.sky, uiuler 
Maj. B. F. Stickney. Here these tribes that 
had never before been idle when there was 
iightinp to be done, resisted the niacliiiiation 
of the IJritish a<fent, and in spite of wanton 
injuries inflicted upon the members of their 
tribes by the undiscriminating militia, stood 
fast by their treaty of peace at Grooiiville. 

A remarkable incident of the faithfulness 
of the Shawanoes is related by Col. John John- 
ston in Howe's Historical Collections of 
Ohio." At the licginMing of hostilities in the 
Northwest Fort Wayne was in danger of at- 
tack. " In the garrison were many women 
and children, who, in case of attack, would 
have l)een detrimental to its defense, and it 
therefore became necessary to have them 
speedily removed. Col. Johnston assembled 
the ."^hawanoe chiefs, and stating the case, re- 
qu<'sted volunteers to bring the women and 
children at Fort ^^'ayne to Piqua. Logan 
iinmeiliately arose and offered his services, 
and soon started with a Jiarty of mounted 
Indians, all volunteers. They reached the 
post, received their interesting and help- 
less charge, and safely brought them to 
the Betth-ments, through a country infested 
with marauiling bands of hostile savages. 
The women sp«ike in the highest terms of the 
vl;.'ilance, care and diliiacy of their faithful 
conductors." In ISU, an offensive and de- 
fensive alliance was formed with the Shaw- 
nnws and other frienilly tribes, the former 
jiroving in many instances valuable and trusty 
scouts, and able warriors. In the general 
pacification of ]X]7, by a treaty at the rapids 
of the .Mainnoe, the Shawanoes were given a 
reservation of ton miles square in Auglaize I 



county, within which was their council liouse 
at Wapaghkonetta, and also a tract of twenty- 
five square miles, which included their settle- 
ment on Hog C. ek; bj' the treaty of the 
succeeding year, made at St. Mary's, 12,800 
acres ajoining the east line of the Waj)agh- 
konetta reservation were added. A reser- 
vation of 40,.3O0 acres around Lewistown, in 
AVashington townshi]), in this county, was 
granted also to the Shawanoes and Senecas 
jointly. The name of the princij)al town on 
this reservation was given for a noted Shaw- 
anoe chief, who made it his placs of residence. 
An aged white woman by the name of Polly 
Keyser, did his drudgery when the whites 
first made his acquaintance. She had been 
taken j)risoner in early life near Lexington, 
Kentucky, and had been adopted into the 
tribe. She had an Indian husband and two 
half-breed daughters. Another "])ale face" 
who had been adopted into this nation, was 
James McPherson, or Squa-la-ka-ke, "the red 
faced man," as the natives called him. He 
was captured at Loughry's defeat, when on 
his way to join Clarke's expedition. He was 
engaged in the British Indian department, 
under Elliott and M'Kee; during his captivity 
he married a fellow prisoner, and after the 
treaty of 1795, came into the service of the 
United States. He had charge of the I^ewis- 
town reservation until 18130, when he was 
succeeded by John McElvain. 

The reservation life of the Shawanoes was 
as peaceful and happy as could be desired. 
The whole country was stocked with an 
abun<1ance of game, while their own territory 
furnislied a secluded s])Ot for their towns, free 
from th(? encroachments of the whites. The 
natives wen; frequent visitors anion" the 
whites, and it was a common thing to see 
them with their families during the summer, 
encamped in some shady spot on the bank of 
a stream, the men hunting deer or Ivingabout 
the canqi, while the s<^piaws were busy making 



-&lv 



>> 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



200 



or vending their baskets. M. Arrow-smith, in 
Antrim's History, relates several incidents 
illustrating their character in dealinsT with the 
wliites. An Indian came to Thomas Kenton 
to buy a horse; the animals were running at 
large, and going to look at them, only one 
filled the eye of the savage. Mr. Kenton 
demanded eighty dollars, but the Indian 
offered seventy, and finally displayed both 
open hands seven times and a single hand once, 
signifying seventy-five dollars; this was agreed 
upon, but there was only seventy-four dollars 
forthcoming; Kenton trusted him the dollar to 
be paid on a certain day, whicli came to hand 
promptly as agreed upon. They were fre- 
quently found about the large towns on the 
frontier, and the storekeepers carried on a 
thriving trade with them, selling the finest 
broadcloths to the squaws for petticoats, and 
the brightests prints to the men for shirts. 
The store of Gen. Gardner was the principal 
place for this trade in Bellefontaine, and he 
relates many interesting incidents of his deal- 
ings with them. On one occasion an • Indian 
■with his squaw came in the store to trade, the 
man remaining apparently uninterested, while 
the squaw bought the goods he desired. 
While thus engaged, an older squaw rode up 
on her pony with her papoose strapped to her 
back, and coming into the store, placed her pa- 
poose in the hands of the Indian without sayino- 
a word. This action caught the eye of the 
man's young squaw, who, without a word of 
explanation, set upon the mother, when en- 
sued a scene of screaming and hair-puUin"-, 
probably not excelled in our civilized com- 
munities. The older squaw was finally ex- 
hausted; seizing her heir and "ground of of- 
fense," she mounted her horse and left without 
a word of explanation, the Indian in the mean- 
while, as well as the occupants of the store, 
looking on with apparent indifference. Tiials 
of skill and drinking bouts were of frequent 
occurrence, but there was but little friction 



between the two races, the m'ore prudent of 
the tribes sanctioning any punishment which 
the justice of the case demanded. Ka-los- 
i-tah was a noted Shawanoe ^vl•estler, and 
his contests with the most expert of the 
whites are remembered, and related with 
great zest by the older inhabitants. He 
was in his prime about the time of the 
removal of his tribe to the West, and 
was probably the most powerful man in the 
Northwest. At a grand hopping-match 
during the treaty making, Ka-los-i-tah dis- 
tanced all competitors by going nearly fifty 
feet in two hops and a jump. On this occa- 
sion a wrestling-match was made up between 
him and a noted white wrestler by the name 
of Wilson. The Indian made a wager of 
a finely wi-ought belt against a checkered silk 
handkerchief, with Judge McCulloch, that he 
would throw his antagonist. After they had 
assumed their positions the Indian giant al- 
lowed his antagonist to do his utmost before 
attempting any aggressive movement. After 
using every art and displaying his full mus- 
cular power, Wilson failed to move his oppo- 
nent. "Now, me!" said Ka-los-i-tah, and 
laid Wilson on the ground gently as a child. 
Some people of Kentucky brought a stalwart 
negro to test the champion's powers, who 
caused even the friends of the Indian to in- 
dulge in serious doubts as to the outcome of 
the contest. The contest was not so unequal 
as the preceding one, but the red man threw 
this black antagonist to the ground with such 
a heavy thud, that only the by-standers pre- 
vented the contest taking on a more serious 
ending. Wrestling with this native athlete 
was at best a very serious business, and 
several suffered a broken leg for their te- 
merity in challenging him. At West Liberty, 
on one occasion, a conceited saddler by the 
name of John Norris, tried conclusions 
with him. He had scarcely exerted him- 
self, when catching his antagonist with his 



IKT 



A 



210 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



"jirape-vine twist," he snapped Norris' leg 
like a pipe-stem. As Norris sank to the 
ground, the only reply the imperturble In- 
dian made to the e.xpostulating cries of the 
whites, was, "leg must be rotten I" In the 
zenith of his glorious prime, Ka-los-i-tah was 
considerably over six feet in height, weighed 
about two hundred pounds, was strong as a 
buffalo, and as lithe as a tiger. A long career 
of intemperance enfeebled his powers, and he 
was in later years frequently defeated when 
under the influence of liquor. At Wapagh- 
ko-netta Reservation the ShawanoeChiefs Blue 
Jacket and Black Hoof resided, and at their 
village had fine orchards planted by the 
French, and a delightful location, embracing 
some GC,000 acres. Here, previous to 1829, 
Col. John Johnston presided, with David 
Hobb as sub-agent. The latter, in a communi- 
cation embodied in Howe's Historical Collec- 
tions of Ohio, gives an interesting account of 
the reservation life of this nation. He savs: 

"Inlempcrnncc lo a great extent prevnileilamongllie 
Imlinns; tlicrc was, however, as wide a contrast in 
lliis respect a.M with tlic whites, and some of the more 
virtuous refused lo associate with llie olliers. This 
class also cultivated their liltlc farms with a degree of 
tiiste and judgment ; some of these could cook a com- 
furltthle meal, and I have eaten butler and a kind of 
cheese made by them. Many of them were quite in- 
genious and natural mechanics, with a considerable 
knowledge of, and an inclinatiun to use tools. One 
chief had an assortment of carpenler's tools which he 
kepi in neat order. He mailc plows, harrows, wagons, 
boislcnds, tables, bureaus, elc. lie was frank, liberal 
and conscientious. On my asking him who laughthim 
theuseof tools, he replicil, '• No one;" then pointingup 
111 the sky, he said, •• Ibo Great Spirit taught me." 

With all their foibles and vices, there is something 
fascin.iling in the Indian character, and one cannot 
long associate with them without hkving a perceptible, 
growing allachmenl. The Indian is emphatically the 
natural man, and it is an easy thing lo make an Imlian 
out of n while person, but very diflicult to civilize or 
l.'hristinniic un Inilinn. I have known a number of 
whiles who lind l.ciii inken prisoners by the Indians 
when young, and withoiil exception Ihey formed such 



attachments tliiit, afier being with them some time, 
they could not be induced to return to their own peo- 
ple. There was a woman among the Shawanoes, sup- 
posed to be near an hundred years of age, who was 
taken prisoner when young in easlern Pennsylvania. 
Some years after her friends, through the agency of 
traders, endeavored to induce her to return, but in 
vain. She became, if possible, more of a squaw in 
her habits and appearance than any female in the Na- 
tion. 

As a sample of llieir punctuality in perfoiming their 
contracts, I would state that I have often loaned them 
money,which was always returned in due season, with a 
single exception. This was a loan to a young man who 
promised to pay me when they received their annuity. 
After the ap]iointcd time he shunned me, and the mat- 
ter remained unsettled until just prior to our depart- 
ure for their new homes. I then stated the circum- 
stances to one of the chiefs, more from curiosity to see 
how he would receive the intelligence than with the 
expectation of its being the means of bringing the 
money. He, thereupon, talked with the Ltd upon the 
subject, but, being unsuccessful, he called a council of 
his brother chiefs, who formed a circle, with the young 
man in the centre. After talking with him awhile in 
a low tone, they broke out and vociferously repri- 
manded him for his dishonest conduct, but all proved 
unavailing. Finally the chiefs, in a most generous 
and noble spirit, made up the amount from their own 
pockets and pleasantly tendered it to me. 

The Indians being firm believers in witchcraft, gen- 
erally attributed sickness and other misfortunes to this 
cause, and were in the habit of murdering those whom 
they suspected of practicing it. They have been 
known to travel all the way from the Mississippi to 
Wupakonelta, and shoot down a person in his cabin, 
merely on suspicion of his being a wizard, and relurn 
unmolested. Wiien a person became so sick as to lead 
them to think that he was in danger of death, it was 
usual for them to place him in the woods alone, with 
no one to attend except a nurse or doctor, who gener- 
ally acted as agent in hurrying on their dissolution. 
It was distressing to sec one in this situation. I have 
been permitted to do this only through the courtesy 
of Ihc relatives, it being contrary lo rule for any to 
visit them except such as had medical care of them. 
The whole Nation are at liberty to attend the funeral 
at which there is generally great lamentation. A 
chief (probably Itlack Moot) who died just previous 
to their removal, was buried in the following manner: 
They bored holes in the lid of his coflin (as is their 



^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



211 



custom) over his eyes and mouth, to let the Good 
Spirit pass in and out. Over the grave they laid 
presents, etc., with provisions, which they affirmed 
the Good Spirit would take in the night. Sure 
enough ! these articles had all disappeared in the 
morning, by the hand of an evil spirit clothed in human 
body. There were many funerals among the Indians, 
and their numbers rapidly increased. Intemperance 
and pulmonary and scrofulous diseases made up a 
large share of their bills of mortality, and the number 
of deaths to the births were as one to three." 

In August, 1831, treaties were negotiated 
with the tribes at Lewistown and Wapagh- 
ko-netta, for their removal to the West. This 
treaty was made by James Gardner and Col. 
John McElvain, Special Commissioners in be- 
half of the Government, and in September, 
1832, the natives were conducted by D. M. 
Workman and David Roble to a reservation 
in Indian Territory on the Kansas River. 
Tiie I'ollowino: account of their removal we 
gather from the article of Mr. Robb, quoted 
from above : " While we were encamped, wait- 
ing for the Indians to finish their ceremonies 
prior to emigrating, we were much annoyed 
by an unprincipled band of whites who came 
to trade, particularly in the article of whis- 
key, which they secreted from us in the 
woods. The Ir>dians all knew of this depot, 
and were continually going, like bees from 
the hive, day and night, and it was difficult to 
tell whether some who led in the worship 
passed most of the time in that employment 
or in drinking whiskey. While this state of 
things lasted, the officers could do nothing 
satisfactorily with them, nor were they sensi- 
ble of the consequences of continuing in 
such a course. The Government was bound 
by treaty stipulations to maintain them one 
year only, which was passing away, and win- 
ter was fast approaching, when they could not 
well travel, and if they could not arrive until 
spring they would be unable to raise a crop, 
and consequently would be out of bread. 
We finally assembled the chiefs and other in- 



fluential men, and presenting these facts 
vividly before them, they became alarmed 
and promised to reform. We then authorized 
them to tomahawk every barrel, keg, jug or 
bottle of whiskey that they could find, under 
the promise to pay for all and protect them 
from harm in so doing. They all agreed to 
do this, and went to work that night to ac- 
complish the task. Having laid down at a 
late hour to sleep, I was awakened by one 
who said he found and brought me a jug of 
w^hiskey. I handed him a quarter of a dollar, 
set the whiskey down, and fell asleep again. 
The same fellow then came, stole the jug and 
all, and sold the contents that night to the 
Indians at a shilling a dram — a pretty good 
speculation on a half gallon of ' whisk,' as 
the Indians call it, I suspected him of the 
trick, but he would not confess it until I was 
about to part with them at the end of the 
journey, when he came to me and related tiic 
circumstances, saying that it was too good a 
story to keep. 

"After we had rendezvoused, preparatory to 
moving, we were detained several weeks wait- 
ing until they had got over their tedious round 
of religious ceremonies, some of which were 
public and others kept private from us. One 
of their first acts was to take away the fencing 
from the graves of their fathers, level them to 
the surrounding surface, and cover them so 
neatly with green sod that not a trace of the 
grass could be seen. Subsequently, a few of 
the chiefs and others visited their friends at a 
distance; gave and received presents from 
chiefs of other nations at their headquarters. 
Among the ceremonies alluded to was a 
dance, in which none participated but the 
warriors. They threw oft" all their clothing 
but their britchclouts, painted their faces and 
naked bodies in a fantastical manner, cover- 
ing them with the pictures of snakes and dis- 
agreeable insects and animals, and then, 
armed with war clubs, commenced dancing. 



^P 



212 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



j-elling and frightfully distorting their coun- 
tenances. The scene was truly terrific. This 
was followed by the dance they usually have 
on returning from a victorious battle, in which 
both sexes participated. It was a pleasing 
contrast to the other, and was performed in 
the night, in a ring, around a large fire. In 
this they sang and marched, males and 
females, promiscuously, in single file, around 
the blaze. The leader of the band commenced 
singing, while all the rest were silent until he 
had sung a certain number of words; then the 
next in the row commenced with the same, 
and the leader began with a now set, and so 
on to the end of their chanting. AH were 
singini^at once, but no two the same words. 
I was told that part of the words they used 
was hallelujah! It was pleasing to witness 
the native modesty and graceful movements 
of those young ft-males in this dance. 

" When their ceremonies were over, they 
informed us they were now ready to leave. 
They then mounted their horses, and such as 
went in wagons seated themselves, and set 
out with their 'high priest' in front, bearing 
on his shoulders ' the ark of the covenant,' 
which consisted of a large gourd and the 
bones of a deer's leg tied to its neck. Just 
previous to starting, the priest gave a blast 
of his trumpet, then moved slowly and sol- 
emnly while the others followed in like man- 
ner, until they were ordered to halt in the 
evening for encampment, when the priest 
gave another blast as a signal to stop, erect 
their tents, and cook supper. The same 
course was observed through the whole jour- 
ncv; when they arrived near St. Louis, they 
lost some of their number by cholera. The 
Shawanoes who emigrated numbered about 
700 souls, and the Senecas about 350, among 
whom was a detachment of Ottawas who 
were conducted liy Capt. Hollister from the 
Maumee country." 

The principal speaker among the Shaw- 



anoes at the period of their removal was 
Wiwelipea.* He was an eloquent orator, and 
at times his manner was so facinating, his 
countenance so full of varied expression, and 
his voice so musical, that surveyors and other 
strangers passing through the country listen- 
ed to him with delight, although the words 
fell upon their ears in an unknown language. 
He removed with his tribe to the west. 

Cornstalk was a famous chief of this nation, 
and lead its warriors when the Shawanoes 
were in the prime of their tribal existence. At 
that time their principal village was at Old 
Chillicothc, which stood upon the site of the 
village of Westfall, Pickaway County. At 
the battle of Point Pleasant, in 1774, he com- 
manded the forces of the allied Indians, con- 
sisting of some 1,000 warriors, with consum- 
mate skill, and if at any time his warriors were 
believed to waver, his voice could be heard 
above the din of battle, exclaiming, in his na- 
tive tongue, " Be strong ! be strong ! " When 
he returned to the Pickaway towns, after the 
battle, ho called a council of the nation to 
consult what should be done, and upbraided 
them in not suffering him to make peace, as 
he desired, on the evening before the battle. 
"What," said he, "will j-ou do now? The 
Big Knife is coming on us, and we shall all be 
killed. Now you must fight or we are un- 
done." But no one answering, he said, " then 
lets kill all our women and children, and go 
and fight until we die." But still no answer 
was made, when, rising, he struck his toma- 
hawk in a post of the Council House, and ex- 
claimed, " I'll go and make peace," to which 
all the warriors grunted, "Ough ! ough !"and 
runners were instantly dispatched to Dun- 
more to solicit peace. 

In the summer of 1777 he was atrociously 
murdered at Point Pleasant. As his mur- 
derers were approaching, his son Eliiiipsico 
trembled violently. His father encouraged 

•Howe. 



"Oli f^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



.'13 



him not to be afraid, for that the Great Man 
above had sent him there to be killed and die 
■with him. As the men advanced to the door, 
the Cornstalk rose up and met them; they 
fired, and seven or eight bullets went through 
him. So fell the Cornstalk, the great chief- 
tain, a man of true nobility of soul, and a 
brave warrior, whose name was bestowed 
upon him by the consent of the nation, as 
their great strength and support. Had he 
lived, it is believed that he would have been 
friendly with the Americans, as he had come 
over to visit the garrison at Point Pleasant to 
communicate the designs of the Indians of 
uniting with the British.* 

Catahocaasa, or Black Hoof as he fs more 
popularly known, rose into distinction in his 
nation even before the death of Cornstalk. 
" He was born in Florida, and at the period 
of the removal of a portion of the nation to 
Ohio and Pennsylvania, was old enough to 
recollect having bathed in salt water. He 
was present, with others of his tribe, at the 
defeat of Braddock, near Pittsburg, in 1755, 
and was engaged in all the wars in Ohio from 
that time until the Treaty of Greenville in 
1795. Sucli was the sagacit}' of Black Hoof 
in planning his military expeditions, and such 
the energy with which he executed them, that 
he won the confidence of his whole nation, 
and was never at a loss for braves to fight 
under his banner. He was known far and 
wide as the great Shawanoe warrior, whose 
cunning, sagacity, and experience were only 
equaled by the fierce and desperate bravery 
with which he carried into operation his mili- 
tary plans. Like the other Shawanoe chiefs, 
he was the inveterate foe of the white man, 
and held that no peace should be made, nor 
any negotiation attempted, except on the con- 
dition that the whites should repass the moun- 
tains, and leave the great plains of the West 
to the sole occupancy of the natives. 
»Eominiscences of Abraham Thomas. 



" He was the orator of his tribe during the 
greater part of his long life, and was an excel- 
lent speaker. The venerable Col. Johnston, of 
Piqua, to whom we are indebted for much 
valuable information, describes him as the 
most graceful Indian he had ever seen, and as 
possessing the most happy and natural faculty 
of expressing his ideas. He was well versed 
in the traditions of his people; no one under- 
stood better their peculiar relations to the 
whites, whose settlements were gradually en- 
croaching on them; or could detail with more 
minuteness the wrongs with which his nation 
was afflicted. But, although astern and un- 
compromising opposition to the whites had 
marked his policy through a series of forty 
years, and nerved his arm in a hundred bat- 
tles, he b(^came, a length, convinced of the 
madness of an ineffectual struggle against a 
vastly superior and hourly increasing foe. No 
sooner had he satisfied himself of this truth, 
than he acted upon it with the decision which 
formed a prominent trait in his character. 
The temporary success of the Indians in 
several engagements previous to the cam- 
paign of Gen. Wayne, had kept alive their 
expiring hopes; but their signal defeat by 
that gdllant officer convinced the more re- 
flecting of their leaders of the desperate 
character of, the conflict. Black Hoof was 
among those who decided upon making terms 
with the victorious American commander; 
and having signed the Treaty of 1795, at 
Greenville, he continued faithful to his stipu- 
lations during the remainder of his life. He 
was friendly, not from symjiathy or conviction, 
but in obedience to a necessity which left 
no middle course, and under a belief that 
submission alone could save his tribe from 
destruction; and having adopted this policy, 
his sagacity and sense of honor, alike for- 
bade a recurrence either to open or secret 
hostility. He was the principal chief of 
the Shawanoese nation, and possessed all 






-2 ?U>- 



214 



HISTORY OF LOG Ay COUNTY. 



the influence and authority which are usually 
attached to that office at the period when Te- 
cuinseh and his brother, the Prophet, com- 
menced their hostile operations against the 
United States. It became the interest as well 
as policy of these chiefs to enlist Black Hoof 
in their enterprise; and every eflfort which the 
genius of one, and cunning of the other, 
could devise, was brought to bear upon him. 
But Black Hoof continued faithful, and by 
prudence and influence kept the greater part 
of his tribe from joining the standard of Te- 
cumseh. In "January, 1813, he visited Gen. 
Tupper, at Fort McArthur, iu Logan County, 
and while there, about 10 o'clock one night, 
when sitting by the fire in company with the 
General and several other oflicers, some one 
fired a pistol through a hole in the wall of the 
hut; and shot Black Hoof in the face, the ball 
entering the check, glanced against the bone 
and finally lodged in his neck; he fell, and for 
some time was supposed to be dead, but re- 
vived, and afterward recovered from this 
severe wound. The would-be assassin was 
not discovered, but no doubt was entertained 
that it was a white man. Black Hoof was op- 
posed to polygamj', and to the burning of 
prisoners. He is reported to have lived forty 
years with one wife, and to have reared a 
numerous family of children, who both loved 
and esteemed him. In stature ho wss small 
being not more than five feet eight inches 
in height." * He died at Wapagh-ko-netta in 
1832, just before the removal of his tribe. 
His skull is now in the possession of a j)hvsi- 
ciaii at New Paris, ()., and was exhibited at 
the recent Centennial celebration of his fight 
with Clarke's forces, on August 8, 1780, near 
Springfield. 

\Vcyii|)i('rsenwah or Blue .Jacket, as he was 

known to the whites, was a valiant chieftain 

of the Shawanoe tribe and had his residence 

in Logan County for a long time. He was 

*l)nike's Tccuiriscli. 



second only to Black Hoof in influence, being 
at the head of the Shawanoe contingent in 
the fight with Harmer in 1790, and in full 
control of the allied forces in 1794 against 
Wayne. His voice was continually for war, 
and precipitated the battle of the Fallen Tim- 
ber by his headlong eloquence and earnest- 
ness against the more prudent counsels of 
the other chiefs. After this defeat Blue 
Jacket concurred in the expediency of suing 
for peace, but at the solicitation of the Brit- 
ish emissaries delayed proceedings some time. 
Like other great leaders of his people he saw 
the land of his fathers passing out of their 
hands, and every sentiment of patriotism and 
aff"ection urged him on to relentless war so 
long as there seemed a possibility of with- 
standing the encroachment of the whites. He 
was soon convinced that the representations 
of the British were only made for their own 
benefit, and dismissing them gave in his ad- 
hesion to the Americans and remained stead- 
fast to the Treaty of Greenville, where he rep- 
resented his nation jointly with Black Hoof. 
His wife at one time was a white woman by the 
name of Margaret Moore. She was carried 
away from Virginia when a child nine years 
old, and Wvd with the Indians until maturity, 
when she became the consort of Blue Jacket. 
By him she had a son whom she called Joseph. 
In the general surrender of prisoners that fol- 
lowed the close of the English and French 
war, she paid a visit to her Virginia friends, 
but when she desired to return to her husband, 
whom she sincerely loved, her white friends 
refused to let her return. A daughter (after- 
ward Mrs. Mary Stewart) was born to her while 
in Virginia, who grew up, married and after- 
ward settled in Logan ('ount\'. The son 
made a visit to his mother after she had ac- 
companied her son-in-law to Ohio. He was 
a thorough-bred Indian so far as habits were 
concerned, and was never heard of afterward. 
Mrs. Ptcu.TPt hail fcnir children, but they 



a'-, 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



215 



never married and Blue Jacket's race has be- 
come extinct in Logan County. 

Tecumseh, whose history is better known 
than any of his illustrious predecessors, began 
his career as chief in the summer of 1795. 
The Treaty of Greenville, forced upon the 
leaders of his nation as the only alternative to 
the extermination of their race, had put an 
end to forty years of unavailing war. His 
haughty spirit could not .accept the lesson 
taught by the experience of his people, and 
in spite of the pacific influences brought to 
bear upon him, he engaged in the struggle 
which received acrushing blow at Tippecanoe, 
and ended with his death at the battle of the 
Thames. He was a fine orator, and the chief 
speaker for the hostile Indians. "His manner 
when speaking, was animated, fluent and 
rapid," im]>ressing his auditors with the high 
order of his moral and intellectual character. 
In his orations, it is said, he indulged in such 
lofty flights of rhetoric, that the celebrated 
interpreter, Dechauset, found it difficult to 
translate them, though he was as well 
acquainted with the Shawanoe tongue as with 
his own. 

Spemica Lawba, " High Horn," or Captain 
Logan, as the whites named him, was a son 
of the celebrated Shawanoe chief, Moluntha, 
and was captured by the whites when a lad 
of sixteen years, at the burning of the Mack- 
achack towns. He was taken to Kentucky 
where General Logan, being so well pleased 
with him, took him into his own family, in 
which he resided for some years. He was 
finally allowed to return, and later arose to 
the dignity of civil chief, through his many 
estimable, intellectual and moral qualities. 
He was known to the whites after his sojourn 
in Kentucky by the name of Logan, to which 
the title of Captain was afterwards attached. 
Lo^an was an unwavering friend of the 
whites, and lost his life in their service in the 
fall of 1813. Under orders from General 



Harrison, Logan took a party of his tribe in 
November of that year, and set out to 
reconnoitre the country towards the Maumee 
Rapids. He fell in with a party of the 
enemy, and barely escaped with two or three 
of his companions. A thoughtless ofiicer 
expressed some doubt as to his loyalty, which 
so stung Logan's sense of honor that he 
organized an enterprise of his own to vindi- 
cate his fair fame. He took with him Captain 
Johnny and Bright Horn, and set out in 
quest of adventure. Thej' were suddenly 
suprised by a party of seven hostile Indians, 
but pretending to be deserters, and ingra- 
tiating themselves into the confidence of their 
captors, until a favorite opportunity present- 
ing, they arose upon their unsuspecting 
companions, and slew five of the seven, one 
of them being the celebrated Pottawatomie 
Chief, Winnemac. This was not accomplished 
without some damage to the attacking party, 
and Bright Horn and Logan reached camp 
badly wounded, the latter dying soon after 
reaching camp. The biographer of Tecumseh 
speaking of the exploit says: "It would, 
perhaps, be difiicult in the history of savage 
warfare, to point out an enterprise, the execu- 
tion of which reflects higher credit upon the 
address and and daring conduct of its authors, 
than this does upon Logan and his two com- 
panions. Indeed, a spirit even less indomita- 
ble, a sense of honor less acute, and a 
patriotic devotion to a good cause less active, 
than were manifested by this gallant chieftain 
of the woods, might, under other circumstan- 
ces, have well conferred immortality upon 
his name. 

Logan left a dying request that his two 
sons should be sent to Kentucky and there 
educated and brought up under the care of 
Maj. Hardin. When peace was restored Col. 
Johnston made efforts to carry out this desire 
of the deceased chief, but was thwarted 
by the unwillingness of the chief of the 



-Ols- 






4i 



216 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



nation and the children's mother. They 
fiiiallv allowed them to be taken to Piqua, 
where they were put to school and boarded 
in a relig'ious family, but the mother of the 
boys, who was a bad woman, interfered with 
this plan, taking the boys away frequently 
for weeks, and on one or two occasions get- 
ting them intoxicated at their schoolhouse. 
Slu! finally took them to Wapagh-ko-netta, and 
raised them among her own people, from 
whence they emigrated to the west with the 
Shawanoe nation in 183"2.* 

Captain John, whose Indian name has not 
been perpetuated, was a well known chief of 
the Shawanoese nation, and was a frequent 
visitor to the early settlements of Logan 
County. He was one of the party with Lo- 
gan in the exploit just noted, and was the 
only one not wounded in the action. He was 
over six feet in height, strong and active, and 
was noted among the white hardly less for his 
happy faculty of merry making than for his 
bravery. Judge William Patrick, in his 
reminiscences, speaks of him as the merry 
and facetious Capt. Johnny; but there was a 
side to his character that was less lamb-like. 
Capt. John McDonald relates, that one day 
in the autumn of 1779, while out trapping 
by himself he met a trader and a half-breed 
near his trapping grounds, and whiskey beino- 
supplied, the two Indians got into a serious 
quarrel ; they were separated by the trader, but 
they made arrangements to fight the next 
morning. " They stuck a post on the south 
side of a log, made a notch in the log, and 
agreed that when the shadow of the post 
came into the notch, the fight should com- 
mence. When the shadow of the post drew 
neat the spot, they deliberately, and in 
gloomy silence, took their stations on the log. 
At length the shadow of the post came into 
the notch, and these two desperadoes, thirst- 
ing for each others' blood, simultaneously 

•Howe's liisloricftl collection. 



sprang to their feet, with each a toma- 
hawk in the right hand, and a scalping knife 
in the left, and flew at each other with the 
fury of tigers." After a terrible strug- 
gle of a few minutes' duration the tomahawk 
of John fell upon the head of his antagonist, 
killing him instantly. About 1800, while out 
with a hunting party in the Scioto valley, he 
had some difficulty with his wife and they 
agreed to separate. After dividing the pro- 
perty, the wife insisted upon keeping their 
only child, a boy two or three j-cars old. 
"The wife laid hold of the child, and John 
attempted to wrest it from her; at length 
•John's j)assion was roused to a fury, he drew 
his fist, knocked down his wife, seized the 
child, and carrying it to a log, cut it into two 
parts, and throwing one half to his wife, bade 
her take it, but never again to show her face, 
or he would treat her in the same manner." 
This brutal behavior was never punished or 
apparently heeded by his campanions and he 
went scot-free from both offences. After the 
general pacification he was a general favorite 
among the settlers, and seems never to have 
lapsed into such savage brutality afterward. 
Such is the record — imperfectly given — of 
one of the most powerful and war-like tribes 
of Ohio. Among its leaders were numbered 
some of the abli'St warriors and most brilliant 
intellects the Indian race has produced. Quick 
to fathom the policy of the whites and read in 
its success the doom of the red man, they be- 
came the most uncompromising foes of the 
whites, and at last, accepted peace as the only 
means of deferring the day of their extermina- 
tion. The tide of civilization has at last 
swept them away, leaving behind no monu- 
ment to mark the site of their former great- 
ness. But their traditions still possess the 
land and it is still the privilege of the 
snjxTior race to do justice to the memory of 
a]ieoj)le whose crowning crime was an ardent 
devotion to kin and country. 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



217 



The religious denominations of Bellefon- 
taine occupy an important place in its history, 
and hence we devote considerable space to 
their notice. It has been rather difficult to 
obtain a full and complete sketch of all the 
churches, but no pains have been spared to 
collect all the facts attainable. 

The oldest church organization in the city, 
perhaps, is that of the Methodist Episcopal, 
which is the pioneer church in many portions 
of the Western country. The itinerant minis- 
ters of this denomination were usually the 
first on the frontiers and often found in the 
wigwam of the savage before he was pressed 
back by his white neighbors. Methodist 
churches were built in the vicinity of Belle- 
fontaine very early. The first regularly or- 
ganized church was about the year 1819, but 
meetings had long been held in the pioneers' 
cabins, and in other convenient places. The 
first meeting looking to the establishing of a 
church here was held at Belleville, the first 
capital of the county, and the organization ex- 
ercises conducted by Rev. John Strange, in 
the house of Samuel Carter. The first church 
edifice was built in 1833, in the town of Belle- 
fontaine, and Rev. John' Strange, alluded to 
above, was appointed and regularly installed 
its first pastor. It prospered for a number of 
years, when certain dilferences caused a divis- 
ion, which,'however, were finally and amicably 
adjusted in 1858. "During the separation,' 
says a published record, "the church was 
known as the First Charge Methodist Episco- 
pal Church, and the Second Charge Methodist 
Episcopal Church. On the 17th of April, 1858, 
a committee from each division was appointed 
to meet at the Mayor's office, at Bellefontaine, 
to agree to a proposition from the First to the 
Second Charge Church, whereby a Christian 
and brotherly union should be re-established. 
The committee from the First Charge consis- 
ted of N. Z. McCoUoch, Isaac S. Gardiner, 
and William Lawrence; that of the Second 



Charge, of Anson Brown, H. B. Lust and J. M. 
Kelley, all gentlemen prominently connect- 
ed with the church, and of high social standing 
in the community. The result of this meet- 
ing was of the most flattering nature. It 
was agreed that the United Church shall con- 
tinue as one, without reference to the past, 
and as though no former division had ex- 
isted. The document was signed by the 
six gentlemen above mentioned, and also 
by F. Marriott and O. Kennedy ,'the Pastors of 
the resjiective churches. The church, as thus 
reunited, has continued its labors in perfect 
harmony, and the greatest success has crowned 
the efforts of those whose duty it has been 
to conduct the religious services of it." The 
church at present has an elegant brick build- 
ing on North Main street, large and commo- 
dious, and imposing in appearance. The 
membership is large, and both church and 
Sabbath school are in a flourishing state. 
Rev Mr. Kennedy is at present the Pastor of 
the Church. 

The following history of the First Presby- 
terian Church of Bellefontaine was prepared 
by the Pastor, Rev. G. L. Kalb, and read by 
him at the celebration of the fiftieth anniver- 
sary of its organization, on the 19th of Octo- 
ber, 1878: 

" We know of this church's birth from the 
testimony of its first Pastor, Rev. Joseph 
Stevenson, that it was in 1828, and that there 
were thirty original members. As the early 
records of the church are lost, and as the 
minutes of the Presbytery contain nothing 
definite on the subject, we do not know the 
month and day of our separate organization. 
Mr. Stevenson came to Bellefontaine in May, 
1825, for this work. September 24, 1824, in 
the house of Thomas Scott, a committee of 
the Presbytery of Columbus, consisting of 
Rev. James Robinson and Robert B. Dob- 
bins, organized the church of Cherokee Run, 
now Huntsville. The June preceeding,- Mr. 



^f 



218 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



Robinson had been appointed by the Presby- 
tery to eight days' mission work in Union, 
Champaign and Logan Counties. At its 
meeting in October, 18^4, the Presbytery rec- 
ognized this newly formed church, and called 
it the 'Church of Logan.' In January, 
1825, Presbytery granted leave to this church 
to prosecute a call before the Presbytery of 
Washington for a portion of the ministerial 
labors of Rev. Joseph Stevenson, a member 
of that Presbytorj-. Accordingly, Mr. Ste- 
venson removed to this place, and took charge 
of the work in this vicinity. There were four 
congregations with but one session, viz: Cher- 
okee, Bellcfontiiine, Stonj^ Creek (now Spring 
Hill) and West Libert}\ Mr. Stevenson was 
received into the Presbytery of Columbus 
.January 3, 1820, and it was 'resolved that 
Mr. Stevenson be installed Pastor of the con- 
gregation at^BoUefontaine on the first Tues- 
daj' of April next.' The Presbytery met at 
Belli'fontaine, April 5, 182G, and, after ratify- 
ing an arrangement between the four congre- 
gations already named, divided Mr. Steven- 
son's labors erpiitably among thorn, and pro- 
vided for the goverimic-nt of tiieni by two 
sessions. It then installed Mr. Stevenson 
over tlie united charge as Pastor. A year 
from this time, the congregation at Bellefun- 
taini! hail grown so, in imjiortance at least, 
tliat Presliytery directed Mr. Stevenson to 
devote to it one-half of his time. Hence, while 
practically this clmrch began its cvistence in 
the spring of 1825, it was not separately or- 
ganized until 1828; and we infer that this 
tfiok ]>lacc in the fall, from the fact that the 
first notice of its separate organization is in a 
minute of the session of Stony Creek, dated 
June 24, 1829. 

" Mr. Stevenson had been Pastor of the 
church of ' Three Ridges,' Washington Pres- 
bytery, for seventeen j'oars prior to his re- 
niovul to this place, and he continued in 
charge of this church ancl Cherokee Run for 



nineteen years, or till the spring of 1844. In 
the fall of 1840, Rev. R. II. Hollyday came to 
assist him in his work, and continued in this 
relation for six mouths, when West Liberty 
was separately organized, and he became pas- 
tor of it and Stony Creek. Mr. Stevenson 
continued to reside at this place after he gave 
up the charge of the church, and, nearly 
twenty years after, he ended a holy and beau- 
ful life by a peaceful death, February 24, 
1SG5, aged 80 voars, less a month and a day. 
Of the growth of this church under him, only 
two notes are found: A revival in 18.31 
added fourteen to the church, and in 1833 the 
number of communicants was ninety-one. 

" The next stated minister of the church 
was the Rev. George A. Gregg. He removed 
here in April, 1845, and had been supplying 
the church for some time previous. Ho died 
of small-pox in February, 1854, while still 
Pastor. No record of his work here has been 
foimd, but he is remembered for his faithful- 
ness and self-denying labors. After him, 
Rev. W. H. Babbitt, now of Glendale, Ohio, 
supplied the pul])it for six weeks in March ; 
and April, 1854; but the next settled minister 
was the Rev. E. B. RalTensperger, who began 
his ministry here in October, 1854, and con- 
tinued till June, 1859. Three things may be 
said of his pastorate: 1. He was the first 
Pastor who gave his whole time to this church. 
2. A division had occurred in the church 
under Father Stevenson, and a second church 
had been formed, which had for Pastors suc- 
cessive!}'. Revs. J. A. Mecks, J. L. Belleville 
and J. L. Polk. The ])racti<'al healing of this 
breach occurred under Mr. Ralfcnsperger, 
many of the members of the now dissolved 
second church coming back to the first under 
his ministry. 3. Extensive revivals occurred 
under his ministry, and many were added to the 
church. With no long interval. Rev. Geo. P. 
Bergen took charge of the church. Ho closed 
his ministry hero the first Sabbath of June, 



^ 



>^. 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



219 



18G3. The years between these dates were 
years of great political excitement; neverthe- 
less, the church had a steady growth under 
his ministry. 

" On the last Sabbath of Julj^ 18G3, the 
present Pastor preached his first sermon here, 
on the invitation of the session. After preach- 
ing five Sabbaths, he was invited to supply 
the j)ulpit for six montiis from the 1st of Sep- 
tember. On the first Monday in March, IStid, 
a call was made out for his services as Pastor, 
acting on which the Presbytery of Sidney in- 
stalled him in April. 

" This church has belonged to four Presby- 
teries, viz.: Columbus ; Miami, to which it 
was transferred in April, 1829; Sidney, from 
the organization of the same, and Bellefon- 
taine, by act of the Synod of Toledo, recon- 
structing the Presbyteries. The church has 
built three houses of worship, all of brick, and 
the second church dviring its existence built 
one of wood. 

"Hitherto hath the Lord helped us! May 
His mercy be larger still to this church, that 
in 1938 our posterity may, in celebrating the 
centenary of the church, have cause to look 
back on our day as the day of small things."* 

Referring to the church buildings of this 
denomination, the one at present occupied 
was commenced in 18G8, and was dedicated 
in January, 1874. It is a handsome brick of 
modern architecture, forty-three by eighty 
f(!et in dimensions, and cost about $30,000. 
The church at present has 275 members, and 
maintains a flourishing Sunday School. 

The United Presbyterian Church of Bcllc- 
fontaine, the result of a union of the Asso- 
ciate and Associate Reformed congregations, 
is supposed to have been originallj' organized 

*We find the following" note appended to the history of this 
church as spread upon the church records : — [Ed. " Since the 
forcKoinjj: was recordi'd. the first book of records has strange- 
ly turned up. from wliich it appears that tiie resolution to 
orKanize Bellefontaine church was adopted Dee. 25, 1S27; 
tliree elders were elected February 11,1828: they were ordain- 
ed and installed March 11, 1S28, and a separate enrollment of 
members for Belief- -nt.'iine, and the completion of its separate 
existence were effected August 9, 1S28." 



about the year 1831, by Rev. John Reynolds, 
though the early history of the church here 
is involved in some obscurity. From a his- 
tory of the congregation written by Rev. 
John Williamson, and published in the "His- 
tory of the United Presbyterian Presbytery 
of Sidney, and the Congregations," we gather 
most of the facts pertaining to its history. 
To trace the history of the two branches of 
the church which formed the United Presby- 
terian Church of Bellefontaine would take 
up more space than we can devote to it in this 
volume. We shall, therefore, give the main 
facts as briefly as possible. 

From the sketch of Mr. Williamson, al- 
luded to above, we find that Rev. James N. 
Gamble was installed Pastor of the Associate 
Reformed Congregation on the 10th of Sep- 
tember, 1833, and that the congregation at that 
time numbered fifty-two members. Mr. Gam- 
ble, it appears, remained Pastor of the church 
until his death, which occurred on the 19th 
of December, 18-12, though for some time 
previous he was not able to perform much 
ministeria' labor. Says Mr. Williamson: 
"His name is still remembered by many who 
knew him, and by some who enjoyed and 
appreciated his labors. To him, more largely 
than to any other man, the Associate Re- 
formed Church of Bellefontaine is indebted 
for its existence and influence." From the 
death of Mr. Gamble until the Rev. Samuel 
Wallace was installed Pastor, June 25, 1850, 
the congregation seems to have been without 
a settled minister. 

About the same time the Associate Reformed 
Congregation was joined, an Associate Congre- 
gation was formed in Bellefontaine, by Rev. 
Samuel Wilson, D. D., but was afterward 
incorporated with the Associate Congregation 
of Cherokee. " The Associate Congregation," 
says Mr. Williamson, " that was in Belle- 
fontaine in 1858, and which entered into 
the union forming the United Presbyterian 



jil 



>?-. 



220 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



Congregation of Bellefontaine, was organized 
))yRev. James Wallace, November 17, 1853." 
llev. Joseph McHatton, Pastor of the Asso- 
ciate Kefonned Congregation at tlie time of 
the union, remained Pastor of the United 
Presbyterian Congregation until the 12th of 
April, 1859. He subsequently settled near 
Oxford, Ohio, where he remained until 1874-5. 
The congregation remained without a Pastor 
after Mr. McHutton left it until 18G2, when 
Kev. W. II. JellVrs assimied charge, and re- 
mained until 18(;5. The next Pastor was 
Rev. John Williamson, who is still in charge. 
He was ordained and installed on the 3d 
Tuesday in April, 1807, by the Presbytery of 
Sidney. They still worship in their original 
building, though considerable money has been 
spent on it in repairs, rendering it a comfort- 
able edifice. It is in a flourishing condition, 
and has a large regular attendance. 

The Roman Catholic Church was organized 
in Bellefontaine in 1853. One of the first 
ministers of this Church who held services in 
the town, was Father Grogan, of Urbana, and 
used to conduct church at the houses of Cath- 
olic families long before the organization of a 
church society. Upon the organization of the 
Soi'iety, Rev. Father Thomas Sheahan was in- 
stalled Pastor. He was succeeded by Rev. J. 
F. McSweeney, and ho by Rev. John Coveny, 
who served until November, 1809, when, as 
will bo remembered, he was assassinated. 
Father Young was the next Pastor, and com- 
menced his labors December, 18G9. The 
j)resent Pastor is Father Bourion, who as- 
sumed charge of the church in 1878. The 
church has a handsome brick building in the 
southeast part of town, and has a large mem- 
bership, together with a good Sunday school. 

The First Christian Church of Bellefon- 
taine* was organized on the 23d day of May, 
1808. The same year the society built a hall 

•The fapl« for this iikctcb were fUmUhed by H. C. Moort-, 
Clerk of ihc church. 



on the second floor of a building on the north 
side of West Columbus street, which was 
dedicated to worship March 14, 1809. In 
May, 1870, the society sold the hall, and 
bought the old brick church, which stood on 
North Main street, of the Presbyterian Con- 
gregation for Sil,0OO, and which it still owns, 
but is now rented to the Reformed Presbyte- 
rian congregation. The Pastors of the Chris- 
tian Church were Revs. A. F. Abbot, T. A. 
Brandon, and William I. Lawrence ; the 
total membership was sixt}', but, owing to 
death and removals, it is now reduced to 
twenty. Sal)l)ath school was organized in 
the Spring of 1809, and continued until May, 
1878, when preaching was suspended. The 
Superintendents were O. Hayes, H. C. Moore, 
H. T. Raymond, J. W. Harrington, and Wil- 
liam I. Lawrence. The society has been 
without a Pastor since 1878. 

The Baptist Church, of Bellefontaine, was 
organized in 1845 bj- the Rev. .Tames French, 
and about 1852, tlie church built a house of 
worship. At the time the church was built, 
Rev. Mr. Roney was Pastor. He was a zealous 
preacher and an exemplary Christian, and dis- 
played wonderful energy during the building 
of their temple of worship, performing the 
work of a regular hand. Rev. A. J. Wyaiit, 
at present Pastor of the Baptist Church of 
Mt. Giload, Ohio, was at one time connected 
with this church. Rev. W. H. Stringer was 
another of the efficient Pastors, and an able 
minister. 

An Episcopal Church was organized in 
1856, and after two years became extinct, but 
in 1874 was again organized under Rev. A. 
B. Nicholas. Meetings were held in the hall 
over the engine house for a time. At present, 
we are informed, the church is without a Pas- 
tor. 

The English Evangelical Lutheran Church 
was organized in the old courthouse in 1849, 
by Rev. J, P. Bickley. Rev. J. W. Goodwin 



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•V 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



221 



succeeded Mr. Bickley. The church has had 
several Pastors since that time. The congre- 
gation is at present building a new temple 
of worship, and when completed, will be one 
of the finest church edifices in the cit3\ The 
church is in a flourishing condition, and num- 
bers among its membership some of the most 
prominent citizens of Bellefontaine. 

There are, in addition to the churches men- 
tioned above, two colored church organiza- 
tions in the town, viz: The African Metho- 



dist Episcopal Church and Colored Baptist 
Church, but we have been unable to obtain 
any particulars in regard to them. The 
meager notice of some other of the churches 
of Bellefontaine results from our inability to 
obtain the facts. Application was made to 
the different Pastors for sketches of their 
respective churches, but some failed to re- 
spond, and we were forced to get what infor- 
mation w^e could from other sources. 




Is 



IlISTOUY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



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t\k.M^ l^//.>toaitB;V » (Uii»:hbT^i 



:iS2SS!SF^J 1 will J 



-^ a 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



223 



CHAPTER III. 

THE MIAAri A\D JIAD RIVER V VLLEYS— IXCEXTIVES TO IMMIGRATIOX— THE COURSE OF EM- 
PIRE—SETTLEMENTS WITHIN THE LIMITS OF LOGAN COUNTV— ORGANIZATION 
OF CIVIL DIVISIONS— INSTITUTION OF GOVERNMENTAL FUNC- 
TIONS—PUBLIC BUILDINGS— POLITICAL. 



TO the early colonist, Ohio was the land 
of promise. The reports of the early ex- 
plorers who had been sent to spy out the land 
were such as to stimulate the rapacilj" of 
greedy adventurers to the highest pitch, and 
Ohio became at once the center of attra('tion, 
not only to that class, but also to the pioneer 
settlements of the east. The spirit of land 
speculation was fostered by the system of 
royal charters and favoritism, and colonial 
officials were rapidly acquiring titles to large 
tracts of the fertile lands of the northwest. 
George Washington, it is said, owned 50,000 
acres in Ohio, and Lord Dunmore, who repre- 
sented the crown in Virginia, had made ar- 
rangements to secure a large portion of this 
territory, which were only frustrated by the 
precipitation of the revolutionary struggle. 
In all these operations the rights or interests 
of the Indians were ignored. Might was the 
measure of the white man's right, and in the 
face of formal treaties very favorable to the 
whites, the lands reserved to the natives were 
shamelessly bought and sold. Titles thus 
secured were obviously of no value if the in- 
tegrity of solemn treaties were to be respected, 
but so generally had the public mind been 
corrupted by the greed for gain, that this con- 
sideration offered no hindrance whatever to 
this sort of traffic in land titles. It could 
hardly be expected that a policy so shame- 
lessly pursued and openly avowed would long 
escape the jealous observation of the Indians, 
whose very existence was thus threatened. 
It was not long before any such illusion that 



may have existed, was cruelly dispelled by the 
terrible war that was opened all along the 
frontier. The savages sought to make the 
Ohio river the boundary of the whit3 settle- 
ments, and for years delayed the advance of 
immigration. The story of this struggle, 
with all its attending barbarities, is an oft 
told tale. The line of settlements firmly 
established along the Ohio from Pittsburg to 
the Falls began to advance, and with every 
step slowly but surely pressed back the In- 
dian race to extinction. The main lines of 
this advance were up the vallej-s of the Mus- 
kingum and Miami Kivers, forcing the sav- 
ages into the northwestern corner of the 
State, where on the headwaters of the Miamis, 
the Maumee and the Scioto they ma;le their 
last desperate struggle for their " altars and 
their fires." In this dernier ressort the Shaw- 
anoes, the head and front of the Indian oppo- 
sition, dwelt on the Mad river and in the ad- 
jacent valley of the Miami. Against the 
villages of this nation were projected most of 
the expeditions that made up the miiitar}' op- 
rations of the whites for some forty years. 
Through these expeditions, made up princi- 
pally of volunteers from the frontier settle- 
ments of Virginia and Kentucky, the knowl- 
edge of these valleys, abounding in magnifi- 
cent situations and teeming with prodigal 
abundance, became wide-spread, and gave 
rise to a flood of immigration that was only 
held in check by the savage vigilance of the 
lords of this land. But the "anointed ciiil- 
dren of education proved too powerful for the 



224 



HISTOUY OF LOGAN COUXTY. 



tribes of the ignorant," and in 1T05 the In- 
dians signed away tlieir birth-right. 

The pacification of the Indians and their 
settlement upon well-defined reservations at 
once removed the only barrier to the tide of 
immigration that was pressing up the valleys 
toward this Indian paradise. Seventeen days 
after the treaty of Wayne, arrangements were 
made for two settlements on the Mad river, 
and before the close of the following year 
there were the requisite 5,000 inhabitants in 
the " Northwest," which entitled it to repre- 
sentation in the National Congress. In 1803 
the people under the enabling of Congress 
took necessary steps for organizing a State 
Government, and on February 19, 1803,* the 
State of Ohio was admitted into the Union. 
The counties formed at the birth of the State, 
and recognized in the Constitution, were 
Washington, Hamilton, Adams, Jeflferson, 
Ross, Clermont, Fairfield, Trumbull and Bel- 
mont. This was Ohio in the early part of 
1S03. One of the first acts of the first Legis- 
lure. however, was the erection of seven new 
counties — Gallia, Scioto, Geauga, Butler, 

* Tlicrc lins been considcrfiblo discrepancy in the 
dates assigned by different writers, as ihe one on wliich 
Ohio was admilted tollie Union. Seven early publica- 
tions give seven different dates, varying from April 28, 

1802, to March 2, IK):!. In the annual report of the 
Secretary of State for 1879, President I. W. Andrews, 
of Marietta College, very satisfactorily points out Ihe 
errors in these dates, and settles the question in favor 
of the date in Ihe text. After disposing of all but two 
dales, the article continues as follows: 

••The question of dale of admission in Ihe case of 
Ohio is between November 29, 1802, and February 19, 

1803. The first is Ihe day of adjournment of the Con- 
vention Ibat formed the Constitution, and Ihe second 
is the day when wag passed Ihe first act of Congress in 
any way recognizing the .Stale. In the case of every 
other .State, Congress has either passed a distinct and 
definite net of admission, dating from Ihe day of enact- 
ment or from n future day n.-imed, or has provided for 
an iiilniission on the insue of a proclamation by the 
I'ri'iiJent. Ohio, then, forms a case by itself, bclong- 



Warren, Green and Montgomery. The 
growth of the State during this period was 
very raj)id, and two years later Champaign 
County was formed, including the territory 
now embraced by Clark, Logan and the pres- 
ent county of Champaign. In this year 
Urbana was laid out, and began to grow rap- 
idly in importance. The " Mad River coun- 
try " attracted the deepest interest every- 
where. Those already on the ground wrote 
to their friends representing the valley as a 
"land flowing with milk and honey," and it 
was facetiously declared that "roasted pigs 
were running at largo, with knives and forks 
stuck in their backs, squealing out ' come and 
eat.' " It was hardly necessary to stimulate 
immigration with such stories, where the 
spirit of emigration seemed to have been born 
in the pioneers of Kentucky and Virginia. 
The result was a general " exodus " to this 
jiew land of ])li>nty, that threatened to depojiu- 
late some of the older settlements. From 
one settlement in Trumbull County, not less 
than thirty families sacrificed their improve- 
ments and came to this section. This influ.v 

ing to neither of these classes." After discussing the 
proposition thus laid down, lie concludes as follows : 

" In view of all the facts, wo seem shut up to the 
conclusion that Ihe State of Ohio wasnot admitteil into 
the Union on the 29th day of November, 1802, when 
the Constitution was formed, but on the 19lh of Feb- 
ruary, 1803, when Ohio was first recognized as a Slate 
bv Congress. It is proper to slate, also, that a few 
months since I made inquiry at the State Department, 
at Washington, and received Ihe following memoran- 
dum : ' Enabling act of Congress for formation of the 
State of Ohio, was approved April 30, 1802. See Stat- 
utes at Large, Vol. 2, p. 43. An act to provide for the 
due execution of Ihe laws of the United Slates, within 
the State of Ohio, was approved February 19, 1803. 
l(y this act Ohio was admitted to the Union. Statutes 
at Large, Vol. 2, p. 201.' We may infer, then, that 
the Department of Stale of the General Government rec- 
ognizes the lUtli of February, 1803, as the date of the 
admission of Ohio into the Union." 



\^\. r- 



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J^ 



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A) . 



<5^/0 ^J'^J^-^o 




HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



!k>. 



of immiirration did much for the lower part 
of the Mad River valley, but the breaking out 
of hostilities among the Indians prevented its 
reaching tiie country now included in the lim- 
its of Logan county, and it was not until the 
general pacification at the end of the war of 
1812, that this county felt the influence of this 
tide of civilizatifjn. 

Preceding this influx of permanent settle- 
ment, however, was a class of pioneers which 
is found only where the Indian erected his 
wigwam, and for the last time and made his 
last struggle for his lands. This class was the 
connecting link between the supremacy of 
the Indians and permanent settlement of the 
white — the adopted white children of the In- 
dian tribes. Of these none gained such infa- 
mous notoriety as that " hateful brood," Mc- 
Kee, Elliot and the Gertys. To the vindic- 
tive, remorseless butchery of tiie untutored 
savage, they brought a fiendish malignity, a 
cowardly, brutal insolence, that "out-Herods 
Herod," and only comes when the last drop 
of the milk of human kindness turns to gall. 
Logan county was, unfortunately, too often 
the scene of their operations. Alexander Mc- 
Kee was, perhaps, the least ofi"ensive and the 
least known of the three. He was early iden- 
tified with the British interests, and had 
served as an agent for the authorities at De- 
troit among the Indians. Coming into the 
hands of the Americans, he had been permit- 
ted to go at large upon parole. Early in 
1778, he escaped from the lines at Fort Pitt, 
and in company with a ::umber of deserters 
made his waj' to Detroit, where he was again 
given service in connection with the Indians. 
Being of a thrifty turn of mind, he united 
with his character of "agent" the business 
of trader, and for some time about two miles 
out of the Indian town Wapatomica, in 
the southern part of the county. He was 
quite influential with the Shawanoes, attended 
their councils, and exhibited the most malig- 



nant hatred toward the colonial captives that 
were brought within the sphere of his influ- 
ence. He wore the gold-laced uniform of 
the British service, and lost no opportunity to 
thwart any movement among the Indians for 
peace, in the interest of his employers. He 
was present at the difi'erent important battles 
between the Indians and the forces sent 
against them by the colonies, but always at a 
convenient distance from danger. 

Matthew Elliot was an Irishman. "At the 
commencement of the Revolution he lived in 
Path Valley, Pennsj'lvania. A number of 
tories resided in his township, among whom 
Elliot was a leader. But, as hostilities in- 
creased, the place became too warm for him, 
as a larse portion of the population was 
Whi«-s. Elliot fled to the West, where he 
was well known as an Indian trader. On the 
12th of November, 1776, he made his appear- 
ance in one of the missionary establishments 
of the Moravians, upon the Muskingum, with 
a number of horse-loads of merchandise, a 
female Indian companit n, and a hired man, 
on his way to the Sliawanoese towns upon the 
Scioto. Elliot left the next day, but was fol- 
lowed by a party of six warriors from San- 
dusky, and made prisoner, his goods being 
distributed among the Indians. He would 
have been murdered but for the interposition 
of some Christian Indians who had followed 
the warriors, purposely to intercede for him. 

" Elliot was taken to Detroit, where he soon 
succeeded in convincing the commandant out 
of his Tory proclivities, who gave him a com- 
mission as captain, and sent him back to 
Pittsburg as a spy. He remained some time, 
and finally in company with McKee and a 
number of deserters, fled to the Indian 
country, and as an officer of the Indian De- 
partment, at Detroit, he served during the 
Revolution, vibrating between that post and 
the country of the Ohio Indians, as his service 
seemed to be needed. In 1782, he was in full 



^ s- 



^p 



'A 



228 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUXTY. 



command of the allied Indians, assembled to 
resist the march of Crawford's expedition, and 
it is said on good authority, was present at the 
burninn; of that gallant soldier. 

"At the close of the war, we find him at 
Detroit; and on the 9th of November, 1785, 
Hamilton, who was that year governor of 
Canada, issued an order that no one sliould 
disturb him in possession of a lot near the 
dockyard by the water side, without produc- 
ing titles. "When the Indian war of the 
Northwest was renewed in 1700, Elliot, who 
was married to a squaw, took sides with the 
savages. He was present at St. Clairs de- 
feat, but kejit himself at a respectable distance 
from danger. He was owner at this time, in 
conjunction with McKeo, of a considerable 
tract of land cleared ready for cultivation, on 
which were several houses on the east, or 
Canada side, of the Detroit river, just above 
its mouth. 

" He took part in the last war with Great 
Britain on the side of the English, holding a 
Colonel's commission. He was then .an old 
man, and his hair was very white. He had 
much of the savairo look, notwithstaiuling his 
ago. Ho probably died soon after in Canada, 
holding at the time the position of agent of 
Indian affairs by appointment from the British 
government. Elliot was an uncle, by his 
father's side, to Commodore Elliot, of the 
United States navy, and had a son killed on 
the Maumee, in the war of 181-.2.''* Of the 
Girly brothers, there is no lack of record 
upon the pages of tlie history of the pioneer 
times in Ohio. Tlio foremost of these in all 
villainy, Simon, was born in northwestern 
Penny si vania. His father was an Irishman, 
and a beastly, intemperate man. "His sottish- 
ness (the (piotation is from the same authority 
cited above) turned his wife's affections. 
Heady for seduction, she yielded her lieart to 
a ni'ighboring rustic, who, to remove all 

• IlullirlliM's " Crawford's Campnltm" 



obstacles to their wishes, knocked Girty on 
the head, and bore off the trophy of his 
jjrowess. There were four children at the 
time of the father's death — Thomas, Simon, 
George and .lames. During the Old French 
AVar, the three latter were taken prisoners by 
the Indians. Simon was adopted by the 
Senecas, and became an expert hunter. His 
Indian name was Katepacomen. It must be 
passed to his credit that his early training as 
a savage was compulsory, not voluntary, as 
has generally been supposed. Ilis tribe roam- 
ed the wilderness northwest of the Ohio; and 
when the expedition under Colonel Bouq.uet, 
at the close of Pontiac's war in 1704, marched 
into the western wilderness to punish the 
Ohio Indians, one of the hostages delivered 
to that commander by the latter was Girty. 
He escaped, however, soon after, and returned 
to savage life. But as one of the conditions 
of peace was the yielding up bj' the Senecas 
of all captives willing or unwilling, Girty was 
compelled to return to the settlements, 
making his home in the vicinity of Pitts- 
burg. 

"Girty took part in Dunmore's war in 1774, 
on the side of Mrginia, during which time he 
was the bosom friend and companion of Simon 
Kenton. He was intimately acquainted with 
Col. Crawford. On the "'^nd of Februarv, 
1775, he was commissioned an oiHcer of the 
militia at Pittsburg, taking the test and other 
necessary oaths upon that occasion. He as- 
pired to a captaincy in the regular army, but 
in this was disa])pointed, which, it seems, was 
the reason of his deserting to the enemy, early 
in the year 1778. It is probable, however, 
that his early education among the Senecas 
had much to do with his desire and resolution 
again to return to the wilderness. 

" The greatest consternation was produced at 
Pittsburg when the event became known, as 
with him went a squad of twelve soldiers and 
the n<itori<ni8 Elliot and McKco. The now 



•«. k- 



:t. 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



229 



assured host lity of this ignoble trioof desper- 
al jes to tho Govermncmt of the United States 
— Girty, Elliot, and McKee — made at this 
time a dark outlook from the border across 
the Ohio. Their evil designs mig-htbe calcu- 
lated on with certainty. After attempting to 
seduce the friendly Delawares from their al- 
legiance to the Americans, Girty started for 
Detroit. On his way thither he was captured 
by the Wyandots. Recognized, however, by 
some Senecas, the latter demanded him as 
their prisoner. Ho soon succeeded in convinc- 
ing his cnptors of his loyalty to the king and 
his cause, and was thereupon set at liberty. 

"Arriving at Detroit, (jiirty was welcomed 
by Hamilton, the commandant of the post, 
very cordially, and immediately emploved in 
the Indian department, at sixteen York shil- 
lings a day, and sent back to the Sandusky 
to assist the savages in their Avarfarc vipon 
the bordiT. He took up his residence with 
the Wyandots. His influence soon began to 
be felt in ihe Indian confederacy — sometimes 
with the Siiawanoes, and again with the Wy- 
andots, on their murderous forays into the 
border sottlemonis, with whom he was always 
a. leader. Ills nam(> became a houseliold terror 
all along the border from Pittsburg to the Falls 
of the Ohio. With it was associated everything 
cruel and fiendish. To the women and chiidn n 
in particxdar, n<jtlilng was more terrifying than 
the name of Simon Girty. Although he called 
himself "Capt. Girty,"yet whether he ever re- 
ceived a commission from the British Govern- 
ment, as did his associate, Elliot, is a mooted 
question. 

" Girty now began his wild career against the 
border settlements. His headquarters were 
at Sandusky, where ho exercised great influ- 
ence over the Half King, head chief of the 
Wyandots. He was frequently at Detroit; 
and DePeyster, the commandant, who had 
succeeded Hamilton, found him ready for any 
undertaking, either against the Americans or 



the missionaries (Moravians) and tiieir eiui- 
verts upon the Jluskingum, as ins hostility to 
the latter seemed as unbounded as to the 
former. His career throrgliout tiie revoluticui 
is chiefly known by his cruel visitations of 
the frontier, and his bitter pprsi<cution of 
the Moravian missionaries and their Indian 
charges. For some years after the close of 
this war he remained in the Indian country 
trading, and was prompt witli his baleful in- 
fluence in inciting the Indians to renewed 
hostility in 1790. In the resistance to Har- 
mer of that year, to St. Clair, in 1701, and to 
Wayne, in 1794, Girty was prominent anion"- 
the Indians with his power uninqiaired. After 
St. Clair's defeat, a grand council was held at 
the confluence of the Maumee and the Au- 
glaize, by nearly ail the Northwestern tribes, 
to take into consideration the situation of af- 
fairs. Simon Girty was the only white man 
permitted to be present. His voice wa- for a 
continuance of the war. Another conference 
was held in 1793, and it was determined, 
mainly through the exertions of Girty, to con- 
tinue hostilities. 

"Afterthe treaty at Greenville in 179o,Girtv 
removed to Canada, whore he settled on a 
farm just below Maiden, on the Detroit river. 
He married in the neighborhood and raised a 
family. In vain he tried to become a decent 
citizen, and command some degree of respect. 
The depravity of his untamed and undisci- 
plined nattire was to > apparent. He was ab- 
horred by all his neighliors. In the war of 
181;i, Girty, being then nearly blind, was 
incapable of active service. After the cap- 
ture of the British fleet on Lake Erie, in 
1813, and upon the invasion of Canada imme- 
diately after, he followed the British army on 
their retreat, leaving his family at home. He 
fixed his residence at a Mohawk villag-e on 
Grand River, Canada, until the proclamation 
of peace, when he returned to his farm below 
Maiden, where he died in 1818, aged over 



;|^ 



230 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



seventy years. The last time I saw Girty, 
•writes William Wallicr, was in the summer 
of 1813. From my recollection of his person, 
he was in height five feet six or seven inches; 
broad across the chest; strong, round, com- 
pact limbs, and of fair coinplexion. Spencer, 
a prisoner among the Indians, who saw Girty 
before he left the Indian countrj', was not 
favorably impressed with his visage. His 
dark, shaggy hair; his low forehead; his brows 
contracted, and meeting above his short, flat 
nose; his gray, sunken eyes, averting the in- 
genuous gaze; his lips thin and compressed, 
and the dark and sinister expression of his 
countenance, to me seemed the very picture 
of a villain. 

"No other country or age ever produced, 
perhaps, so brutal, depraved, and wicked a 
wretch as Simon Girty. He was sagacious 
and brave, but his sagacity and bravery 
only made him a greater monster of cruelty. 
All of the vices of civilization seemed to 
center in him, and by him were ingrafted 
upon those of the savage state, without the 
usual redeeming qualities of cither. He 
moved about through the Indian country 
during the war of the Revolution and the 
Indian war which followed, a dark whirhvind 
of fury, desperation and barbarity. In the 
refinements of torture inflicted on helpless pris- 
oners, and in treachery, he stood unrivaled." 
But one recorded fact stands out in strange 
contrast with his consistent record of villainy. 
That occurri'il soon after his desertion to tiie 
Indian country, and was in connection with 
Simon Kenton. The latter lived many years, 
on wiiat is called the Old Sandusky Road, 
about four miles north of Zanesfield. Here he 
owned a farm where he died, April 29, 1830, 
at the age of eighty-one years. His remains, 
after lying here some years, were removed by 
a deputation of citizens from Urbana, and 
buried in the cemetery of that place. 

Simon Kenton was a native of Culpepper 



County, Virginia, and in 1771, having serious- 
ly injured a man in an altercation, fled to 
Kentucky, making his home at the frontier 
stations of Boone and Logan. He was then 
only sixteen years of age, of an active nature, 
fearing no danger, and of such mental powers 
as in niatiH-er\'ears to command the confidence 
and respect of the wisest and ablest of his 
time. For such a character the " troublous 
times" on the border afforded abundant 
opportunities for the full display of his genius, 
and he was prominent in all the border war- 
fare' from that time to the general pacification 
in 1793. His first intimate acquaintance with 
what is now Logan County, however, was 
made under rather unpleasant circumstances, 
which, while only one instance in a long ex- 
perience of thrilling adventure, is especially 
appropriate to this chapter on Logan County. 

It was about the 1st of September, 1778, that 
in company with Alexander Montgomery and 
George Clark, K<>nton set out from Boone's 
station for the purpose of obtaining horses 
from the hostile Ohio Indians. Their object- 
was to cautiously approach the Indian village 
of Chillicothe, situated in what is now Ross 
Count}', and, picking up a nundjer of the 
ponies, hurry them off into Kentucky. 

Their plans succeeded well so far as to 
reach the vicinity of the town undiscovered, 
and in finding a fine drove of horses grazing in 
the prairies. After considerable difficulty 
they succeeded in securing seven animals, and 
set off on their return with great speed. On 
reaching the Ohio river at a point in Brown 
County, they found that river lashed into a 
fury by a wind that almost blew a hurricane. 
The dashing waves, though proving no terror 
to the intrepid scouts, so frightened the 
horses that all efforts to get them across 
failed, and they were obliged to hobble them 
and wait for the wind to subside. It was not 
until the following day that matters so mend- 
ed as to warrant another attempt, but the 



4 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



231 



horses retained such a vivid remembrance of 
the fright of the day before that they could 
not be induced to enter the water. Certain 
that they were pursued by the savages, they 
abandoned the attempt to cross, and each 
selecting one of the best ponies in the collec- 
tion, mounted and started for the Falls of the 
Ohio, where there were a few men stationed. 
No sooner had the rest of the horses been 
loosed and permitted to stray away at some 
distance than their greed for gain got the 
better of their judgment, and they separated 
to hunt them up again, to take them on their 
proposed route. Kenton went towards the 
river, and soon heard a whoop from where 
they had made the attempt to force the horses 
in the river. Dismounting and proceeding 
cautiously to reconnoitre the ground in the 
direction of the signal, he gained an eminence 
just in time to meet a party of warriors so 
near at hand that further concealment was 
impossible. He at once conceived a desjoerate 
plan, and, deliberately taking aim, fired at the 
foremost Indian. His gun flashed in the pan. 
Ho at once attempted to escape, retreating 
through a piece of fallen timber which gave 
him some advantage over his mounted 
enemies, but their numbers allowed them to 
surround the spot, and on Kenton's emerging 
into the open timber he was met by a savage 
who at once rushed upon him with uplifted 
tomakawk. Engaged with his assailant in 
front, Kenton did not hear the approach of the 
enemy in his rear, and just as he had clubbed 
his gun for a feaifu! blow at the savage before 
him, he was seized from behind and over- 
powered by numbers. He was soon a captive 
in fetters. Montgomery was soon slain, and 
his scalp shaken in the face of his captured 
companion. Clark escajjed in safety to 
Logan's station. 

The Indians were delighted at tlie summary 
vengeance that tiiey had been able to inflict 
upon the marauders, and set about returning 



with their captive with the wildest manifesta- 
tions of fiendish joy. Kenton was tied, Mazep- 
pa-like, to one of the wildest of their horses, 
his hands being covered with moccasins to 
prevent his shielding his face from the brush. 
The horse, being set free, behaved in the wild- 
est manner for a time, kicking, rearing and 
plunging, until wearied out with his futile 
efforts, he followed the cavalcade as peace- 
ably as his rider. At Chillicothe he was made 
to run the gauntlet. Having learned "that if 
he could break through the lines and reach 
the Council House he would not be forced to 
repeat the trial, he made the eifort, and was 
so far successful as to reach the vicinity of 
his goal, when he was captured by Indians in 
the village, and severely treated by the sav- 
age crowd that had been cheated of their 
share in the regularly planned amusement. 
After recovering from his woiuids sufficiently 
to eat, food was brought to him, after which he 
was taken to the Council House, where his 
fate was quickly decided by a large majority 
voting for his death. " After a long debate, 
the vote was taken, when it was resolved that 
the place of his execution should be Wajja- 
tomica (now Zanesfield, Logan County). The 
next day he was hurried away to the place 
destined for his execution. From Chilli- 
cothe to Wapatomica they had to jjass 
through two other Indian towns, Pickaway 
and Mackachack. At both towns he was 
compelled to run the gauntlet, and severely 
was he whipped through the course. Noth- 
ing worse than death could follow, and here 
ho made a bold push for life and freedom. 
Being unconfined, he broke and ran, and soon 
cleared himself out of sight of pursuers. 
After thus distancing his pursuers, and leav- 
ing the town some two miles behind, ho acci- 
dentally fell in with some mounted Indians, 
who gave chase and drove him back to town."* 
This occurred at Mackachack, and shortly 

* Howe's Historical CoHcctions of Ohio. 



ii^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



afterward lie was removed to his final des- 
tination. At Wapatoniica the Indians, young 
and old, crowded around the prisoner, view- 
ing him with a good deal of cuiious in- 
terest, as his lame was not unknown among 
the natives. Among others who came to see 
him was Simon Girty. Kenton, blacked ac- 
cording to the custom of Indians in case of 
one condemned to death, was not readily 
recognized, and it was not until, at the end of 
a series of questions, he gave Girty his name 
as Simon Butler — a name he had forsaken 
when he fled from Virginia. Girty, who, it 
wi 1 he remembered, was a companion and 
friend of Kenton during the Dunmorc war, 
was greatly overcome by the situation in 
which he found his friend, and threw him- 
self into Kenton's arms, weeping aloud. At a 
council that was immediately convened at the 
rcijucst of Girt}-, the renegade made a power- 
ful speech in behalf of his friend, and suc- 
ceeded in securing a remission of the deatli 
sentence, and recriving his friend into his 
own care and custody. 

Girty's friendship was by no means half- 
hearted. Taking Kenton to the British trad- 
ing-post at the vdlage, he provided him with 
a complete suit of clotiies and a horse and 
saddle. Kenton was now (rce, riding with 
liis benefactor from one Indian town to an- 
other, and it is jirohable, had this treatment 
continued, he might have cast in his lot jjcr- 
mat.eiitly with th ! savages. It was not long, 
however, when a gloomy change came over 
his prospects. A pirty of savages, returninn- 
from an unsuccessful foray, liaving suiTercd 
til ' lo. s of several of tlie.r nuiiib(;r, demanded 
the sacrifice of Kenton, and a messenger was 
accordingly sent to Girty, requiring him to 
attend a couucil at Wapatoniica, bringing 
his charge with him. The reception of Ken- 
ton b)' the assembled Indians was ominous. 
After being seated, the cliief of the defeated 
party addressed the assembly in a vehement 



speech, stirring his he.arers with sentiments of 
summary vengeance to be taken on the most 
available object. Girty replied, recounting 
the risks he had run in their service; the fealty 
with which he had served their cause; the 
fact that he had never asked them to spare 
one of their foes before; the nearness of this 
friend to him, for whom he felt the tenderness 
of a parent for a son, and final!}' pledged him- 
self never to ask for the protection of another 
American. His appeal, however, proved un- 
availing, and, after a prolonged debate, Ken- 
ton's deatii was resolved upon by an over- 
whelming vote of the savages present. 

Girty, having enlisted in the service of his 
friend, did not easily yield to defeat, and as a 
last resort persuaded the Indians to convey 
their prisoner to Sandusky, wiiere the tribes 
assemiiled in large numliers to receive their 
presents from the British Government, that 
the assembled tribes might witness the solemn 
sceile of death. To this the Indians assented, 
and on their way to that point, soon after the 
party passed through the village where the 
celebrated Mingo chief, Logan, resided. Here 
the party were detained a day while Logan 
dispatched two runners to speak a good word 
for Kenton. On arriving at Upper Sandusky 
he was compelled again to run the gauntlet, 
and brought before a fourth couiifil to be dis- 
posed of. As soon as this C(3uncil was organ- 
ized, Peter Druyer. a cajitain in the English 
service, an inti'ipreter and prominent in the 
Indian de])artnicnt, and, therefore, a man of 
great consideration among the savages, asked 
permission to address the assend)ly. The 
adroitness of his address, together with a 
seductive ofler of a liberal allowance of rum 
and tobacco, readily won their consent to 
Ki'Ti ton's removal to Detroit, where he was 
conlinod as jirisoner of war. Ho afterward 
escaped, and in about the year ISO'-J settled 
in Urbana. He was elected a B igadior-G(!n- 
eral of the militia, and in the warol 1812 bore 



¥ 



"^1 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



a conspicuous part under Gen. Harrison. 
x\bout 18iO, he moved into Logan Co., a few 
years after wliicli, throu<rli the exertions of 
Judj^e Burnet and Gov. Vance, he received a 
pension of 820 per month. Col. John Mc- 
Donald, his biographer, thus describes the man: 
''Gen. Kenton was of fair complexion, six feet 
one inch in height. He stood and walked very 
erect, and in the prime of life weighed about 
190 pounds. He never was inclined to be 
corpulent, although of sufficient fullness to 
form a graceful person. He had a soft, trem- 
ulous voice, very pleasing to the hearer. He 
had laughing gray eyes, which appeared to 
fascinate the beholder. He was pleasant, 
good humored, and an obliging companion. 
When excited, or provoked to anger (which 
was seldom the case), the fiery glance of his 
ej-e would almost curdle the blood of those 
with whom he came in contact. His rage, 
when aroused, was a tornado. In his dealing, 
he was perfectly honest; his confidence in 
man, and his credulity, were such that the 
same man might cheat him twent}' times; and 
if he professed friendship, he might cheat him 
still." 

More appropriately belonging to this class — 
" the connecting link between the supremacy 
of the Indians and the permanent settlements 
of the whites " — were Isaac Zane and James 
McPherson. The former was born about the 
year 1753, on the south branch of the Poto- 
mac, in Virginia, and at tlie age of nine years 
was taken prisoner by the Wyandots, and 
carried to Detroit. He was reared and nur- 
tured in the customs and traditions of his cap- 
tors until manhood, when he refused to leave 
them. He married a Wyandot woman, of 
half French blood, from Canada, and took no 
part in the war of the revolution. After the 
treaty of Greenville, he bought a tract of 1,800 
acres on the site of Zanesfield, where he lived 
until his death in 181(5. It was hero that an 
important Wyandot village was located, tak- 



ing its name from him, and later transmitting 
it to the township. He was related to the 
Zane family', so prominent in the pioneer his- 
tory of the eastern frontier of Ohio, and left a 
large family, whose descendants are now re- 
presented in some of the best families in Logan 
County. The descendants have maintained 
their kinship to the Wyanilot nation until re- 
centh', when they sold their rights, under the 
treaties with that tribe, to the Government 
for a given sum. 

James McPherson, or Squa-la-ka-ke, " the 
red-faced man," was a native of Carlisle, Cum- 
berland County, Pennsylvania. He was taken 
prisoner by the Indians on the Ohio, at or 
near the mouth of the Big Miami, in fcongry's 
defeat. He was engaged for some years in 
the British Indian department, under Elliot 
and McKee. He married a fellow prisoner, 
and after the conquest of the Indians, in 1795, 
came into the service of the United States, 
being placed in charge of the Senecas and 
Shawanoes on the Lewistown reservation un- 
til 1830. He owned large projjertj-, given 
him by the Indians, in what is now Harrison 
township. He was very influential during 
the troubles preceding and during the war of 
1812, and had much to do in maintaining a 
friendly feeling among the reservation In- 
dians toward the American Government. He 
kept a trading-post, and was probably the 
first storekeeper in the county. A block- 
house was built near his place early in 1812, 
where the families of the friendly Indians 
were gathered for protection. 

Another of the adopted chililren of the sav- 
ages was Jonathan Alder. He was born in 
New Jersey, about eight miles from Philadel- 
phia, September 17, 1773. When about the 
age of eight his parents moved to Wj'the 
County, Virginia. In the succeeding March, 
1782, he was captured by a party of Mingocs, 
and taken to a Mingo village, situated on the 
north side of the Mad River, within the limits 



J: 



f l± 



234 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUXTY. 



of what is now Logan County. After run- 
nini; a saunllet of Inilian e-liildron, armod 
with switches — an ordeal he passed with little 
or no i.ijury — he was adopted into an Indian 
family. " His , Indian mother thoroughl3' 
washed him with soap and warm water, with 
herbs in it, previous to dressing him in the 
Indian costume, consisting of a calico shirt, 
iireech clout, loggins and moccasins."* His 
new-found father was Succohanos, a chief of 
the Mingoes. After becoming fitted to his 
strange surroundings, and mastering the lan- 
guage, he became quite contented. In his 
narrative he says: "I would have lived ve^y 
happy if I could have had my health; but fbr 
three or four years I was subject to ve^y 
severe attacks of fever and ague. Their diet 
went very hard with me for a long time. 
Their chief living was meat and hominy; but 
we rarely had bread, and very little salt, 
which was extremely scarce and dear, as well 
as milk and butter. Ilonej' and sugar were 
plentiful, and used a great deal in their cook- 
ing, as well as on their food." Alder was 
dwelling at the Mackaehack towns when they 
were destroyed by Logan in lT8(i. lie was 
in the attack on Fort Recovery in 1794, and 
went with several of the Indian expeditions 
into Kentucky in quest of horses. Although 
taking an active part in all the life and activ- 
ities of the savages, he seems never to have 
lost his regard for the whites. After the 
treaty of 1T!I.5, Ahh'r gives expression to his 
feelings in his peculiar situation, when he 
says in his manuscript: "I could now lie 
down without fear, and rise up and shako 
hands with both the Indian and the white 
man." After the pcaceof Greenville he went 
out to tlio "Darby Plains" to live. Here, 
with the Indian woman he had taken as wife, 
he commenced to farm like the whites. He 
kept hops, cows and horses; sold milk and but- 
ter to the Indians, horses and pork to the 
•Antrim's TlMoiy flt Jjngtn and ChninpalRn Countlca. 



whites, and accumulated considerable prop- 
erty. Two of the settlers had kindly taught 
him to speak English, and becoming dissatis- 
fied with his squaw, he desired to put her 
aside and get a wife from the settlers. Here 
he met a friendly surveyor, who became in- 
terested in his history, and made efforts which 
were successful in discovering his in ithcr and 
others of his family. He at once prepared to 
go to see them. His first step was to get rid 
of his Indian wife. There was some difficulty 
in satisfying her in the division of the prop- 
erty, but he at length gave her all the cows, 
fourteen in number, worth $20 each; seven 
horses, and much other property, reserving to 
himself only two horses and the swine. Be- 
sides these, there was a small box, about six 
inches long, four wide and four deep, filled 
with silver, amounting probably to S"200, 
which he intended to take to make an equal 
division. But to this she objected, saying the 
box was hers before marriage, and she woidd 
not only have it, but all it contained. Alder 
says: " I saw 1 could not get it without mak- 
ing a fuss, and proliably having a fight, and 
told her if she would promise never to trouble 
nor come back to me, she might have it; to 
which she agreed." 

In marked contrast to the early characters 
just reviewed, was one who knew no foe, and 
whose only protection where murder and 
raj)ine possessed the land, was the "gospel of 
peace." This was .lohnny Appleseed. The 
territory now embraced within the limits of 
Logan County was in the line of his travels, 
and the remains of several orchards in the coun- 
tv still exist to "point the moral " of his lifs^. 
11(' was frequently in this county about 1809, 
and planted several nurseries here. Mr. 
Antrim, in his work, locates one on the farm 
owned bv Alonzo and Allen West in 1872, 
"on Mill Branch, about six hundred yards 
west of their residence."* Waller Marshall 

• Antrim's History. 






HISTORY OF LOGAX COUXTY. 



and Joshua Ballenger are stated by the same 
writer to possess trees in their orchard from 
this nursery, that were bearing good fruit. 
Another orchard or nursery is said to be 
somewhere on Stony Creek. 

But little is known of this strange charac- 
ter. His proper name was Jonathan Chap- 
man, and he was, it is supposed, a native of 
New England. He was a Swedenborgian in re- 
ligious faith, and, it seems, became demented 
on this subject, his eccentricity consisting in 
a peculiar gentleness toward all living crea- 
tures, and the planting of apple-seeds on the 
frontier far in advance of the white settle- 
ments. It was his custom to go into Penn- 
sylvania at the time of making cider, and, 
carefully gathering a peck or more of ap]ilo- 
seeds from the pomace, place them iu a bag 
and start on foot for the western wilds. He 
was familiar with all the trails, and seemed 
as welcome with the Indians as with the 
whites. Whenever, in his wanderings, he 
found a fit opening, he would plant his seed, 
sometimes in the villages of the natives, some- 
times in the villages of the whites, but more 
often in some loamy land along the bank of 
a stream where an open space gave promise 
of their growing. These plantings he fre- 
quently visited to insure their triumph over 
the choking influence of grass and under- 
brush. The traditions of his operations are 
found from Wayne County in Ohio, to Fort 
Wayne, Ind., a space of some two hundred 
miles long, and fifty or si.xty miles wide, which 
formed the principal scene of his labors. 

The first reliable trace of this character in 
the territory of Ohio is in 1801. At that 
time he came with a horse-load of apple seeds, 
which he planted in various places along the 
Licking Creek, the first orchard originated by 
him being on the farm of Isaac Stauden, in 
Licking County. He is next heard of on a 
pleasant day in the spring of 1806. A pioneer 
settler in Jeiferson Countj', Ohio, noticed a pe- 



culiar craft, with a remarkable oceu])ant and 
a curious cargo slowly dropping down with 
the current of the Ohio River. With two ca- 
noes lashed together, he was transporting a 
load of apple seads to the western frontier. 
With his canoes he passed down the Ohio to 
Marietta, where he entered the Muskingum, 
ascending the stream of that river until he 
reached the mouth of the Walhonding, or 
White Woman Creek, and still onward, up the 
Mohican into the Black Fork, to the head of 
navigation, in the region now known as Ash- 
land and Richland Counties, in Ohio. 

He was quite as earnest in the propajration 
of his religious views as of his apple-trees. 
Wherever he went, he carried and distriljuted 
books relating to his sect's peculiar tenets, 
and when his stock ran low he would tear a 
book in two, giving each part to a different 
person. His aim was to follow the life of the 
primitive Christians, taking no thought for the 
morrow, and loading a moral, blameless life. 
" His personal appearance was as singular as 
his chiiracter. He was a small, 'chunked' 
man, quick and restless in his motions and con- 
versation. His beard and hair were lono-and 
dark, and his eye black and sparkling." This 
is hardly the picture of him remembered at 
the present day in Logan County, but it may 
be accounted for by the fact that age had 
probably "dimmed the fire of his eye" be- 
fore the living generation knew him. He 
lived the roughest kind of a life, sleeping a 
large part of the year in the wooils witii such 
accommodations as the bare ground or a hollow 
log afforded. During the most severe weather 
of the winter, he usually spent his time in the 
white settlements, but even then, though 
barefooted, the rigor of the weather could not 
restrain him from taking short journeys here 
and there. In the matter of dress, he carried 
his eccentricity to the farthest extreme. He 
exchanged his seedlings for old garments, and 
donned them without regard to their size or 



-f 



k 



M^ 



236 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



design, and frequently had nothing but an in- 
verted cofFee-sack, through wliicli he thrust 
liis head and arms, for an outer garment. In 
the matter of head covering, he was especially 
careless. At times, he wore a cap fashioned 
from the skin of some animal or cloth, and 
frequently a cast-otf tin can did service in 
preserving his head from exposure to the ele- 
ments. 

For a time, it is said, Johnny Appleseed 
wore an old military chapcau, which some 
officer had given him, and, thus accoutered, he 
came suddenly upon a Dutchman, wlio had 
just moved into the country. The sides were 
ripped, and the loose ends Hopping in the 
wind, made it seem a thing of evil. Decked 
with this fantistic head-gear, Johnny came 
noiselessly upon tlie ]iioneer, and, without ut- 
tering a word, thrust his face, completely cov- 
ered with a wilderness of black hair, out of 
which peered the unnaturul light of his dark 
eyes, into the astonisiied man's presence. 
The backwoodsman, suddenly confronted by 
such an apparition, would not have been more 
disconcerted had he met a painted savage in 
the act of appropriating his hair, and he never 
ceased to relate what a scare he got from 
Johnny, standing with bare feet and "one 
tani muscle-shell cockid on his head." His 
tenderness for all of " God's creatures " was 
proverbial, and many incidents in this con- 
nection are related. In the "Historical Col- 
lections of Ohio " is found the following: " On 
one cool, autunmal night, while lying by his 
camp-fire in the woods, he observed that the 
mostpiitoes flew into the blaze and were 
burnt. Jolinny, who wore on his head a tin 
utensil, which answered both as cap and 
inush-pot, fdli'd it with water and jpienched 
the fire, and afterward remarked, 'God forbid 
that I should build a fire for my comfort, that 
should be the means of destroying any of His 
creatures.' Another time, he made his camp- 
fire at the end of a hollow log in which he in- 



tended to pass the night, but finding it occu- 
])ied by a bear and her euljs, he removed his 
fire to the other end, and slept on tiie snow in 
the open air rather than to disturb the bear. 
On one occasion, while on a prairie, a rattle- 
snake attacked him. Some tiijie after, a 
friend inquired of him about the matter. He 
drew a long sigh, and replied, ' Poor fellow! 
he only just touched me, when I, in an un- 
godlj' passion, put the heel of my sc^'the upon 
him and went home. Some time after, I went 
there for my sc^'the, and there lay the poor 
fellow, dead.' " 

He was a zealous Christian, and was always 
to be found where religious services were held, 
if in the neighborhood. At one time, 
when he was at Mansfield, anitinerant 
preacher held an out-door service, and 
Johnny was enjoying the sermon, lying 
on his back upon a piece of timber. Tiie 
minister was describinar the Christian's wav 
of trial, on his journey to the bettor land, and 
had described the tedious journey of a bare- 
footed man through the wilderness. Pausing 
in his description of such physical difliculties, 
he cried out, in an elevated tone, " Where is 
the barefooted Christian traveling to heaven?" 
Throwing his feet high in the air, Johnny re- 
sponded, " Here he is !" It was not (juite 
M'hat the speaker expected, but the audience, 
doubtless, recognized the fitness of the re- 
sponse. Speaking of his bare feet, it is re- 
lated that by constant exposure, and the 
roughness of his way through the wilderness, 
his feet became incredibly tough and insensi- 
ble to cold. It ap])ears to have been almost 
a matter of princi[)Ie with him not to wear 
shoes, as he was seldom without money to dis- 
pense in charitable ways. A writer relates 
that on one occasion, on an unusually cold day 
in early winter, while traveling along the 
muddy thoroughfare, his ban^ feet exposed to 
the bleak air and colder snow mixed with the 
"slush," a kindly Bcttlcr, possessing a pair 



a 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUXTY. 



237 



of shous too small for his own comfort, gave 
them to Johnny Appleseed. A few days af- 
terward, the donor met him plodding- along as 
usual, barefooted and half frozen. He at once 
took him to task for not wearing the shoes 
presented a short time before, when Johnny 
confessed that he overtook a poor family mov- 
ing west, and their need of clothing so moved 
u]>on his sympathies, that he gave them the 
shoes. At another time, he attempted to cross 
Lake Erie barefooted on the ice in company 
with another man. Night overtook them be- 
fore they had completed the journey, and, in 
the bitter coldness of the night, his companion 
froze to death. Johniij', by rolling violently 
about the ice, kept warm, and in after times 
appeared none the worse for bis trying adven- 
ture. 

In the early part of the war of 1812, he was 
verj' active in Richland and Knox Counties, 
carrying the news of approaching danger to 
the whites settled along the river courses in 
these counties. He did not seem to have any 
fear of personal violence to himself, and often 
in the dfead of night a settler would arouse his 
neighbors with the announcement that Johnnv 
Ajipleseed had brought news of the approach 
of danger. His word was never doubted, 
and no further confirmation of the tidings was 
asked. His form of announcing approaching 
dangers was dramatic in the extreme, and 
those who remember his solemn utterances 
speak of the thrill that thoy sent through his 
aw(>-stricken anilitors. His usual announce- 
ment was, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon 
me, and he hath anointed me to blow the 
trumpet in the wilderness, and sound an alarm 
in the forest; for, behold, the tribes of the 
heathen are round about your doors, and a 
devouring flame followeth after them." 

He was faithful to his trusts, and his word 
was as good as his bond. Norton, in his 
History of Knox County, relates that, " in 
1819, Isaiah Roberts, then on his way to 



Missouri, finding no boat at Zanesville ready 
to start on the trip down the river, footed it 
to Marietta, and on the road met Johnny 
Appleseed, who promised to call at his father's 
in Knox County, and tell him when he paited 
with him, etc. Shorth' afterward, .lohnny 
made his appearance one night about dark, 
and was cheerfully received. He then had 
on an old tattered coat and slouch hat, with 
hair and beard uncut and uncombed, and bare- 
footed. After eating sotne supjicr, he espied 
a copy of Ballou on the Atonement, which he 
took and read for some time by candle light, 
thinking at first it was good Swedenborg doc- 
trine, and desired to take it with him, but 
after reading further, and finding the kind of 
doctrine it inculcated, he threw it down, ex- 
pressing his disappointment, and, in a few 
moments after, stretched himself out and 
went to sleep." 

It was his custom, when he had been hos- 
pitably received into some cabin after a weary 
day's journey, to take his favorite position, 
stretched out on the floor, and after asking 
his entertainers if they would hear " some 
news right fresh from heaven," produce a 
tattered New Testament and read and ex- 
pound its pages until, carried away with his 
earnestness, the settlers looked upon him with 
reverence due a prophet. 

About 1830, he left this region and went to 
the newer portion of the West. " The last 
time he was in this country," says Norton, 
'• He took Joseph Mahaft'ey aside, and pointed 
out to hjm two lots of land at the lower end 
of Main street. Mount Vernon, west side, 
about where Morey's soap factory was carried 
on, which he said belonged to him, and some 
time he might come back to them. The tail- 
race of the Clinton Mill Company passed 
along there, and some of the ground has since 
been washed away by the water, and upon 
another portion stands the Mount Vernon 
Woolen Factory building." In the same 



~7C 



J^ 



'k*i 



23« 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



work, it is said that tlio Rev. John Mitchell, 
when traveling on the Plyinouth eircuit in 
1837, met .fohnny wendinj^ his way alonir the 
road on foot and in his shirtsleeves. He told 
him then he was living " out West." 

Johnny's mission was to prepare the wilds for 
the approach of civilization; he was "the 
voice of one in the wilderness, cryinj;, prepare 
yc the way." But the accelerated advance of 
the white settlements began to overtake him. 
For nearly forty years he had been able, 
single-handed, lo carry on his self-appointed 
mission in advance of the "star of empire," 
but now he found the church and schoolliouse 
on every hand ; towns were springing up lilce 
mushroom growths, and the busy hum of vil- 
lages and the echo of tlie stage-horn warned 
him that he must make a long stride to the 
west if he was to lead the advancing hosts. 
It was with this feeling that lie visited the 
cabins where he had been a frequent and wel- 
come guest. With parting words of admoni- 
tion, mingled with words of oracular prophesy 
he took his way to the frontier. This was 
about 1837, and during the succeeding decade 
he pursued his work on the western borders 
of Ohio and in Indiana, pushing his journey 
at times far into the wilds of Illinois and Iowa. 
"In the summer of 184:7, wlien his labors had 
literally borne fruit over a hundred thousand 
9(pi;ire miles of territorj', at the close of a 
warm day, after traveling twenty miles, he 
entered the house of ascttlerin Allen county, 
Indiana, and was, as usual, warml}' welcomed. 
He declined to cat with the family, but ac- 
cepted some bread and milk, wiiieh he partook 
of sitting on the door-step aiul gazing on the 
setting sun. Later in the evening, he deliv- 
ered his " news fresh from heaven," by read- 
ing the beatitudes. Declining other accom- 
modation, he slept as usual on the floor, and 
in the early morning ho was found with his 
fi-atures all aglow with a supernal ligiit, and 
his body so near death that his tongue refused 



its office. The physician avIio was hastiiy 
summoned pronounced him dying, but added 
that he had never seen a man in so placid a 
state at the approach of death. At seventy- 
two years of age, he ripened into death as 
naturally and beautifully as the seeds of his 
own planting had grown into fibre, and bud 
and blossom, and the matured fruit." 

So passed awaj^ this self-denying benefactor 
of his race, whose memory will linger in the 
hearts of the present generation for years to 
come, and their children will learn to revere 
the decaying monuments of his industry, as 
the memorial of one whoso mind, though 
seemingly unbalanced, swayed to the brighter 
side of human nature. 

Mr. Joshua Antrim is authority for the 
statement that " the first white settler in 
Logan County was Job Sharp." He was 
born in New Jersey and went early in life to 
Virginia, where the fame of the Mad River 
vallev induced him again to strike his tent 
and seek fairer fields. He arrived in what is 
now Zane Township on December 23, 1801, 
with his wife, three children and his brother- 
in-law, Carlisle Haines. Here, in midwinter, 
surrounded by all the circumstances of savage 
life, unaided and alone, they reared their 
" three-faced camp." They were Quakers, 
and nature seemed to respond to their peace- 
ful sentiments by revealing her stores unsolic- 
ited. On the very day of their arrival, a thin 
coating of snow revealed, by the dead bees 
on its surface, the presence of four large 
trees stored with honey. AVith the character- 
istic viijor and prudence of this sect, Mr. 
Sharp, in the following spring, sat out the first 
apple orchard, containing about four acres, 
the remains of which are still pointed out. 
A pear trei-, standing by the door of the house, 
sprang from the riding switch which Mrs. 
Sharp brought from Chillieothe. " Here, 
too," saj-s Mr. Antrim, "in 1805, was built 
the first grist-mill. It was run by the water 



M! 



[. 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



239 



that came iVom two fine springs on the 
premises, which were united near the head- 
o-ate, the traces of the ditch still being visi- 
ble. Thovigh built simply lor the use of the 
family, the mill soon attracted custom from a 
long distance about, and was kept busy serv- 
ing the public of that day. Here, too, the 
first respectable hewed log house was erected 
in 1S08. It had a shingle roof, two stories — 
three rooms and a cellar below, and two bed- 
rooms above, and is still doing service. The 
first roof, it is said, was put on with wooden 
pins, and the lumber was all sawed with a 
whip-saw. During the four years succeeding 
Mr. Sharp's advent, a number of his relatives 
and acquaintances settled about, him, and, 
most of them being Quakers, in 1807 built a 
meeting-house." In this community the first 
birth was in 1804, a son, David, to Thomas and 
Esther Antrim. 

During this period a sparse population 
spread pretty generally over the county, the 
location of the cabin being influenced con- 
siderably by the abandoned Indian improve- 
ments. A considerable portion of this earliest 
settlement was made bj^ squatters. The 
character of the country at this time was 
very favorable to this class of people. Game 
was found here in great abundance, the In- 
dian improvements were made fruitful at 
slight expense of labor, and there were no 
considerable settlements for a hundred miles 
about. A writer who was over this section 
of country, and observed this class of 
people, describes the squatter as follows: 
" The improvements of a backwoodsman are 
usually confined to building a rude log cabin, 
clearing and fencing a small piece of ground 
for raising Indian corn; a horse, a cow, a few 
hogs and some poultry, comprise his live 
stock; and his farther operations are per- 
formed with his wife. The formation of a 
settlement in his neighborhood is hurtful to 
the success of his favorite pursuit, and is the 



signal for removing into more remote parts of 
the wilderness. In -case of his owning the 
land on which he is settled, he is content to 
sjII at a low price, and his establishment, 
though trifling, adds much to the comfort of 
his successor."* Of the succeeding class of 
settlers, who came in principally after the 
war of 1813, the same writer — an English 
traveler — says: "The next class of settlers 
differs from the former, in having considera- 
bly less dependence on the killing of game, 
in remaining in the midst of a growing pop- 
ulation, and in devoting themselves more to 
agriculture. A man of this class proceeds on 
small capital; he either enlarges the clearings 
began in the woods by his backwooodsman 
predecessor, or establishes himself on a new 
site. On his arrival in a settlement, the neigh- 
bors unite in assisting him to erect a cabin 
for the reception of his family; some of them 
cut down the trees, others drag them to the 
spot with oxen, and the rest build up the logs. 
In this way, a house is commonly reared in 
one day. For this well-timed assistance, no 
immediate payment is made, and he acquits 
himself by working for his neighbors. It is 
not in his power to hire laborers, and he must 
depend, therefore, upon his own exertions. If 
his family is numerous and industrious, his 
progress is greatly accelerated. He does not 
clear away the forests by dint of labor, but 
girdles the trees. By the second summer 
after this operation is performed, the foliage 
is completely destroyed, and his crops are not 
injured by the shade. He plants an orchard 
which thrives abundantly under every sort of 
neglect. His live stock soon becomes much 
more numerous than that of his backwoods 
predecessor; but, as his cattle have to shift 
for themselves in the woods where grass is 
scanty, they are small and lean. He does 
not sow grass seed, to succeed his crops, so 
that his land, which ought to be pasturage, is 
*riint's letters from America, ISIS 



\ 



240 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COI'XTY. 



overgrown with weeds. The neglect of 
sowing grass seed deprives him of hay, and 
he has no fodder laid up excc])! the Ijhides of 
Indian corn, which are much withered and do 
not appear to be nutritious food. The poor 
animals are forced to range the forests in 
winter, where they can scarcely procure an^'- 
thing which is green, except the buds of the 
underwood, on which tliey browse. Trees 
are sometimes cut down that the cattle may 
eat the buds. Want of shelter completes 
the sum of misery. Hogs suffer famine dur- 
ing the drought of suriimer and the frosts 
and snows of wi:iter, but they become fat by 
feeding on the acorns and beechnuts which 
strew the ground in autumn. Horses are not 
exempted from their share in these common 
sutrering-, with the addition of labor, wiiich 
most of them are not able to undergo. * * * 
The utensils used in agriculture are not nu- 
merous. The plough is sliort, clumsy, and is 
not calculated to make eitiier deep or neat 
furrows. The harrow is triangular, and is 
yoked with one of its angles forward, that it 
may be less apt to taki; hold of stumps of 
U-ees in its way. Light articles are carried 
on horseback, heavy ones by a coarse sledge, 
by a cart or by a wjigon. The smaller im- 
plements are the ax, the jiick-ax, and the 
cradle-scythe — by far the most commendable 
of backwood apparatus. * • * To-dav I have 
seen a number of young women on horse- 
back with p.ickages of wool, going to or re- 
turning from the carding machine. At some 
of the houses, the loom stands under a small 
porch by the dcwr. 

The early population of f^ogan County was 
quite cosmopolitan in its character. Tlio 
main avenue by which the tide of immigra- 
tion reached this section of the country was 
up the valley of the Miami, in the trail of the 
vnrif)us expeditions that had been sent against 
the hostile tribes. This line of travel proved 
most accessible to the older settlements of 



Kentucky and Virginia ; the country was al- 
so best known to these people, who had made 
up the major part of the old invading forces, 
and it was those peoj)le wlio first came ujioii 
the ground as settlers. Later, Pennsylvania 
contributed a large element, composed of 
Germans and the old Quaker stock, and the 
Western Keserve, a large number of New 
England families. There seems to have been 
no regular advance northward in this county, 
but, the natural restrictions having been re- 
moved, the eager emigrants rusiied in, sjiread- 
ing here and there over tlie county, as their 
fancy and judgment moved them. A settle- 
ment was early formed in what is now Zane 
Township ; Perry was invaded in 1S04-.5-6 ; 
Rush Creek about the same time ; T/ake in 
ISOG; Pleasant in 1809; KIchland in ISIO, 
and other parts of the count}' down to 1840. 
The Lewistown Reservation ke])t back the 
settlements in the northwest part of the coun- 
t)' for a number of years, which accounts for 
the late settlement of parts of Stokes, Wash- 
ington and Richland Townships. The fol- 
lowing table of population shows the growth 
of the subdivisions of the county, as well as 
that of the whole : 



TOWVSIIIPS. 


1820 


1830 


1840 


1830 1860 


1870 


1880 








505 
222 

im 

l,.')27 
1,17.^) 
807 
1 ,078 
1,428 
1,208 
1,014 


6711 612 

588 1 ,0r,8 

!I87 ill 2 

1 .SCiCi 1 ,88'.l 

l,7t;7 8.18'.i 

1,240 1,481 

'zzy.'.'.""." 

1,380 1,111 

1,887 1,110 

801) 888 

1,144 1,100 

487, ,'>M7 

808 72!i 

C(i8 fiM 

I.O'.IO l.l'.ll 


65.") 


888 


IJokcs Creek... 






1,-844 l,(il3 
'.I'.I4 !)81 


.Ipff'crson 

I.iiko 






1,084 l..')78 

8, 7'>8 4,1)48 


IJIicriy 






l,r,24 l.lWiO 








1.40(1 l,r)74 








1,7118 2.102 








1,872 1, .804 


Terry 






",12211,008 
;i'.i4 1.123 










1.4011,7111 


Rush Creek.... 
Sfokes 








1,077 
'2'M 
832 
C17 

1 .021 


2,044 2,217 
G78ll.o;ti") 


I'nitin 







7.')8 
812 

870 


784 
864 








939 

















The enumeration the above table includes 
the whole township save in that of 1870 and 



1^1 



v> 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



241 



1880. In these years the villages of Logan 
County were enumerated as follows : 



Towns. 



1870 1880 



West Miinsfield. 
West Rii-lgewiiy. 

Zanesfielcl 

Bellefontainc 

West Lihei ty 

Huntsville 

Degi-nfl' 

Qiiincy 

East Liberty* 

liOgniisville 

ISellecenter 

Rushylvania 

Midtl!ebin-g* 



100 
282 
3,182 
741 
322 
624 
320 
190 
09 
276 
310 
223 



385 



.S07 
4.001 
715 
43(5 
085 
440 
225 

"434 

467 



The population in the whole county in 1820 
was 3,181; in 1830, 6,432; in 1840, 14,013. 

The raj)id increase of population after the 
close of the war of 1812 soon made Urbana 
at an inconvenient distance from the outly- 
ing portions of Chain[)aign County, and, in 
1817, an ofl'ort was made to divide it into 
three parts, Logan on the north and Clark on 
the south. This movement was successful, 
and on December 30, 1817, the act was passed 
erecting Logan County. The " Act to erect 
the county of Logan," is as follows : 

"Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly 
of the State of Ohio, that so much of Champaign 
County as lies north of the line, beginning on tlie 
east line of Miami Coimty, between Sections ;j:j 
and 34, in the third township, thirteenth range, 
and running east twelve miles, with the sectional 
line between the third and fourl;h tier of sections, 
thence south one mile, thence with the sectional line 
between second and third tier of sections in said 
range, to the line between the United States land 
and the Virginia Jlilitary Land, and thence east to 
the line of Champaign County, thence north with 
said line to the Indian boundary line; thence west 
to a point so that a line drawn from said point due 
south will strike the Indian boundary line at the 
point where the line between the counties of Miami 
and Champaign strike said line; thence south with 
said line between the counties of Miami and Cham- 
paign to the place of beginning. And, also, includ- 
ing the United States Reservation at the Rapids of 

«riKuros taken from 1860 ; no separate census given In 1870. 



the Miami of the Lake: which shall be known by 
the name of Logan: Provided, that the jurisdiction 
of the said county of Logan shall extend over all 
that territory lying north of said county, and all 
crimes that shall be committed within the territory 
aforesaid, shall be considered as having been com- 
mitted within the said count}' of Logan." 

Sectlor! 6 provides, " That the courts of 
said county of Logan shall be holden at the 
house of Edwin Mathers, or some other con- 
venient place in the town of Belleville, until 
the permanent scat of justice shall be estab- 
lished for the said county of Logan." It was 
further provided, that "this act shall com- 
mence and be in force from and after the first 
day of March next." It is signed by Duncan 
McArthur, Speaker of the House of Repre- 
sentatives, and by Abraham Shepherd, Speak- 
er of the Senate, and dated December 30, 
1817. 

The territory out of which Logan County 
was thus organized consisted of what was 
known as the Congress and Virginia Military 
Lands. The former was so-called because 
they were sold to purchasers by the immediate 
officers of the general government, conform- 
ably to such laws as were enacted by Con- 
gress. They are surveyed into townships of 
si.v miles square each, under authority, and at 
the expense of the National Government. 
The latter is the name given to a body of land 
between the Scioto and Little Miami Kivers, 
and bounded on the south by the Ohio River. 
The State of Virginia, from the indefinite and 
vague terms of expression in its original 
charter of territory from James I., King of 
England, in the year 1G09, claimed all the 
continent north of the Ohio River, and of the 
north and south breadth of Virginia. After 
the war of the revolution, among the various 
territorial compromises, Virginia agreed to 
relinquish all her claims northwest of the 
Ohio River in favor of the General Govern- 
ment, upon condition of the lands referred to 



^- <r- 



^f 



ia^ 



242 



HISTORY OF LOGAJf COUNTY. 



being guaranteed to licr. The State of Vir- 
ginia then a]ipro])riate(l this body of land to 
satisfy the claims of her State troops employed 
in the continental line during the revolution- 
ary war. This district was not surveyed in 
any regular form, but individuals holding 
military warrants against these lands located 
them when and in what shape they pleased 
within this district. The line between these 
lands passes in a northwesterly direction 
through the central part of tiie countj', and 
below the Greenville treaty line is known as 
the "Ludlow lino," or more recently a road 
having been laid out on this line, the "Lud- 
low road." Above the " treaty line," and 
starting out some distance west of where the 
"Ludlow line" touches the Indian boundary, 
the division is marked by the "Roberts line." 
The discrepancy between these lines occurred 
as follows: As the Little Miami extended but 
a short distance iiito the county from its junc- 
tion with the Ohio, and the Scioto e.vtends a 
good deal further, both in a northward and 
easterly direction, it was necossarv to define 
this reservation, that a line be run from the 
head of the Miami to the head waters of the 
Scioto. This line was run by Israel Ludlow, 
and took his name as a designation. This 
lino from the head of the Miami bears north 
20^ west, and was afterward discovered to 
have struck the Scioto several miles east of its 
most westerly ]>oint. To rectify this discrep- 
ancy, a new line was run from the boundary 
line to the ])roper point on the Scioto, and is 
known as the Koberts line. The strip below 
the boundary line which ))ropcrly belonged to 
tlio Virginia Military reservation, however, 
had been surveved and sold by Congress, and 
this discovery threatened to eject all those 
who liad Ijought property within this disputed 
territory. A shrewd speculator at once en- 
tered the land in this strip of territory and 
threatened to enforce his rights by the eject- 
ment of those who held these lands by a pur- 



chase from the General Government. His 
title was bought by the General Government 
at an e.\jiense of about ^100,000, and the ori- 
ginal purchasers given a valid title. 

On January 10, 1820, Union County was 
erected, and a strip three miles wnde was 
taken from Logan County and attached to 
Union. On February 12 of the same year 
Hardin county was erected, and for many 
years prior to 18")5 there had been a dis])ute 
between the officers of Logan ami Hardin 
Counties as to the location of the true line 
between them. 

Section 8 of the act erecting Union 
County provides "that so much of the terri- 
tory lying north of the county of Logan as is 
contained within the following boundaries, 
to-wit: beginning at the northeast corner of 
Logan County, thence running north five 
miles, thence west to a point from wliicii a 
south lino will strike the southwest corner of 
said countj', thence south to said corner, 
thence cast with the line to the beginning, 
shall be, and it is horcliy attached to the 
county of Logan, and shall hereafter form a 
part of said county." The sources of dispute 
under this section were two, and are set forth 
in a written opinion delivered b\' Judge Wil- 
liam Lawrence, of Bellefontaine, as follows: 
"7»'(>s^ The statute requires the north line of 
Logan to run ^vcst ' fnnn its northeast corner. 
The officers of Hardin County claimed this nnist 
be due west — a line at right angles with a true 
meridian — while the officers of Logan insisted 
it should be at ritj/it a/ii/lcs icith a ?naff/u'tic 
merkhan, as it was when the act of January 
10, 1820, took effect, which would make a 
line, after leaving the beginning point, farther 
north than if run at right angles to a true 
meridian. Second. The Greenville Treaty 
line runs north 80 ° east. The act of January 
10, 1820, added new territory on the north 
end of what had been Logan County to run 
five miles north, beginning at the northeast 



,4^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COL^'TY. 



245 



corner of Logan County. The farther east 
this original corner could be located on the 
Greenville Treaty line, the farther north 
would the five miles extend. 

The statute of April 9, 1852, provided a 
mode of settling these and other disputes of a 
similar character. The Commissioners of 
Hardin County accordingly filed their bill in 
chancer^' in the Court of Common Pleas of 
Logan County, and such proceedings were 
had that at the December Term, 1854, of the 
Supreme Court of Ohio, a decree was made: 
"That the true construction of the eighth sec- 
tion of the act entitled ' An act to erect the 
county of Union ' passed on the 10th day of 
January, A. D. 1820, is that the line therein 
mentioned shall commence at the former 
northeast corner of Logan County, on the 
Greenville Treaty line and run thence north 
five miles with the "magnetic meridian, as it 
was at the taking effect of said law. And 
thence west at right angles to said lines so 
run, and that a line so run at right angles as 
aforesaid is the true north line of Logan 
County." 

This question was brought before the court 
again in 1817 by Messrs. Riddle and Rutan, 
owning land upon this disputed territory, and 
which was listed and put upon the grand 
duplicates of l)oth counties. The qtiestion is 
now (September, 1880) before the Supreme 
Court awaiting the action of that bod^'. Al- 
though the opinion above quoted makes out 
a very strong case for the claim of Logan 
County, it also sets forth the difficulties which 
this claim will probably encounter. These 
are two: '■'■First. That the decree of the 
court was intended to give to Logan County 
only five miles north of the Greenville Treaty 
line where it crosses the east line of the 
county, and, /Second. The long acquiescence 
by Logan in the e.xercise of jurisdiction by 
Hardin County over this strip of 204 rods."* 
*This strip of territory is 204 rods wide, extending clear 



The first commissioners of the newly formed 
county held their first meeting at the house of 
Samuel Rewell, April 14, 1818. They found 
the territory of Logan Countj' divided into 
six townships, and named as follows : Zane, 
Jefferson, Lake, Miami, Harrison and Wanes- 
field. In an address of Judge William Pat- 
rick, of Urbana, the approximate date of their 
erection, derived from the election returns in 
the Clerk of the Court's office, are given as 
follows : " The subdivisions of Champaign 
County, in the first year of its organization, 
were Springfield, Salem and Mad River Town- 
ships; but in the run of years up to 1817, the 
civil divisions were extended in the formation 
of townships in about this order : Bethel, 
180G; Zane, 1806; Harmony, 1807; Union, 
1810; Moorfield, 1811; Concord, 1811; War- 
ner, 1811; Urbana, 1811; ZaA-e, 1811; Plens- 
ant, 1812; Boston, 1812; German, 1S12; Jef- 
ferson, 1813; Miaini, 1814; Goshen, 1815; 
Jackson, 1815; Harrison, 181G; Pike, 1816." 
In the italicized names will be recognized 
those of the original townships noted in the 
earliest records of the Logan County Commis- 
sioners, but what were their limits it is impos- 
sible now to determine, as the records of the 
Commissioners' Court of Champaign County, 
previous to 1819, are, unfortunately, misplaced 
or lost. The niimes of Union, Harrison and 
Pleasant are still found in the other parts that 
made up old Champaign, but so situated as to 
afford no clue as to the original township of 
these names. There is a tradition that what is 
now Logan County was at one time known as 
Zane Townshij); but nothing definite in re- 
gard to the matter is known. The history of 
Waynesfield Township is equally obscure. It 
is not found in Judge Patrick's list, and yet 
is found recognized as one of the original si.x 



across the northern end of Logan Counti,-. and has been 
under the undisputtd jurisdiction of Hardin County since 
18S1— a period of forty-three years at tlie time of the begin- 
ning of this action. 






-e> V 



n±^ 



246 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



townships in the earliest record of the Com- 
missioners of Log'an County. Its disappear- 
ance from the geography of the county is 
equally unexplained. On September 25, 1818, 
the Commissioners ordered " that all that tract 
of the state north (of the county) and west of 
the Miami of the Lake (Maumee) and within 
the County of Logan, be attached to Waynes- 
field Township." On November 22, 1819, the 
tax duplicate of this township is recorded at 
1104. 05; but after this it is lost in the records, 
and no trace of it is to be found on the maps 
save the village of that name in the eastern 
part of Anglaize County. The inference is 
that, as was generally the case with frontier 
counties, the ludiniited jurisdiction of Logan 
County over the unorganized territory north 
of it was expressed by the organization or ex- 
tension of this Township of Wayncsfiehl. 
When Hardin County was organized, it passed 
out of sight in the various territorial changes 
that then t(ii>k ])lace. 

On the 14th of August, 1818, the Commis- 
sioners found several fractional townships 
formed by the erection of a new county, and 
adjusted matters by reorganizing the whole 
county. It was ordered "that that part of Lo- 
gan County bounded by the Indian boundary 
line, its eastern, western and southern bound- 
aries, be divided into four townshijjs, as follows, 
viz.: That the Township of Miami be bounded 
on the west by the west boundary of said 
countv; thence from the; luirthwest corner of 
section 3, township 3, range 13, east to the 
northeast corner of section 33, township 4, 
range 13; thence north to the county line and 
west with it to the beginning. The Township 



of Lake to commence at the southeast corner 
of the said Township of Miami; thence east- 
wardly with the county line to the southeast 
corner of section 27, township 5, range 13; 
thence north to the count}' line; thence west 
with county line to northeast corner of Miami 
Township; thence south to the place of be- 
ginning. The Township of .Tefferson running 
with the east boundary of Lake, and si.x 
miles wide. The Township of Zane to con- 
sist of the balance of the said County of Logan. 

"That the place for holding elections in the 
said townships shall be, for the Township of 
Zane, at their former place of holding elec- 
tions fjr said township; for the Township of 
Jefferson, at the house of .lames M. Workman ; 
for the Township of Lake, in the Town of 
Belleville; and for the Township of Miami, at 
the house of .lolin Turner, Esq., until other- 
wise ordered." 

Vfom those original townsliijis have been 
formed the seventeen townsliijis that mak(> up 
the County of Logan. From the original 
territory of Miami come the present Town- 
ships of Pleasant, Bloomfield, Stokes and 
Washington; from Lake, tUc present Town- 
ships of Union, McArthur, Harrison, Lilierty 
and Richland; from JoUerson, the present 
Townships of Monroe and Rush Creek; and 
from Z:ine, the ])resent Townships of Perry 
and Bokes Creek. From the following table, 
among other information, may be gathered 
the fact that the growth of the county canu; 
from the southern portion of the county, the 
townships on the lower tier being first formed, 
and the others successively as the population 
I increased northward : 



Towmtiiips. 


WHEN 
OBGAMZrn. 


VILLAQES. 


WHEN 
I.AH) OUT. 


rosT orFicEs. 


WHEN ESTABLISHED. 




1882 




N'o. I'lat... 


Bloom Center 


June 21, 1852 




1838 


West Mnn»ficlil 

West Uiilgwny 


1 H.-,0 






1m:,i 






18.10 









Qrctna Ian. ;i, 1878 






1 





J^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



247 



TOWNSHIP. 



Jefferson., 



Lake 

Liherty.. 



McVrihur . 

Miami 

Monroe .... 

Perry 

Pleasant... 



w n KN 
ORGANIZED. 



1818.. 

1818.. 
l8;iG. 



Richlaml., 



Rusn Creek. 



Stokes 

Union 

Washington. 
Zane 



1823 , 

1818 

1822 

18:;(l , 

1841 



1844. 



1827... 



1838.. 
1820.. 
1839., 
818., 



TILLAGES. 



Zanesfield 

Bellefontaine. 
West Liberty.. 

Huntsville 

Cherokee 

DeGr.aff 

Quincy 

Pickcreltown.. 



WHEX 
L.tID OCT. 



1819.. 

1820.. 
1828.. 

1846.. 
1832.. 

1850.. 
1830.. 



.\o. Plat... 



Kast Liberty 1834 

North Greenfield J1847 

Logansvillc !1832 

Kichlanil 1832 

West Geneva 1832 

Belle Center |1846 

Rushsylvania 11834 

Harper il8.jl 

Itig Springs 

Walnut Grove 



Lewistown 

West Middlehurg.. 



1 8-V2..* 

1854..* 



1833.. 
1832.. 



I'OST OFFICES. 



New Jerusalem.. 
Zanesfield 



Bellefontaine 

West Liberty 

Huntsville 

Cherokee -' 

DeGraff. 

Quincy 

Pickereltown 

East Liberty ■ 

North Greenfield.. 

Logansvillc ' 

Xew Richland *.... 

N'ortliwood 

Bell Center 

Rushsylvania 

Harper 

Big Spring 



Mark . 



Lewistown 

West Middleburg.. 



WHE.V ESTADLISIIED. 



.Jan. 10, 1876.. 

JLareh 25, 182'j.. 

Oct. 11, 1820.. 

.\pril, 1826.. 

Julv 29, 1849.. 

May 7, 1832.. 

Feb. 15, 1853.. 

March 12, 1834.. 

July 22, 1851.. 

Sept. 5, 1836.. 

.lunc 29, 1869.. 



.-Sept. 

Feb. 
Nov. 
Jan. 

.Sept. 
Feb. 



19, 1835.. 

7, 1846.. 

24, 1868.. 

20, 1848.. 

9, 18.36., 

4, 1856., 



.\pril 26, 1864.. 
Dec. 8, 1859... 



July 
July 



19, 1839.. 
11, 1840.. 



At the first meeting of the Commissioners, 
the territorial limits of the newly formed 
county had been fixed, but the whoJe ma- 
chinery which was to enable it to become a 
vital part of the State was to be constructed 
and put in motion. The permanent seat of 
justice had not yet been fi.xed upon, and all 
that could be done was to make such tempo- 
rary arrangements as would meet the present 
necessities, and await further developments. 
On the 23d of April, 1S19, they appoitited 
Martin Marnion Treasurer, and two days 
later appointed Thomas Thompson Recorder. 
On November 23, of the same year, the Com- 
missioners arranged with " Thomas Wilson at 
S!2.50 per each day, for the accommodation of 

* 'So. Plat. 

1 Estaljlished originally at Oanvood Mills. Jtarch 27. 1826. 

'■' Established originally at Cherokee, and changed to Hunts- 
ville. 

■> Callfd rriginallv Dnuslass. and established ,\pril 21. lS2f>. 

•• &t: blshjil at Kunilall. .Niiv. 10, ISls.an.lfbangL-d to New 
Richliin,t (iM the al.c.ve date. It. will he pniii.r to aiW that 
two (it1u-es were establi.slK-d ; Muchinippl .lulv s. 1M(J, di.s- 
contiiuied March 12. 1S72: and Downingsville, July 13, 18311 ; 
discontinued May 19, 1817. 



the court, and Thomas Wilson agreed to fur- 
nish three rooms for the same, and the south 
room if wanted." The statement of the 
Treasurer for this year was : Receipts — 
licenses, §134. 28f; other receipts, $404.5.5^; 
total, $538. 84^. E.xpenditures — by orders, 
$519.83 ; by commission at 4 per cent, S19.83; 
leaving a balance of SI. 97 against the county. 
In the following year, however, the statement 
of the Treasurer closes with the " neat bal- 
ance of $426.17 " in favor of the countj^ On 
September 15, 1819, the Commissioners sjtread 
the following upon their record: "Ordered, 
that James M. Workman be appointed to ap- 
propriate and lay out $.30.00 on the Sandusky 
road, as follows: Commencing at the soutii- 
ern boundary of Logan County, from thence 
on as far and ending at the northern bound- 
ary." This was the first of the public road 
building that has continued, until the pres- 
ent timq; Logan County has paid for and pro- 
jected pikes to the amount of $850,000, and 



^1 



•^ s- 



248 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



possesses a system of improved higlfways in- 
ferior to no count}' in the State. 

In the meanwhile, the Special Commission- 
ers appointed to locate the seat of justice 
had examined a site on the Mad River, some 
two miles below Zaneslield, but, some doubts 
as to the validity of the titles of the lands 
arising, the choice of the Commissioners was 
fi.iced on Bellefontaine. Accordingly, in Feb- 
ruary, 1820, the County Commissioners held 
their first session in the new county seat. 
Heretofore, the criminals of the county were 
confined in the Champaign County jail in 
TJrbana, at considerable expense, and one of 
the first acts of the Commissioners at this 
session was to provide a jail. On i\w IDth of 
February, 1820, the contract for building the 
edifice was given to Vachel Blaylook, at 
153] 5. It was located on the northeast corner 
of the public square, " fifteen feet back from 
the front, and the same number of feet back 
from the end." The walls were of logs, 
hewn about fifteen inches square, neatly 
dovetailed at the corners. Outside of this 
was another wall all around, of the same ma- 
terial, and put up in the same manner, leav- 
ing a space between the two walls of about 
ten or twelve inches, which was filled up with 
loose stones. The iloors above and below 
were of logs of the same size, but of only 
one thickness. Some few prisoners, it is said, 
were confined in this jail, even before it had 
a roof, save some loose planks laid upon poles. 
On January 1.5, 1822, a contract was entered 
into by the Commissioners with Blaylock & 
Ilovitz, to "raise a house, in front of the jail 
of this county, of hewn oak logs of equal 
length with said jail, fifteen feet wide; to put 
in sleepers and joi.sts of whitci oak, cut one 
door in front of said house, and hang a door 
thereon with wooden hinges; to take the 
rafters off the jail, and roof it and the house 
now built under one, and with a good cabin 
roof, and put a good wooden chimney to one 



end, lined with stoiif, and lay the hearths 
with stone. In consideration whereof, the 
Commissioners agree to jiay them by order on 
the County Treasurer sixty dollars, for the 
true performance whereof the ])arties bind 
tiieniselvcs to each otiier in the penalty of 
two hundred dollars." To these specifica- 
tions were added the condition that the con- 
tractors should put in "one window of 12 
lights," and should " chink and daub the 
aforesaid house." This building was finished 
and accepted March 4, 1822. On August 
30 of the following year, the Commissioners 
proposed to make an addition to the jail, but, 
for some reason, the proposition was not car- 
ried into eflfect. On June 8, 182-1, the pro- 
ject was revived, and a contract entered into 
with John Workman for $740.50, to put up 
a building, in front of the jail, "twenty-two 
feet in width, and the same length of the 
jail. " It was to bo two stories high, " tiie 
upjicr one to extend over the jail;" "one 
stack of brick chimneys . on stone founda- 
tions ;" "four twelve-light wiiulows in \i])per 
story, three fifteen-light windows below, " and 
" three bolting doors." This addition was to 
be completed "by the first of the following 
December. It was not accepted, however, 
until the following May, and in the following 
October the (\)niinissioners allowed the eon- 
tractor $5.jl).5U additional, on the testimimy 
of experts that the work was taken too low, 
and could not l)e done for less than ^1,300. 
This Ijuilding supplied the demand of the 
county in this direction until about 1845, when 
the first brick jail was built (m its site at a 
cost of several thousaml dollars. In 1870 
this structure was taki-n down, and the 
present one built east of the Public Square, 
on lot No. 159, at a total cost of 834,050. 
The principal contract was award<'d to 
Rouser & Rouser, of Dayton, for ^27,81)5. 

The demand for a Court House was felt 
from the first, but, until the county seat was 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



249 



fixed, nothing could be done toward building, 
but in June, 1830, apian was formed to build 
the temple of justice in connection with the 
jail, and the contract let to John Casebolt for 
S860. In the following A<igust, however, 
this plan was abandoned and the contract an- 
nulled, and, a month later, a new plan was 
projected, contracted to John Tillis for $1,300, 
and on January 13, 1821, was abandoned, and 
the contract annulled for the second time. 
Finally, on June 4, 1821, it was decided to 
erect a temporary building for the use of the 
Court of Common Pleas, and the contract let 
to William Laften for $1,29-1. The specifi- 
cations required that the building should be 
24x36 feet, two stories high, framed, and 
placed upon a stone foundation at least 
eighteen inches thick. The first story was to 
have one panel door, four twelve-light win- 
dows, one tv\renty-four-light window, a flight 
of stairs, and to be ten feet high. The sec- 
ond story was to be eight feet high, and " to 
be divided into four convenient rooms, and an 
entry with one door into each room; one 
twelve-light window in each room, and one in 
the entry, all well glazed and with shutters." 
One stack of chimneys in the end of the 
building, brick or stone foundation; the 
whole to be completed by the first Monday in 
March, 1822. Laften does not seem to have 
made a success of his contract, and Vachel 
Blaylock, one of his securities for the per- 
formance of the contract, assumed the under- 
taking and completed the building in the 
latter part of 1822. In December of that 
year, he contracted to furnish the Court room 
with a good, substantial bar for 800, and to 
make "three sets of jury boxes, a table five 
feet square, and two smaller tables,'' by the 
first of the March following. On March 29, 
1825, this building was sold to " Solomon Mc- 
Colloch" for $810, and afterwards became 
known as the old Union Hotel. It stood on 
lot No. 142, as the Commissioners did not 



care to encumber the Public Square with 
temporary buildings. On September 9, 1831, 
the contracts for the first permanent Court 
House were awarded — the stone and brick 
work to William Bull, for $900, to which was 
added $150 for a few courses of curbstone 
above ground, not put in the contract, and 
the wood work to John Wheeler and Georare 
Shufileton, for $1,000. These contractors 
were all citizens of Bellefontaine at the time, 
and accomplished their work so that the 
Courts were held in the building in the latter 
part of 1833. In this year, two brick offices 
north and south of the Court House were 
built on contract by William Watson for 
$050. In 1870, these buildings, having out- 
lived their usefulness, were torn downto^ive 
place to the present imposing structure. 
Considerable good humored criticism has been 
passed upon the architectural style of the 
present building, but it proves a commodious 
and comfortable place for the offices and 
Courts of the county. The contracts awarded 
for its construction were as follows: 1. The 
entire mason work to Rouser, Boren & Co., 
of Dayton, for the sum of $28,168.80. 2. 
The cut stone work to Webber & Lehman, of 
Dayton, for $20,000. 3. The entire carpenter 
work (including tiling, clock and bell) to Har- 
wood & Thomas, of Cincinnati, for $13,600. 4. 
The galvanized iron and tin work to W. F. Geb- 
hart, of Dayton, for $7,644.00. 5. The entire 
wrought and cast iron work to D. S. Rankin 
& Co., of Cincinnati, for $23,000. 6. Paint- 
ing and glazing to Wiseman & Hayes, of 
Cleveland, for $5,132.69. 7. Heating and 
ventilation to Peter Martin, of Cincinnati, for 
$6,507.80. 8. Plumbing and gas-fitting to 
Thomas A. Cosby, of Cleveland, for $1,419.09. 
Making the total cost $105,598.08. 

The Commissioners did not take charge of 
the interests of the poor until 1849. On Juno 
9th, of that year, it was "ordered that it is 
necessary, proper and advantageous, and will 



250 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



be so, to erect and establish a poor-bouse and 
to purchase a farm on which to erect the same 
for Logan County."' There seems to liave 
been little opposition on the part of the peo- 
ple to the proposition thus spread upon the 
record, and 1G4 35-100 acres were bought of 
Joseph Lawrence, in Harrison Township. On 
December 6, of this year, Joseph Lawrence, 
Jonathan Thomas and Arthur Linville were 
appointed l)y the Commissioners as Directors 
of the County Infirmary. An old house was 
the only building on the place, which liad 
neither well nor cistern suitable for the pur- 
poses of the county. January 6, 1851, the 
contract for the erection of a suitable build- 
ing was let; the stone and brick-work to 
William Watson for •^1,142; the wood- work to 
David Niven for Sl,-^00; and the plastering 
for $339, making a total on contracts of $2,681, 
which was swelled to 83,000 by other ex- 



penses. August 13, 1855, a contract for an 
Insane Hospital, 31x40 feet, was let to 
Matthew Anderson and George McElree, but 
at what ])rice the records failed to state. 
There is being added to this building during 
the present season an addition, which adds 
twenty feet to the length of the building. 
Since the first purchase of land seventeen 
acres of woodland have been added, making 
one of the finest farms in Logan County. 
The main building is a good-sized two-story 
brick farm-house, and was a comfortable 
building for the time it was built, but does 
not compare favorably with the other county 
buildings of this county. This will doubtless 
be remedied as soon as the burden of building 
the free turnpikes is discharged. Joseph M. 
Porter is the present Superintendent, a posi- 
tion he has occupied for the past fifteen years. 




,k 



n^=^ 



-S 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



251 



CHAPT 
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION*- 

THE practice of medicine in Logan County 
in the times of its early settlement was 
attended with many hardships and difficul- 
ties, now happily unknown. The inliabitants 
were, for the most part, poor, and lived in 
primitive log-cabins, usually at considerable 
distances apart. The "openings" were con- 
nected by bad roads, and not infrequently 
by mere paths or trails. Through these the 
doctor could pass only on horseback, encount- 
ering huge logs and deep swails and the trans- 
verse branches of overhanging trees, which 
last, especially in the night time, were no 
trifling element of danger. The physician 
who was ready to engage in his professional 
duties under such circumstances was neces- 
sarily a man of pluck and energy, and such 
men, especially in the earliest and most ardu- 
ous times of trial, were by no means over- 
abundant. 

There was much of sickness and suffering 
amongst the people, and the doctor, who was 
ready and willing to attend promptly and 
cheerfully to the calls of the sick, was, with 
good reason, a very popular personage. There 
was nothing in the way of sickness which, in 
the opinion of many of the early pioneers, it 
was impossible for the man of medicine to 
conquer. It is true that men and women and 
children died, but then the doctor was called 
"too late," or some sinister accident, some- 
thing foul and uncommon on the part of the 
malady, had deprived the doctor of fair play 
and shorn him of his victory. The fabulous 
conflict between St. George of Ca]ipadocia and 
the dragon, was mere child's play compared 

* Contributed by Dr. T. L. Wright, 
t Contributed by 



ER IV. 

—THE LEGAL PROFESSIOX.f 

with the fierce, unyielding battle which the 
ancient doctor maintained with the fell mala- 
dies of those olden times. Indeed, more than 
once, I have heard good people, whose cheeks 
were smitten with wrinkles and hair with 
frost, relate how the doctor and the disease 
went at it, as it were, "nip-and-tuck;" how 
the doctor, with his armament of calomel and 
jalap, would assault the monster; and then 
how the malady, returning, like the wings of 
an army, would, in the shape of a "relapse," 
or the " jandcrs," or a "sinking chili," singly 
or together, renew the battle; and, finally, 
how the doctor, with his lancet, anil his blis- 
ters, and his senna and salts, would put the 
strongest malady to ignominious flight, or 
crush and grind him to powder. Such were 
the stories recounted, with glowing cheeks 
and sparkling eyes, in honor of the deeds of 
the doctor in those old Saturnian days. 

Much of the time, in those days, the roads 
were extremely mudd\^ The doctor, for such 
emergency, always had " leggins." They 
were frequently composed of three-quarters 
of a yard of green baize, rolled round the leg, 
and reaching from the sole of the boot to four 
or fivei inches above the knee. They were 
tied on by wrapping the leg below the knee 
three or four times round with a kind of elastic 
woolen tape, of sufficient length, and about 
three-quarters of an inch broad, and fastened 
with a bow-knot. Divers and sundry pins 
made all secure. These articles of the pro- 
fessional toilet were often saturated with mud 
and water, while the horse and his rider were 
also plentifully bespattered from head to foot 
with the same material. 

It was a very important point in those days 



^ 



'1 



^b^, 



HISTORY OF T>OGAX COUNTY. 



for the physician to own a speedy and reliable 
horse. In fact it was a great blemish upon 
the professional escutcheon of any one, not to 
be in possession of a good horse, for there 
were serious misgivings in the absence of 
equine speed, let the attainments of the man 
of science be ever so good in the abstract. 
To this day, old pioneers in this county will 
tell of this, or that doctor's "big sorrel i)acer," 
or " blaze-faced mare," which made such mar- 
velously ([uick trips, " nigh onto forty years 
ago." The doctor in those royal days of 
long ago, used to carry his medical equip- 
ments (all, save his trusty lancet, which he 
kept in his vest pocket,) in a pair of rather 
cumbersome saddle-bags. These were well 
stuffed with senna, and snake root, chamo- 
mile flowers, calomel, jalap, rhubarb, and 
spigolia, for the little ones with worms. How 
the doctor, riding as he did, in John Giljjin 
style, ever managed to reach his patients all 
in one piece, that is, without himself and his 
saddle-bags and horse, coming in separate and 
distinct parcels, is to this day a mystery and 
a marvel. Probably the feat was achieved 
partly from an adroitness acipiired by habit, 
and ]iartly from some special miraculous prov- 
idential (lis])ensation, whicii certainly some- 
times scemeil to be displayed in the doctor's 
behalf; notablj-, in bringing his patients out 
right side up, in certain cases, where recovery 
upon any other hypothesis is inexplicable. 

Those were great times for the use of the 
lancet. Kverybody want(>d to be bled, in the 
spring time, especially, aii<l it was no uncom- 
mon occurrence for a person to call at the 
doctor's office and ask to be ble<l. There was 
usually nothing the matter in reality, the 
]iarty only claimed that he was used to being 
bled in tiie sjiriiig, and it did him good, it 
was common for certain persons to keep 
lancets, and in the absence of a doctor, bleed 
such jicopie in the neighborhood as would 
call upon them for that service. 



The hardships of the early physicians of 
this county were much enhanced by the 
foolish panics that would seize the friends of 
the sick, in the night time. No case of any 
importance occurred that the ph\'sician was 
not called upon for night service, from one to 
half a dozen times before he was through with 
it; and the truth is, that not one in ten of such 
calls were necessary. In consequence of this 
folly, the physician would sometimes become 
completely exhausted, and be compelled to 
hide under some friendly roof to ])rocure 
greatly needed sleep. This habit of calling 
upon the physician at night was a sore tax 
upon his strength and constitution. The 
coldest blasts of winter, with roads frozen and 
terribly rough, brought no respite. He was 
expected to go, for if a patient " took worse " 
in the night, there was presumed to be the 
greatest danger. 

The diseases of those times were serious, 
^lalarial troubles were always present; some- 
times alone, but sure, also, to coini)licate any 
other ailment that could aillict the frame of 
hunuinity. Inflammation, such as jjlourisy 
and pneumonia, were much more prevalent, 
in projwrtion to the population, than at pres- 
ent. They were also of a more exalted and, 
so to speak, furious type than is now gener- 
ally the case. The manner of living at that 
time had, no doubt, much to do with this. 
But it is by no means certain that periodic, 
mao'iietic and solar influences — which it is now 
known have great effect u])on the reigning 
types of disease, at periods of tini(> remote 
from each other — might also have had some 
power in determining the positive and aggres- 
sive character of the inflammatory diseases of 
the piu'iod now under consideration. At- all 
events, the treatment was of the most " heroic" 
kind. IMeeding was universally practiced, 
not onlv in inflammatory diseases, but in cer- 
tain fevers, which were truly of a frightfully 
active grade — " inflammatory fevers," with a 



t 



^' 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



253 



tendency to some local disaster. It is certain 
that the practice was not followed with the 
dangers and disasters that would now be 
entailed by a similar mode of procedure. On 
the contrary, it is probable that at the time 
and under the circumstances the treat- 
ment by depletion — by bleeding and blister- 
ing, and diaphoretics and diuretics, to say 
nothing of emetics aiid purgatives — was the 
proper one, and altogether the best. Let the 
cycle of fifty-nine or sixty years of astronom- 
ical relationship between the conjunction of 
the planets Saturn and Jupiter be completed, 
and then see what the type of diseases con- 
nected with the corresponding magnetic dis- 
turbances will be, before assuming too posi- 
tively that the same practice may not become 
again a necessity! 

In the olden time, when a messenger 
arrived in hot haste after the physician, it 
was always possible, before two words were 
spoken, to know when some expectant mother 
was in trouble. No man can truly describe 
the why and wherefore, but the experienced 
physician always knew, almost at once, when 
that difficulty had to be met; so he hurried, 
in good sooth. The blazing log-fire, the only 
light in the cabin sometimes, shining upon 
the white-ash puncheons, with cracks an inch 
or more apart, and half a dozen of the nearest 
female neighbors and gossips, made up the 
main features of the scene. At length, suf- 
fice it to say. a new, trembling life has been 
added to the innumerable throng which jour- 
neys always towards the undiscovered country. 
Something to live for, something to love, has 
been added to the household; and the dark 
clouds of selfishness and hate, which are wont, 
too often, to cast their shadows upon the 
human heart, have been put to flight, at least 
for the time, by the sheer presence of innocence 
and helplessness. 

And now all is bustle. The jellies, and 
the jams, and- the preserves, carefully laid 



by for this auspicious moment, by the careful 
forethought of the mother, are now displayed 
in prodigal profusion. And chickens, and ham, 
and eggs, and all the substantials and luxu- 
ries that have been provided by care and 
prudence, and self-denial, are lavishly set 
forth. The doctor is the great man of the oc- 
casion; no grand potentate was ever more de- 
votedly served, or had half so safely the hearts 
of all around him. He is asked with a display 
of reckless extravagance, and an air sug- 
gestive of tons of sugar within easy reach, if 
he will "take sweet'nin" in his cofi'eo? And 
after all is over, he goes home a happier, and 
perhaps a better, if not a richer man. 

One of the earliest and most distressing 
maladies that made its appearance in con- 
siderable portions of Logan County was 
known as the "Trembles," or "Jlilk Sickness," 
or, more emjihatically, the " Sick Stomaih," 
This was a malady almost unknown to the 
Faculty, and was not as yet described in 
works on medical practice. Dr. Drake de- 
clares it was known in North Carolina one 
hundred years ago. Since the early part of 
the present century, there have appeared in 
the medical periodicals a number of contribu- 
tions upon the disease in question. And yet 
there is much that is uncertain and in dispute 
concerning it. It is known to have appeared in 
North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennes- 
see, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. Its appearance 
in these States has been confined to narrow and 
clearly defined localities. The horse, mule, 
cow, dog, goat, sheep, hog and buzzard have 
been known to take the disease. In some of 
these animals, as the dog and buzzard, the mal- 
ady was doubtless contracted by eating of the 
flesh of cattle that had died of the " Trembles." 
Calves would often have the disease, and even 
die with it, while the mother did not seem 
greatly afi"octed. The human being probably 
always became the victim of the poison by 
partaking of the flesh, or milk, or butter, or 



i^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



cheese, derived from animals infected -with it. 
It was not always possible to say from 
simple inspection whether an animal was suf- 
fering from the " Trembles" or not. The poison 
not infrequently would remain latent or dor- 
mant, not only in the lower animals, but in man 
also, for a considerable period of time. Some 
sudden, exciting cause in sucli cases would in-: 
fallibly develop the active symptoms. If an 
animal was really infected with the poison, a 
little rapid driving would bring on the trem- 
bling; and, indeed, the beast would some- 
times drop and die during the experiment. 
Butchers always drove suspected cattle furi- 
ously for a short time, in order to determine 
whether the disease was lurking in them or 
not. If there was no trembling as the result, 
the creature was considered safe for beef; but 
if the exercise brought on that symptom, the 
meat woulil always j)rovc to be poisonous. 
There was a tost common amongst the people 
through which they determined whether the 
milk of a cow was poisonous or not. They 
would pour vinegar into a small vessel con- 
taining some of tiie susi)ect('d milk. If the 
milk curdled in mixing with the vinegar, it 
was esteemed to be sound; but if it remained 
lluid, it was poisoned. Another test was by 
scalding : if the milk retained its liquid form 
when boiled, it was good, but if it thickened 
up and coagulated under the influence of 
heat, it was rejected as diseased. These facts 
are given merely as part of the history of the 
disease, without vouching for their value or 
trustworthiness. Post-mortem appearances 
showed, in the lower animals, a changed and 
softened state of the inner lining of the jiaunch 
and bowels. The lining membrane was some- 
times nearly destroyed and gone, or of a very 
dark and mortified appearance. In man, such 
appearances were sometimes present; but 
often the bowels were greatly contracted and 
dry internally, and the small bowels drawn 
together so as to look almost like a cord. All 



the ordinary secretions were greatly reduced 
in quantitv. 

The cause of this disease has never been 
determined with entire satisfaction. It is 
true that very few observers fail to form a 
very decided opinion on this point, but the 
trouble is that no two of them are of the 
same oj)inion. It has been attributed to the 
effects of blasted grain, or ergot. Dr. Lord, 
and others, think it is derived from water; 
others believe that it is derived from a certain 
agency in the soil — it may be aqueous, 
gaseous er vaporous, which is dissijiated or 
destroyed by cultivation. According to others, 
it is derived froin various weeds, or shrubs, or 
vines growing over old logs, etc. Some try 
to reconcile the various opinions on this sub- 
ject by suggesting that the real agent is a 
microscopic germ or sporulc that might infest 
at times either of tliese different substances 
and thence become transferred into the circu- 
lation of the animal. A great difficulty in 
satisfactorily determining the cause of the 
trouble lies in the fact of its strict confine- 
ment within certain clearly recognized limits. 
Cows giving milk are less apt to die, or even 
show the symptoms of the disease, than dry 
cattle. In man, the attacks are of variable 
degrees of violence, commensurate, no doubt, 
with the amount of poison received. But in 
severe cases, after a brief period of weakness 
and depression, the patients begin to vomit, 
and the retching and vomiting continue un- 
ceasingly. There is no bile thrown out, the sec- 
retions being universally suppressed. There is 
insatiable thirst, and generally constij)ation. 

There is a peculiar odor emitted by one af- 
fected with the " sick stomach," which has been 
compared to the smell of a rattlesnake. At all 
events, it is always present, and is at once re- 
cognized, both b)' physicians and attendants. 

There is great diversity of opinion respect- 
ing the best plan of treatment. Some sali- 
vate with calomel, and employ also blisters 



w 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



to the pit of the stomach and extremities; 
others depend upon whisky and blisters; 
others employ strychnia and belladonna, and 
some, again, depend upon large and repeated 
doses of ordinary purgative medicines. As 
many as "from fifty to seventy doses in twice as 
many hours," of full measure of purgative 
medicine, has been recommended. 

There is no doubt that the symptoms, in- 
cluding the constipation in this disease, are 
the direct result of the poison depressing the 
nerve power, both central and sympathetic. 
The indication of cure is not the relief of 
some isolated symptom, but it is the removal 
of the poison; and, in order to effect this, the 
using of such auxiliary means as will restore 
the strength, so that time niay be afforded to 
accomplish the elimination of the morbid 
agent from the body is proper. The use of 
mere physics, as such, is not the most logical 
procedure, for the constipation is not the 
cause of the disease — it is merely one of its 
effects. 

It will be remembered that the cow a-ivino- 
milk does not die. The large flow of milk 
eliminates the poison soon after it is received. 
The milk contains the product of the elimin- 
ation, and tlie calf dies ; and persons also who 
partake of this milk, or of the butter or 
cheese made from it, become poisoned. 

A person well acquainted with these facts 
informs me that he never knew a milch cow 
die of this disease but once. A family hav- 
ing contracted "sick stomach" from the milk of 
this cow, she was abandoned, and her milk 
no longer taken from her. The elimination 
of the poison ceased, and she died. In the 
human patient, what is wanted to procure re- 
lief is the elimination of the poison. It will 
be remembered that all the secretions are 
greatly diminished in milk sickness. Various 
and apparently distinct as the more success- 
ful plans of treatment seem to be, the fact is 
that they operate in a common way in this 



one particular, namely, in promoting the 
elimination of the morbid matter. 

It remains only to say, in connection with 
this subject, that milk sickness has now near- 
ly disappeared from the limits of Logan Coun- 
ty. The increase of pojsulation and the uni- 
versal cultivation of the soil has banished it, 
and left it, to a large degree, only a horrid re- 
membrance. 

About the year 1839, a change in the type of 
prevailing diseases began to take place. This 
fact was not really recognized at that time, 
but the light of subsequent medical events 
leaves no doubt of it. Typhoid symptoms 
began to appear. It is not true that the 
typhoid type was suddenly es(al)lished. JIany 
were still affected with the higher or inflam- 
matory grades of disease, and they were treat- 
ed accordingly, with success. But more and 
more that kind of treatment was found to fail, 
and in fact to prove injurious, until, in a few 
years, the universal tendency to a typhoid 
state of the constitution was clearly perceived. 
Blood-letting, especially, went entirely out of 
practice; and the waiting and sustaining plan 
of treatment was adopted. The human con- 
stitution, so far as Logan County is concerned, 
is yet in a condition of depression, although 
not nearly so much so as fifteen or twenty 
years ago. 

About the year 18-13 there prevailed 
throughout this region a disease which was 
then universal throughout the United States, 
and connnon in other continents. It was a 
general malady disseminated by atmospheric 
influences alone, and profoundly affecting the 
whole system, although its more prominent 
symptoms were connected with the mucous 
membranes. This was the influenza, called 
by the French Xa Grijipe. It was called in 
this countr}', by the people generally, the 
" Tyler grip." Its most prominent symptoms 
were sore and tearful eyes, copiously discharg- 
ing nostrils, pain in the forehead and over the 



•■7)- 



^t 



i±^ 



256 



IIISTOEY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



eyes, sneezing and soreness of the lungs and 
throat, and cough. Sometimes diarrhoea pre- 
vailed to a large extent. There was a 
remarkal)le depression of the strength, and 
this symptom was sometimes so pronounced 
as to cause the death of aged or weakly 
persons. Patients with weak lungs would 
often recover very slowly, or would evcntunlly 
die by the superadded weight of the influ- 
enza. Ordinarily, the worst symptoms would 
abate in three or four days, but the full re- 
covery of the strength was a work of con- 
siderable time. 

In the year 1851 the cholera broke out in 
Bellcfontaine. It made some slight anpear- 
ance before that time, as well as afterwards. 
But that was the oidy time of groat mortality 
and ilaiiger from the scourge. The disease 
had been jirevailing in Sandusky City, and a 
young man had come thence to his home in 
Bellefontaiiir. lb; came on a certain day, 
and, ahliough apparently well, he was dead 
on the next day. He died of cholera. His 
brother, at whose house he was, also died in a 
day or two; also another relative, who was 
making a box to receive the remains of a 
cholera patient, died, and was encased in the 
box made by himself. Altogether, there were 
a dozen or fourteen deaths within a brief 
space of time. A poor woman, who washed 
some of the clothing soiled by these ]iatients, 
died, together with her husband, from the 
same disease. 

It was curious to see how great a solicitude 
sprang at once among the inhabitants of tlie 
town for the welfare of tlicir relations who 
dwelt at a distance. Fearful that sickness 
and disaster might reach them in their distant 
homes, many of the .symjiathftic citizens 
straightway bi-took themselves thither to hi-lj) 
them, and nursi; them should they, perchance, 
become sick. Even some of the ]>hysieians 
had such conscientious calls, and obeyed 
them. Not one would entertain the propo- 



sition for a moment that he was scared and 
ran away from the cholera. 

We owe the following facts to the kind- 
ness of Dr. S. W. Fuller, respecting the his- 
tory of the diseases afflicting the lower por- 
tion of Logan County. Dr. Fuller is an 
observer of superior qualifications and is a 
trustworthy reporter. The time represented 
is between the years 1838 and 1854. 

Marsh malariiil fevers were endemic almost 
every year. Some seasons, however, thej' 
prevailed more severely than others, prostrat- 
ing almost whole neighborhoods. Now, hap- 
pily, owing to the clearing up of the country, 
drainage of surface waters and drying up of 
stagnant ponds, thej' have greatly abated, 
and no longer appear in an endemic form. 
Quinine has lost its relative importance in 
the family, being at one time almost as niudi 
of a staple as flour. 

Measles and whooping-cough were epi- 
demic in this period, and during a portion of 
their stay they assumed a severe tj'pe, and 
■were attended with considerable fatality. 
Scarlet fever also prevailed to a considerable 
extent, but scarcely attained to the propor- 
tions of an epidemic. 

Perha]is the most remarkable of these jire- 
vailing diseases which raged during this ])i'- 
riod was that of small-pox. It broke out .M;iy 
8, 184'2, an<l continued to prevail until late in 
tlie July following. The i)(i])ulalion of the 
village of West Liberty would not exceed 
500, and the umber of cases, including all 
varieties, from the measle-like rash of the 
mildest form of varioloid to the malignant 
confluent form, was nearly 150, the greater 
number of which were in town. Some idea 
niaj' thus be fornii'il of the seriousness of the 
outbreak ami the distress that ])revailed. 

The question will niitiiiiilly arise in llie 
mind, how so many cases slioiild occur jieforc; 
the disease could be arnstcilV In order to 
satisfy this iiKpiiry, it will be necessary to 



^" 



^- 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUXTY. 



257 



enter a little into detail in regard to the 
origin of the epidemic. It was evidently im- 
ported from the State of Delaware into the 
vicinity of the town by a man named Vick- 
ass. He had been visiting in the town of 
Seaford, in that State, and upon investigation 
it was afterwards learned that small-pox was 
rife there during his visit. In twelve or four- 
teen days after his return to his home, some 
three miles north of the village, small-pox ap- 
peared in his family. Dr. Marquis Wood at- 
tended upon the familj', and the disease be- 
ing of a mild type, he was in doubt as to its 
nature. One of the oldest practitioners of 
the county was called in, and he decided that 
it was chicken-pox. It so happened that a 
young lady whose mother resided in town 
was visiting the Vickass family. She returned 
home and immediately entered the village 
school, in which were twenty or more children 
who were not protected by vaccination. She 
became ill in school of variolous fever. She 
then abandoned the school, but her illness 
was so slight and the eruption so trifling that 
no physician was called to see her; conse- 
quently, two weeks of precious time was lost 
in which to prepare for the enemy's onslaught. 
The means to combat the onset were not 
readily obtained, before the days of railroads 
and telegraphs. At the end of this time it is 
believed that every child in the school that 
was not protected by vaccinnation, took the 
disease, thus showing the fallaciousness of the 
opinion of Sir J. Y. Simpson, who held that 
small-pox was not contagious during the pri- 
mary fever. 

It was on Friday or Saturday that many 
persons, more particularly children, were 
taken sick, and on the following Sabbath I 
felt called upon to announce that the disease 
was small-pox. At this time a quarterly 
meeting of the Methodist Episcojial Church 
was in progress, and, at that early day, the 
more ardent members came from distant 



parts of the surrounding country to attend 
these meetings. The report flew through the 
village that " small-pox " was in to^vn. " Then 
there was hurrying to and fro," and "mount- 
ing in hot haste," and a sudden evacuation of 
the place by all the visitors, and the citizens 
were left to muse upon the dire calamity that 
had befallen them. Some persons were so 
luicharitable as to say that a knowledge of 
the disease had been withholden, in order to 
break up the meeting; but the charge was 
more ludicrous than vexatious. Of course, there 
was a panic amongst the people, and for days 
the pavement in front of our office was lined 
with men, who, as the fear gradually wore off, 
or as duty demanded their presence in other 
places, slowly disappeared, and we were no 
longer encumbered by them. All business 
with the outside world was suspended and the 
town isolated ; and, although situated on the 
main thoroughfare from Cincinnati to the 
lakes, travel passed around, with the excep- 
tion of an occasional traveler who found him- 
self in th"? infected town. But he stopped 
not upon the order of his going, but 7cent as 
fast as his horse could carry him, with hand- 
kerchief over nostrils and mouth. All 
had the fashion of filtering the infected at- 
mosphere through the handkerchief. The 
commerce of the town now consisted largelv 
in the sale and purchase of rice, molasses and 
Epsom salts, of which, fortunately, there was 
a liberal supply. To these articles the inhab- 
itants seemed almost instinctively to be in- 
clined. It was fortunate for them that they 
did, for, as we had not the means to protect 
them by vaccination, this was the best re- 
source left; and no doubt the diet of rice and 
molasses, with the free use of Epsom salts, 
saved a number of lives. One man, to test 
the virtue of the latter, took a quarter of a 
pound for one dose. He retired to the hills 
above the village, but he " still lives." 

A man of some note in his day, H. M. 



® - 



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^ 



258 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



White, who kept the principal hotel and 
staj^e office, being a believer in sniall-pox, in- 
oculated his family and dependants with that 
disease. This is always supposed to render 
it mild, but, in our observations, we found 
there was but little difference in the severity 
of the disease between the inoculated and 
those who had acquired the malady in the 
natural manner, but who were under strict 
reg'inien, so that the latter is probably of more 
importance than the mode of introduction. 

The contagion was so great that compara- 
tively few persons esca])ed some form of the 
disease, unless protected by recent vaccina- 
tion; even those who had small-jDOx in early 
life were not exemjit, and a large part of those 
who had not been vaccinated for ten or more 
years had varioloid, while ail recently vaccin- 
ated escajiod. The numijer of deaths was not 
great. If my memory is not at fault, it did 
not exceed ten. These were mostly children, 
and of these, two died of convulsions before 
th(! eruption appeared. The eruption came 
out upon a dissipated man in immense blocks 
as large as a moderate sized fist. He lived 
tliirty days. He died in the dead of night 
and was buried the same hour. Good oppor- 
tunities were presented, during this epidemic, 
of observing effects of proper regimen and 
proper medication in influencing favorablv the 
progress of the disease. When connnonced 
in proper time, regimen rendered it always 
mild, and the same influences operated in the 
same manner upon the vaccine vcsich;; caus- 
ing the latter to be small, the avoila small and 
the inflammation of the arm trifling. The facts 
developed during this epidemic show that 
vaccination after the lapse of many years, es- 
pecially if performed in quite early life, only 
])artially protects against variola; and the 
same was true of those who had had the latter 
disease in early life. Another fact, jierhaps 
observed also by others, was that vaccination 
niay be successfully performed after exposure 



to the contagion of small-pox for five or 
six days. In one family, where several 
cases of the disease existed, vaccination was 
performed on the sixth day, and both diseases 
developed after the regular incubative peri- 
od; the variola died out, while the vaccination 
pursued the regular course. 

In May, 1850, dysentery made its appear- 
ance in the valley of King's Creek, south- 
east of West Liberty. It soon became 
intermixed with Asiatic cholera. The two 
diseases gradually crept u]) the valley and 
spread over the adjacent jjlains, so that by 
August the latter disease had arrived at that 
part of the valley where Tabor I?idge abruptly 
projects into the valley. Here, at the foot of 
this ridge, two or three persons were attacked 
by cholera. It then mounted the ridge and, 
passing a half mile north, seized three chil- 
dren in one family, after which there was no 
more cholera and but little d\-sentery this 
season. During August, 1851, a fatal case of 
cholera occurred in the family of General A. 
S. Piatt. Judge B. M. Piatt also had a seiz- 
ure, but recovered. 

Dysentery prevailed during the cholera sea- 
sons of 1851, 1852 and 1853. In the former 
years it occupied the highlands bordering the 
Mackachack, and was very fatal, twelve deaths 
occurring within a small radius, and in a short 
time. Many cases were also seen on the high- 
lands north of town. The country west and 
north was this year free from dysentery, but 
the next year, 1852, it prevailed with great 
violence and fatality among children in the 
neighborhood northwest of town. The next 
season it occupied the territory west and south- 
west, leaving the districts visited the former 
years; thus following very much the course 
of cholera, which seldom prevails two succes- 
sive seasons, to any extent, in the same dis- 
trict. A few peculiarities were observed dur- 
in" these epidemics, not usually seen in dysen- 
tery. One was the frequent collapse which 



"*T1' '^ 



.t 



>^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



259 



took place the second or third day after the 
seizure, and from which few recovered; an- 
other was, in a few cases, the sudden subsi- 
dence of the dysenteric symptoms, and the 
supervention of muscular rheumatism, mostly 
confined to the lower extremities. The sud- 
den supervention of intense conjunctivitis was 
another peculiarity. When this took place it 
only gave partial relief to the dysentery. 
High rolling or table lands wore the places it 
most affected, low land being mostly ex- 
empted. 

Influenza prevailed as an epidemic during 
the months of July and August, 1843, a few 
cases appearing earlier in the season. It 
depended upon some peculiar, but unknown, 
atmospheric condition, and traveled with groat 
celerity from east to west, and, like Asiatic 
cholera, made the circuit of the earth. 

That severe and fatal disease, cerebro-spin- 
al-meningitis, made its first appearance in the 
village of West Liberty about March 1, 1848. 
It had prevailed in the New England States 
thirty years anterior to this time. It is pre- 
sumably the same disease which was then 
called tj'phus syncophalis. It continued to 
prevail in West Liberty for some two months, 
being confined to the town, with one excep- 
tion, and, as the weather became warm, it dis- 
appeared about the 1st of May for that year. 
It again appeared in th6 hilly region in the 
winter of 1851, along the upper Mackachack 
Creek, and continued to prevail upon the 
highlands along that stream for ten or twelve 
weeks, but disappeared upon the approach of 
warm weather. The disease again broke out 
during the cold weather of December, 1852, 
on the highlands bordering on Mad River, di- 
rectly north of town, and continued prevalent 
during the winter, but passing out of the 
neighborhood, after a few weeks, in a west- 
erly direction, so that for a time the seat of 
its operations was northwest, then west, after- 
wards southwest. It did not disappear until 



^i 



the weather became warm, it being much 
more likely to prevail in cold than in warm 
temperatures. The writer has never seen 
more than two or three sporadic cases during 
the warm season. 

While there was a large proportion of re- 
coveries in those actively treated, there were 
many deaths, a few cases proving fatal in 
from seventeen to thirty hours. If the dis- 
ease was not greatly relieved within five or 
six days, the prognosis was unfavorable, and 
death usually ensued sooner or later; in some 
instances not for several weeks. Those cases 
where the membranes of the ccrclsrum were 
chiefly implicated wore more difficult to treat 
than those in which the spinal menil)ranes 
were inflamed. Owing to refle,K action, it 
sometimes simulated other diseases, in child- 
ren particularly: spasmodic croup and malig- 
nant scarlatina; but generally there was no 
great difficulty in making a correct diagnosis. 
The disease almost invariably seized the 
young in age, ranging from one year to 
twenty-five, but middle-aged persons have 
died of it. In all severe cases the attacks 
were sudden and without premonition, and 
were ushered in by throe pi'oniinont symp- 
toms, to wit: chill, vomiting and delirium — 
the latter often boisterous — with intervals of 
quiet. It has not been the design to give 
anything like a complete clinical history of 
this disease, but merely to note briefly its 
history as it prevailed in this vicinity. 

It now remains to notice specifically the 
names of those useful and philanthropic men 
who so often brought help, and confidence, 
and hope, where they were sorely needed. 
In the^southern portion of the county, the first 
permanently established physician was Dr. 
Ordway, a sketch of whose life appears else- 
where in this volume. 

Dr. S. W. Fuller came to West Liberty in 
1838 and continued to practice tliere until 
1855, when he removed to Bellefontaine. Dr. 



>?*, 



260 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



Fuller is also noticed mere especially in an- 
other portion of this work. 

Dr. I. C. Taylor settled in West Liberty in 
1844. Dr. Taylor is a pioneer in this region 
in the domain of gynecology. Dr. D. B. 
Allen began the practice of medicine in West 
Liberty about the year 1848. He was a sur- 
geon in the army during the civil war. 

Dr. J. C. Ayers, now of Urbana, settled in- 
West Liberty in 1853. In 1801, he accepted 
a place as Assistant Surgeon in the Thirty- 
fourth Regiment, O. V. I., and was promoted 
to the position of Surgeon. Dr. S. M. Jones 
studied medicine with Dr. I>eonard in West 
Liberty, lie graduated in 1800 in the Medi- 
cal College of Ohio. His health failing, he re- 
tired. Dr. Benjamin B. Leonard was educated 
in the Medical College of Ohio; he graduated 
M. D. in 1853. Dr. Leonard was Surgeon of 
the Eighty-fourth O. V. I. during its term of 
service. Me is noticed elsewhere in this 
book. Dr. Benjamin Leonard,.Ir., graduated at 
Ohio Medical College in 1880. He is located 
in West Liberty. W. T. Sharp, M. D., grad- 
uated at Starling Medical College, and located 
in Middleburg. Dr. W. Sharp graduated in 
the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Sur- 
gery in 1875. He is located in Middleburo-. 
Asearly as 1811, Dr. .John Elljert came to Mid- 
dlel|(urg. His son, Dr. John D. Elbert, prac- 
ticed mediciTio there for some years. C. C. 
Stokes, yi. D., graduated at the Cincinnati 
College of Medicine and Surgery in 1875. He 
is located in Middleburg. Dr. A. Fulton set- 
tled in llushsylvania in 1838. John "Wallace, 
M. D., graduated in Miami Medical College 
Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1877. He is located in 
Rushsylvania. William M. Goodlove, M. D., 
graduated at the Ohio Medical College in 
1872. Dr. I. Doran is a leading physician of 
Rushsylvania. Ho practices the eclectic sys- 
tem. 

Dr. S. M. Fisher graduated in 1801. lie 
lives in Rushsylvania. Dr. Andrew Fulton 



settled in West Liberty in 1843. He moved 
to Kansas City in 1848, and died of cholera 
in 1850. In the northern portion of the 
county there have been a great many physi- 
cians. Dr. Solomon .Jenkins came to Belle 
Centre in 1847. He died there of typhoid 
fever in 1854. Dr. Thrall was in Belle Cen- 
tre from the spring of 1854 to 1855. He was 
educated at Starling Medical College, and re- 
moved to Iowa. Dr. Lunger attended lectures 
in Cleveland. He practiced in Richland and 
Belle Centre, and died at the latter place about 
ten years ago. Dr. .James S. Pollock first settled 
in Lewistown, and moved thence to Belle 
Centre. He graduated at the Ohio Medical 
College in 1855. Dr. Lyman Dow graduated 
from the Ohio Medical College in 1805. He 
entered the army as Assistant Surgeon, and 
remained there until tlic close of the war; 
since that time he has resided in Belle Cen- 
tre. Dr. Closes Devoie Wilson received his 
medical education at the Jefferson Medical 
College, Pa., and at Ann Arbor, Mich., where 
he graduated M. D. in 1854. He resides in 
Belle Centre. Dr. L. S. Patrick was educated 
at Baldwin University, Berea, Ohio; received 
his medical education at the Eclectic Insti- 
tute, Cincinnati, Ohio. He died in 1873. 

Dr. John A. Coulter took a private course 
of study under Prof. Dunn. He entered first 
O. V. I. as a ])nvate,*studie(l medicine iinder 
the Cincinnati College of AJedicine and Sur- 
gery, and graduated in 1872. In 1875, was 
acting assistant j)hysician in the Newberry' 
Lunatic Asylum. Dr. Joscjjh Snyder j>rac- 
ticed a few years in Huntsville; ho died 
there. Dr. Brooks also died there after a 
brief practice. Dr. Starrett, while practicing 
his profession in the same jilace, died of milk 
sickness. Dr. Sanford A. Dewey came to 
Huntsville in 1865. He is a graduate of the 
medical department cf the University of 
Pennsylvania. Dr. John V. Ditzler attended 
lectures in the Jefferson Medical College of 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



263 



Pennsylvania. He located in Cherokee in 
1843, and graduated at Starling IMedical Col- 
lege in 1850. He practiced medicine in the 
vicinity of Cherokee until 1877, when he 
died. Dr. Edward Hamilton practiced medi- 
cine in the neighborhood of Huntsville be- 
tween thirty and forty years ago. He moved 
west. He is a wealthy citizen of Peoria, Illi- 
nois. S. R. Blizzard, M. D., graduated at the 
Ohio Medical College in 18G0. He lives at 
present in JJellefontaine. Dr. Robert C. 
Dewey graduated at the Cincinnati College 
of Medicine and Surgery in 1873. He prac- 
tices in Huntsville. Dr. Samuel A. Morton 
came to Cherokee in 1831. 

Dr. Abraham Elder attended lectures at 
the Starling Medical College. He resides in 
Huntsville. John Korr, M. D., graduated at 
Starling Medical College in 1878. Dr. John 
Ten Eyck graduated at the Eclectic Medical 
Institute of Cincinnati. He settled in 
Huntsville about the year 1875. B. F. Mo- 
Kinnon, M. D., graduated at Starling Medi- 
cal College in 1860. He entered the army in 
March, 18G4, as Assistant Surgeon of the 139th 
and again of the 191st Regt., O. V. I. Dr. 
Edwin Pratt was for a number of years avery 
active practitioner in Bloomfield Township; 
he has latterly been pursuing his professional 
avocations in Bellefontaine. Dr. L. Prater 
has recently come to Cherokee from another 
State. In the eastern section of the coun- 
ty. Dr. James Crew was an early settler. 
Dr. Crew first studied medicine with Dr. 
Parker, of Columbiana County, Ohio. He 
subsequently studied in Richmond, Indiana. 
Here, in 1821, he married his first wife, hav- 
ing with her a famil3- of eight children. In 
the same year he moved to Zanesfield, in this 
county, where he practiced his profession for 
forty-seven years, when he retired. He died 
April 21, 18G8. In the year 1837, the Doctor 
was elected a member of the Ohio Legislature. 
He served one term. He also filled the offices 



of Justice of the Peace, Postmaster, etc., at 
various times. Dr. James W. Marmon studied 
medicine with Dr. Crew, but did not graduate 
until 1834, when he received his degree at the 
Ohio Medical College. Dr. James Robb, at 
the age of twenty-three, commenced the study 
of medicine with Dr. Lord, of Bellefon- 
taine. He attended lectures at the Med- 
ical College of Ohio. After a brief period of 
ill health. Dr. Robb", in 1848, entered into part- 
nership with Dr. Crew, of Zanesfield. He has 
been twice elected County Commissioner. 
In the year 1845, Dr. William Gee came 
to Zanesfield and practiced about five 
years. In 1847, Dr. Tomplison settled in 
Zanesfield and ])racticed two years. About 
18G3, Dr. Campbell settled there also, and 
practiced on the eclectic system. After about 
eight years he removed to another State. Dr. 
J. G. Finley formed a partnership with Dr. 
Robb in 1SG7. After three years he removed 
to tlie eastern portion of the State. Amos 
Taj-lor, M. D., graduated at the Eclectic Med- 
ical Institute of Cincinnati, in 18GG. After 
practicing for a time, he graduated a second 
time at the Medical College of Ohio. Alto- 
gether, he practiced eight years in Zanesfield. 
In 1874 Dr. Outland begun the practice of 
m(>dicine in Zanesfield; he is a graduate. In 
1870 Dr. N. S. Crew practiced with Dr. Robb. 
After two years he removed to Missouri. In 
1874, Dr. John J. Coram, a graduate of the 
Medical College of Ohio, formed a partner- 
ship with Dr. Robb. Dr. J. W. Hamilton 
came to East Liberty in November, 1836. He' 
practiced medicine there until 1853, when he 
retired. Dr. Hamilton was born in Venango 
Co., Pa., and studied medicine with Dr. Gil- 
let, of Franklin County. Dr. Hamilton died 
August 1, 1879. Dr. W. S. Adams came to 
East Liberty in March, 184G; Dr. Adams died 
there in 1853. Dr. W. N. Unkifer came to 
East Liberty in March, 1873. He graduated 
at the Cincinnati Medical College. Dr. R. R. 



2G4 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



Smith came to East Liberty in 18T7, and has 
been there ever since; he graduated in Cin- 
cinnati Medical College. Joseph Canby, M. 
D., was born in Loudoun Co., Va.; he grad- 
uated in Rush Medical College. Philadoiphia, 
Pa.; he was a student of Dr. Daniel Drake; 
Dr. Canby came to Logan County in 1825; 
he located near the point where the village of 
De Graff now stands; he died in 1843, at the 
age of sixty-two years; his death was hast- 
ened, it is supposed, from a shock sustained 
from a stroke of lightning. Dr. Canby was 
a niaji of good attainments in his profession, 
and had, withal, uncommon energy and force 
of character. Dr. Good, a graduate of Jef- 
ferson Medical College, of I'hiladelphia, Pa., 
practiced medicine in Quincy, Logan County, 
from the year 183C to 1843. 

Samuel K. Leodom, M. D., graduated in 
Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pa., 
ill 1839. Dr. L. located in Quincy in 1843, 
where he remained until his death, inl855. 
Drs. Morphead and Longfellow succeeded 
Dr. Leedom. Dr. Morchead practiced in 
several towns in Logan County, and died in 
Huntsville a few years ago. Dr. Longfellow 
is a graduate in medicine; after remaining 
in Quincj' a short time he removed to Fos- 
toria, Ohio, where he now lives. 

The following physicians appeared at var- 
ious times in Quincy: Dr. Barkerville, Dr, 
Hele, Dr. Landis, Dr. Edwards, Dr Lau<>-hton 
and Dr. Shafer. 

Practicing there now, are Dr. J. C. Lilly; 
he graduated at Cleveland Medical College, 
and came to Quincy in 1870. Dr. J. S. Hub- 
bell graduated in .'Starling Medical Colli'iro, 
in isl'l. lie resides in Quincy at this time. 
Dr. Moses L. Pratt studied medicine with 
Drs. F. lirooks and B. W. Pratt. He located 
in Quincy in 18G.3, where he is now. Dr. N. 
V. Spcecc is a graduate of Starling Medical 
College in 18G8. Dr. Speece is in active prac- 
tice in Quiiicv. 



F. M. Galer, M. D., graduated in Starling 
Medical College in 1807. He is practicing in 
De GraflF. R. S. Gilchrist was born in Knox 
Count}-, Ohio, August 5, 1823; received a 
literary and scientific education at Martins- 
burg Academy, and at Kenyon College. His 
medical preceptor was Prof. H. L. Thrall, AL 
D. He was in the college laboratory at 
Kenyon three years. He graduated in medi- 
cine at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1853. He has 
partly retired in consequence of ill health. 
M. A. Koogler, M. D., graduated in medicine 
from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, 
in 1874. He located in De Graff, where is now 
engaged in practice. Dr. D. W. Richardson 
graduated in medicine from Ohio Medical 
College in 1868. He practices his profession 
in De Graff. Dr. A. F. Matson graduated in 
Cleveland Medical College in 185G. He lo- 
cated in Logansville. Dr. M. entered the 
army as Assistant Surgeon of the 132nd O. N. 
G. He contracted a disease in the army of 
which he died April 9, 1807. J. C. Turner, 
M. D., attended lectures in Cincinnati, Ohio. 
He located in De Graff in 1850, and moved 
thence to Iowa. Dr. William Thomas settled 
in Logansville in 1840. After ten years he 
moved to Bellefontaiiie, where he died. Dr. 
William Reams was educated at Starling 
Medical College, in 1853. He has practiced 
in West Mansfield twenty-six years. Joshua 
A. Skidmoro graduated at Miami Medical 
College in 1808. He was with the army in 
Tennessee. Dr. Sam\iel Kerr practiced in 
North Greenfield from 1850 to 1853, where he 
died. Dr. E. Whittaker attended lectures in 
Miami .Me<lical College, lb; is located in 
West Mansfield. Dr. S. Maris attended 
medical lectures in 1877. He is living in 
M'est Mansfield. Dr. B. F. Hunt graduated 
at the Pulte Medical College in 1.S77. He is 
practicing in De Graff. J. F. Hance, M. D., 
is a graduate of the Eclectic Medical Institute 
of Cincinnati. He is of the class of 1849. 



It^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COL'XTY. 



265 



He is located in De Gralf. Dr. Good is now 
practicing medicine in Logansville. He at- 
tended lectures in Cincinnati. 

Dr. John Vail was an early and useful phy- 
sician in and about Middleburg. He gradu- 
ated in medicine in 183:3, and died in 1870. 
He was a man of exceptionally fine intelli- 
gence, useful in his life, and lamented in 
death. 

Dr. Peter Walker practiced medicine in 
Middleburg from 1835 until 181:2, when he 
moved to Iowa. 

William J. Sullivan, M. D., received his 
medical education at Ann Arbor, Mich., and 
Columbus, Ohio. He graduated at Starling 
Medical College in 1853. Dr. Sullivan served 
as Surgeon in the army during the rebellion. 
He has practiced his profession in several lo- 
calities in Logan County. Plis residence at 
the present time is Urbana, Ohio. 

One amongst two or three of the very 
earliest permanently resident physicians of 
Logan County, was Dr. A. H. Lord. He was 
not only one of the earliest, but one of the 
most prominent and active physicians in this 
portion of the State. It is, therefore, fitting 
that some biographical notice should be taken 
of him and his career. And it is believed 
that such notice, under the circumstances, will 
be more appropriate as a part of the medical 
history of the country, than under the special 
department devoted to isolated biography. 
Dr. Abiol Hove}' Lord was born in Windsor, 
Vermont, April 26, 1802. His father emi- 
grated to Ohio, with his family, in 1806. He 
came as far as Wheeling by wagon; then he 
entered a flatboat to proceed to his destination. 
On the third day out, the boat was sunk by a 
tree falling across it while tied to the shore dur- 
ing a storm. His child Abiel was saved by be- 
ing carried to the bank on the back of a hired 
man, but the contents of the boat were ruined. 
After raising their craft, the journey was 
resumed, and, without further mishap, was 



finally completed. At the age of thirteen, 
Dr. Lord went to Brookville, Indiana, under 
the patronage of Dr. David Oliver, a connec- 
tion of the Spencer family, well known in the 
pioneer history of Ohio. Here he went to 
school most of the time for four years. In 
1819 he entered the office of Dr. L. A. Waldo, 
of Wayne County, Indiana, where he remained 
one year. While visiting friends in Urbana, 
O., he became acquainted with Dr. Joseph S. 
Carter, and entered the office of that gentle- 
man, pursuing his medical studies two years 
longer. In May, 1823, Dr. Lord located as a 
physician in Bellefontaine. The practice of 
medicine in those days, and for many 
years subsequently, in Bellefontaine, occupied 
a large field. The nearest physician, on 
the south, lived in Urbana; the nearest 
upon the west was in Sidney; on the north 
none was to be found nearer than Perrysburg, 
on the Maumee river; on the east. Dr. James 
S. Crew was located in Zanesfield, and the el- 
der Dr. Elbert was yet farther to the east- 
ward. 

Dr. Lord practiced in all the counties bor- 
dering upon Logan; namely, in Shelby, Har- 
din, Auglaize, Union and Champaign; but 
his most common remote practice was in Au- 
glaize and Hardin Counties, and in Kenton. 
A good deal of the kind and style of practice 
of Dr. Lord in that early period are described 
in the opening paragraphs of this subject. At 
that time there was an Indian reservation at 
Lewistown, and also one on the Muchinippi. 
These Indians' were a mixture of Shawnees 
and Senecas. Dr. Lord had considerable 
practice amongst them, until they were re- 
moved, in the year 1832. The Doctor vacci- 
nated 750 Indians as they were about to leave 
their reservations. Tiiis number included 
certain Indians from Wapakonetta, and also 
certain ones from Shawnee village, in Allen 
County. On one occasion, Dr. Lord was called 
to visit an Indian chief at Shawnee villao-c. 



"Jji 



s ^ 



d'^ 



v*" 



2G6 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



The doctor was not at lioine when the mes- 
senger came, and lie was compelled to make 
the trip alone, and started late in the day. 
"WTipn about at the site of the present village 
of St. John, in Auglaize County, his hat was 
knocked off by a branch of a tree. It was 
in a deep forest, and it had become very dark. 
It took some time gro])ing about to recover 
the hat, and during tlie search the Doctor had 
become bewildered respecting the points of 
the compass. Letting his horse take his own 
course, it soon became apparent that the way 
was lost. Upon this discovery, the Doctor 
took off his saddle for a pillow and hitched 
his horse, determined to wait for daylight. 
Soon, however, the call and answering cry of 
wolves admonished him that he had better 
move on. Saddling his horse, he pushed on 
as best he could, and, after a considerable 
time, came to an Indian hut, about three miles 
from Wapakonetta. Getting upon the right 
way, he kept on till awhile after daylight. 
He arrived at the Shawnee village, ten or 
twelve miles beyond Wapakonetta, which 
was the point of his destination. 

Such incidents might bo multiplied indef- 
initely, but this will suilice to afford some idea 
of the time, the work and the man. Dr. Lord 
was married the 27th day of May, 1824, to 
Miss Letitia McCloud, daughter of Judge 
William McCloud, then a prominent citizen 
of the county, and one of the earliest and 
most reliable hunters and scouts. Mrs. Lord 
died in August, 1875. There were five chil- 
dren born to the doctor and his wife. Maria, 
the eldest, is the wife of L. G. More, now 
living near Bellefontaino. The second, Lu- 
cinda, is the wife of Dr. T. L. Wright. The 
third, Minerva, married Mr. George Ilack- 
inger ; she died of consumption in 1810. 
The fourth, Richard S. Lord, entered the 
Military Academy at West Point, and gradu- 
ated in 18.50. He was stationed in the far 
West previously to the civil war. He served 



in the cavalry arm of the regular army 
throughout the war, greatly distinguishing 
himself on many occasions. He was wounded 
at Gettysburg, and at the close of the war 
was upon the staff of Gen. Philip Sheridan. 
He died of consumption, at his father's house, 
on the 15th of October, 1866. The youngest 
child of Dr. Lord, Caroline, died in early 
youth. Dr. Lord was in the active practice 
of medicine in Logan County for over fifty 
years, during which time he performed an in- 
credible amount of professional labor. lie 
was a prompt and cllicient physician, and, in 
the days of his prime, alwaj'S had labor to 
perform fully up to his physical cajiacity, and 
very often beyond it. He was justly pop- 
ular with his patrons and universally kind 
and forbearing toward the poor. Dr. Lord 
was Treasurer of the county for six years, 
ho having been elected to that office three 
different times. He is still living, at the 
age of 78 years. 

The Logan Count}' Medical Society was 
founded in 1858. Most of the regular physi- 
cians of the county are members. Its officers 
are: a President, Vice-President, Secretary, 
and three Censors. It meets in Bellcfontaine 
the second Tuesday of each month. At each 
meeting there is usually an essay submitted 
by some member, previously appointed to that 
duty. This, with reports of cases and discus- 
sions, makes the sum of the exercises. It is 
in a flourishing condition. 



THE BAR OF LOGAN COUSTV.* 

Lo^an County has from its first organiza- 
tion maintained a high rank at the Bar. Few 
counties in the State can show such a contin- 
ued succession of able, brilliant and distin- 
fuished lawyers. They have stood at the 
front in all the Courts, and, in the State and 
National Councils. They have been honored 

• Contributed by Hon. James Walker. . 



-sFv 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUXTY. 



2G7 



by their brethren of the surrounding coun- 
ties, and their services and assistance has 
been repeatedly sought in far distant counties, 
in the trial of important law cases, requiring 
great legal knowledge and acumen. Logan 
County has furnished a Judge of the Supreme 
Court, a Judge of the Common Pleas, an At- 
torney-General, and the most important legal 
adviser of the United States Treasury. 

In early days the terms of Court lasted but 
a few daj's, and lawyers of note and eminence 
traveled the circuit on horse, and visited the 
several counties, remaining to the end of the 
term, taking their chances for retainers. They 
had but few law books from which to cite 
authorities, and cases were tried with But 
little of that parade of legal books, which 
overwhelm the tables of the lawj-ers and the 
judges' bench on the trial of cases, yet we do 
not hesitate to say that justice was dispensed 
as well then as now. 

Orvis Parrish, Joseph H. Crain, Sampson 
Mason, Charles Anthony, Gustavus Swan and 
Judge Swayne, now of the Supreme Court 
of the United States, frequently visited this 
county and engaged in the trial of cases. 

The opening-day of Court was the great 
day of the year ; the people attended in 
crowds ; would fill the Court-house and re- 
main till midnight to hear the lawyers talk. 
The jury and the crowd were alike appealed 
to by turns in the most vehement language 
and gesture. 

In those days the most important cases, in- 
cluding murder trials, would be disposed of 
in less than a day. The docket was always 
cleared at the end of every term. 

The judges who have at different times 
presided in this county were Orvis Parrish, 
Joseph H. Crain, Joseph R. Swan, James L. 
Torbert, Benjamin F. Metcalf, William Law- 
rence, Jacob S. Conklin, P. B. Cole and John 
L. Porter, the present judge. 

The first term of court was held in April, 



]818, Orvis Parrish, President Judge, and 
James ilcllvane, Levi Garwood and John 
Shelby, Associates. There was then no law- 
yer residing in the county, and James Cooly, 
of Champaign County, was appointed Prose- 
cuting Attorney. Nicholas Pickerel was ap- 
pointed Sheriff, and Samuel Newell Clerk. 
The term was brief, and but little was done 
besides the appointment of administrators and 
guardians. 

In chronological order, we give the names 
of the lawyers who have resided in Logan 
County, and are now deceased: 

Anthony Casad was the first resident law- 
yer" iti Logan County. He came to Bellefon- 
taine in the year 1826, when a young man. 
He was active and energetic, and had a fair 
practice, but toward the latter part of his life 
his mind was directed to other matters more 
congenial to him, and he almost wholly aban- 
doned the practice. He lived a pure life, and 
was strictly honest and honorable. No man 
was more respected for his moral worth and 
good feeling. He was honored in many 
wa3'S. In 1826 he was elected Prosecuting 
Attorney, and re-elected at various times un- 
til 1831. He was elected Representative in 
the Ohio Legislature in 1840, and re-elected 
in 1852. In 1858 he was elected Probate 
Judge, which office he held at his death. He 
died in the year 1861. He was kind and am- 
iable, and no man had more warm friends and 
fewer enemies. He was a devoted Christian, 
and he lived a pleasant and happy life, great- 
ly beloved by his family. 

William Bayles, was among the first prac- 
tioners at the Bar in Logan County. He 
was elected Prosecuting Attorney in 1832, 
and was re-elected in 18^1:. After Mr. Casad 
became a resident lawyer, Mr. Bayles moved 
into the County. He was a man of consider- 
able natural ability, but had a limited educa- 
tion, and was not regarded as a thorough 
law3'er. His habits unfitted him for close 



A 



26S 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COrXTY. 



attention to the jiracf ice and study of the law, 
aiidlio neglected business, and liecame a hope- 
less inebriate. He was found dead in 
the little stream which runs through the 
city. 

Iliram M. McCartney, came to Logan 
County in the year 1830. He studied law in 
this county with Hon. B. M. Piatt, who then 
resided in Logan County. He was a man of 
iair education, with great natural gifts, and 
he would have been the leading lawyer in this 
section of the State, had he lived and re- 
mained in good health. He became con- 
suuiptive, and fell its victim just as liis great 
talents were beginning to develop his great 
])owers and energy. He was a free-thinker 
and held liberal views on all things. He was 
one of the prominent anti-slavery men of the 
time, and almost the last act of his life was to 
preside at an Abolition meeting, at which 
he gave expression to bold truths, which he 
uttered amid threats of personal violence. 
Many anecdotes are told of his independence 
and liberality. He is yet remembered and 
talked of by all the old citizens. He was 
elected Prosecuting Attorney in 18.32, and 
again in IS-^l. He died in the year 1830. 

Koyal T. Sprague came to this county about 
the year 1839, and practiced law until the 
year 184-7, when he removed to California, 
where he died in 1878. He was a man of fair 
ability and liberal education, but he did not 
acquire any considerable reputation. 

Samuel Walker came here about the same 
year. He was not regarded as a first-class 
lawyer. He was a good business man, and 
served many years as Justice of the Peace. 
He was a man of rare integrity and honesty. 
He was an ultra-abolitiouist, and he startled 
the LcLcislature of Ohio, at one time, bj' send- 
ing to them a peremptory command that they 
should forthwith pass a law to abolish slavery. 
He quit the practice and removed to his 
farm near Iluntsville, where he died in 18J2. 



H. M. Shclliy was a native of this coun- 
ty. He was admitted to the Bar in this 
county in 1844, and shortly after removed to 
Iowa. He practiced law there till 185G, 
when he returned to Lima, Ohio, and after- 
wards opened an ofTice in Logan County, 
where he remained till his death. 

Benjamin Stanton was born in .Jefferson 
County, Ohio, and came to Logan County in 
1834. He was deficient in earl}' etiueation, 
but he had a strong and vigorous intellect 
and applied himself closely to study, anil his 
improvement was rapid, and he soon rose to 
distinction in his profession. He was an able 
lawyer, and could talk with great force to a 
jifry. He was strong in argvnnent, managed 
his cases with great abilitj-, and was general- 
ly successful. He entered politics early and 
took an active part in the political cam- 
paigns. He was elected Prosecuting Attor- 
ney in 183(), and re-elected in 1838. He was 
elected State Senator in 1841, and was one 
of the members who resigned his scat, and 
thereby broke up the quorum and defeated 
the passage of the iniquitous bill districting 
the State. He was re-elected by a large ma- 
jority. In 1850 he was elected a member of 
the Constitutional Convention, and was a 
prominent member of that body. He was 
elected to Congress in 18,50, and served two 
years, and in 18.'54 he was again elected, and 
was afterwards re-elected for two consecutive 
terms. Mr. Stanton took an active part in 
the discussions of that body, and always sus- 
tained himself well. He acquired a national 
reputation. He was elected Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor in 1802, and several times secured a 
respectable vote for United States Senator. 
He removed to West Virginia in 18G5, and 
soon had a large and lucrative practice in the 
Slate and United States Courts. In the dis- 
(•ussion of the new and complicated questions 
LiTnwing out of the Rebellion and th(! forma- 
tion of the new State of West Virginia, he 



»pv^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



269 



became a powerful advocate. He died sud- 
denly in ISTo. 

S. B. Walker was born in Shelby County, 
and came to Logan County in ISiO, and 
entered into partnership with Mr. Stanton, 
and continued for about a year, when they 
dissolved, and he returned to Shelby County, 
where he died several years ago. 

C. W. B. Allison was admitted to the Bar 
in AVayne County, and settled in Union 
County in 18i3. Was elected Prosecuting 
Attornejr for two terms, in 1830. He mar- 
ried a daughter of Benjamin Stanton, and im- 
mediately entered into a partnership with him. 
The firm had an extensive practice. Mr. 
Allison was a careful and reliable lawyer, wlio 
prepared his cases with labor and attention. 
He was not a brilliant man, but his success 
consisted in his application and attention to 
business. He was elected to the Legislature 
in 1865, and shortly after the expiration of 
his terra he removed to Wheeling, West Vir- 
ginia, where he practised law vintil his death, 
which occurred in 1876. 

William Lawrence, of Bellefontaine, was 
born at Mount Pleasant, Ohio, June 26, 
1819; graduated at Franklin College, Ohio, 
and afterwards at the Cincinnati Law School; 
was a reporter for the Columbus State Jour- 
nal^ and subsequently edited the Logan Ga- 
zette and the Western Law Monthly; was 
Bankrupt Commissioner for Logan County in 
1843 ; was Prosecuting Attorney for Logan 
County in 1845 ; was a member of the State 
House of Representatives of Ohio in 1846 
and 1847 ; was a member of the State Senate 
of Ohio in 1849, 1850, and 1854; was elected 
Reporter of the Supreme Court of Ohio in 
1851; was elected Judge of the Court of 
Common Pleas in 1850, for five years; re- 
elected in 1861, and resigned in 1864; was 
in the Union army in 1863, as Colonel of the 
84th Ohio Volunteers; was appointed United 
States Judge in Florida in ISC.iJ, which he 



declined to accept; elected to the Thirty- 
ninth, Fortieth, Forty-first, Forty-third, and 
Forty-fourth Congresses, as a Republican, 
and in 1880, appointed First Comptroller of 
the Treasury. 

Mr. Lawrence had the title of LL. D. con- 
ferred upon him by the Franklin College of 
New Athens, Ohio, in 1873. 

Joseph H. Lawrence, son of William Law- 
rence, was born at Bellefontaine, Logan 
County, Ohio, August 4, 1847. He gradu- 
ated at the Washington and Jefferson Col- 
lege, in Pennsylvania, in 1870, and also at 
the Columbian Law College, at Washington, 
D. C, in 1871, and was admitted to the Bar 
the same year. 

William H. West was born in Washington 
County, Pennsylvania, on the 9th of Febru- 
ary, 1834, and was educated at JefiFerson Col- 
lege, Pennsj-lvania, under the presidency of 
Dr. R. J. Breckenridge. He removed to 
Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio, where he 
studied law with .Judge Lawrence. Mr. 
West has held several important offices since 
being admitted to practice, in 1851. He was 
Prosecutirfg Attornej- from 1853 to 1854; a 
member of the General Assembly in 1858, 
and re-elected in 1862, serving until 1S64, 
when he was elected State Senator. He was 
Attorney-General from 1868 to 1870, and 
Judge of the Supreme Court from January, 
1873, to February, 1873, when he resigned. 
He was a member of the Constitutional Con- 
vention during its entire session. 

James Walker was born in Washington 
County, Pennsylvania, in 1826, and educated 
at Martinsburg College, Knox County, Ohio. 
He was admitted to practice at Bucyrus, 
Ohio, in 1849, after a complete law course 
with Columbus Delano, at Mount Vernon, 
Ohio. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney 
in 1854, and re-elected in 1856; was United 
States Assessor from 1863 to 1865. In 1867 
he was elected Mayor of Bellefontaine. 



V 



fL^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



Robert P. Kenneily was born at Bellefon- 
taiiic on the 23d of January, 1840. He gradu- 
ated from the high school at his native town, 
and then completed a collegiate course at 
Now Haven, Connecticut. He studied law 
■with Judge West, and was admitted to prac- 
tice in August, 1800. Entered into a law 
partnership with Judge AVest on the 1st of 
Januarj-, 18C7. Mr. Kennedy entered the 
army on the breaking out of the war, and 
served in the 23d O. V. I. as Second Lieuten- 
ant; was made Adjutant-General of Volun- 
teers, Second Cavalry Division of the Army 
of the Cumberland, serving two years; was 
then made Major and A'djutant-General on the 
general stall"; and then Colonel of the 19Gth 
Ohio; then Brevet Brigadier-General of Vol- 
unteers, and Chief of Staif of the Depart- 
ment of "West Virginia. He was also on 
^Injor-Gen#ral Hancock's Staff, as Adjutant- 
General of the Middle Military Division, and 
then assigned the command of the forts 
around Baltimore. He is at j)resent Collector 
of Revenue for the 4th District, Ohio. Ap- 
pointed in 1878. 

John A. Price was born in Callaway Coun- 
ty, Missouri, November 9, 1840 ; removed to 
Logan County with his parents in 1843 ; was 
educated at West Liberty, and studied law 
with Stanton & Allison, and was admitted to 
practice in 1802 ; was elected to the office of 
Prosecuting Attorney in 1864, and re-elected 
in 1806. In 1809 he was elected to the State 
Legislature, and served one term. In 1873 
be took in W. H. Martin as a law partner. 
The latter gentleman was born at Warren- 
ton, Jefferson Count}-, Ohio, September 25, 
1822, and was educated at Woodward Col- 
lege, Cincinnati. He studied law with Law- 
rence & Lawrence, and was admitted to prac- 
tice in August, 1873. 

Jatnrs Kernan & Son. The senior mem- 
ber of this lirm was born in Ireland, in 1814. 
He removed to America in 1829, and settled 



at Newark, New Jersey, where he received 
his education. In 1848^9 he graduated at 
the law school of Cincinnati, and was admit- 
ted to the practice of law June 18, 1849. 
He has been since permanently located at 
Bellefontaiiie. 

The junior member of the firm, James 
Kernan, Jr., was born October 21, 1840; was 
educated at Bellcfuntaine, and studied law 
with his father. He was admitted to the bar 
at the December session of the Supreme 
Court, at Columbus, in 1805, and has been a 
partner with his father ever since. 

.Limos B. McLaughlin was born in the city 
of Perth, Scotland, .January 16, 1817, and 
came to America in 1820, settling at Yellow 
Springs, where ho received a liberal educa- 
tion. In 1833 he removed to Ohio, and read 
law with Judge William Lawrence, and was 
admitted to practice in ISGO, and to practice 
in the Federal Courts by the Circuit Court, at 
Cleveland, in 1872. Mr. McLaughlin was 
elected Prosecuting Attorney in 1862, and 
served one term, and to the office of County 
Surveyor in 1852, and re-elected in 1854. He 
was appointed United States Commissioner in 
1804. He died in 1878, 

Duncan Dow, of the firm of McLaughlin 
& Dow, was born in Harrison Township, Lo- 
gan County, Ohio, on the 13th of March, 
1843. He received his primary education at 
the Bellefontainc high school, but subse- 
ciuently entered and completed a full colle- 
giate course at West Getieva, Logan Countj', 
Ohio. He graduated from the Cincinnati law 
school in 1868, and was admitted to practice 
the same year. He entered into a law part- 
nership with the McLaughlins — father and 
son — in 1868. In 1869 was elected Prosecut- 
ing Attorney, and re-elected in 1871; in 1875 
was elected to the Ohio Legislature, and re- 
elected in 1877. 

J. Duncan .McLaughlin was born in Lo- 
gan County, in 1845, and was educated at 



^: 



Jl 



it±^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



271 



Bellefontaine, and studied law at the Cin- 
cinnati law school, where he graduated in 
April, 1869, and was admitted to the bar 
the same year. Mr. McLaughlin was elec- 
ted to the office of County Surveyor in 1866, 
and served one term. Was also elected Pros- 
ecuting Attorney in 187i, and in the spring 
of 1880, as Mayor of Bellefontaine. Is now 
a member of the firm of McLaughlin & Uow. 

E. J. Howenstine was born and raised in 
Bucyrus, Crawford County, Ohio, and re- 
ceived a collegiate education at Jefferson 
College, at Cannonsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 
which he graduated with honors in 1864. 
Read law with Jacob Scroggs, at Bucj-rus, 
and graduated at the Cincinnati law school in 
April, 1886, and was admitted to the bar at 
Cincinnati the same year. Was in partner- 
ship in the practice of law with Judge Law- 
rence from April, 1806, to August, 1871, then 
practiced alone from August, 1871, to Octo- 
ber, 1873. Entered in partnership with N. 
G. Johnston, under the style of Howenstine 
& Johnston, from October, 1873, until Sep- 
tember 1, 1874, since which time the firm has 
been changed to Howenstine & Sweet. 

Edwin D. Hunt was born in Laporte Coun- 
ty, Indiana, on the 5th of January, 1836. 
Removed to Ohio in 1863, and to Bellefon- 
taine in April, 1865. Read law with Kernan 
& Kernan the first year, and subsequently 
with Lawrence & Lawrence. Was educated 
at Hillsdale College, Michigan, and admitted 
to the practice of law at the spring term of 
the Supreme Court, at Columbus. Was elect- 
ed a Justice of the Peace for Logan County 
in 1873. 

Thomas'H. Wright was born at Bellefon- 
taine, Logan County, Ohio, on the 30th of 
April, 1849. He received liis education at the 
high school of his native town, from which he 
graduated with honors. Road law with Ker- 
nan & Kernan, and was admitted to the Bar 
at the spring term of the Supreme Court at 



Columbus in 1871, and subsequently in the 
Supreme Court at Denver City, Colorado, in 
which Territory he practiced for a year. 

N. G. Johnson, of Bellefontaine, Ohio, was 
born in Monroe Township, Logan County, 
Ohio, on the loth of July, 1836. Was edu- 
cated at the Ohio Wesleyan University, at 
Delaware, Ohio, and graduated in the class of 
1859. Read law with Walker & West, of 
Bellefontaine, and also at the Cincinnati law 
school. Was admitted to the bar at Cincin- 
nati in June, 1809. Was in partnership with 
H. R. Gwynn, since deceased, and subse- 
quently with E. J. Howenstine. He has left 
the county. 

S. B. Foster, of Huntsville, Logan County, 
Ohio, was born at Goshen, Orange County, 
New York, on the 8th of February, 1825. 
He received a common-school education, and 
learned the tinner's trade in Rochester, New 
York. Came to Ohio in 1840, and to Hunts- 
ville in 1850. Studied law under the instruc- 
tion of J. Kernan, Sr., at Bellefontaine, and 
was admitted to the Bar at the Supreme 
Court at Columbus, July 10, 1856. 

Henry C. Dickinson, of Perry Township, 
Logan Count)-, Ohio, was born in Logan 
County on the 30th of June, 1839. He was 
educated at Marysville, Ohio, and read law 
with McLaughlins & Dow at Bellefontaine. 
He was admitted to practice at the fall term 
of the District Court, at Bellefontaine, in 
1873. 

William W. Beatty, was born in Loudoun 
County, Virginia, September 12, 1820. All 
the schooling he received was in Upperville, 
in said County. When he was thirteen j'ears 
old, his father emigrated to Harrison County, 
Ohio. 

In 1843 he entered his name as a law stu- 
dent in the office of Allen C. Turner, of 
Cadiz. After remaining with him until the 
fall of 1844, he came to Logan County in 
1850. He entered his name as a student in 



in^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



the office of Hon. AVilliam Lawrence, of 
Bellefontainc, Oliio, and in August, 1853, at 
Upper Sanduskv, was admitted to the bar. 
In January, 1S70, at Cleveland, he was li- 
censed to practice in the United States 
Court, and in 1873 he was elected to the Ohio 
Legislature, and in 1875 to the Ohio Senate. 

R. N. Jordan, of West Liberty, Logan 
County, Ohio, was born in Union County, 
Pennsylvania, on the 8th of October, 1823. 
He removed to Logan County in the year 
1850. In 1863 he was elected to the office of 
Justice of the Peace, and was re-elected in 
ISGli, and again in 1869 and 1872. In the 
spring of 180-4 he was elected Mayor of the 
town of West Liberty, and was re-elected in 
1805 and 1800. He was admitted to the prac- 
tice of law by the District Court at one of 
its sessions held in Bellefontaine, in August, 
1874. 

G. W. Emerson, of Bellefontaine, Ohio, 
was bom in Logan County and educated at 
Hinsdale College, where he graduated from 
the Classical Department in 1870. After 
studying law with West, Walker & Kennedy, 
he was admitted to the Bar in June, 1875, at 
the open session of the Supreme Court, at Co- 
lumbus, Ohio. He taught school until May 
of 1870, when he began the regular practice 
of his profession. He was elected Prosecut- 
ing Attorney in the fall of 1877, and re-elect- 
ed in 1878 by a Republican majority of 
1,554. 

William A. West, a son of Judge West, 
was born at Bellefontaine. He finished his 
edui-alion at the Wooster University, Woos- 
ter, Oliio, and studied in his father's office ; 
was admitted to the Bar in December, 1870, 
before the Supreme Court of Ohio. Ho is at 
present a member of the law firm of West, 
Walker & West. 



J. W. Steen was born in Logan County ; 
was educated at Monmouth College, Illinois, 
in 1877 ; studied law with John A. Price, 
and was admitted to practice, September 2, 
1879, before the District Court, at Cleveland. 
He is now a member of the firm of Price & 
Steen. 

Milton Steen was born in Virginia. After 
a common school district education, he stud- 
ied law with West & Walker, of Bellefon- 
taine. He was admitted to the Bar in 1859, 
at the session of the District Court in Logan 
County. Since then he has been engaged in 
practice six years at Bellefontaine and eight 
years at DeGraff. He is now practicing by 
himself. 

W. H. Ballard was born at S])ringfield, 
Ohio. After a liberal education in the sci- 
ences, he studied law in Illinois, and was ad- 
mitted to practice at the session of the Su- 
preme Court of that State, in 1877. In 1880 
he was admitted at -the session of the Su- 
preme Court of Ohio to the practice of law 
in this State. 

John O. Sweet was born at Urbana, Ohio. 
He laid the foundation of his education in 
the common schools, studied law with E. J. 
Howcnstine, and was admitted to the Bar at 
the session of the District Court in Logan 
countv, in 1874. He is now a partner in the 
firm of Howcnstine & Sweet, Bellefontaine. 

J. A. Odor was born in Logan county, 
Ohio. After completing his education at 
Geneva College, at Northwood,Ohio, in 1805, 
he studied law with J. B. McLaughlin. In 
1867 he was admitted to practice, at the ses- 
sion of the District Court of Logan county, 
after an absence of four years in Kansas and 
Iowa. Since then he has practiced his pro- 
fession for himself in this county. 



*^' 



I 



J. 



- > 4 ^^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUXTY. 



CHAPTER V. 

EELIGIOCS HISTORY— PIONEER PREACHERS— SCHOOLS— STATISTICS— TUE NEWSPAPERS— THEIR 

ADVANTAGES— RAILROADS. 



IN this age of wonderful invention and im- 
provement, it is a difficult matter for the 
present generation to realize the inconven- 
iences under which the people labored who set- 
tled this country. Tiuir religious facilities 
were as limited as everything else connected 
with frontier life. No handsome cluirchos, with 
deep-toned bells and spires pointing heaven- 
ward, then dotted the land. But in each 
other's cabins, or beneath the shades of the 
forest trees, the pioneers mot to worship God 
according to the dictates of their own con- 
science. 

" The groves were God's first temples. Ere man 

learned 
To hew the shaft and lay the architrave, 
And spread the roof above them, — ere he framed 
The lofty vault, to gather and roll back 
The sound of anthems; in the darkling wood. 
Amidst the cool and silence, he knelt down, 
And ofl'cred to the Mightiest solemn thanks 
And supplications." 

In the years that have followed the advent 
of the Anglo-Sa.xon, changes and improve- 
ments have succeeded the primitive customs 
brought hiiher by them. We cannot worship 
to-day e.xccpt in magnificent teini)les, where 
our displays of style and dress are only 
equaled by our other fashionable resorts, 
where each of us try to outshine our neigh- 
bor. Our ministers, too, sleek in broadcloth, 
and pompous with high living, what a won- 
derful improvement they are upon such old- 
fashioned preachers as Russell Bigelow, Lo- 
renzo Dow, Joseph Thomas and Peter Cart- 
wright! Religion itself, we sometimes con- 
clude, is like everything else we have at the 



\Ms 



present day — slightly adulterated, and not to 
be compared to that proclaimed by the Master 
1800 years ago. But we will not trace the 
contrast further. It may be that we entertain 
some old fogy ideas upon the subject that are 
obsolete and not to be tolerated in this ad- 
vanced age. 

The precise date of organization of the 
first church society in Logan County can not 
be obtained with certainty. Antrim's his- 
tory of the county mentions a church estab- 
lished by the Quakers at Goshen, in Jeffer- 
son Township, in 1807. As early as 1813 a 
Methodist Church was built in Zane Township. 
The Tharp's Run Baptist Church one mile west 
of Zanesfield, was established in 1819, and 
others followed in rapid succession in different 
parts of the county. 

Logan County in its early da3's was honored 
by the visits of some of the great pioneer 
preachers and divines of the time. Russell 
Bigelow, the Methodist Evangelist, so well 
known in Central Ohio fifty years ago, used 
to preach in this county. He is described as 
a man small in stature, and " homely almost 
to deformity." When he arose before a con- 
gregation to preach, " he would lay his prem- 
ises as carefully as a skillful general would ar- 
range his forces for battle; he would compre- 
hend the obstacles to be overcome; see that 
his forces were sufficient; everj- officer in his 
place; men and munitions all properly ar- 
ranged, and then the word given, shell and 
shot, small and large arms, grape and canis- 
ter, as though the heavens and earth were com- 
ing together, and in the consternation would 



4- 



" * ■ 



^ 



274 



HISTOKY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



charge biu-onets, and coin])lete the destruc- 
tion." Such is the description given of one of 
the most reniarlcable preachers of his day, 
by oite who knew him and heard him preach. 
*" The White Pilgrim" was another of the 
early preachers who sometimes proclaimed 
the '• glad tidings" to the pioneers of Logan 
County. His true name was Joseph Thomas, 
and he was known far and wide by his white 
dross, which he used to say w-as typical of the 
"robes of the saints in glory." A noted 
evangelist, he traveled throughout the west- 
ern country, preaching salvation "without 
money and without price." How many thou- 
sands of people, young and old, have read 
those beautiful lines, entitled "The "White 
Pilgrim." They were composed by Rev. J. 
Ellis, and dedicated to the Rev. Joseph 
Thomas. We remember singing the lines, in 
our boyhood days, at Sunday School : 

*' I cnmc to llic spot where the while pilgrim lay, 

And pensively stood by liis tomb, 
When in a low whisper I heard something say, 

' How sweetly 1 sleep here alone.' " 

And wondorod who the " White Pilgrim " 
was, and where he lay. Here in Logan Coun- 
ty' we learn his history; that he used to 
preach here fifty years ago, and that when his 
earthly labors were ended, he was laid away 
to calmly sleep in the village Cemetery at 
Johnsonburgh, Warren Co., N. J., "where a 
beautiful Italian marble monument marks the 
spot where the White Piljrrim lays." 

As early as 1S17, Rev. John Strange 
preached at the cabins of the early settlers. 
We hear of one of these early meetings at the 
house of Mr. Curtis, in Belleville, a little vil- 
lage that was in existence before the birth of 
Bellefontaine. Rev. Joshua Inskeep was a 
local Methodist preacher in the east part of 
the county. R^-v. John Gutridgo was a n:tp- 
tist preacher and among the early setllcrs of 
• William Ilnllcr. 



Zanesfiold, where he organized the Tharp's 
Run Baptist Church already mentioned. Camp 
meetings were common in the early history of 
the count}-. The following is from a pioneer 
reminiscence of Union Township: "One 
year there was a camp meeting held on the 
place of Lodman E. Spry, at which there were 
a large number of Shawnee and Delaware In- 
dians — some all the way from Sandusky. 
Their encampment was back of the preach- 
ers' stand. They seemed to enjoy the meet- 
ing as well as the whites, and were quite as 
orderly. Some of them were beautiful sing- 
ers, and would get very happy at the night 
meetings." 

It will doubtless be a matter of interest to 
many to know that the renowned but eccen- 
tric Lorenzo Dow once preached in Bellefont- 
aine. lie was making the journey from San- 
dusky City south, and preached every day 
while on his journey. The following account 
of his visit to this county is from Antrim's His- 
tory: "It seemed that Lorenzo had sent an 
appointment to preach at Bellefontaine at 11 
o'clock of the day that he expected to arrive 
there. About the appointed time he arrived 
at Bellefontaine, riding in Phineas Hunt's 
wagon. I am informed that the people were 
looking earnestly for him. Judge N. Z. Mc- 
Colloch and others met the wagon in which 
■was Lorenzo, and inquired, 'Is Mr. Dow here?' 
he said, ' Yes, my name is Dow.' .Judge Mc- 
CoUoch then kindly invited him to his house 
and eat dinner, as there was sufficient time 
before the hour of meeting. Without saying 
a word, Lorenzo directed the driver to go 
south a little farther, where he alighted from 
the wagon and laid under the shade of a small 
tree, and took some bread and meat from his 
pocket and ate his dinner in that way. Soon 
meeting time came, and thiTo was, of course, 
a large atti'iidance. In tiie cour^^e of his ser- 
mon, Lorenzo pointed to an old laily and said: 









^! 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUXTY. 



275 



' Old lady, if you don't quit tattling and slaiv 
dering your neighbors the devil will get you.' 
Pointing directly at her, he said, 'I am talk- 
ing to you!' There was a young man in the 
meeting that Lorenzo probably thought need- 
ed reproof; he said: ' Young man, you esti- 
mate yourself a great deal higher than other 
people estimate you, (the same might be said 
of a great many young men of the present 
day); and if you don't quit your high notions 
and do better, the devil will get you tool' 
Passing out of the meeting he met a young 
man and said to him, ' Young man, the Lord 
has a work for you to do. He calls you to 
labor in His vineyard.' It is said that young 
man became a minister of the Gospel. I think 
the meeting in Bellofontaine was held on the 
seventh day, or on Saturday. After the meet- 
ing he came with Phineas Hunt to his house 
in Salem Township, Champaign County. 

Another of the eccentric preachers of pio- 
neer times was old "Father Plopkins," who 
lived in Champaign County, and sometimes 
came up and preached in what is now Logan 
County. Dressed in tow-linen breeches and 
tow-linen shirt, barefoot and bareheaded, he 
would preach with great power, and was very 
popular with the people. AVe might go on, 
however, and enumerate instance after in- 
stance of the pioneer preachers; how they 
preached from house to house, when there 
were no church buildings, and no railroads to 
carry them to their appointments; how their 
zeal for their Master's work prompted them 
to face the storms of winter and the heat of 
summer, and ride for miles oa horseback 
through the pathless forests, swimming the 
streams, to fill their appointments, but deem 
it unnecessary. Our aged readers who were 
here fifty years ago, will readily recall the 
truthful pictures. The present generation' 
have far more extensive church privileges 
than did the early settlers of the country. 



Logan County is well supplied with hand- 
some church edifices, not only in everj' town- 
ship, but in every neighborhood, and in the 
township histories which follow, they will be 
written up more fully than we can do it in 
this chapter. 

The early schools of the county next 
I claim attention. The right of the State to 
maintain the free school system is founded 
upon the idea that where "ignorance predom- 
inates vice and crime are its inseparable con- 
comitants," and that by education the " masses 
will be elevated, society benefited, offenses 
lessened, and good government promoted." 
But the main incentive to its establishment 
in Ohio was the great necessity that efficiency 
be infused into the cause of education, and 
the awakening of the people to an apprecia- 
tion of its imjiortance. Many old and deep- 
rooted prejudices against it existed in the 
State, one of which was taxation for this 
purpose. This prejudice had to be eradicated, 
the judgment of men as to its power and 
rightfulness was to be convinced, ignorant 
parents were to be enlightened, and teachers 
of the requisite qualifications and earnestness 
obtained. 

A writer upon the school laws of Ohio says: 
" The nest-egg of the free school system of 
Ohio was laid by the Legislature of 1834-25, 
the same that inaugurated the canal policy of 
the State. Previous to that time, in 1831, a 
law passed allowing the people to unite, if 
they felt inclined to do so, in building school- 
houses and employing teachers. The law of 
1825 made it compulsory.' The first law said 
the people may; the second law said they 
musf. It commanded a tax to be levied for 
school purposes. Its title was ' An act to 
provide for the support and regulation of 
Common Schools.' This was during the 
presidential administration of James Monroe, 
when parties had disbanded and, of course. 



s 



4. 






276 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUXTY. 



there was no party in it. It is impossible at 
this day to realize the fixed and bitter oppo- 
sition to the law. The father of the writer 
was in the Legislature and voted for the law, 
and although sustained for the active part he 
took in tlie passage of the canal law, which 
traversed nearly the length of this county, he 
was badly beaten for a re-election. The tax 
payers would not support him because the law 
compelled them to support '■ pauptr schools^ 
and the poorer classes because he voted to 
make 'pauper scholars' of their children. 

The law alluded to in the above extract as 
passed in 1824-25 was altered every session 
until it seejned to be a perfect chaos, none 
being able to explain its provisions. Adjoin- 
ing districts were often found acting under 
ditferent laws. On the assembling of the 
Legislature in 1S52, Gov. "Wood in his 
message, strongly urged a thorough revision 
of the law on common schools. Upon the 
adoption of the new Constitution about this 
time a school law was finally passed, which 
with some further amendments and improve- 
ments has given to Ohio the verj' liberal and 
j)erfect school law of tiie j)resent day. 

The first schoolhouscs in Logan County, as 
in all otlier new counties, were built, of logs, 
and were very rude cabins at that. They 
have been so often described in pioneer 
sketches, that a description here is unneces- 
sary ; tliey were very different from the com- 
fortable and commodious schoolhouses of the 
prisent day. The first school in the county 
was, perha|)S, taught in the old log Quaker 
Church, built in 18U7, and whicii stood about 
a mile from Middleburg. Who was the first 
teacher then we did not learn, but did loarn 
that a school was taught there very early. 
George F. liuiin, we are told, taught the first 
school in B'-'llefontaine, or Lake Township. 
Dr. Thomas Cciwgill gives the following 
sketch of a school taught about a mile from 



his father's, who lived near the town of East 
Liberty: "During tiie winter of 1817-18, a 
school' was taught by the late Judge Daniel 
Baldwin, about one mile south of our house, 
in a house similar to our dwelling, except 
there were some joists and an ujiper floor. This 
school' was largely attended by the young 
men and women of the neighborliood — a num- 
ber of them coming four miles to school. 
There were at least ten young men attending 
this school over six feet high and large in 
proportion, and weighing about 200 pounds 
each. There were about the same number of 
young women attending this school; verily 
there were giants in those days. And those 
large and tall young men exhibited more 
signs of humility than some of the smaller 
scholars, for in walking across the floor, they 
must bow, or they would bump their heads 
against the joists every time. Anumberofthese 
young men and women were in their spelling 
books ; the young women were neatly clothed 
in home-spun, mostly the work of their own 
hands. Their educational privileges seemed 
to be poor,' yet they were highly favored of 
nature ; they were fair and comely, and I 
never beheld a more beautiful company of 
young ladies. The school books consisted of 
Webster's Sjielling Hook, Lindley Murray's 
Works, the Introductory English Ik'eadcr, Se- 
quel, and the New Testament, with Walsh's 
and Pike's Arithmetic. I think there was no 
one studying English Grammar or Geography. 
I have taken some note of the subsequent 
history of the young men and women who at- 
tended this school, ^^'ith a few exceptions 
they have all gone to the house appointed for 
the living, and with the exception of one or 
two prodigals, they all did well in life, 
were mostly bright ornaments to society, lived 
useful lives, and died resj)ectcd and la- 
mented.'' 

In Boke's Creek neighborhood, one Simpson 



^- 






HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



277 






Hariman was an early teacher, and is said 
to have taught them some twenty years alto- 
gether. But our space will not allow a full 
description of all these early schools. Like 
the churches, they will be given in the histo- 
ries of their respective townships. We will 
add a few statistics for the benefit of those 
interested in schools, which are taken from 
the State Commissioner's last report. Amount 
received within the year: 

Balance on hand Sept. 1,1878 $47,?.58 12 

Slate lax 12,713 57 

Irreducible school fund 1,094 84 

Local tax for school and school house pur- 
poses 47,1G8 00 

Fines, licenses, and from other sources 822 98 

Total $109,757 57 

AMOUNT. EX PEXDKD. 

Amount paid teacher.s $38,415 53 

Managing and superintending 1,9.50 00 

Sites and buildings 12,493 74 

Other expenditures 21,028 12 

Total $73,887 39 

Balance on hand September 1, 1879 35,470 18 

Amount paid to counties 12,558 00 

Amount received fioracouniics 13,749 30 

Excess of receipts from counties 1,191 30 

Population of Logan county in 1870 23,028 

■Enumeration of Logan county in 1879 8,406 

Per cent of population in 1879 36 

Number of townships in Logan county 17 

Number of subdivisions 120 

Number of separate districts 9 

Number of school houses erected within 

the year 4 

Cost of same §!11,601 00 

Number of school houses in Logan 

county 133 

Total value of school property 130,323 00 

NUMBER OF TEACHERS. 

Primary — Male , 107 

Female 127 

Total 234 



KCMBER OF PUPll.S EMIOI.LED. 

Townships — Primary — Alalos 2,330 

Females 1,930 

Total 2,099 

Separate districts — Primary — Males 837 

Females.... 881 

High — Males 175 

Females .... 206 



Separate districts — Primary — Males 3 

Females 30 

High— Males 8 

Females 2 

Total 

Gland Total 

AVERAGE WAGES OF TEACHERS PER MONTH 

Township.s — Primary — Males 

Females 

High — Males 

Separate disti'icts — Primary — Males 

Females 

High— Male 

Females 





4o 


277 


.?34 00 


24 


00 


45 


00 


63 


00 


33 


00 


61 


00 


47 00 



Total. 



Grand Total. 



4,266 
G,365 



AVERAGE DAILY ATTEXDAXCE. 

Townships — Primary — Males 1,226 

Females 1,105 

Total 

Separate districts — Primary — M.ales 524 

Females 558 

High— Males 114 

Females... 142 



:,33i 



Total 

Grand Total. 



COLORED AXU PRIVATE SCHOOLS. 

Teachers employed in township colored 
schools 

Teachers employed in separate district 
colored schools , 

Teachers employed in sc|)aratc district 
private schools 



3,609 

2 
1 



Total , 



jj? 



27S 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



PUPILS ENROLLED IN COLOBBD SCHOOLS. 

Townships — Mnles (55 

Females 70 

Total 135 

Separate districts — Males 42 

Females 31 

Total 73 

Grand Total 208 

An educational institutic n, known as Geneva 
College, located at the little village of North- 
wood, and recently removed to Pennsylvania, 
entertained in its day a high reputation as a 
seat of learning; but as its history will be 
more fully given in that of the village and 
township whnrc it was located, we will not go 
into details here. 

A few extracts from the State Commission- 
er's last report, which we deem of considera- 
ble importance, may be a])propriately given. 
He saj's: " As the pupil masters words and 
their meanings, he is getting into his posses- 
sion the tools with which he may dig in books 
for further knowledge, make his own knowl- 
edge more useful to him as a social being, and 
secure a body for his thoughts, without which 
incarnation ihoyarc as little subject to con- 
trol as the weird fancies of a dream. 

" The art of silent reading deserves more 
attention in school — practice in grasping the 
meaning of n passage in the shortest possible 
time, and re])roducing it with pen or tcinguej 
Hut ailing with this, in its earlier stages, and 
for a short lime j)recediiig it, is the oral read- 
ing exercise, wherein the reader must serve 
as eyes to the listeners, so that they may, 
through his voice, xce the printed page. How 
much inspiration is there in this work when 
each li8t<-ner has the page before his own 
eyes! The translation of a written sentence 
into a s])(>kf'n sentence is much more than the 
mere translation, in their right order, of the 
words of the written sentence; and to do this 
well requires, besides tho names of the writ- 



ten characters, culture of voice, training of 
eye, quickening of emotion. To serve as a 
medium through which others may know the 
printed page, catching its syllables upon the 
ear, is not low art. To breathe life into dead 
words, and to send them into the depths of 
the moral and intellectual nature of the hear- 
er, and that with jjower to convince, to arouse, 
to subdue, greater than if the hearer had been 
his own interpreter, is high art indeed. * * 

"Another language lesson of great value is 
committing to memory — learning by heart, 
well phrases it — choice selections, gems of 
thought and expression, culled from the best 
writings of the best writers. These should be 
judiciously selected, so as not to be too much 
beyond tlie easj' comjjrehension of the pupil. 
They should, above all other requisites, be 
pure, healthful, inspiring. The teacher should 
add interest to the work by relating incidents 
in the life of the authors. We know with 
what tenacitj- the memory clings to the simple 
rhymes learned in childhood. If this work be 
continued as it should be, who can den\' its 
lasting cflects upon life? A refined taste and 
quickened intellect may bo hoped for as the 
result of drinking in and assimilating beauti- 
ful thoughts in chaste, musical language — 
words of warning or of approval, flashed by 
the memory upon the judgment in the time 
of temptation, of resistance thereto. 

" One very good result of increased atten- 
tion to literature in the schools, is the marked 
increase in the amount of wholesome reading 
— history, biographj-, travels, poetry, popular 
science, and the lessened demand for dime 
novels and other low fiction. Few questions 
are, in their bearing upon the future of our 
country, more important than this: ' "What 
are the Iwijs and girls rcadiiKj? ' 1 would not 
have less time spent in our schools upon lan- 
guage, but teachers may well look into the 
subject and see whether that time is spent to 
the best advantage. 




^^-y^ c^y^j/i'^r 



IS k^ 



.k 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



2S1 



" The public regard arithmetic, par excel- 
lence, as the practical study. It is the prac- 
tical educator's strong tower, and we have it 
taught in season and out. The nine digits 
seem to have taken the place of the heathen 
gods, and their demand for offerings know no 
cessation. Measured by any definition of the 
practical, as a means either to fit one directly 
for bread-getting in the common business of 
life, or as a means for mental culture and dis- 
cipline, a large part of arithmetic, as found in 
our books and taught from them, falls short. 
Instead of introducing at an early stage the 
science of geometry, we fritter away valuable 
time upon annuities and allegation and pro- 
gressions; and as for interest, one would think 
that mankind in general made a living by 
sqaving each other's notes. Children begin 
early to develop the science of numbers. It 
concerns matters of their daily life. The ele- 
mental steps of writing and reading numbers, 
or the symbols of numbers, naturally follow, 
and usually are not difficult of acquirement. 
But there is such a gap between the condi- 
tions needed for the ready learning of these 
things, and the more mature judgment, and 
that knowledge of business and the world, de- 
manded in the intelligent solution of ordina- 
rily difficult problems in discount, and certain 
other branches of applied arithmetic. Back 
and forth across this stretch the boy's mind 
must swing like a pendulum, repelled bv what 
it cannot comprehend, and by what it has 
grown tired of. He marks time when he 
could so readily oblique into some other study, 
and march forward. Then, by and by, if 
these advanced oarts of arithmetical science 
are needed, their acquisition would be easy. 
Meanwhile, the child may give increased at- 
tention to literature and be learning interest- 
ing and profitable lessons about this world 
into which he has come, and in what body he 
came, and how to take care of it. While 



these priceless practical lessons are in pro- 
gress, one can fancy that the arithmetic itself 
would enjoy the rest. 

" In the time which can be saved, also a few 
short steps could be taken in some other 
branches now much neglected. The reason 
for and the practical mode of doing many 
things which are to be done in real life by the 
citizen, the man of business, the manager of a 
household, might be taught in the schools. 
Something of the nature of the materials 
which we eat, drink and wear, and economy 
in the buying and using, would be excellent 
lessons. If he is a benefactor of mankind 
who causes two blades of grass to grow where 
one grew before, the language does not fur- 
nish a name for him or her who shall cause the 
laboring man to know how to make one dollar 
produce the good results for which he must 
now expend two. No matter whether we re- 
gard the school as established primarily for 
the good of the children, or for the preservation 
of the State, we must admit that the most 
valuable result of all education is the building 
of good characters. This, to speak definitely, 
is to instill correct principles and train in right 
habits. Citizens with these 'constitute a 
State.' Men and women with these are in 
possession of what best assures rational hap- 
piness, the end and aim of human life. Pure 
sentiments, generous promptings, love for God 
and man, should be the fruits of a liberal edu- 
cation. If the child grows into this inheri- 
tance, he has riches which he can keep and 
yet give away, which he will carrj^ out of the 
world yet leave behind, to build his noblest 
monument. These truths aid in forming an 
idea of what a teacher should be." 

A few words in conclusion of the school 
history on " Compulsory Education " may not 
be out of place, it is a subject that is re- 
ceiving considerable attention in many parts 
of the country at this time. Referrinjr to it. 



<s- 







HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



J 



the State Commissioner, in his report in 1878, 
says: " Concerning the right of State or 
Government to pass and carr^- intoeifeot what 
are known as compulsory laws, and require 
parents and guardians, even against their 
will, to send their children, there does not 
appear to be much diversity of opinion. 
Concerning the policy thereof, dependent 
upon so many ki)own and unknown con- 
ditions, there is the widest diversity. I 
can write no history of the results of 
the act of March 20, 1877, for it does 
not seem to have anj'. A great good 
would be wrought if the wisdom of the Gen- 
eral Assembly could devise some means which 
shall strengthen and suiiplcnn-nt the powers 
of boards of education and enable them to 
prevent truancy, even if only in cases where 
j)ar(>nts desire their children to attend school 
regularly, but ])arental authority is too weak 
to secure that end. The instances are not 
few ill which ])ari>nts would welcome aid in this 
matter, knowing that truancy is often the first 
step in a path leading through the dark mazes 
of idleness, vagabondage and crime. 

" Whatever may be said of young children 
working in mills or factories, youthful idlers 
upon the streets of towns and cities, should 
be gathered up by somebody and compelled to 
do sonifthing. If they learn notliing else, 
there will be at least this salutary lesson, that 
society is stronger than they, and, without in- 
juring them, will use its strength to protect 
itself. While we are establishing reform 
schools for those who have started in the way 
til their own ruin and have donned the uni- 
form of the enemies of civil society, it would 
be a heavenly importation to provide some 
way to rescue those who are yet only linger- 
ing around the camp." 

The newspaper and the printing-press of 
the present day constitute one of the most 
important features of the time, and of the 



country. The daily paper, by the aid of the 
telegraph, which connects all points of civili- 
zation like spider-webs, gives us to-day all 
the news that transpired yesterday in the ut- 
termost parts of the earth. The decrees of 
the autocrat at St. Petersburg, the diplo- 
matic strokes of Bismarck, or the w-onianly 
wisdom of the English Queen are known to 
us, almost as soon as to their own subjects. 
And the county press, the faithful exponent 
of the county's interest, is the intellectual cri- 
terion for the masses, and the most popular 
channel of general information. It is also a 
true record of the county's history; the very 
advertisements in local ])apers eventually be- 
come historical facts, and it is to be regretted 
that so few persons seem to appreciate the 
value and importance of their county \y.i- 
pers. Said Daniel Webster: " I care not 
how small and unpretending a newspaper may 
be, every issue contains something that is 
worth the subscription price." And to-day 
journalism is recognized as a power in the 
land, a power before whicli the evil-doer and 
the corrupt official stand in awe. The legiti- 
mate press, holding as it does this acknowl- 
edged position, its historj' forms an interest- 
inn- and worthy part of the history of the 
county. 

The first newspaper published in Logan 
County was by Joshua Kiil)b, who started a 
paper in Bellefontaine in 1830. There is at 
this day, some question as to the name of this 
first paper. However, ho did not long con- 
tinue its publication, but was succeeded by 
Iliram B. Strother, who is described as a 
writer, who "paid less attention to the beau- 
ties of rhetoric than to the desire of bringing 
his statements witliin the comprehension of 
his renders." Strother changed the name of 
the patier to the Bellefontaine (I'f/zette mid 
Lofjiin County Advertiser, ^^'illiam Penn 
Clark succeeded Mr. Strother, and published 



\ 



'a 



^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COtJXTY. 



283 



the paper several years. Clark was an able 
writer, and finally went to Iowa where he be- 
came distinguished in politics. Two or three 
Other changes occurred in the ownership of 
the Gazette when it became the property of 
Judge Lawrence. In 1845 he engaged Wil- 
liam Hubbard to take editorial control, and 
in 1S47 Mr. Hubbard purchased the paper of 
Judge Lawrence ; after his purchas(! of the 
paper, his brother, Thomas Hubbard, who was 
also a printer, went into partnership with 
William Hubbard, and together, they conduct- 
ed the paper until 1854: as a Whig organ; 
they sold it then to Judge West, who es- 
poused the Know-Nothing cause. The Hub- 
bards sometime after bought back the paper, 
and in 1856 came out for Buchanan for Pres- 
ident, since then it has been an organ of the 
Democratic party. In 1863 it was discon- 
tinued for a time, and its editor, Thomas Hub- 
bard, was connected with the Dayton Daily 
Umpire, but returned in a year or two to 
Bellefontaine and re-established the Gazette. 
In 1870 he sold it to William P. Cotter, but 
bought it back again in a short time and 
changed its name to the Examiner, under 
which name it is still published. It is the 
Democratic paper of the count}-, and is on a 
sound basis financially. Mr. Hubbard, its ed- 
itor, is a veteran in the business, and an able 
and forcible writer. The following of Wil- 
liam Hubbard, one of the oldest editors of 
Logan County, and one who has passed away, 
was written by Judge William Lawrence: 
"Early in the year 1833, he took his first lesson 
in the ' art preservative of all arts,' the printing 
business, in the office of the Logan Gazette, a 
newspaper then edited and conducted in Belle- 
fontaine by Hiram 13. Strother. Here he 
served with fidelity, and skill, and industry, 
for seven years, when early in 1839, he be- 
came the publisher of the paper, and contin- 
ued as such for a period of six montiis. Dur- 
ing all this time, as, indeed, in the years 



which followed, he employed his leisure mo- 
ments in developing his literary taste, and in 
the profound study of the best writers of prose 
and poetry. In the summer of 1841, he be- 
gan his career as a school-teacher in a district 
near his native vilhige, in one of the ever- 
memorable, universal ' Peo])les' Colleges' of 
the times, the 'log schoolhouse." In this 
useful, but perplexing and ill-paid capacity, 
he continued most of his time until the fall of 
1845. Meantime, in 1841, he had determined 
to study the profession of the law, and for that 
purpose became the student of Benjamin F. 
Stanton & AYilliam Lawrence, attorneys in 
Bellefontaine ; his studies were somewhat in- 
terrupted bj' his duties as teacher, and by his 
literary pursuits, j'et as he had made it a rule 
of his life never to do anything imperfectly, 
he was not admitted to the bar until he had 
become a thoroughly well-read lawyer, in the 
year 1846. 

" In the fall of 1845 Mr. Hubbard became 
editor of the Logan Gazette, ?a\(S. occupied that 
position for a number of years, but he is now 
the able and accomplished editor of the N^orth 
Tl'es^ published at Napoleon, Henry County, 
Ohio.* As a political writer he has a wide 
and deservedly high re])utation. Notwith- 
standing his duties as an editor, he was elected 
Prosecuting Attorney of Logan County in 
1848, and again in 1850, and in that capacity 
served with skill and ability for four years, 
when he declined a re-election. In 1858 Mr. 
Hubbard received the nomination of the po- 
litical party to which he belongs as its candi- 
date for Congress. He could scarcely hope 
for success in a district largely opposed to 
him politically, but, though defeated, his vote 
was highly complimentary. In debates and 
addresses in that canvas he added much to a 
local reputation as an orator. Early love of 
books, a warm imagination, cultivated by 

*Mr. Hubbard has died since-the writing of the above arti- 
cle b'5' Judge Lawrence.— Ed. 



[X " 



284 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



study, and by the beautiful sceuery of the fer- 
tile valley of the Mad Kiver, with a heart full 
of pathos and ardor, all contributed to ' Wake 
to ecstacy the living lyre,' and turn his 
thoughts into eloquence and poetry. His 
first published poetical productions were in 
January, 1858. We have never known a 
writer with so much genius and so little os- 
tentation. He has never sought, but has 
always shunned notoriety. His poetical writ- 
ings, if collected, would make a good-sized 
volume." 

Besides the Logan Gazette and JVorfh TVest, 
spoken of above, Mr. Hubbard edited at dif- 
ferent times the Dayton Daily Empire, the 
Marion Democrat and the Bucyrus Forum. 
Many of his poems have been published in 
the " Poets and Poetry of the West " and 
"American Poets," two highly popular works 
of the time. Some of his ballads during the 
war were quoted in all parts of the country, 
and one was incorporated in the impeachment 
trial of Andrew .lohnion, which appeared in 
BlackwooeVa Magazine, published in Edin- 
burg, Scotland. 

The Bellefontaine Republican is the next 
oldest newspaper in the county to the Gazette. 
It was established in 1854 by .James Walker 
and .Judge W. H. West. Six months later the 
firm became Samuel Walker, L. S. PowoU and 
Martin Barringer, and so continued for about 
one year, when Samuel Walker bought out 
Powell & Barringer, and concluded it alone 
until about the j-ear 1859. L. D. Reynolds, 
now of Dayton, then bought it, and had charge 
of until 1802, when it again passed into the 
hands of Samuel and .James Walker. In the 
fail of 1864 they sold a two-thirds interest to 
D. R. Locke (Petroleum V. Nasby), who, in 
January, 1865, sold to J. Q. A. Campbell, the 
present proprietor. As will be seen, the Jie- 
j)uhlican has been edited by some able men, 
aside from its present eflicient editor. It is 



the leading Republican organ in the county, 
and, under its present able management, has 
attained a circulation, weekly, of over 2,000. 
It is a large, four-page, nine-column paper, 
and, in mechanical execution, presents a good 
appearance. 

The Logan County Index dates its origin 
back to 1859. In that year a man named 
Gribbell started a paper in the county, Re- 
j)ublican in politics, which he called the Press. 
He sold it to A. R. Hobert, who owned it for 
some time, and had as an editor, P. L. Hooper 
After numerous changes in the proprietorship 
and one or two intervals in which publication 
was suspended, the name of the paper, in April, 
1876, was changed from the Press to the Index, 
and in August, 1876, it was purchased by Mr. 
J. H. Bowman, who has been its editor ever 
since. Mr. Bowman began his editorial career 
in the Centennial year, and if he continues it 
until the next American Centennial, he will 
be a veteran editor. In July, 1879, W. S. 
Roebuck bought an interest, and since then 
the paper has been in charge of Meesrs. Bow- 
man & Roebuck. It is a folio, eight columns 
to a j)age, and is Republican in politics. 

There have been several papers established 
in West Liberty — some of them years ago. 
Alnong them were the West Liberty Jiitdget, 
lianner. Press, Independent, and perhaps 
others. If the history of all these papers 
could be written, together with that of their 
different editors, it would make an interesting 
chapter. But our space is limited, and the 
briefest mention is all that we can make. 
These papers were ably edited, but their 
careers, generally, were short. They flourished 
for a season — swept over the scene "like un- 
tamed meteors, flashed, darted and fizzled," 
and then went out. 

The West Liberty Gazette is their succes- 
sor, or rather, it has risen out of their ashes. 
The Gazette is now reeling off its fourth 



-^"Uy* 



■ ^ " '{^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



285 



volume, and is edited and published by H. W. 
Hamilton, Esq., a young man of energy and 
enterprise, and a good writer. 

The De Graff Banner was established in 
1871, by D. S. Spellman, who sometime after- 
ward sold it to W. A. Graffort. He conduct- 
ed it for a while, and sold it, and after several 
changes in ownership, it again passed into the 
hands of its old proprietor and founder, Mr. 
Sjjellman, who changed the name to the 
Buckeye, and still publishes it under that 
name. It is a sprightly and readable paper, 
and is neat and attractive in appearance. 

A few words on those who have passed from 
the editorial stage of Logan County are not 
inappropriate in this connection. Besides Wil- 
liam Hubbard, who has already been noticed, 
there was Donn Piatt, the distinguished jour- 
nalist and model correspondent; Coates Kin- 
ney, the author and poet; Hon. William H. 
West, the scholarly writer; Samuel T. Walk- 
er, vigorous in style; .Judge William Lawrence, 
able and logical; Dr. Thomas L. Wright, 
smooth and easy, and still a contributor to 
medical journals; D. R. Locke, and many other 
lesser lights, who are still remembered. 
These gentlemen have all, at sometime, been 
connected with the Logan County press. 
Some of them are still residents of the county, 
but have retired from editorial life. Donn 
Piatt, as a journalist and correspondent, has 
a fame that will live long after he has laid 
down the pen forever. As editor of the Mack- 
achack Press, and the Washington corre- 
spondent of the Cincinnati Commercial, and 
later as the editor of the Capitol, a weekly 
paper published in Washington city, won a 
wide reputation both at home and abroad. 
Mr. Kinney was at one time the editor of the 
West Liberty Banner, and an occasional con- 
tributor to the Logan Gazette, and w ithal a 
poet of considerable talent. Judge West, 
Dr. Wright, and Judge Lawrence, are well- 



known throughout the country, and are 
writers of acknowledged merit. Their only 
fault is in not contributing more than they do 
to the literature of the time. Mr. Walker, 
formerly editor of the Bellefontaine Repub- 
lican, and afterward of the Council Bluffs 
(Iowa) Daily Nonpareil, was an able writer. 
D. R. Locke (Petroleum V. Nasby), also a 
former editor of the Bellefontaine Republic- 
an, is well-known. 

The merits of the editorial fraternity who 
are still in the harness, we leave to some 
future historian to record. Familiar by per- 
sonal experience, with the proverbial modes- 
ty of newspaper men, we refrain from speak- 
ing of this worth and excellence to their 
faces. The veteran Hubbard, the able and 
experienced Campbell, the accomplished Bow- 
man, the sprightly Hamilton and the efficient 
Spellman, are laborers in the field of journal- 
ism, whose work is not yet finished. And 
when they have laid down the pen, it will be 
time enough to mete out to them the tribute 
of praise they have won.. 

Another interesting chapter in the history 
of our country is the origin and progress and 
perfection of the railroad system. Says a late 
writer upon the subject : "Among the social 
forces of the modern world, the railroad holds 
unquestionably the first place. There is not 
a single occupation or interest which it has 
not radically affected. Agriculture, manu- 
factures, commerce, city and country life, 
banking, finance, law, and even government 
itself, have all felt its influence. But espe- 
cially has the railroad been a potent influence 
in providing the material organization for the 
diffusion of culture among the people, and 
thus preparing the conditions for a new step 
in the social progress of the world." This is 
putting it in rather strong terms, but no more 
so than the subject demands, perhaps. The 
great change wrought in all the business 






I? »^ 



-rf 9 



28G 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



affairs of life by the railroad system is almost 
be\'ond the power of the mind to comprehend. 

The first railrotuls in the world wercl)uilt in 
Enpfland. We have an account of a railroad 
made of wooden rails in the collieries in the 
North of Ensrland nearly two centuries before 
the introduction of the locomotive. Upon 
these, cars or wagons were drawn by horses or 
mules, and they were used in hauling coal 
from the mines. As early as 1794 the use of 
the locomotive, in the place of animal power, 
was suggested, but no locomotive seems to 
have been constructed until 1S05. They did 
not come into practical use, however, until 
1830, upon the opening of the Liverpool and 
Manchester Railway. 

The United States, not to be outdone by 
the Mother Country, built a railroad in 1827, 
from the granite quarics of Quincy, Mass., to 
the Neponsot River, a distance of thrccmiles. 
This road was operated by horse-power, and 
was the first railroad built upon the American 
Continent. During the same year a railroad 
was laid out from the Mauch Chunk coal 
mines of Pennsylvania to the Lehigh River, 
a distance of nine miles. In 1S28 a railroad 
was constructed by the Delaware & Hudson 
Canal Company, from their coal mines to 
Honesdale, aeid it sent a commissioner to 
England to purchase rails and locomotives. 
These locomotives arrived in the spring of 
1829, and were the first used in this country. 
The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad was com- 
menced in 182S, and in the early jiart of the 
the same year the South Carolina Railroad 
was chartered by the Legislature of that 
State. This road hjus always clniincd for it 
itself, that it was the first railroad in the 
country undertaken with the intention of 
using steam power. It extended from Charles- 
ton to Hamburg, and the first locomotive 
ever built in this country, and which was 
finished at the West Point foundry December 



9, 1830, was built purposely for it. This lo- 
comotive was called the " Best Friend," and 
was constructed under the supervision of E. 
L. Miller, who was a strong advocate of steam 
power at a time when its success was still 
problematical. It was accepted by the com- 
pany lor which it was built, and "performed 
with entire success," says the railroad com- 
missioner in his report, " until the next sum- 
mer, without a single day's interruption, when 
the negro who acted as fireman, being incom- 
moded by the unpleasant noise of the steam 
escaping through the safetj'- valve, ventured 
on the experiment of confining it by pressing 
the weight of his body on the lever gauge of 
the safety-valve, which experiment resulted 
in the explosion of the boiler." 

Slowly and with much precaution did the 
people of this country take hold of railroads. 
In .lanuary, 1832, it was reported that there 
were nineteen railroads, either completed or 
in process of construction in the United 
States, and that their aggregate length was 
nearly 1,400 miles. Though Congress afforded 
no material aid in this new era of internal 
improvements, yet this same year it exemj)ted 
from duty the iron imported for railways and 
inclined planes, and atcually used for their 
construction. In 1840 it has been estimated 
that our yearly average of railroad construc- 
tion was about 500 miles. In 1850 this 
average had increased to 1,500 miles. In 
ISOO it was nearly 10,000, and in 1871 it was 
stated that enterprises ro(]uiriiig an expendi- 
ture of §800,000,000, and involving the con- 
struction of 20,000 miles of railroad were in 
actual process of accom])lishmcnt. In 1872 
the aggregate capital of the railroads of the 
United States, which were estimated to em- 
brace one-half the railroads of the world, was 
stated to amount to the enormous sum of 
§3,159,423,057, their gross revenue being 
*473,241,055. 



Fl-5 — ^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



287 



The following items in the history of the 
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad will doubtless be 
read with interest by those well acquainted 
with that (at the present day) great railroad 
corporation. In July, 1832, this startling 
publication was made: " Many passengers 
and large quantities of freight pass daily on 
the railroad to and from Baltimore to the 
Point of Rocks on the Potomac, at which lat- 
ter place a new village is being built very 
rapidly. The entire journey ' out and home,' 
140 miles, is now made in seventeen continuous 
hours, giving a;mple time to view the Point of 
Rocks, one of the most agreeable excursions 
that can be made in the country, and on many 
accounts highly interesting." Soon after the 
above was published, the following notice was 
made of its earnings: " The receipts for trav- 
eling and transportation on the Baltimore & 
Ohio Railroad for the six months, ending the 
31st of August, 1832, exceeded $108,000. The 
receipts during the same period last year did 
not quite amount to $90,000; the increase 
was, therefore, about $18,000, being an aver- 
age of §3,000 per month." The receipts of 
this great trunk line Lave increased somewhat 
since the foregoing record was made. Now 
it is one of the greatest and richest railroad 
companies in the United States, and has its 
branches and connections to all important 
points. 

By way of illustrating the rapid and giant 
strides of the railroad system, we give the fol- 
lowing in the history of the Union Pacific 
Railroad, which might, without violence to 
the subject, be termed the very perfection of 
the system. The event, though probably still 
fresh in the minds of many, will, no doubt, in 
after years, become one of more than passing 
interest. The bill for building the Union 
Pacific Railroad was signed by President Lin- 
coln on the first day of July, 1862, and on the 
same day he issued a call for 300,000 men to 



fight the battles of the Union. The idea of 
building the road was suggested by the gen- 
erally felt necessity of a closer communica- 
tion between the distant parts of the country. 
By the terms of the grant to the Union Pa- 
cific, the whole line, from the Missouri River 
to the Bay of Sacramento, was to bo com- 
pleted not later than July 1, 1876. The road 
was, however, completed, and the last tie — of 
polished laurel wood bound with silver bands 
— laid May 10, 1869, and fastened with a gold 
spike furnished by California, a silver one fur- 
nished by Nevada, and one of a mixture of gold, 
silver and iron furnished by Arizona. This cer- 
emony took place near the head of the Great 
Salt Lake, where the roads — the Central Pa- 
cific, chartered by California, and the Union 
Pacific, starting from the Missouri River — 
met. It was the culmination of the period of 
railroad growth, and had a poetry about it 
that was sublime and grand. By a precon- 
certed arrangement the wires of the telegraph 
had been connected with the sledge used to 
drive the last spike, and the intelligence that 
the country had been spanned by the railroad 
was known at the instant of its accomplish- 
ment, at San Francisco and New York. 

But to return to the early railroad history. 
As the system of railroads developed in the 
older settled States of the East, the Western 
people caught the " internal improvement " 
fever, and, with a high and laudable ambition 
to give to their own States a full share of 
those advantages which were adorning their 
elder sisters, they voted away millions of 
money for the construction of railroads and 
canals. Legislatures responded to the ardent 
messages of their Governors in a liberal man- 
ner, by chartering such a number of roads as 
to literally checker the map of their States. 
They saw nothing but the most prosperous 
times ahead, and the system of financiering 
that was inaugurated had well nigh, in the 



V 



288 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



end, impoverished the entire country. Who, 
that was livin<r at that jioriod, does not re- 
member the excitement incident upon the 
building of railroads and canals? Ohio, as 
well as other AVcstorn States, took a front po- 
sition in the old internal improvement S3'S- 
tem. In January ,A817, we learn from "Howe's 
Historical Collections, " the first resolution 
relating to a canal, connecting the Ohio River 
with Lake Erie, was introduced into the Leg- 
islature. In 1819, the subject was again agi- 
tated. In 18^0, on the recommendation of 
Gov. Brown, an act was passed, providing for 
the appointment of three Canal Commission- 
ers, who were to employ a competent engi- 
neer and assistants, for the purpose of survey- 
ing the route. But as the canals of the State 
have no especial place in the history of Logan 
County, we do not propose to enter into an 
extended notice of them in these pages. This 
brief allusion is made merely to illustrate the 
excitement which prevailed at an early day in 
regard to internal improvements. 

There is some (juestion and dispute as to 
the first railroad commenced, or actually built, 
in the State of Ohio. One authority is that 
the first road was built from Toledo, extending 
into the State of Michigan, and was about 
thirty miles in length. Another authority 
says the Little Miami was the first; and 
another, that the Sandusky & Mansfield was 
first; while slill another claims the Cincinnati 
& Sandusky, or Mad River Railroad, as the 
first railroad of the State. If it was not the 
first, it was among the first railroad schemes 
of Ohio, and was intended to connect, by 
" irou bands of commerce," Lake Erie and the 
great watery highway of the Ohio and Missis- 
sippi N'alleys. The building of it w^as sug- 
gested by the successful completion and 
operation of the Baltimore & Ohio R. R. It 
was nn enterpriso in which the people of Lo- 
gan County Wore interested, as well as the 



people of the State. The Ohio State Gazette 
of July 5, 18.32, i)ublished the following: "At 
a meeting of the Railroad Commissioners, held 
at Springfield, of the Mad River & Lake Erie 
R. R. Co., books were ordered to be opened 
at Delaware by Ezra Griswold and Solomon 
Smith, and at Marion by George H. Busby 
and Hezokiah Gordon, in addition to )ilaces 
mentioned in last meeting." A resolution was 
adopted by the meeting alluded to, asking 
Messrs. Vance, Cook, Finlay, Crahi and Cor- 
win, members in Congress from the part of 
Ohio through which the road is to pass, to 
" request of the President of the United States 
an engineer to make a survey, etc." 

Another resolution of the same meeting re- 
quests the proceedings published in the towns 
where books are to be opened, and by " such 
other printers as are friendly to the object 
thereof." The proceedings of the meeting are 
signed by H. G. Philips, Chairman. In a 
publication of the same paper of November 
14, 1833, under the head of " Mad River & 
Lake Erie Railroad," is the following: " It 
appears, from statements in New York pa- 
pers, that the stock books were closed wit h 
out the requisite amount of stock being taken 
in Eastern cities, and the New York Adver- 
tiser expresses a doubt as to ' whether the 
great work will be accomplished.' " The Ga- 
zette, in an editorial, regretted the apparent 
failure of the enterprise, and urged a change 
in the charter of the road, so that it might be 
built on a shorter and more direct route. It 
further mentioned the fact that meetings had 
been held, and an effort made along the route 
to raise money; that in L'rbana alone 400 
shares of stock had been taken. 

But we will notattoin[)t to follow it through 
all the different scenes of its construction — 
from its commencement to its completion. 
The first part of the road finished was from 
Sandusky to Tiffin, and it is this division that 






\^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



289 



is claimed as the pioneer railroad. Finally 
there was sufficient stock taken to build the 
road from Tiffin to its southern terminus, and 
work commenced. But many obstacles were 
encountered, and many difficulties met with 
before the iron-horse pranced into Beiiefon- 
taine. Gen. Gardner, from whom much of 
the road's history was received, informed us 
that the period when this road was being 
built, was one of the hardest, financially, that 
he had ever known. He related how once 
when the hands struck upon them, the Direct- 
ors resolved to borrow a sum of money for 
present use (about $14,000) upon their own 
indorsement, but, with a directory, represent- 
ing more than $300,000 in personal property, 
they could not, anywhere in the country, bor- 
row 814,000 upon their own indorsement. 
Gen. Gardner for a number of years was the 
Director for the State, and is conversant with 
the early history of the road. He gives an- 
other instance of the difficulty they experi- 
enced in raising money. At a certain time, 
wanting some money for some portion of the 
work going on, he went to the Treasurer, and 
found that the only money in the Treasury 
was a bill of exchange for $1,500, from a party 
in New York in payment of stock. The 
Treasurer tried, but failed to get it cashed in 
Bellefontaine; sent it to Urbana but could 
not get it cashed there. Gen. Gardner then 
sent his son by stage, to Springfield, to try to 
get the money there, but another failure was 
met with. He went from Springfield to 
Xenia, where the same luck awaited him, and 
it was not until he reached Cincinnati that he 
succeeded in getting the money on a paltry 
draft for $1,500. 

Logan County took some $20,000 or $30,000 
in the road, and the State about $270,000; 
this sum on the part of the State was paid 
out of what was known as the " Plunder Act," 
and as long as the State held an interest in 



the road. Gen. Gardner was the State's Di- 
rector. After the road had been in operation 
some years, he was summoned to Columbus 
to meet a Committee of the Legislature in re- 
gard to selling the stock held by the State. 
Upon appearing before this Committee, which 
was composed of members from both Houses, 
they inquired of him what the stock was actual- 
ly worth. He told them that in his judgment, 
it was not worth anything, but that he knew a 
man he thought would buy it at 7 cents 
on the dollar. It was finally sold at that 
price. The following are some of the men 
who were at the head of this road during the 
long period from its beginning to completion: 
Judge Gary, Judge Lane, (of the Supreme 
Court), .John H. James, of Urbana, Osborne, 
Hunt, Judge Russell, John C. Yelvington, of 
New York. While Mr. James was at the 
head of affairs, he issued scrip to pay the 
hands, which passed current, "and looked," 
says Gen. Gardner, " very much like money. " 
He issued it in sums as small as 25 cents, and 
50 cents ; the 50 cent shinplasters, in order, 
perhaps, to give them more of a Wall Street 
appearance, had an engraving of a bull upon 
them. 

But notwithstanding all these difficulties 
and drawbacks, the work was accomplished, 
and the road was completed, a fact which was 
announced in the Bellefontaine Gazette of 
July 17, 1847, under glaring head-lines, in 
the following paragraph : " The railroad is 
this week completed to Bellefontaine, and the 
long-looked for cars have at last arrived. 
Fifteen years ago, the surveyors, with chain 
and red flag came into the town, and the peo- 
ple thought the cars would soon follow." 
Thus we see that Bellefontaine had at last 
attained to the dignity of a railroad town, 
and was connected with the outer world by 
railroad. An item here, is perhaps worthy of 
note. The road was originally built on ties 






!Li 



290 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



or timbers laid lengthwise, upon which was 
placed a |-inch bar of iron; soon tliis bar was 
replaced with one -J of an inch when the Di- 
rectory concluded they hud reached the per- 
fection of raih-oad building. 

The road was of undoubted benefit, and 
opened up a large tract of country that would, 
otherwise, to-day be a wilderness. Portions 
of Wyandotte, Hardin, Logan and Champaign 
have been largely benefitted. Urban a had 
no outlet, neither had Bollefontaine ; Kenton 
was in the woods. These, at that time 
feeble villages, have become thriving and im- 
portant towns ; but while it was beneficial in 
this way, it became almost ojipressive in an- 
other. Like all corporations without oppo- 
sition or competition it became a monopoly. 
The price for carrying wheat from the ware- 
house in Bellefontaine to Sandusky was] 13 
cents a buis/ul, and if the owner wanted to go 
along to look after his wheat, and was dis- 
posed to ride in the car with it, he could 
not do so wtihout buying a ticket at full rate. 
With the lapse of time, however, and the 
building of competing roads, rates on this 
have been brought down to corresponding 
rates on other roads, and the Cincinnati, San- 
dusky & Cleveland Railroad, with all the im- 
j)rovements of the time is a popular and first- 
class road in every respect. A branch ex- 
tends from Springfield to Columbus, a distance 
of forty-five miles; and a branch also from 
Carey to Findlay, a distance of sixteen 
miles. In conclusion of the history of 
this road, we may mention another item of 
some interest, perha[is. It is said that the 
"Sandusky," the first locomotive used on the 
Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad, was the first 
in America to which a regular steam whistle 
was applied. 

The Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & In- 
dianapolis Railway is of more recent con- 
struction than the road just described. The 



Indianapolis division taps Logan County, and 
was originally known as the Bellefontaine & 
Indianapolis Railroad. The Cleveland, Co- 
lumbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis, popularly 
known throughout the country as the •' Bee 
Line," was chartered in 1845. The question, 
however, of building this road, had been agi- 
tated as early as 1835, but years were spent 
in surveying routes and the discussion of ques- 
tions connected with the road and the differ- 
ent lines advocated by interested parlies, so 
that it was not until the early part of 1851 
that trains ran through from Columbus to 
Cleveland. It was considered a grand achiev- 
ment, and in honor of the occasion a great 
banquet was given in Cleveland, whore a good 
time prevailed generally, and champagne 
suffered accordingly. In 1854, the Spring- 
field, Delaware & Mount Vernon Railroad was 
completed to Delaware, where it made con- 
nection with the Cleveland & Columbus road. 
This road became embarrassed financially, and 
in January, 1SG3, it was sold and purchased by 
the Cleveland & Columbus Railroad for $134,- 
000. Soon after this purchase wa.s made, an 
arrangement was effected with the Cincinnati 
& Springfield Railroad, by which a through 
route was made from Delaware to Cincinnati, 
and thus was formed the "Cleveland, Colum- 
bus & Cincinnati Railroad." 

The Indianapolis connection of the "Three 
C's" was made by its purchase of the Belle- 
fontaine & Indianapolis Railroad. This road 
was completed through Logan County in 
1853, and was then known as the Bellefon- 
taine & Indiana Railroad. It extended from 
Gallon west to the Indiana State line, where 
it connected with the Indianapolis, Pittsburg 
& Cleveland Railroail. Those roails wore con- 
solidated in ]8()4, and became the "Belle- 
fontaine & Indiana|)olis Railroad," which 
road was purchased in 1SG8 by the "Bee 
Line," and then became, as now known, the 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



2'Jl 



''Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indian- 
apolis Railway," one of the the great railroad 
corporations of the country. 

Another road in which the county is some- 
what interested, and which if ever built will 
be of considerable benefit to it, as well as to 
the county seat, is the Bellefontaine, Delaware 
& Mount Vernon Railroad. About 1852- 
53, the project was agitated and a large por- 
tion of the work done through the county. 
Some of the townships raised the necessary 
amount to build it through, while others failed. 
In places the grade is completed ready for the 
ties. For lack of necessary funds, however, 
the work has been discontinued. Whether it 



will ever be commenced again or not, time 
only will tell. 

A number of other railroad projects have, 
at different times, been brought before the 
people of the county, but have all resulted in 
a little ripple of excitement for awhile, a 
good deal of talk, and then dissolved " in thiu 
air." The Cleveland, Madison & Louisville 
Railroad was an instance .of this kind, and 
was designed to connect Lake Erie with the 
Ohio River at the Falls. A company was 
formed in %<-hich Robert H. Canby, Abncr 
Riddle and Hon. Benjamin H. Stanton repre- 
sented Bellefontaine. This, however, was as 
near as the road ever came of being completed. 



CHAPTER VI. 

WAR HISTORY— THE EARLY CONFLICTS— MEXICAN WAR— THE LATE REBELLION- 

THE DIFFERENT REGIMENTS. 



-SKETCHES OF 



"Red battle 
With blood-red tresses deepening in the sun, 
And death-shot glowing in his fiery hands." 

—Byron. 

BY reference to the map of Logan County 
the reader will observe aline crossing it, 
rang-inff a little from due east and west, and 
known as the "Greenville Treaty Line." 
Another called the "Ludlow Line," runs in 
an almost northwest direction, intersecting 
the first near the centre of the county. And 
still another — the "Robert's Line," starting 
from the Greenville treaty line, a few miles 
west of the intersection of the Ludlow line, 
also runs northwest. All the land in Logan 
County lying east of the Ludlow line, that 
north of the Greenville treaty line and east 
of the Roberts line was for a time Indian re- 
servations, was known i:s Virginia Military 
land, and had been retained by Virginia, with 
other lands, for the purpose of paying her sol- 



diers who served in the war of the Revolu- 
lution. In the cession by Virginia to the 
United States Government, this land, as we 
have said, had been reserved as a reward to 
her Revolutionary soldiers. The Government 
likewise set apart a large body of land in the 
State of Ohio, for the same laudable purpose 
— that is, of paying her soldiers for their ser- 
vices in the War for Independence. It was 
thus that the Revolutionary soldiers were paid 
for years of arduous military service. After 
the close of that war emigrants came flocking 
to Ohio, many of whom were themselves Rev- 
olutionary soldiers. Many others had sold 
their land warrants to speculators for a mere 
pittance, thereby receiving but little remun- 
eration from what was designed as a generous 
act on the part of the Government. How 
many of the early settlers of Logan County 
had served in the war of the Revolution is 
not known at this day. But, as less than two 



292 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUXTY. 



decades had passed from its close to the first 
settlement, it is not improbable that many of 
these old heroes were numbered among the 
pioneers of the county. The war of the Rev- 
olution, the causes which led to it, and the 
results achieved by it, arc familiar to every 
schoolboy in the land, and further mention of 
it in this work is superfluous. The event is 
merely alluded to as a prelude to the wars 
which have followed, and in which the male 
citizens of Logan County have proven them- 
selves the " noble sons of noble sires." 

In the war of 1812, when the Cross of St. 
George was again flaunted in our faces, and 
but a few hundred inhabitants dwelt within 
the present precincts of Logan County, the 
patriotism of this scattered few blazed out, 
and most of the able-bodied men hastened to 
enro 1 themselves for the defence of their 
countrj'. During the three years that the war 
lasted but few skirmishes took place in the 
Northwest in which some of them wore not 
engaged. In the Indian wars of the early 
period they were equally zealous and patri- 
otic, and endured many dangers and difficul- 
ties. What schoolboy has not read, and felt 
his hair rise on his head at the time, the hair- 
breadth escapes of Simon Kenton, long a res- 
ident of Logan County; how he was captured 
by the Indians, and forced to undergo every 
species of torture, except death itself, known 
to them, even to running the gauntlet — as we 
are informed by one authority — not five miles 
from where Bellefontaine now stands. And 
"lIulPs Trace," as it is called, passed 
through the county. It is the route pursued 
by Hull and his army from Urbana to Detroit, 
where, shortly after, he surrendered the troops 
under his command without a struggle, an act 
that covered his name with almost as much 
iiifimy as the treason of Benedict Arnold 
covered his name with infamy. Hull's Trace 
passed through what is now West Liberty, 



where the army encamped for the night. The 
route crossed the Blue Jacket Creek about 
one mile west of Bellefontaine, and continued 
on north near the present road from Bellefon- 
taine to Huntsville. 

Fort McArthur, occupied at intervals by 
regular soldiers during the war, Avas in Logan 
County. 'We have an account of " Capt. 
John McCord and his entire company were 
ordered to Fort McArthur by the Governor 
to remain one month." Many of the pioneers 
remember this old fort. The Indian wars and 
skirmishes are more particularly given in the 
chapter devoted to the Indian history per- 
taining to Logan County. The close of the 
War of 1812, and the removal of the Indians 
to reservations, lying far away toward the 
setting sun, restored peace and tranquility to 
this portion of the country which remained 
uninterrupted for a long period of years. 

In 184G Mexico ruffled the feathers of the 
American eagle, and a sanguinary war fol- 
lowed. We cannot enter into all the details 
of the causes which led to t!iis war. Briefly, 
it grew out of the annexation of Texas. In 
1836 the American settlers in that province 
defeated the Mexican forces at San Jacinto, 
captured Santa Anna, the Dictator of Mexico, 
and under duress wrung from him a treaty 
acknowledging the independence of Texas. 
But this treaty the Republic of Mexico ever 
repudiated. From 183G on, overtures were 
frequently made to the United States by the 
" Lone Star " for admission into the Union. 
Mexico took occasion several times to inform 
the Government of the United States that 
the annexation of Texas would be regarded a 
sufficient cause for war. In the Presidential 
contest of 1844, the question was made one 
of the leading issues of the campaign, and the 
election of Mr. Polk, whose party favored the 
admission of Texas, was construed into a 
popular approval, by the people, of the step. 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



293 



There was no longer any hesitation on the 
part of Congress, and March 1, 1845, Texas 
was admitted as a State into the Federal 
Union. Mexico at once broke off all diplo- 
matic intercourse with the United States, re- 
called her Minister, and began preparations 
for war. War soon followed, the result of 
which was to settle, perhaps forever, the own- 
ership of the great State of Texas. 

In the emergency arising from the opening 
of hostilities. Congress passed an act author- 
izing the President to accept the services of 
50,000 volunteers (which were at once to be 
raised), and appropriating $10,000,000 for the 
prosecution of the war. In this call for 50,- 
000 men Ohio was required to furnish three 
regiments. With her characteristic patriot- 
ism she filled her quota in a few weeks. The 
place of rendezvous was Cincinnati, and upon 
the organization of the required regiments, 
there were almost troops enough left to form 
another regiment. These were furnished 
transportation to their homes at the expense 
of the Government. As organized, the three 
regiments were officered as follows: First 
Regiment — A. M. Mitchell, Cincinnati, Colo- 
nel; John B. Weller, of Butler County, Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel; T. L. Hamer, of Brown 
County, Major. Second Regiment — G. W. 
Morgan, of Knox County, Colonel; William 
Irvin, of Fairfield, Lieutenant-Colenel; Wil- 
liam Hall, of Athens, Major. Third Regi- 
ment — S. R. Curtis, of Wayne County, Colo- 
nel; G. W. McCook, of Jefferson, Lieutenant- 
Colonel; and J. S. Love, of Morgan, Major. 

In these regiments, filled so hastily under 
the President's first call for soldiers, but few 
volunteered from Logan County. In fact we 
have been able to find but a single one who 
enlisted previous to the second call. This, 
however, is no reflection on the patriotism of 
the county, as the first three regiments allotted 
to the State were filled in a few weeks after 
the call was made public. S. W. Ashmead 



enlisted in Company H, Fifth Regiment, in 
May, 1847. But under the second call, or the 
"Ten Regiment Bill," as it was termed, per- 
mission was obtained to raise a company in 
Logan County, and a recruiting office was 
opened in Bellefontaine. The following gen- 
tlemen were commissioned officers of the com- 
pany : Colin McDonald, of Urbana, Captain; 
John B. Miller, of Bellefontaine, First Lieuten- 
ant, and William R. Stafford, of Bellefontaine, 
Second Lieutenant.. The JLo[/a>i Comity Ga- 
zette of April 24, 1847, has the following notice 
of this company : " A detachment of thirty-six 
men, of Company A, Fifteenth Regiment of 
United States Infantry, under command of 
First Lieutenant John B. Miller, and Second 
Lieutenant William R. Stafford, volunteers, en- 
listed at recruiting rendezvous at Bellefont- 
aine,left our village orr Wednesday for the seat 
of war. They proceeded to Dayton, thence 
to Cincinnati, etc." * * * * fj^g follow- 
ing are the names of those of the detachment 
from this county : First and Second Lieuten- 
ants, Bellefontaine; David Carman, Bellefont- 
aine; Joel Ansell,Bel!fontaine; Stephen Camp- 
bell, Bellefontaine; Thaddeus Cook, Middle- 
burg; Joshua Culvin, Cherokee; F. Davenport, 
Middleburg; Michael Duck, Bellefontaine; 
Samuel Dunham, Bellefontaine; Samuel Ed- 
sal, Bellefontaine; Isaac Grimes,County; Rich- 
ard Humphrey, Middleburg; Samuel Hill, 
Bellefontaine; John Hibbitts, Cherokee; Hen- 
ry Houtz, Bellefontaine; Thomas Kennedy, 
Bellefontaine; John McCoubry, County; L. 
Penrod, County; Thomas Rogan, Bellefon- 
taine; Alexander Sutherland, Bellefontaine; 
Chas. Stewart, Bellefontaine; Joseph Stratton, 
County; John Robertson, County; W^illiam 
Wheeler, Cherokee; J. W. Caldwell, Belle- 
fontaine; William Royer, William Allen, An- 
drew Hamilton and James Kennedy, County. 
A few others were in the company from the 
adjoining counties. 

From the above list it will be seen that 






V 



~Il^ 



294 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUXTY. 



Logan County was pretty well represented in 
tlie Mexican war. These gallant young men 
maintained well the valor inherited from their 
Ri'volutionary ancestors. We are miahle to 
give, in detail, their history during their term 
of service. It is enough to say that they were 
Ohio soldiers. The history of the war wuth 
Mexico was one long series of triumphs of 
the American arms, and is so familiar to the 
readers of American history, as to require no 
further mention in these pages. 

Less than a decade and a half passed, and 
again the country was involved in war, but 
this time no foreign foe opposed us. In 18G1 
the Great Rebellion assumed a definite shape, 
and a civil war of the most astoundinjj maec- 
nitude — a civil war such as the world had 
never known, followed. The rival houses of 
York and Lancaster, with their emblems of 
"White" and "Red," shook old England to 
her center, filling her houses with mourning, 
her fields with carnage, and wasting the blood 
of her bravest and best; but comjiared to our 
" war between the States," it was but a child's 
jilay. Much of the history of our civil war 
has never been written — it never can be writ- 
ti'u. Thfiugh an inspired historian were to 
dip his |)cn in the "gloom of earth()uake and 
eclipse," lie could not write a true history of 
those four long and gloomy years, when, 
neither " upon the earth, nor in the skv, nor 
in the air, were to be seen an omen " of less 
unhappy times. But the war-cloud passed, 
and that whii-h had appeared a withering curse 
in the lanii, developed into a blessing, and 
eventually the lionds of union l)ccame more 
firmly cemented between the sections than 
ever before. In the union of " the Rosi.is " 
were found the gi>rm of the future greatness 
and resplendent glory of England, and who 
sliall dare to say, that in the harmonious 
bleniling of " the JJlue " and " the Gray " the 
future greatness of America shall not exceed 
all her past glory and splendor. 



But that the issues are dead and buried, 
wiiich involved the country in civil war, is no 
suflScient reason why a tribute should not be 
paid to those whose patriotism, when the toc- 
sin of war sounded, led them to the post of 
duty. At the first warning of danger, they 
left their daily pursuits and offered themselves 
to their countrv. Who does not remember the 
blaze of excitement, when the news was 
flashed over the wires, that the old flag had 
been lowered from the battlements of Sum- 
ter and the "Palmetto" hoisted in its place? 
Volunteers turned out by scores, companies 
were organized and hurried off to the front. 
From the most reliable information to be ob- 
tained, the county turned out more than two 
thousand soldiers during the four years of the 
war. And the fields of Stone River, Chicka- 
mauga, Shiloh, Corinth, Gettysburg and the 
Wilderness attest their valor. Many a far- 
off crave, beneath the palms and magnolias, 
tells the history of those who never returned, 
while 

" The muffled drum's sad roll hns bent 
The soldier's last tattoo." 

It is a compliment to the patriotism of the 
county, worthy of perpetuation on the pages 
of history, that it furnished a company to the 
first regiment organized in the State under 
the President's first call for three years' men. 
Company G, of the First Infantry was mostly 
raised in Logan County ; the first Commis- 
sioned officers were, Nicholas Trapp, Captain; 
James W. Powell, First Lieutenant, and .lohn 
J. Patton, Second Lieutenant. Capt. Trapp 
was a soldier in the Mexican war, and elected 
Captain of this company on account of his 
knowledge of military affairs. He served 
three years and was mustered out with 
the regiment, and it is said, performed 
well his duty as a soldier; ho was severely 
wounded at Mission Ridge. J-,ieut. Powell 
resigned July 9, 186'^, and was appointed 



^; 



^t 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



295 



Major in the One Hundred and Thirty-Second 
Ohio National Guard, which position he re- 
signed before going to the field, to accept the 
office of Second Lieutenant in the Regular 
Army. He is still an officer in the Regular 
Army; is Senior Lieutenant, and brevet-Cap- 
tain in the Eighth Regiment of United States 
Infantry, and is in command at Fort Bidwell, 
Cal. Lieut. Patton resigned .Tune 16, 1S62, 
came home and was appointed Lieutenant- 
Colonel of the One Hundred and Thirty- 
Second Ohio National Guard, served four 
months, and was then appointed a clerk in 
the Treasury Deiiartment at Washington, 
which position he still holds. Dennis Denny 
was commissioned Second Lieutenant June 
16, 1862, and promoted to First Lieutenant 
July 8, 1864, and as such mustered out with 
the regiment; the office of Second Lieutenant 
Avas vacant when the company was mustered 
out. 

Company G was organized at Bellefontaine 
on the 24th, of August, 1861, and went to the 
field with 101 men, officers and privates. 
With its regiment, it participated in the bat- 
tles of Shiloh, Corinth, Dry Ridge, Dog Walk, 
Stone River, Liberty Gap, Chickamauga, 
Mission Ridge, Dandridge, Rocky Faced 
Ridge, Buzzard Roost, Resacca, Adairsville, 
Dallas, Kennesaw Mountain, Peach Tree 
Creek, etc.; in all of which it acquitted itself 
with honor and credit. 

The First Regiment, to which Company G 
belonged, in the three years' service, was 
originally organized in April, 1861, under the 
President's first call for three months' men. 
It was made up principally from some of the 
old militia companies of the State, and 
served mostly in Virginia. It was at the first 
battle of Bull Run, but did not take an active 
part except in covering the retreat of the 
army from that ill-fated field. This closed its 
period of service under the three months' en- 
listment. 



In August the regiment was organized for 
the three years' service, and Company G 
mustered in with the commissioned officers as 
above noticed. It left for Cincinnati on the 31st 
of October, where it received its arms on the 
4th of November, and the next day proceeded 
to Louisville. The regiment on the loth 
marched to Camp Nevin, below Elizabeth- 
town, and reported to Gen. A. M. McCook, 
then in command of the Second Division of 
the Army of the Cumberland. Soon after it 
was brigaded with the First Kentuckj', or 
" Louisville Legion," the Sixth Indiana, First 
Battalion Fifteenth United States Infantry, 
and battalions of the Sixteenth and Nine- 
teenth Infantry, forming the Fourth Brigade 
of the Second Division. It received its first 
baptism of fire at Shiloh. Early on the 
morning of the 7th of April it moved to the 
front and formed in line of battle, and during 
the remainder of the fighting acquitted itself 
in a manner to receive the commendation of 
the commanding officers. At Corinth, al- 
though not actively engaged, it did consider- 
erable skirmishing, and during the pursuit of 
the enemy by the National forces, the First 
remained in and about Corinth doing picket 
and guard duty. In the race between BucU's 
and Bragg's armies to Louisville, in the fall of 
1862, the First participated. On the return 
race a sharp engagement took place at " Dog 
Walk "on the 9th of October between the 
Rebels and the column of the National army 
to which the First was attached. A junction 
was formed with the main army under Buell 
on the 11th, two days after the battle of 
Perryvillc. A short time after the battle of 
Perryville Gen. Buell was superseded by 
Gen. Rosecrans, who at once re-organized 
the whole army. The division to which the 
First Ohio belonged, commanded by Gen. 
Sill, was placed in command of Gen. R. W. 
Johnson. Gen. Rosecrans commenced is move- 
ments against Bragg's army at Murfreesboro, 



til 



296 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



on tlie 2Gth of December, and in the bloody 
battle of Stone River, which followed, the 
regiment bravely performed its duty, and 
did some hard fi^^htinjj. In the Chickamaujxa 
campaign, which was begun on the 30th of 
August, 1863, the First was actively engaged 
in fighting and skirmishing during all the 
operations, including the battle of Chicka- 
mauga and the fighting around Chattanooga, 
and was led by Lieut. -Col. Bassett Langdon. 
The Twentieth and Fourth Army Corps 
were consolidated about the 30th of October, 
1803, and the First Regiment was brigaded 
under Gen. Hazen, in the Third Division of 
the corps. Soon after the First formed a 
part of the expedition down the Tennessee 
River to Brown's Ferry, capturing an import- 
ant post, thus enabling supplies to reach 
Chattanooga. The battle of Orchard Knob 
was fought November 23rd, which was the 
opening, in reality, of the battle of Mission 
Ridge. About noon of the 23rd the First 
Ohio consolidated with the Twenty-Third 
Kentucky, the whole under command of Lieut. 
Col. Langdon, was formed on the right of 
Hazen's brigade and immediately advanced 
on the enemy, driving in his pickets. During 
the whole of the fighting the regiment was 
actively engaged. A war chronicle has the 
following of the battle of Mission Ridge : 
" The intensity of the Rebel fire was such 
that five color-boarnrs of the First Ohio were 
cither killed or wounded. The lust one, Capt. 
Trapp, of Company G, was wounded twice 
within twenty paces of the cre.st of the hill, 
while gallatitly heading the regiment. At 
this time the regiment assumed the shape of 
the letter A, the nature of the ground being 
such as to prott.'ct its head from the Rebel 
fire in Iront; it was halted to gather strength 
for the final charge. A few minutes sufficed 
to effect this, and the first and second linos 
moved up in mass, breaking over and carry- 



ing the enemy's works and the crest of the 
hill. While directing the movement, at the 
head of the column and within about twenty 
paces of the crest, Lieut. Col. Langdon was shot 
in the face, the ball coming out at the back 
of the neck. The shock of the hall dis- 
abled him for a few minutes, but he recovered 
his feet and charged with his men to within 
ten paces of the works, when loss of bloo;l 
compelled him to retire, not, however, with- 
out witnessing the capture of the Rebel 
works. Maj. Stafford, of the First, was 
wounded at the foot of the hill, but accom- 
panied his regiment to the top, and carried the 
flag into the raidvs on the crest. Lieut. 
Christopher Wollenhaupt and Sergt.-Maj. 
Ogden Wheeler were killed near the crest of 
the ridge. The entire loss of the regiment 
was five officers and seventy-eight men killed 
and wounded." On the 28th, but a few days 
after this battle, the First, with other regi- 
ments, moved to the relief of Gen. Burnside, 
at Knoxville. January 17, 1864, the regi- 
ment had a sharp engagement with the Rebels 
at Dandridgo. On the 4th of May it 
started with Sherman's army on the Atlanta 
campaign, and in the battles of Buzzard's 
Roost, Resaca and Adairsville it took part, 
often suffering severely; it was also engaged 
in several other light skirmishes. At Kenne- 
saw, on the 17th of June, it took part in the 
battle with its accustomed bravery. This was 
its last hard fighting, and soon after it com- 
menced to be mustered out by companies, the 
last one on the 14th of October, 1864. 

To sum up the operations of the F'irst dur- 
ing its term of service: " It took part in twen- 
ty-four battles and skirmishes, and had 527 offi- 
cers and men killed and wounded. It saw its 
initial battle at Pittsburg Landing, and closed 
its career in frontof Atlanta. It inanhed about 
2,.500 miles, and was transported by car and 
steamboat 950 miles." Of Company G, the 



^Jil 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



209 



following was published in 1865, just alter the 
close of the war: " The casualties in the com- 
pany were: twelve died of sickness; seven of 
wounds received in battle; six killed in ac- 
tion; three wounded and fell into enemy's 
iiands and supposed to be dead; still missing 
alter action and supposed to bo dead, six; 
discharged on account of wounds, four; dis- 
cliargedon account of sickness, five, and three 
transferred to other commands." 

The Thirteenth Infantry, organized in 
April, 1801, for three months, contained two 
companies from this county. Company A 
was raised here, and was officered as follows: 
Samuel W. Ashmead, Captain; Isaac R. Gard- 
ner, First Lieutenant, and I. C. Robinson, 
Second Lieutenant. Company C was also 
raised here. It was recruited originally for 
cavalry by DonnPiatt,but was mustered finally 
into the Thirteenth, with the following oflfi- 
cers: Donn Piatt,Captain; Thomas R.Roberts, 
First Lieutenant. The name of the Second 
Lieutenant could not be ascertained. A. 
Sanders Piatt, a citizen of Logan County, was 
made Colonel of this regiment. The follow- 
ing extracts are from a sketch of Gen. 
Piatt by Whitelaw Reid: '" When the rebel- 
lion broke upon the country, he entered earn- 
estly into the strife, offering his services in 
any capacity to the Government. April 30, 
1861, he was commissioned as Colonel of the 
Thirteenth Infantry, then organized at Camp 
Jackson, near Columbus. From this camp he 
was ordered to Camp Dennison, where he re- 
mained until the regiment enlisted for the 
three years' service. An order from the Gov- 
ernor authorized an election of officers, but 
Col. Piatt, unwilling to receive as constitu- 
ents the men whom he had sought to com- 
mand as soldiers, declined appearing as a can- 
didate for the Colonelcy. He solicited and 
received authority from Mr. Lincoln to enlist 
a brigade for the war. Relying on his own 



means, he selected a camp and organized the 
first Zouave regiment in Ohio. He subsisted 
his regiment for one month and six days, and 
was then commissioned as Colonel, and or- 
dered to Camp Dennison. The regiment was 
designated as the Thirty-Fourth. He contin- 
ued recruiting, with permission from the State 
authorities, and a second regiment was subse- 
quently organized, and designated the Fifty- 
Fourth. This regiment was being rapidly filled 
up, and there is every reason to believe that the 
brigade would soon have been completed when 
Col. Piatt was ordered to report witli the 
Thirty-Fourth to Gen. Rosecrans, then com- 
manding in AVestern Virginia. Ho proceeded 
as far as Camp Enyart, on the Kanawha River, 
where, for lack of transportation, he was com- 
pelled to remain. On the 23d of September 
he led a portion of his own regiment, and a 
detachment from a Kentucky regiment, across 
the Kanawha in search of an organized band 
of rebels, known to be encamped at some 
point soutli, and to be preparing to obstruct 
the navigation of the river. On the 24th the 
detachment from the Kentucky regiment was 
sent up Cole River, while Col. Piatt continued 
his march to Chapmansvillo, whore ho arrived 
at 3 o'clock p. M. on the 25th, and found the 
rebels strongly fortified. He attacked and 
drove the enemy, in utter rout, from their po- 
sition, and wounded and captured the com- 
mander of the force. Col. J. W. Davis. Col. 
Piatt next attacked and defeated a rebel force 
at Hurricane, which was co-operating with 
Gen. Floyd, then at Cotton Hill; and on the 
24th of October he wont into winter-quarters 
at Barboursville. * * * While absent on 
sick leave he was commissioned Brigadier- 
General, and on his recovery, ordered to re- 
port to Gen. Fremont. He joined that officer 
at Harrisonburg, in the Shenandoah Valley, 
and was assigned a brigade in Gen. Schenck's 
division. When Gen. Siegel succeeded Gen. 



300 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



Fremont, Gen. Piatt was ordered -with his 
brio-ade to Winchester, and was directed to 
fortify and to command that post. He en- 
joyed the satisfaction of having his works in- 
spected and approved by Gen. Sigel. 

"On the 28th of July he was directed to 
report to Gen. Sturgis at Alexandria, and was 
assiorned to a brigade in Gen. McClellan's 
armv, which was then returning from the 
Peninsula. Shortly after organizing his bri- 
gade Gen. Piatt received information from 
the Division General . that in the press for 
transportation he had succeeded in securing 
only twenty cars; that these should be at the 
disposal of the first regiments ready to take 
possession of them, and tliat they would thus 
be privileged to go to the front. Gen. Piatt 
immediately took possession of the track, and 
as soon as the cars arrived, ordered his men 
into them. He arrived at Warrenton Junc- 
tion at midnight, and the next day, August 2G, 
he reported to Gen. Pope. On the evening 
of the 27th Gen. Piatt was ordered to march 
to Manassas Junction. He immediately put 
his troops in motion, and had proceeded three 
miles, when Gefi. Sturgis ordered his return 
to Warrenton Junction, to protect that point 
from an expected attack. On the morning of 
the 28th he was again ordered to Manassas 
.Function. He reached the Junction at noon 
on the 29th, having been seriously delayed by 
trains and troops in his front. * * * * 
On the morning of the 3Uth he received 
an order to report to Gen. Porter. He 
had proceeded but a few hundred yards 
when he met a brigade belonging to (icn. 
I'orter's corps, which was marching to join the 
command. Gen. Piatt followed the brigade, 
and found that it led him to Centrcville. Here 
he halted his brigade, while the one in front 
marched on towanl AVnsliington. Gen. Piatt 
remarked to Gon. Sturgis that he had gone far 
enough irj tliai direction in search of Gen. 



Porter, and that with his permission he would 
march to the battlefield. He then ordered his 
men into the road, and, guided by the sound 
of the artillery, he arrived at the battle-ground 
of Bull Run at 3 o'clock p. m. The brigade 
went into action on the left, and acquitted 
itself with great courage. Gen. Pope, in his 
official report, complimented Gen. Piatt high- 
ly, for the ' soldierly feeling which prompted 
him, after being misled, and with the bad ex- 
ample of the other brigade before his eyes, to 
push forward with such zoal and alacrity to 
the field of battle.' * * ***** 

"Gen. Piatt entered the uriny with no in- 
tention of making it liis iirolfssion, and now, 
that a large family of mutlierlcss cliililren de- 
manded his attention and care, he tendered 
his resignation and retired from the service." 

After the Thirteenth had served out its term 
of three months, it was re-organized, under the 
second call for troops, for three years. The 
Logan County company became Company F, 
in the re-organization, and was officered as fol- 
lows: Isaac R. Gardner, Captain; James D. 
Stover, First Lieutenant, and Frank J. Jones, 
Second Lieutenant. Capt. Gardner died .Ma}' 
31, 1802, of wounds received at Sliiloh. Lieut. 
Stover resigned January 3, 18G2, and became 
Ca|itain of Company C, Forty-Fifth Ohio In- 
fantry, and was honorably discliarged July 20, 
1874. Lieut. Jones was promoted to First 
Lieutenant, January 21, 1802; promoted to 
Captain, January 1, 1803, and promoted by 
President, May 0, 1803. Robert L. Scig was 
promoted to Second Lieutenant, March 31, 
1802; to First Lieutenant, Sei)tember 11, 1802; 
to Captain, Scptcmln'r 30, l,S(i4, and was hon- 
orably discharged January 20, 1805. H. S. 
Leister was promoted to First Lieutenant, 
transferred to Company C, and resigned June 
18, 1805. 

Upon the re-organization of the Thirteenth, 
Col. Piatt, as we have seen, declined coming 






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^- 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



301 



before his old regiment as a candidate for the 
Colonelcy, and W. S. Smith, an experienced 
officer of the regular army, became Colonel. 
Tiie first service of the new rcg-imcnt was in 
M'estern Virginia, and arrived at Parkershurg 
with 1,000 men, rank and file. Its first battle 
of any moment was at Carnifex Ferry, where 
it made a good record. The Tenth, Twelfth 
and Thirteenth regiments, with McJIulien's 
Battery, formed Benham's Brigade, and on 
the 12th of November it started in ])ursuit of 
Gen. Floyd. In this pursuit the Thirteenth 
held the post of honor. The first skirmish 
with the enemy occurred at Cotton Hill, in 
which the regiment lost one man killed and 
two wounded. The rebels were driven from 
Western Virginia, and the National forces 
were withdrawn and moved to Jelfersonville, 
Indiana, the Thirteenth going into camp at 
that place. On the 11th of Decemljer it re- 
ceived orders to join Buell, who was then 
watching the movements of Bragg in Southern 
Kentuckv. It was ordered to march on the 
10th of February, and proceeded to Bowling 
Green, where it took cars for Nashville, and 
reached Gallatin, fort\- miles from Nashville, 
on the 22nd. In the battle of Pittsburg Land- 
ing the Thirteenth took a prominent part. 
Composing a part of the Fifth Division, it 
formed on the right of Nelson's command, 
and about 8 o'clock on the morning of the 6th of 
April moved forward to the attack. It came up- 
on the enemy, supported by the famous Wash- 
ington Battery, of New Orleans. This battery 
the Thirteenth captured after a desperate 
struggle, only to lose it again at the hands of 
a superior force of the enemy. In this affair 
Ben Bunkle, Major of the Thirteenth, fell, 
severely wounded. In the last advance of 
the National forces, the regiment made one 
more effort to capture the famed Washington 
J5attery, and succeeded. The Thirteenth par- 
tici]>ated in the advance on Corinth, and per- 
. formed its share of picket duty in the vicinity 



of that place. In .Tune it accompanied Buell's 
army into Alabama, and on the 20th of Au- 
gust received marching orders. Bragg had 
left Chattanooga on his famous advance to 
Louisville, Ky. Then commenced a march 
that has few parallels in history. A writer of 
the time thus speaks of it: " From the 31st 
of August to the 2Gth of September, a period 
of thirty-six days, the National soldiers pa- 
tiently toiled on after their exultant enemy, 
enduring the hot rays of the sun, almost un- 
bearable thirst, half rations, and the stifling 
dust. What soldier of the Thirteenth Ohio 
will ever forget this terrible march? On the 
26th the troops reached Louisville, having 
outmarched and passed, on a parallel road, 
the rebel a^m}^" The pursuit of Bragg was 
resumed, after a rest until the 1st of October. 
In the battle of Perryville, which followed, 
the Thirteenth did not participate. After the 
battle the enemy continued his retreat, and 
Crittenden's Division, to which the Thirteenth 
Regiment belonged, pursued as far as Mount 
Vernon. Gen. Buell was relieved on the 30th 
of October by Gen. Rosecratis, and on the 
3nd of December the Fifth Division was re- 
viewed by the Commanding General, who 
paid a high compliment to the gallant Thir- 
teenth. 

Foraging and picket duty filled up the time 
until the advance on Murfreesboro, December 
20, 1862. In the advance, Crittenden's divi- 
sion, in which was the Thirteenth, held the left 
wing, Thomas the centre, and McCook the 
right. In the battle of Stone River, which 
followed on the 31st of December, the regi- 
ment was actively engaged. Among the losses 
sustained by the Thirteenth, was its Com- 
mander, Col. Hawkins, together with 142 
officers and men killed, wounded and missing. 
In the battles of the succeeding days, before 
the evacuation of Murfreesboro by the rebels, 
the Thirteenth lost in addition to those already 
mentioned, 31 killed, 85 wounded, and 6 



n- 



'lu 



302 



PIISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



missins; total, 1S.5, wliich witli its loss on 
the 31st of December makes a grand total 
of 327. Previous to the battle of Chick- 
amautfa, when the concentration of the 
army liegan, the Thirteenth, with its re- 
maining troops of Van Cleve's division, 
took post on the southern spur of Mission 
Ridge. On the 19th of September, in the bat- 
tle of Chiekamauga, the regiment maintained 
the reputation won at Stone River. During 
the series of battles of this period, it was 
commanded by its Lieut.-Col., E. M. Mast, the 
Colonel (Dwight Jarvis) being absent on 
duty. Lieut.-Col. Mast was killed, and the 
Major severely wounded, and the thinned 
ranks told the sad tale of the loss sustained 
by the rank and (ile. On the i'ind of Septem- 
ber the regiment had a skirmish with the 
enemy on Mission Ridge, which lasted dur- 
ing the forenoon. In the fighting which fol- 
lowed in October and November, the Thir- 
teenth bore itself bravely and suffered a severe 
loss. 

Early in January, 1864, about three-fourths 
of the Tiiirtecnth re-onlisted for another three 
years, and were sent home on furlough. At 
the expiration of thirty days they reported 
promptly for duty, and returned in a body to 
Chattanooga. May 1, 1804, the army re- 
ceived orders to prejiare for the Atlanta 
Campaign. Ringgolil, Rosaca and Dalton 
were captured, one alter another. At Rocky 
Face Ridge quite a skirmish took place. In 
the battles around Atlanta the National forces 
lost heavily; that of the ".JTth nlotie cost the 
troops engaged nearly half their number 
killed and wounded. The Thirteenth fought 
like tigers, Capt. MeCulloch was mortally 
■wounded, and many killed. Their ammuni- 
tion became exhausted, and Maj. Snyder, in 
command of the handful of the Thirteenth 
still left, took from the cartridge-boxes of the 
killed and wounded their remaining car- 
tridges an<l distributed them among the men. 



The Third Division (in which was the Thir- 
teenth) went into the engagement 4,100 
strong, and came out with barely 2,500. The 
Thirteenth lost fifty in killed and wounded. 

On the 21st of .Tune the term of service of 
the non-veterans expired, and they were paid 
off and discharged, and the veterans formed 
into a battalion of four companies, known as 
the "Thirteen Ohio Veteran Volunteer In- 
fantry Battalion," under the command of 
Maj. J. T. Snyder. The old companies were 
consolidated into companies A, B, C, D, the 
first commanded by .John H. Scott, the second 
by John F. Millett,the third by James H. Mer- 
rill and the fourth by E. C. Hawkins. The 
Thirteenth Battalion joined in the advance 
toward KennesawMountain, andin that battle 
lost several men killed and wounded. In the 
battles and skirmishes of Sherman's Camjiaign 
the old war-worn Thirteenth took part with 
its accustomed bravery. It was at the battle of 
Fraidvlin, Tenn., the last desperate struggle 
of the war. Soon afterward the news of Gen. 
Lee's surrender was received, and caused 
universal rejoicing in the National army. 

On the IGth of June, 18(55, the troops com- 
prising the Fourth Corps (including the Thir- 
teenth Battalion) was ordered to Texas. They 
remained on duty in that State until Decem- 
ber 5th, when they were mustered out of the 
United States service and sent home. On the 
17th of January, ISOG, the old Thirteenth Bat- 
talion reached Columbus, where their arms 
and equipments were turned over to the 
proper authorities, and the few survivors 
were paid off and honorably discharged. But 
where were many of their comrades who went 
out with them nearly live years before? 

"On Fftmo's eternal cnmping ground 

Their silent tents arc spread, 
And Glory guards with solemn round 

The bivouac of the dead." 

The Seventeenth Infantry was indebted to 



aJs V- 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



303 



Logan County for Company C. It was re- 
cruited mainly in the east part of the county; 
a majority of the company being from Zane 
and Perry Townships. It organized with the 
following commissioned officers : .Joel Haines, 
Captain; Jacob Humphreys, First Lieutenant, 
and Joseph H. Pool, Second Lieutenant. 
Capt. Haines resigned June 6, 18G5, and 
in 18GJ: was made Colonel of the One Hun- 
dred and Thirty-Second Regiment of the 
Ohio Xational Guard. First Lieutenant Hum- 
phreys died December 31, 1861. Second 
Lieutenant Pool was promoted to First Lieu- 
tenant, February 5, 1862, and afterward re- 
signed. John D. Inskeep was promoted to 
Second Lieutenant, June 6, 1862, and to Cap- 
tain September 9, 1863, and in that position 
was mustered out with the regiment at the 
close of the war. 

The President's second call on Ohio for 
troops found two companies in camp on the 
Fair Grounds near Lancaster, Ohio, engaged 
in drilling, preparatory to entering the Uni- 
ted States service. These companies were 
made the nucleus of the Seventeenth Ohio 
Infantry, for the three mouths' service. It 
operated in Virginia during its term of ser- 
vice, and was mustered out at Zanesville, Ohio, 
on the 15th of August. Efforts were at once 
made to re-organize it for three years, and on 
the 30th of August it assembled at Camp 
Dennison, where Company C, Capt. Haines, 
joined it. On the 30th of September, the 
regiment was ordered to Kentucky, and re- 
ported at Camp Dick Robinson on the 2d 
of October, 1861. It moved from there to 
Wild Cat, and participated in that battle, in 
which it had seven men wounded. It was bri- 
gaded with the Thirty-First and Thirty-Eighth 
Ohio, Gen. Albin Schoepp commanding. 

In the battle of Mill Spring the Seven- 
teenth took part. The rebels, vmder Gen. 
Zollicoifer, were defeated. It next proceeded 
to Louisville, Kv., where it took boats and 



went to Nashville, Tenn., arriving there on 
the 3d of March, 1862. From Nashville it 
proceeded across the country to Shiloh, but 
being detailed to guard a wagon train through, 
did not arrive in time for the battle. It par- 
ticipated in the seige of Corinth, and was in 
several skirmishes, in which it sustained some 
loss. It was in the race between Buell's and 
Bragg's armies from Tennessee to Louisville, 
and was at the battle of Perryville, though not 
actively engaged. At the battle of Stone 
River, the Seventeenth, with its brigade, was 
stationed on the extreme right of the National 
forces. It went into the battle on the 31st of 
December, and, with its brigade, charged the 
rebel Gen. Hanson's brigade, drove them in 
confusion, killing their General and some one 
hundred and fifty of the rank and file. The 
Seventeenth lost twenty men wounded. 

The next active service of the regiment was 
in the Tullahoma campaign. At Hoover's 
Gap the Seventeenth, under command of 
Lieut.-Col. Durbin Ward, charged the Seven- 
teenth Tennessee Rebel Infantry, strongly 
posted. In the face of a heavy fire they drove 
the enemy and occupied their position. In 
the battle of Chickamauga the regiment was 
on the extreme right of the centre, attached 
to the corps commanded by Gen. Thomas. 
This was by far the hardest fighting in which 
the regiment had yet been engaged. Its loss 
in this battle was over 200 in killed and 
wounded, not counting those with slight flesh 
wounds. Capt. Rickets was killed in the 
early part of the fight; Lieut.-Col. Ward fell 
in the afternoon on the front line, badly 
wounded. During the siege of Chattanooga 
the Seventeenth was in several severe skir- 
mishes. At Mission Ridge, though in the roar 
of the line at the start, it was in front when 
the top of the hill was gained. In this bril- 
liant charge Maj. Butterfield was mortally 
wounded while leading the regiment. Capt. 
Benjamin Showers, next in rank, completed the 



-s|V" 



4 



304 



niSTpRY OF LOGAjS' COUNTY. 



cliarjre, capturing a rebel battery, and turn- 
ing the guns upon the flying enemy. 

Januarj- 1, 1804, the subject of re-enlisting 
as veterans was agitated, and 393 agroed to 
embark in another three years' campaign for 
the Union cause. On the 22d of January 
the}' started home on furlough, and at the ex- 
piration, returned to the field with over 400 
recruits. Col. Ward, though still sufl'ering 
from his wound, took command of the regi- 
ment, and in the skirmishing around Rocky 
Face Ridge it took but a subordinate part. 
In the battle of Rosacea it bore its full share 
of the fighting, suffering a heavy loss. In the 
1 skirmishes which followed at New Hope 
Cliunli, Pumpkin Vine Creek, and several 
other places, some of them considerable bat- 
tles, the Scventeentli was actively engaged. 
It took part in the battle of Kennesaw and 
Peach Tree Creek on the 20th of July, where 
it suffered extremely from the heat. In the 
battles around Atlanta, it did its share of the 
tigiiting. Lieut.-Col. Showers escapeil from a 
reljcl prison in time to take command of the 
regiment, and lead it with Sherman in his 
" March to the Sea." The expedition through 
the Carolinas closed the active service of the 
Seventeenth. It soon after went to AVash- 
ington, passed in review before the President, 
ancl in July, 18G5, was mustered out at Louis- 
ville, Ky. 

The regiment was in the service from the be- 
ginning of the war; was always at the front, 
and never did a day's garrison duty. It 
served under McClellan, Huell, Rosecrans, 
Tiiomas, Grant, Ililieek, Sherman and Scho- 
field. It was never driven before the enemy, 
save at Chirknmauga, and even then it only 
quit the field under orders. 

The Twenty-Third Infantry was the next 
regiment in which Logan County was repre- 
sented by an organizfil body of men. 0)ni- 
pany F was raisi-d in the county, and mus- 
tered into tlio service with the following 



officers: Israel Canbj', Captain ; C.W.Fisher, 
First Lieutenant, and R. P. Kennedy, Second 
Lieutenant. Capt. Canby was mustered out 
attliecndof three years, not having re-en- 
listed as a veteran. Lieut. Fisher was pro- 
moted to Major of the Fifty-Fourth Ohio, 
October 31, 18G1; Lieutenant-Colonel, No- 
vember 27, 18G2, and was honorably dis- 
charged September 29, 1803. Second Lieut. 
Kennedy was promoted to First Lieutenant 
in 1802. The following sketch of this officer 
is from Reid's "Ohio in the War," and we 
give it in full: "R. P. Kennedy was at Col- 
lege in Connecticut at tbe commencement of 
the rebellion. lie hastened to his home in 
Ohio, and joined the Twenty-Third Ohio, as 
Second Lieutenant, .Tune 1, 18G1. On Feb- 
ruary 9, 1802, he was promoted to First Lieu- 
tenant, and served as Assistant Adjutant-Gen- 
eral on Gen. Scammon's staff at the battles 
of Cub Run, South Mountain and Antietam. 
On October 7, 1862, he was appointed Assist- 
ant Adjutant-General of United States Vol- 
unteers, with the rank of Captain, and as- 
signed to duty on Gen. Crook's staff. He 
served in this capacity during the campaign 
of the Army of the Cumberland, from imme- 
diately after the battle of Stone River until 
after the battle of Mission Ridge, in Novem- 
ber, 1863. Capt. Kennedy served on Gen. 
Garrard's staff through the Atlanta campaign, 
and at the close of it was ordered by Gen. 
Grant to the Department of West Virginia, 
and was made Adjutant-General of that de- 
partment. 

On November 10, 1SG4, he was promoted 
to Major and Assistant Adjutant-General of 
Volvmteers, and Lieutenant-Colonel by bre- 
vet, in which capacity ho served on the staff 
of Gen. Crook, coinmanding the Department, 
until March, 1SG5, when, for gallant services, 
he was made Colonel of the One Hundred and 
Ninety-Sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He 
was mustered out of the service September 



>^. 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



305 



10, 1865. His brevet rank of Brigadier-Gen- 
eral dates from March 13, 18G5. 

George Seaman was promoted to Second 
Lieutenant December 26, 1862, and killed 
May 9, 1864, at the battle of Floyd Mountain. 
At the time he was commanding Company D. 
Edward A. Abbott was promoted to Second 
Lieutenant of Company I ; was afterwards 
promoted to Captain, and transferred to Com- 
pany F, and in that capacity mustered out 
with the regiment. Robert S. Gardner was 
promoted to Second Lieutenant September 7, 

1861, and Assistant Quartermaster of the 
United States Army. 

The Twenty-Third Infantry is memorable 
in that it had for its first Colonel, William 
Starke Rosecrans, an officer who, soon after his 
entrance into the service, became one of the 
most distinguished leaders of the National 
armies. The Lieutenant-Colonel, Scammon, 
and the Major, R. B. Hayes (now President), 
also became distinguisiied officers, and served 
with credit until the close of the war. 

The Twenty-Third was organized at Camp 
Chase, and mustered into the United States 
service for three years, June 11, 1861. Before 
leaving for the field, Col. Rosecrans was pro- 
moted to Brigadier-General, and Col. E. P. 
Scammon succeeded to the command of the 
regiment. On the 25th of July it was ordered 
to West Virginia, where it at once entered 
upon the theatre of war. Its operations dur- 
ing the summer and autumn were confined to 
looking after bands of guerillas and de ach- 
ments of rebels prowling through the country. 
Orders were received on the 17th of April, 

1862, to quit winter quarters, and on the 2'2nd 
the regiment moved in the direction of Prince- 
ton, under command of Lieut.-Col. Hayes, 
which place was reached on the 1st of May. 
On the morning of the 8th it was attacked by 
four regiments of the enemy, under command 
of Gen. Heath, and, after a determined re- 
sistance, were overwhelmed and forced to 



retire, which was accomplished in good order. 
While lying at Green Meadows, orders were 
received on the 15th of August to hasten with 
all despatch to Camp Piatt, on the Great 
Kanawha, where it arrived on the morning of 
the 18th, having marched 104: miles in a, little 
more than three days. Its officers claimed 
this to be the fastest march on record, as made 
by any considerable force. It proceeded to 
Parkersburg, and from thence to Washington 
City, where it arrived on the 24th of August. 
From Washington the regiment moved, with 
Gen. McClellan's army, to Frederick City, 
from which place the rebels were driven, after 
a slight skirmish. Middletown was reached 
September the 13th, where was commenced 
the battle of South Mountain, which culmi- 
nated in the great battle of Antietam, on the 
17th. In both of these engagements the 
Twenty-Third participated. At South Moun- 
tain, Lieut.-Col. Hayes, Capt. Skiles, and 
Lieuts. Hood, Rittcr and Stnith, of the Twen- 
ty-Third, were badly wounded, while over 100 
were killed and wounded out of 350 who went 
into action. The colors of the regiment were 
riddled, and the blue field almost carried away 
by shells and bullets. 

The Twenty -Third received orders to return 
with the Kanawha Division to West Virginia 
on the 8th of October. While atHagerstown 
a false report sent the division after Stuart, 
who it was said was raiding in Pennsylvania; 
but discovering the error, the troops returned, 
having breakfasted in Pennsylvania, eaten 
dinner in Maryland, and supper in Virginia. 
On the 15th of October the Twenty -Third ar- 
rived at Clarksburg, and on the 18th of No- 
vember it went into winter quarters at the 
falls of the Great Kanawha. During the sum- 
mer of 1863, the regiment was occupied most- 
ly in scouting and picking up guerilla bands, 
whenever opportunities oifered. It was not 
until April 29, 186-1, that a movement was made 
of greater importance than small scouting 






MBAASfiUtB 



9 ""V 



Jl- 



306 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



expeditions. This was a contemplated raid 
on the Viiirinia & Tennessee Railroad un- 
der Gen. Crook. On the 9th of May the 
i>attle of Floyd Mountain took ])lace. This 
was one of the severest battles of the war, 
while it lasted, but was of short duration. 
Capt. Hunter, of Company K, Lieut. Seaman, 
commanding Company D, were killed; Capt. 
liice. Company A, was slightly wounded, and 
Lieut. Abbott was severely wounded. The 
next day another battle took place, but in it 
artillery was mostly used. But litlle more 
fighting took place during the expedition, be- 
yond the usual amount of skirmishing along 
the march. 

The regiment joined Gen. Hunter's com- 
mand on the 8th of June at Staunton. The 
first terra of service of the Twenty-Third hav- 
ing expired, those not re-enlisting as veterans 
were sent home, also the old colors, which 
were no longer in condition for service. From 
June lOth to July 1st the regiment was con- 
tinually on the march, skirmishing, in which 
it suffered greatly from fatigue, as well as in 
being continually harassed by the enemy. It 
reached Charleston July 1, and remained 
there until the 10th, when it embarked for 
Parkersburg. On the 24th a battle was 
fought at ^\'inchester, in which the National 
forces were defeated, after a hard fight, last- 
ing from early in the morning until U o'clock 
a^ night. The Twenty-Third lost in this en- 
gagement 1.j3 men, ten of whom were com- 
missioned ollicers. Lieut. -Col. Comly was 
among the wounded. During the month of 
August a series of niarches "up and down 
the \'alley," with numerous skirmishes, were 
indidged in by both armies. Nothing impor- 
tant, however, occurred until the 3rd of Sep- 
tember, at Bcrryville, when a desperate fight 
took place, which latted from just before dark 
until 10 o'clock at night. The Twenty-Third 
lost Capts. Austin and Gilli8,.both brave offi- 
cers. On the 18tb the battle of Opcquan was 



fought. It was a severe one, and both sides 
lost heavily, but the National forces were 
finally victorious. Large numbers of the 
rebels were captured, together with eight bat- 
tle flags. The battle of North Mountain fol- 
lowed on the 20th, and was more a charge 
than a regular battle. One man killed and 
one wounded was the loss sustained by the 
Twenty-Third. The next fighting occurred 
on the 19 th of October, at Cedar Creek. 
A historian of the war thus concludes liis 
description of this battle: "The situation 
in a few minutes after the attack was about 
thus: Crook's command, overpowered and 
driven from their advanced position, were 
forming on the left of the Nineteenth Corps, 
which corps was just getting into action, the 
left l)eing hotly engaged, but not so much so 
as Crook's command yet. The right of the 
line had not been engaged at all, and was not 
for some time after. While the line was in 
this situation the trains were all slowly mov- 
ing oir. A desperate stand was made by the 
shattered lines of Crook's command to save 
the headquarters' train of the army, which 
came last from the right, and it succeeded. 
Mai>y brave men lost their lives in this. Col. 
Thoburn, commanding P'irst Division; Capt. 
Bier, Gen. Crook's Adjuant-General, and oth- 
ers. Col. Hayes, commanding the Second 
Division, had his horse shot under him, and 
narrowly escaped with his life; Lieut. -Col. 
Hall, of the Thirteenth Virginia, was killed." 
Soon after the scene above described, Sheri- 
dan, who was " sixteen miles away," appeared 
on the field, and seemed to in'use new spirit 
into the troops. A few changes were made, 
a few orders given, and the day was won. 

On the 7th of November the Twenty-Third 
was detailed a.s train-guard to Martinsburg, 
and, on the march, the men voted at the Pres- 
iilential election. On the 13th it returned to 
Winchester with a supply train of TOO wagons, 
and on the 14th went to camp at Kernstown, 



^F=^ 



?ku. 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



307 



where the army of the Shenandoah was 
lying. Here the regular carap routine en- 
sued, until the 39th of December, when the 
regiment marched to Martinsburg, and went 
into camp. On the 1st of January, 1865, it 
embarked for Cumberland. Here Col. Hayes 
was promoted to Biigadier-General and Lieut.- 
Col. Comly to Colonel, both to date I'rom Oc- 
tober 19, 1864. Its operations to March 1, 
1865, were confined to Grafton, Beverley, and 
Cumberland, with occasional skirmishes with 
the enemy. The hard fighting of the war was 
now over, and the regiment lay at "inglorious 
ease " through May, June, and a part of July. 
On the 26th of the latter month it was mus- 
tered out of the service at Cumberland, took 
the cars for Camp Taylor, near Cleveland, 
when the men were paid off and discharged. 

Probably no regiment of the war furnislied 
more brave and distinguished officers than 
did the gallant old Twenty-Third. Its first 
Colonel, Rosecrans, had few superiors in the 
army as a strategist and commander. Al- 
though his sun went down in clouds, there is 
little doubt to-day, that others received the 
laurels that Rosecrans actually won. And 
then there were Gen. Scammon, Gen. Hayes, 
Gen. Matthews, Gen. Kennedy, Gen. Comly, 
Gen. Hastings, and many others, who, though 
not adorned with the Brigadier's star, were 
equally as brave. - Scammon was the first 
Colonel after Rosecrans; Haj'es was also Col- 
onel; Comly was the first Major, afterwards 
Colonel, ap-d promoted to Brigadier-General 
for meritorious service; Hastings entered the 
regiment as Second Lieutenant, and worked 
his way up to Lieutenant-Colonel, and was 
breveted Brigadier-General for gallant ser- 
vices at the battle of Opequan in Virginia. 
It eventually became proverbial in the army 
that the Twenty-Third Ohio was a regiment 
of officers. 

The Forty-Second Infantry, Gen. Garfield's 
old regiment, contained a company from Lo- 



gan County. Company K was from this 
county, and officered as follows : Andrew 
Gardner. Jr., Captain; Thomas L. Hutchins, 
First Lieutenant, and Porter H. Foskett, Sec- 
ond Lieutenant. Tha following information, 
pertaining to Company K, is, from a his- 
tory of the regiment written by F. H. Ma- 
son, of Company A: " Capt. Gardner re- 
signed on the 38th of January, 1863, and 
Lieut. Hutchins was promoted to the vacancy 
thus created. Capt. Hutchins continued in 
command until the final discharire of the reflfi- 
ment from the service. Lieut. Foskett was 
promoted to First Lieutenant, and afterward 
to Captain, and transferred to Company I; 
thence he was transferred to Company D, and 
finally resigned in 18G4. A. L. Bowman, 
who was originally an enlisted man of Com- 
pany K, was made Sergeant-Major of the 
regiment, then promoted from that grade to 
Lieutenant, and was mustered out at the close 
of three years' service as First Lieutenant of 
Company K. George K. Pardee, another en- 
listed man of the same company, joined the 
regiment in the fall of 1863 on its arrival at 
Oak Hill, after the Cumberland Gap cam- 
paign. After three days' fighting at Chicka- 
saw Bluffs, during which he had behaved with 
conspicuous credit, he was promoted upon the 
recommendation of Col. Sheldon to a lieuten- 
ancy. He was consequently made Adjutant, 
and in the latter part of 1863 received pro- 
motion to a captaincy. He commanded vari- 
ous companies during the temporary absence 
of their officers, and was finally transferred to 
the captaincy of Companv D, which command 
he retained imtil the regiment was mustered 
out of service. Company K lost six men 
killed in battle, and at the breaking-up of the 
regiment in Arkansas, in November, 1861, 
sent twenty-nine of its men who had enlisted 
in 1863, to join the Ninety-Sixth Ohio In- 
fantry." 

The Forty-Second was organized at Camp 



308 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



Cliase, in S'ptiiiiher, 18G1. Being fully com- 
pleted and equipped it took the field on the 
15th of December. Its first service was in 
Eastern Kentucky, where it operated against 
Gen. Humphrey Marshall. On the lOlhof 
January, 186'^, a lively skirmish was iiad with 
the encmj' at Miildlc Creek, in which Maj. 
Pardee, with 400 of the Forty-Second took 
an active part. The arduous duti(?s of the 
campaign in Eastern Kentucky, the exceed- 
ingly disagreeable weather, and the want 
of supplies, were disastrous to the health 
of the regiment, and some eighty-five died of 
disease. It was brigaded at Cumberland Ford 
with the Sixtcentli Ohio, the Fourteenth and 
Twenty-Second Kcntiu-ky, Col. Jolui F. De 
Courcey, (Sixteenth Ohio) commanding. In 
the skirmishing, and the retreat before Kirby 
Smith, the Forty-Second suffered severely 
from a lack of suitable s ipplies, and of water. 
On the long, weary march from Cund)erland 
Gaj) to the Ohio River, the regiment, acting 
as rear guard, lost but one man. At Portland, 
Jackson Co., Oiiio, it received clothing and 
other necessary equipage, and on the 21st of 
0._-tober it proceeded to Gulli]3olis, thence up 
the Kanawha ami into Virginia. It returned 
to the Ohio in Novcml)er, and embarked for 
Cinciiniati, and from there it proceeded to 
Memphis. Gen. Morgan's Division to which 
the Forty-Second belonged, was liere re-or- 
ganized, and designated the '-Ninth Division, 
Tiiirteenth Army Corj)s." 

In December the regiment with oilier troops 
under Gen. Sherman embarke;! at MMiiphis 
and proceeded to the Yazoo River Country. 
During some hot fighting which folhiwed 
around Vicksburg, iIk? F(>rty-S:;cond was ac- 
tively engaged, and lost several men killed 
and wounded. In January, 18G3, the regi- 
ment, witli its division, wenton the expi-dition 
to .\rkansns, and was engaged iti the assault 
on Fortllytidmin, in which it led the advaiic?. 
A few days aft.-r the f.ill of Fort Ilvndm in 



the troops returned, and went to MiUiken's 
B nd, where preparations were made for the 
coming campaign. The Ninth Division, to 
which the Forty- Second belonged, took the 
advance in the movement toward the rear of 
Vicksburg, and in all the fighting and skir- 
mishing around that rebel stronghold, the 
Forty-Second bore an honorable part; partic- 
ularly in the action on the 22d of May it lost 
heavily. After Vicksburg had fallen, the reg- 
iment marched to Jackson and assisted in the 
reduction of that place. Its next service was 
in Louisiana, where it went in August, partic- 
ipating in all the skirmishing, marching and 
scouting of the Louisiana Campaign of the 
latter part of 18G3, wintering at Plaqiiemine, 
La. In March, 1864, it moved to Baton 
Rouge, wiiere it was detailed as Provost 
Guard for the city. During the summer the 
Forly-Secoiid was attached to the First Bri- 
gade, Third Division, Nineteenth Corps. Soon 
after a test drill was held in the Nineteenth 
Corjis, and Company E, of the Forty-Second, 
carried off the first )irize. The regiment en- 
gaged in several ex])editions, but had little 
more hard fightinrr. On the 15th of Septem- 
ber, Coni]Kinies A, B, C and D were ordered 
to Camp Chase, where thej' were mustered 
out on the 30th. Companies E and F were 
mustered ovit on the 25th of November, and 
the other four companies I^ocember 2, 18G4. 
One hundred men remained, whose term of 
service had not expired, and they were organ- 
ized into a coni])any and transferred to the 
Ninety-Sixth Ohio. The regiment partici- 
pated in eleven battles, in which it lost one 
officer and twenty men killed, and eighteen 
officrs and '.i'io men wounded. 

To the FortyiFifth Infantry Logan County 
furnished more men than to any other one 
regiment during the war. Three wIkjIc com- 
panies — C, D, and E — were mainly recruited 
in this county, while some of the other 
companies contained T,ogan County men. 



^ 



^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



309 



Company C, when mustered in was officered as 
follows: James D. Stover, Captain; W. G. 
Franklin, First Lieutenant, and William Mc- 
Betli, Secoi d Lieutenant. Capt. Stover was 
honorably discharged July 20, 1864; Lieut. 
Franklin was promoted to Captain, November 
27, 1862, and to Major, June 16, 1865, but 
was mustered out as Captain ; Second Lieut. 
McBeth was promoted to First Lieutenant, 
October 24, 1862, and to ("aptain, February 1, 
1864, but mustered out as First Lieutenant; 
Samuel E. Allman, was promoted to Second 
Lieutenant, November 16, 1862, to First 
Lieutenant, February 1, 1864, and resigned 
September 15, 1864. 

Company D was originally officered as fol- 
lows, viz : Robert Dow, Captain; Adam R. 
Eglin, First Lieutenant, and William Gee, 
Second Lieutenant. Capt. Dow resigned Oc- 
tober 24, 1862; Lieut. Eglin was promoted to 
Captain, and as such mustered out with the 
regiment. Stephen L. Dow was promoted 
to Second Lieutenant, but was mustered out 
with the regiment as Sergeant. 

Company E organized with the following 
officers: Lewis Taylor, Captain; John M. 
HoUoway, First Lieutenant, and Josejsh R. 
Smith, Second Lieutenant. Capt. Taylor was 
honorably discharsed January 4, 1865; Lieut. 
Holloway resigned November 20, 1862; Lieut. 
Smith was promoted to First Lieutenant No- 
vember 16, 1862; to Captain, July 13, 1864, 
and assigned to the command of Company B, 
and in that capacity was mustered out with 
the regiment. A. A. Stewart, of Company E, 
was promoted to Second Lieutenant April 16, 
1863; to First Lieutenant, July 13, 1864, and 
resigned July 24, 1865. J. H. James was pro- 
moted to Second, and then to First Lieuten- 
ant and mustered out as Regimental Quarter- 
master. Alonzo Grafton was promoted to 
Second Lieutenant and mustered out as Ser- 
geant. 

The Forty-Fifth Infantry was organized at 



Camp Chase, in August, 1863, and was mus- 
tered into the United States service on the 
19th of the same month. The following- 
genial sketch of the movements of the regi- 
ment was written by Col. Humphreys, in com- 
mand at the time it was mustered, and with 
it during its whole term of service : 

" The regiment left Camp Chase on the 20th 
day of August, crossed the Ohio River into 
Kentucky, and became part of the Army of 
the Ohio, under command of Gen. Wright. 
When Gens. Bragg and Kirby Smith invaded 
Kentucky, the first duty of the Forty-Fifth 
was guarding the Kentucky Central Railroad; 
after that it went into camp at Lexington, 
Ky., and was placed in the brigade of Gen. 
Green Clay Smith, (Gen. Gilmore's Division). 
Early in the winter of 1803, the regiment was 
mustered, and took an active p<irt in the 
campaign in Kentucky during that sprinrj and 
summer, participating in the battles of Dut- 
ton's Hill, Monticello and at Captain West's. 
When Gen. Morgan made his raid through 
Indiana and Ohio, the Forty-Fifth, forming a 
part of Col. Wolford's Brigade of Mounted 
Infantry and Cavalry, followed him from 
Jamestown, Ky., and took part in the engage- 
ment at Buffington's Island and Cheshire, 
where most of Morgan's army surrendered. 
The command was pushed back to Kentucky, 
as that State had been invaded by the rebel 
Gen. Scott. In the fall of 1863 Gen. Burn- 
side entered East Tennessee, and on that cam- 
paign the Forty-Fifth formed for a time a part 
of Col. Byrd's brigade. Gen. Carter's divi- 
sion, but soon after entering Tennessee, was 
transferred back to Wolford's brigade, and 
while stationed at Philadelphia, the brigade 
was surrounded by a large force of the enemy. 
The command cut its way out, but lost many 
men, killed, wounded and taken prisoner. 
The Forty-Fifth again suffered severely south 
of Knoxville; being for the time dismounted, 
they were attacked by a large Cavalry force, 



- j 



310 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



and man}'- of the regiment came up missing. 
* * * A few days later the division 
commanded by Gen. Saunders was covering 
the retreat of Burnside's army from Lenore 
Station toward Knoxville, hard pushed by 
Longstreet. The order was to hold the 
enemy in check as long as possible, so as to 
complete the defenses of Knoxville. The 
National troops took position on a hill south 
of the town, where the enemy in force charged 
them, mortally wounding Gen. Saunders and 
Lieut. Feams, the latter of Company G, of 
the Forty-Fifth. During the siege of Knox- 
ville, the regiment occupied a position south 
of Holston River, and when the siege was 
raised by Sherman's advance, it followed the 
retreating rebels toward Virginia. 

" In the spring of 1804 the regiment was dis- 
mounted, and ordered to join Sherman at Dal- 
ton, Ga., and was then assigned to the First Bri- 
gade, Second Division, Twenty-Third Army 
Corps. It participated in the battle of Resaca, 
where it sufl'ered severely. About the 1st of July 
it was transferred to the Fourth Army Corps, 
and served with that body until the close of 
the war. It participated in the battle of Ken- 
nesaw Mountain, and all the battles from that 
time until the fall of Atlanta. It came back 
with Gen. Thomas and took jiart in the hard- 
fought battle of Franklin, Tenn., where the 
whole of Hood's arinj- was hurled against the 
Fourth and Twenty-Third Coq)S. This, con- 
sidering the number of men engaged, was one 
of the most terrific battles of the war. The 
Forty-Fifth was in the two days' fighting in 
front of Nashville, when Thomas' army com- 
pletely routed the enemy. After following 
Hood's army (or what was left of it) across 
the Tennessee River, the regiment went into 
camp at liuntsvillc, Ala., and just before the 
surrender of Lee it, with tbo Fourth Corps, 
was orilere<l to Bull's Gap, in East Tennessee, 
near the Virginia line, and was there when 
the surrender took place. The regiment re- 



turned to Nashville from Bull's Gap, and was 
there mustered out of the service on the 12th 
of June, 18G5, the war having closed." 

The Fifty-Fourth Infantry drew a compa- 
ny from Logan County. Company H was 
mostly from this county, while other compa- 
nies of the regiment also contained men from 
the same locality, as well as several officers. 
Companies E and H were consolidated, and 
afterward known as Company E. It was 
originally officered as follows : W. D. Starr, 
Captain; Samuel Starr, First Lieutenant, and 
J. H. Snyder, Second Lieutenant. Capt. Starr 
died June 5, 1SG2; First Lieut. Starr re- 
signed on account of ill health, came home, 
and recovering his health went into the One 
Hundred and Twenty-Eighth, as Captain of 
Company H, and served with it until mus- 
tered out. Second Lieut. Snyder was pro- 
moted to First Lieutenant, and to Captain, 
March 3, 18G4, and was mustered out with 
the regiment. Capt. Ashmead, who went 
out originally as Captain of Company — , went 
with this regiment as Second Lieutenant of 
Company C, and was afterward promoted to 
Captain and transferred to another company-. 
John F. Cutler was made Second Lieutenant 
of Company E, August 10, 18G2, and promoted 
to First Lieutenant November 27, 18G3. 

The material composing the Fifty-Fourth 
Regiment was from Allen, Auglaize, Butler, 
Cuyahoga, Greene, Hamilton, Logan and Pre- 
ble Counties. The regiment went into the 
field on the 17th of Februarj^, 1862, with an 
agrrrcgatc of 8.j0 men. It reached Paducah, 
Ky., on the 20th, and was assigned to a bri- 
gade in the division commanded by Gen. 
Sherman. On the Gth of March the command 
ascended the Tennessee River, to Pittsburg 
Landing, and encamped near Shiloli Church. 
The regiment took part in the battles of the 
0th and 7th of A)>ril, and in the two days' 
fitrlitinT lost 198 men, killed, wounded and 
missing. On the 29th of April it moved in the 



"Icli 



^|V* 



^1 



>> 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



311 



army against Corinth, participating in all tbe 
fighting, and when the place was evacuated, 
was the first organized body of troops to enter 
the town. After several short expeditions it 
accompanied Gen. Sherman to Chickasaw 
Bayou, and was in the engagements of Decem- 
ber 38 and 29, in which it lost twenty men, kill- 
ed and wounded. It was next at the capture of 
Arkansas Post, after which it proceeded to 
Young's Point, La., and was employed in dig- 
ging a canal,and other demonstrations connect- 
ed with the siege of Vicksburg. On the 6th of 
May, 1863, it began its maich to the rear of 
Vicksburg, by way of Grand Gulf, and took 
part in the battles of Champion Hills and Big 
Black Bridge. It was engaged in a general 
assault on the enemy's works on the 19th and 
22nd of June, lositia: in the two emraffements 
forty-seven killed and wounded. It was al- 
most continually employed in skirmishing and 
fatigue duty iluring the siege of Vicksburg, 
and after the fall of that stronghold it moved 
with the army on Jackson, Miss., skirmishing 
constantly from the 9th to the 14th of July. 
In October, 1863, it proceeded with the Fif- 
teenth Army Corps to Memphis, and from 
there moved to Chattanooga. It took part in 
the battle of Missionary Ridge, November 
26th, and the next day moved to the relief of 
Knoxville, after which it returned to Chat- 
tanooga, and on the 12th of January, 1864, it 
went into winter quarters at Larkinsville, Ala. 
The Fifty- Fourth re-enlisted as veterans on 
the 22nd of January, and went home to Ohio 
on furlough. It returned to camp in April 
with 200 recruits, and entered on the Atlanta 
campaign on the first of May. It took part 
in the battles of Resaca and Dallas, and was 
also in a skirmish at New Hope Church on 
the 7th of June. In the assault on Kennesaw 
Mountain, June 27, it lost twenty-eight men 
killed and wounded. On the 3d of July, in a 
skirmish at Nicojack Creek, it lost thirteen 
killed and wounded, and in a battle on the 



east side of Atlanta, July 21 and 22, it lost 
ninety-four, killed, wounded and missing. It 
lost eight men killed and wounded at Ezra 
Chapel on the 28tli, and from the 29th of July 
to the 27th of August it was almost continu- 
ally engaged in skirmisliing before the works 
at Atlanta. It was in a heavy skirmish at 
Jonesboro, August 30, and in a general action 
at the same place two days immediately fol- 
lowing. 

On the loth of November the Fifty-Fourth 
started with Sherman on his famous " March 
to the Sea," and was engaged in the assault 
on Fort McAllister, near Savannah. The reg- 
iment assist(>d in the destruction of the Gulf 
Railroad, and on the 7th of January, 1865, 
marched into Savannah. It moved with the 
army through the Carolinas, and participated 
in its last battle at Bentonville, May 21, 1865. 
The war was now virtually over, and the reg- 
iment marched to Richmond, the Confederate 
capital, and from there to Washington, where 
it took part in the grand review. On the 2d 
of June it proceeded to Louisville, Ky., where 
it remained two weeks, when it was ordered 
to Arkansas. It performed garrison duty at 
Little Rock until August 15th, when it was 
mustered out of the service. 

The aggregate strength of the regiment at 
its muster out was 255 — twenty-four officers 
and 231 men. It marched during its term of 
service a distance of 3,682 miles, participated 
in four sieges, nine severe skirmishes, fifteen 
general engagements, and sustained a loss of 
506 men killed, wounded and missing. 

The Fifty-Seventh Infantry, Gen. A. V. 
Rice's old regiment, was the next in which 
Logan County was represented. Comjaany K 
was mostly from this county, and its original 
officers were Daniel N. Strayer, Captain ; John 
A. Smith, First Lieutenant, and George Ber- 
gher, Second Lieutenant. Capt. Stray- 
er was mustered out in August, 1862. 
First Lieut. Smith was promoted to Captain, 



til 



>^. 



312 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



August 19, 18C2, and in that capacity mus- 
tered out with the regiment. John A. Plumb 
was promoted to Second Licutciiatit, August 
3, 1SG3, assigned to Company E, and was 
killed at the battle of Resaca. Stephen H. 
Carey was promoted to Second Lieutenant, 
September 11, 1802; to First Lieutenant, 
May 9, 1862, and was honorably discharged 
December 2, 18(j4. 

The Fifty-Seventh left Camp Chase on the 
ISth of Feliruary, 1802, under orders to report 
at Fort Donelson, but the order was subse- 
quently changed, and it reported at Paducah, 
Ky., instead. It left Paducah on the 8th of 
March, and was engaged in scouting most of 
tlie time until the battle of Pittsburg Land- 
ing. It was engaged nearly the entire day of 
the 6th; lay on its arms all night in a drench- 
ing rain, and at daylight the next morning 
again went into action. It was engaged dur- 
ing the second day, and again laid on its arms 
through a night of rain. In both battles the 
regiment lost twenty-seven killed and 150 
wounded (sixteen mortally) and ten captured. 
On the 20th of A])ril the army commenced its 
advance on Corinth, and the Fifty-Seventh was 
assigned to the First Brigade of the Fifth Di- 
vision. From the beginning of the advance, 
until Corinth was evacuated by the en- 
emy, the regiment was day and night 
marching, picketing, skirmishing, or building 
breastworks. It was engaged most of the 
summer in scouting in Tennessee and Missis- 
Ri|)pi, and skirmishing. AVhiie at Memphis, 
in December, the regiment received 118 vol- 
unteers and 20") drafted men, making its a"-- 
gregate force 605 men. It s<Mm after went 
down the river with the Fifteenth Corps, 
reaching Young's Point, La., on the 26th of 
Deci'Miljcr. From here it jjroceeded to Chick- 
asaw liayon, where itt<K)kpart in the engage- 
ment, losing thirty-seven men killed and 
wounded. The next battle in which the Fif- 
ty-Seventh participated was the capture of 



Arkansas Post. It was actively engaged here 
and lost heavily. 

In January, 1863, the forces of which the 
Fifty-Seventh was a jsart, moved toward 
Vicksburg, where the regiment spent some 
time at work upon the canal. It was en- 
gaged, when not at work on the canal, in 
scouting, until the battles of Raymond, Cham- 
pion Hills and Black River, in all of which it 
participated with its accustomed bravery. At 
Champion Hills it suffered severely. In the 
fighting around Vicksburg it was almost con- 
tinually engaged, and during the siege lost 
many men killed and wounded. After the 
fall of Vicksburg the regiment was sent on 
several scouting expeditions, and on the 8th 
of October marched to Chattanooga as a part 
of the First Brigade, Second Division, Fif- 
teenth Corps. It took part in the battle of 
Mission Ridge, with heavy loss. On the 29th 
of November it started to the relief of Burn- 
side at Knoxville, but upon its arrival, Long- 
street raised the siege and retired into Vir- 
ginia, and the Fifty-Seventh returned to 
Chattanooga. On the 19th it was again on 
the march, and on the 20th it arrived at 
Bellefonte, Ala. By this time the regiment 
was almost exhausted by fatigue, privation, 
hunirer and exposure. The men were hatless, 
shoeless, and half naked; yet notwithstand- 
ing all this, the regiment re-enlisted on the 
1st of January, 1864, being the first regiment 
to re-enlist in the Fifteenth Army Corps. 

On the 4th of Fel)ruary it started home on 
veteran furlough, and on tlie 16lh of March, 
with 207 recruits, rendezvoused at Camp 
Chase. It left at once for Nashville, where it 
arrived on the 29th, and was detained there 
until April 4, when it left, and proceeded 
to Larkinsville, Ala., and joined its old brig- 
ade on the 17th. On the first of May it start- 
ed on the Atlanta cam|)aign, and took part 
in the battle of Resaca on the 13th and 14th 
of May. On the 1st of June it participated 



^t 



,k 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COrXTY. 



313 



in the engagement at New Hope Church, 
with a slight loss. It was engaged in the 
assault on Kennesaw Mountain, losing fif- 
ty-seven men killed and wounded. In the 
fightipg around Atlanta the Fifty-Seventh 
bore its usual part, and lost heavily. On the 
■ith of October it started in pursuit of Gen. 
Hood's army, and on the 15th attacked the 
enemy at Snake Creek Gap. The rebels were 
repulsed, and the regiment followed to Tay- 
lor Ridge, when another fight occurred, and 
the rebels were again defeated. The regi- 
ment accompanied Sherman in his " March to 
the Sea," and participated in all the hard- 
ships of that memorable march. After the 
surrender of Gen. Johnston it proceeded with 
the army, by way of Petersburg and Rich- 
mond, to Washington City, where it partici- 
pated in the grand review on the 24th of May. 
On the 2nd of June it was ordered to Louis- 
ville, Ky., and on the 25th went to Little 
Rock, Ark, where, on the litb of August, it 
was ni ustered out of the United States service. 

The Fifty-Seventh traveled by railroad, 
steamboat and on foot, during its term of ser- 
vice, more than 28,000 miles; the names of 
1,594 men had been on its muster rolls, and 
of that number only 481 were alive at its 
muster out. 

The Sixty-Sixth Infantry contained a com- 
pany from this county, viz: Company D. It 
was recruited by Robert Crockett, who had 
been commissioned as Second Lieutenant. It 
went into the service with the following: com- 
missioned officers: Alvin Clark, Captain; 
Robert Crockett, First Lieutenant, and John 
O. Dye, Second Lieutenant. Capt. Clark 
resigned December 10, 1862; Lieut. Crockett 
resigned May 20, 18G2; Lieut. Dye was pro- 
moted to First Lieutenant, May 24, 1SG2; 
to Captain, November 10, 1862, and resigned 
August 13, 1864. Other promotions in the 
company were men from other counties, and 
their names could not be obtained. 



The Sixty-Sixth was organized under the 
President's second call for troops, and was 
mustered into the service on the 17th of De- 
cember, 1861. On the ITth of January fol- 
lowing it left Camp McArthur, near Urbana, 
for West Virginia, and saw its first active ser- 
vice in the campaign against Romney, under 
Gen. Lander. At Fredericksburg the Sixty- 
Sixth, the Fifth, Seventh and Twenty-Ninth 
Ohio regiments formed the Third Brigade, 
under command of Gen. E. B. Tj-ler. Re- 
maining here but a day, it was ordered to 
countermarch for the relief of Gen. Banks, in 
the Shenandoah Valley, who was threatened 
by Stonewall Jackson. On the morning of 
June 9th, Gen. Tyler's brigade, with two reg- 
iments of the Fourth Brigade, were in line 
awaiting the attack of Gen. Jackson. In this 
fight the Sixty-Sixth took an active part. The 
force under Gen. Tyler, numbering about 
2,700 men, held Gen. Jackson's army in check 
for five hours. In the engagement the Sixty- 
Sixth lost 109 men of the 400 entrao-ed. 

In July, the Sixty-Sixth, with its brigade, 
was ordered to join Gen. Pope. It was re- 
enforced by the Twenty-Eighth Pennsylvania, 
the whole commanded by Gen. Geary. It 
served in the corps of Gen. Banks at Cedar 
Mountain. In this battle one-half of the 
brigade were killed and many wounded. 
The Sixty-Sixth alone lost eighty-seven killed 
and wounded of the 200 engaged. After the 
defeat at Cedar Mountain the regiment moved 
with its corps to Antietam, and was actively 
engaged in that battle. In the battle of 
Chancellorsville it held a position in front of 
Gen. Hooker's headquarters, and the repeated 
attacks made upon it were repelled with cool- 
ness and courage. In the battle of Gettj^s- 
burg it had a position near the right of the 
line, and after the engagement joined in the 
pursuit of Gen. Lee. About this time it was 
sent to New York to quell the riots consequent 
upon the draft in that State. On the 8th of 



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314 



niSTOKY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



September it returned, and, shortly after, with 
Gen. Hooker's army, was transferred to the 
Army of tlie Cumberland, in tlie vicinity of 
Chattanooga. In the battles of Lookout 
Mountain, Ringgold and Mission Ridge the 
Sixty-Si.xth took a prominent part. 

The regiment soon after returned to its 
camp near Chattanooga, where, on the loth 
of December, 18G3, it re-enlisted as veterans, 
and changed into the "Sixty-Sixth Regiment, 
Ohio Veteran Volunteers." It was among 
the first regimentiil organizations to which the 
term " Veteran Volunteers" was applied. Af- 
ter the expiration of its furlough it was sent 
to Bridgeport, Ala., where it remained m 
camp for some time, experiencing little active 
service until the advance on Atlanta. It was 
engaged in the battles of Rocky Face Ridge 
and Resaca, in both of which it acquitted it- 
self with credit. During the fighting around 
Atlanta, tli(> two oj)posing armies lay for eight 
days within a few rods of each other, and 
both liwt heavily in the continuous miiskotry 
anil cannonading. On the night of the 15th 
of June, the Sixty-Sixth, while moving up a 
ravine, was opened upon with grape and can- 
ister, and under a galling fire it moved within 
a hunilrfd fi'et of the enemy's works, where it 
remained until tlie next day, when it was re- 
lieved by a new regiment. At Culp's Farm, 
Kennesaw, Marietta and Peach Tree Creek, 
the regiment bore an honorable part. After 
the capture of Atlanta it was i)laced on duty 
in that city, where it remained until Sherman 
started on his " March to the Sea." It accom- 
panied him on tliat niemorabloi march, partici- 
jiated in the capture of Savannah, and the 
march through the Carolinaa. After the sur- 
render of Gen. Johnston it proceeded to 
Washington by way of Richmond. It was 
j)aid off, and mustered out of the service July 
10, 180."), at Columbus. 

The following is u brief summing up of the 
service of this gallant regiment: It received 



recruits at various times to the number of 370 
(it entered orignally with 850 men), and the 
number of men mustered out at the close of 
the war was 272. It lost in killed 110, and in 
wounded over 350. It served in twelve states, 
marched more than 11,000 miles, and partici- 
pated in eighteen battles. 

The Eighty-Second Infantry was the next 
regiment that drew on Logan County for re- 
cruits. Company E was a Logan County 
company, and left for the field officered as 
follows: Charles Mains, Captain; Samuel B. 
Smith, First Lieutenant, and A. H. Nickell, 
Second Lieutenant. Capt. Mains resigned 
July 23, 1802; First Lieut. Smith was dis- 
charged August 13, 18G2; Second Lieut. 
Nickell was promoted to First Lieutenant 
August 13, 18()2, and resigned October 24, 
1862. Of further promotions in the company 
we have been unable to obtain anj' informa- 
tion. 

The E'ghty-Second was mustered into the 
United States service on the 31st of Decem- 
ber, 18G1, and on the 25th of January left for 
West Virginia. It went into camp near the 
village of Fetterman, where it underwent a 
thorough system of training. Few regiments 
from the State did more hard fighting than 
the Eighty-Second. On the 10th of March it 
was assigned to Gen. Schenck's Command, 
and in the exciting movements about Mon- 
terey, Bull Pasture Mountain, and Franklin, 
it took an active part. On the 8th of Jime 
the army to which it belonged fought the bat- 
tle of Cross Keys, but without serious loss to 
the Eighty-Second. 

In the organization of the Army of Virginia 
the Eighty-Second was assigned to an inde- 
pendent brigiidc under Gen. Milroj'. The 
severe campaigning it had undergone had 
thinned its ranks, and it numbered but 300 
active men. On the 7th of August, Sigel's 
Corps, to which it belonged, moved toward 
Culpepper, and on the following morning 



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HISTORY OF LOGAX COU>TY. 



317 



lialted in the woods south of the village, but 
was too late at Cedar Mountain to participate 
actively in the battle. Duriiig the fighting 
on the Rappahannock it was for ten days 
within hearing and most of the time under 
fire of the enemy's guns. On the 21st and 
22nd, McDowell had severe engagements near 
Gainesville. In the fight of the 22nd, Milrov 
led the advance. The Eighty-Second suifered 
severely. Col. Cantwell, its commander, being 
killed with the word of command upon his 
lips. In the early part of 1863, at the re- 
quest of its Colonel (Robinson) it was relieved 
from duty at headquarters, and ordered to 
report to its division commander. Gen. Schurz. 
Bv him it was designated a battalion of sharo- 
shooters for the division. The next battle in 
which it bore a part was tiiat of Chancellors- 
ville, on the 25th of May. It suffered terribly 
in this fight, there being at the close of the 
engagement, but ISi men with the colors. On 
the 10th of June it moved on the Gettysburg 
Campaign. It went into the battle which 
followed with twenty-two commissioned offi- 
cers and 236 men; of these ninteen offi- 
cers and 147 men were killed, wounded, 
and captured, leaving only three officers and 
eighty-nine men. This little band of heroes 
brought off the colors of the regiment. The 
Eleventh Corps, to which the Eighty-Second 
belonged, was transferred on the 25th of Sep- 
tember to the Army of the Cumberland, then 
commanded by Gen. Hooker. The ne.xt bat- 
tle in which the regiment was engaged was 
that of Mission Ridge. In the December fol- 
lowing it re-enlisted as veterans. Out of 349 
enlisted men present, 321 were mustered in 
as veteran volunteers, and were at once sent 
home on furlough. It returned to the field 
with 200 new recruits, and on the 3rd of March, 
1864, it joined its old brigade at Bridgeport, 
Ala. On the 30th of April the regiment, with 
its brigade and division, started on the Atlan- 
ta Campaign, and bore an active part in most 



of the battles and skirmishes that followed. 
It particularly distinguished itself at Resaca 
and Kennesaw Mountain. After the capture 
of Atlanta, it remained in camp there until the 
15th of November, when it started with Sher- 
man's army to Savannah. 

While the army was at Goldsboro, in April, 
1865, the Eighty-Second and Sixty-First Ohio 
were consolidated, and the new regiment thus 
formed was known as the Eighty-Second. 
On the 10th the troops moved to Raleigh, 
where they remained until after the surrender 
of Gen. Johnston. On the 30th of April the 
corps marched for Washington by wav of 
Richmond, and on the lOtli of May arrived at 
Alexandria. It took part in the grand review 
at Washington on the 24th of JNIay, after 
which it proceeded to Louisville, K\-., where 
it remained until the 25th of July, when it 
was ordered to Columbus, and was there paid 
off and discharged. 

The Ninety-Sixth Infantry drew two com- 
panies from Logan County, viz : Company 
H, and Company I. Company H, was organ- 
ized with W. B. Niven, Captain; J. G. Ham- 
ilton, First Lieutenant, and E. L. Baird, 
Second Lieutenant; Capt. Niven resigned 
April 15, 1863; Lieut. Hamilton was appoint- 
ed Regimental Quartermaster, and Lieut. 
Baird promoted to First Lieutenant, March o, 
1863, and to Captain, July 13, 1864, in which 
position he was mustered out with the rerri- 
ment. Peter Marmon, was promoted from 
Orderly Sergeant to Second Lieutenant on 
the 16th of November, 1864. Consolidation 
prevented further promotion in the company. 

Company I was recruited by W. W. 
Beattie, who was elected Captain; Franklin 
Kendall was First Lieutenant, and W. H. 
Chandler Second Lieutenant. Capt. Beattie 
resigned before leaving camp, and Lieut. 
Kendall was promoted to Captain; Second 
Lieut. Chandler to First Lieutenant, and 
G, W. Kline to Second Lieutenant. Capt. 



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318 



HISTORY OF LOGA>r COUNTY. 



Kendall v.-as honorably discharged August 7, 
18C3, and Lieut. Chandler promoted to Cap- 
tain, which position he filled until mustered 
out with the regiment; Lieut. Kline was pro- 
moted to First Lieutenant, January 22, 1864, 
and afterwards made Quartermaster in a new 
regiment. 

The Ninety-Sixth Regiment was made up 
in the Eighth Congressional District and or- 
ganized at Camp Delaware in August 1862. 
Its officers were men who had seen service and 
were as follows : Joseph W. \"ance, Colonel; 
Albert H. Brown, Lieutenant-Colonel, and 
Charles H. McElroy, Major. The following 
general sketch of the regiment, its movements 
and operations, is by ilaj. McElroy, of Dela- 
ware : 

"A camp was established for this regiment 
on the Fuller farm, one and a half miles south 
of the city, known as Camp Delaware, the 
ground occupied lying between the Columbus 
road and the river. On the 1st day of Sep- 
tember, 1862, the Ninety-Sixth left camp 1,014 
strong for Cincinnati, and on the evening of 
the same day of its arrival there, crossed over 
the river and went into camp at Covington, 
Ky. From that time until the close of the 
war, it was continuously active, and most of 
the time m hard service. In the fall of 1862 
the regiment, in the brigade of Gen. Bur- 
bridge, and under command of flcn. A. J. 
Smith, marched from Covington to l'"almouth, 
thence to Cynthiana, to Paris, to Lexington, 
Nicholasvillc, tiuough Versailles, Frankfort, 
Shelbyvillc to l.ouisvilli;, leaving Covington 
on the 8th of October, and going into camp 
at Louisville on tlie I'lth. From I^ouisvilie it 
procoe<led to Mem|ihis, and on the 27th of 
Deoember, with the forces under conunand of 
Gen. Sherman, left for 'down the river' to 
Chickasaw Bayou; from there it went to 
Fort llyriibnan, or Arkansas Post, where it 
was in tlie left wing, under command of Gen. 
Morgan. Sergt. B. F. High, Joseph K. Wil- 



cox, W. P. Wigton, of Company F, were 
killed here; and Isaac Pace, David Atkinson, 
of Company G, were wounded and soon after- 
ward died. After the battle of Arkansas 
Post, the regiment was at the siege of Vicks- 
burg, where it formed a part of the Thirteenth 
Army Corps; then followed the battle of 
Grand Coteau, La., a desperate struggle 
against fearful odds. After this the regiment 
was sent into Texas on an expedition of short 
duration; returning to Brashear City^, La., it 
entered upon the famous Red River campaign 
under Gen. Banks. The battles of Sabine Cross 
Roads (where Col. Vance was killed). Peach 
Orchard Grove, and Pleasant Hill followed." 

"The regiinent had now, by continual 
losses, become so reduced in numbers that a 
consolidation became necessary, and was 
effected under a general order from Major- 
General Reynolds, commanding the Depart- 
ment of the Gulf. At the request of the offi- 
cers, and as a special honor to the regiment, 
it was consolidated into the Ninety-Sixth Bat- 
talion, and not with any other regiment. This 
was the only instance in that department of 
any such favor being accorded. Soon after this 
the regiment (now the Ninety-Sixth Bat- 
talion) was ordered down the river, and to 
Mobile, and was engaged in the capture of 
Forts Gaines, Morgan, Blakely and Spanish 
Fort, resulting fnially in the oaptvn-e of 
Mobile. The division was under command of 
Col. Landrum, of the Nineteenth Kentucky, 
and formed a ])art of the Thirteenth Corps 
under Gen. Granger. The Ninety-Sixth was 
mustered out at Mobile, and on the 29th of 
July, 1865, was paid olT and discharged at 
Cam|) Cliase. 

" During its service, the resiment marched 
1,683 miles; traveled by rail 517, and by 
water, 7,686; making a total of 9,886 miles, 
exclusive of many short ox])editions in which 
it took part. When the regiment was mus- 
tered out of the United States service at the 



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HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



319 



close of the war, it numbered 427 men, in- 
cludina^ a company transferred to it from the 
Forty-Second Ohio, in November, 186-t, at 
the time the remainder of the Forty-Second 
was mustered out." 

Tlie One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth In- 
fantry was represented by a company from 
this county. The regiment was formed around 
the old " Hoffman Battalion," which con- 
sisted of four companies of men commanded 
by a Lieutenant-Colonel and a Major, and had 
been occupied on guard duty at Johnson's 
Island. In the latter part of December, 18G3, 
six new comj)anies were added to the bat- 
talion, making it a full regiment. The Logan 
Count}' comi)any was designated "H," and 
was commanded by Capt. Samuel Starr, an 
old e.\-officer of the Fifty-Fourth Ohio, who 
served through with the 128tli, and was 
mustered out with the regiment. The 
First Lieutenant was Henry C. Reno, who 
was promoted to Captain, but was mustered 
out as First Lieutenant. 

The 128th was occupied mostly during 
its term of service in duty at the fron- 
tier posts of Sandusky and Johnson's Island, 
and was organized as a regular regiment at 
Camp Taylor, near Cleveland, Ohio, early in 
January, 18G4. The duty of the regiment 
was arduous at Johnson's Island, where at all 
times a large number of Confederate officers 
were confined as prisoners of war, and con- 
sidering the .proximity of the post to Canada, 
where a warm sympathy was felt for the rebel 
cause, the responsibility of the guard was of 
a weighty character. Although their general 
duty was at these posts, yet detachments were 
frequently sent off on duty at other places. 
The regiment was subjected to the most per- 
fect drill and discipline, many of its officers 
having been discharged from the army at an 
earlier period of the war on account of disa- 
bility from wounds or sickness. Soon after 
the surrender of Lee and Johnston the pris- 



oners on the Island became so reduced by 
discharges on parole, that the regiment left the 
Island on the 10th of July, 18G5, and was 
mustered out on the 17th at Camp Chase. 

The One Hundred and Thirty-Second Reg- 
iment of National Guards drew seven of its 
ten companies from Logan Couny. These 
troops were called out in 18G4, by the Presi- 
dent, for three months. The One Hundred 
and Thirty-Second was officered as follows, 
most of the regimental officers being from 
this county: Joel Haines, Colonel (formerly 
Captain in the Seventeenth); John J. Patten, 
Lieutenant-Colonel (formerly Second Lieu- 
tenant in the First); Andrew P. Meng, Major; 
William J. Sullivan, Surgeon. The Logan 
County companies were as follows: Company 
B, W. B. Niven, Captain; E. R. Chaniljer- 
lain. First Lieutenant, and John Seaman, Sec- 
ond Lieutenant. Company C, J. H. Ilarrod, 
Captain; J. L. Clark, First Lieutenant, and 
J. A. Brown, Second Lieutenant, (^omjiany 
E, J. M. Black, Captain; J. \V. Smith, First 
Lieutenant, and Peter Dow, Second Lieuten- 
ant. Company F, J. J. Shriver, Captain; W. 
H. Huston, First Lieutenant, and D. W. Koch, 
Second Lieutenant. Company G, H. B. Pat- 
terson, Captain; L. M. 'Willetts, First Lieu- 
tenant, and J. H. H. Gordon, Second Lieu- 
tenant. Company I, R. B. Porter, Captain; 
W^ L. Brown, First Lieutenant, and James 
Eaton, Second Lieutenant. Company K, 
Spencer W. Garwood, Captain; E. P. Wil- 
liams, First Lieutenant, and A. C. Hum- 
phreys, Second Lieutenant. 

The regiment was mustered in at Camp 
Chase on the 1.5 th of May, 1864, and pro- 
ceeded to Washington City, where it arrived 
on the 24th, and was ordered into camp at 
Fort Albany. On the 30th it reported to 
Gen. A. J. Smith, and was assigned to the 
Third Brigade, Third Division, Eighteenth 
Army Corps. It did duty here until June 11, 
when it proceeded to Bermuda Hundred, 



'h 



320 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



where it was ajraiii put on fatigue and picket 
duty. On the I'^tli of xVugust it proceeded 
to Norfolk, wliere it remained until the 27th, 
when it started for home. It arrived on the 
30th at Columbus, and was mustered out at 
Camp Chase on the 10th of September. 

The foregoing comprises a list of the regi- 
ments that drew organized bodies of men 
from the county, and so far as wo have been 
able to learn, the list is complete. A large 
number of men from Logan county were scat- 
tered through other regiments and commands, 
but no regular companies, aside from those 
mentioned. The Ninth and Twelfth Cavalry, 
one or two regiments of the Regular United 
States Infantry, and the First and Second 
Heavy Artillery, all contained more or less 
recruits from Logan Countj-. The Thirteenth 
Ohio Independent Battery was made u]), or a 
section of it, in this county. The orgiuiiza- 
tion of it, however, was never fully completed, 
and after the battle of Pittsburg Landing the 
members were distriltutod into other batteries 
and the number Tliirleeii dropped. 

The Ladies' Soldiers' Aid Society was one 
of the earliest organizations in the State for 
furnishing comfort and encouragement to the 
men in the field, and delicacies to the sick 
in camp and hospital. This Society found 
a ready response among the ladies of Bellefon- 
taine and Logan County, and an organization, 
in the early part of the war waselVected, which, 
throughout the long and gloomy period of the 
struggle was jjroductivo of great good. An au.\- 
iliary society wasfornu'din Hcllufoiitaieu!, with 
branches in the different townshi])sof the coun- 
ty, which joined heartily in those kind ministra- 
tions of devoted love atid affection, that nerved 
the hearts and upheld the arms of those who 
stood in the front of the fray. And to the 
sick and wounded lying in gloomy hospitals, 
how were tliev cheered and comforted bv the 
reccDlion of kind words and messages from 



the " angels of mercy," as much, perhaps, as 
by the "good things"' that always accompa- 
nied their kindly messages. Their reward 
here is the consciousness of having done a 
noble duty, and 

" Freely let them wear, 
The n-reath which merit wove and planted there, 
Foe though I were, should envy tear it down, 
Myself would labor to replace the crown." 

As we stated in the beginning of this chap- 
ter, Logan County furnished over 2,000 men 
to the armies of the Ll^nion during the war, 
in addition to National guards and "sijuirrel 
hunters." Notwithstanding the alacrity with 
which volunteers came forward, and men en- 
listed, the county was subjected to a draft two 
or three times, but each time for only a small 
number of men to fill up some call still re- 
maining a little short. That the comity was 
drafted was no reproach to the valor of its 
able-bodied men, who were ever ready at the 
call of duty. But calls for troops came so 
fast, that they could not always be filled in 
the limited time by voluntary enlistment. 
The drafts in Logan County were but few, 
and each time for a small number of men. 

In conclusion of this cha])ter, devoted to 
the patriotism of the county, we deem it our 
duty to state that the utmost pains have been 
taken to obtain facts in regard to the organi- 
zations in which the county was represented, 
and to omit none deserving of notice. We 
have, in compiling the sketches of the differ- 
ent regiments, drawn freely on Whitelaw 
Reid's " Ohio in the War." But it contains 
errors, and in order to avoid these we have en- 
deavored to have those who were familiar with 
the operations ami movements of the organiza- 
tions described, look over ami correct exist- 
ing errors. So that we feel free to assert, 
that the history, as it is given, is, in the main, 
I substantially correct. 



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HISTORY OF LOCtAX COUNTY. 



321 






LAKE TOWNSHIP- 



CHAPTER VII.* 

-DESCRTPTIVE— IT.S ORGANIZATIOX— SETTLEMENT— PIONEER INDUSTRIES- 
EARLY PRIVATIONS— SCHOOLS, ETC. 



LOGAN COUNTY was organized in the 
year 1818. Its boundaries were upon 
the north not well defined, and upon the east, 
also, there were points of uncertainty. 

Originally, the county was divided into four 
townships. These townships were represented 
by four oblong square portions of territory, ex- 
tending from the southern limits of the county 
to the northern. These original four town- 
ships of Logan County were called: upon the 
west, Miami; Lake, farther east; Jefferson, 
still farther east; and again, at the extreme 
eastern part of the county, Zane. 

Our business here is with Lake Township. 
The original boundary of Lake Township is 
thus given: " The Township of Lake to com- 
mence at the southeast corner of said Town- 
ship of Miami; thence eastward with the 
county line to the southeast corner of Section 
No. 27, Town. 5, Range 13; thence north to 
the county line; thence west with the 
county line, to the northeast corner of 
Miami Township; thence south to the place 
of beginning." This township received its 
name from a beautiful lake that was within 
its original boundaries. This lake was first 
called '• Blaylock's Lake," afterwards "Spen- 
cer's Lake," from a member of the Spencer 
family who for a time lived upon and owned the 
surrounding land. It is now known as " Silver 
Lake." But the time arrived when the lake 
was to be associated no longer with the 
township to which it had afforded a name. 
It is now in Harrison Township, which was 
taken off of Lake in the year 1832. But the 
disintegration of Lake Township commenced 

* Contributea by Dr. T. L. Wright. 



earlier. In the year 1820, Union Township 
was organized, 18th of April, 1820. Our 
authority says that the County Commissioners, 
upon the petition of a number of the residents 
of the soutiiern part of Lake Township, set off 
the Township of Union, and ordered an elec- 
tion to be held for choosing Township officers. 
In the year 1832, Union was itself divided, 
its eastern border becoming the Township of 
Liberty. Harrison, also, in the year 1832, 
was organized, at the expense of Lake Town- 
ship, from territory being upon the west of 
that township as it now stands. Anterior to 
that — March 5, 1823 — McArthur Township 
was taken off of the northern portion of Lake, 
as Union was previously taken from the 
southern portion. McArthur was itself sub- 
sequently divided; the Township of Richland 
being formed from its most northerly portion. 
Thus Lake Township now remains, in point 
of territorial area, the smallest of the Town- 
ships of Logan County. It is bounded on the 
north by McArthur, on the east by Jefferson, 
on the south by Liberty, and on the west by 
Harrison Townships. 

Lake Township is about two miles wide 
east and west, but extends between six and 
seven miles north and south, and is in shape 
an oblong square. The surface is diversified. 
Upon the whole, it may be described as roil- 
ing. No broken land is to be found, although 
it is in some parts hilly, particularly in the 
northern section. The southern limits of the 
township begin, especially in the southwest- 
ern quarter, to subside into the rich and level 
lands which characterize Union Township 
and Champaign County. 



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322 



HISTORY OF LOG AX COUNTY. 



Tlio soil varies in character accordino; as 
the land is hilly or fiat; but it is all produc- 
tive, no "barren" land existing in Lake 
Township. The uplands are generally of a 
yellowish clay, mixed with more or \vss debris 
of disintegrated limestone, and they are good 
lands for almost any crop, but are peculiarly 
adapted to the production of wheat and kin- 
dred grains. Between the rising lands lie 
rich valleys of varying extent, of dark vege- 
table soil, lying upon and near to grand beds 
of limestone. The soil of these level tracts is 
remarkably well adapted to the production of 
Indian corn, hay, potatoes and other succu- 
lent growths. xVll the soil belonging to this 
township is richly permeated with limestone 
gravel, or limestone sand, giving to it 
strength, durability and permanency. The 
action of the drift era, which left its marks so 
plainly upon the region of country in which 
Lake Township is situated, has enriched the 
surface of those lands, wherever underlaid by 
slate, with this fine lime sediment, so that 
such lauds form no exception to the general 
value and productiveness of the soil. In ad- 
dition to several valuable deposits of magno- 
sian limestone, in Lake and adjoining Town- 
ships, affording excellent material for build- 
ing various structures ri'cpiiring stone and 
lime, there arc a large number of deposits, 
some of them extensive, of tine, clear gravel. 
This material is being utilized in making a 
system of good roads or free turnpikes 
throughout the township, and, indeed, 
throughout the county. Often these depos- 
its are found in ridges, or mound-like eleva- 
tions; but sometimes they lie under level 
fields, whence the gravel may bo taken, after 
stripping off ono or two feet of soil. A very 
great advantage attending the j)resence of 
these gravelly dej)osits is found in their in- 
fluence in equalizing the amount of moisture 
in seasons of drouth, or extreme rnin-fall. 
When an evei--;'; of rnin scalds ;ind rtiins crons 



underlaid with tough and impermeable claj-, 
the water filters down into the gravelly de- 
posits in the region of country now under 
consideration. When, on the other hand, dry, 
hot summers parch the crops in a soil placed 
upon a clayey basis, the same gravelly de- 
jiosits give up their superabundant moisture. 
The clay found in some localities is the yel- 
low aluminum clay. It is considerably pi-r- 
meated with limestone pellets, and is not of 
the best quality for making bricks or tileing, 
although it is used to some extent in the man- 
ufacture of these articles. Several times 
whispered rumors of the discovery of precious 
metals, and especially of silver, have been 
wafted to and fro. " Specimens " have ac- 
tually been exhibited in a confidential way. 
Strict examination has failed thus far to 
materialize any facts. The probable truth is, 
that all such so-called specimens have been 
simple amalgamations and alloys coming 
from the skilful and industrious hands of the 
artisan, whose labors were, chiefly jierfornu'd 
at night, and in out-of-the-way places, and 
whose productions have a marked resemblance 
to the metallic currency of the Anieriean Re- 
public. Counterfeiting was uii(U)ul>tedly one 
of the industries carried on in Lake Town- 
ship in times past, but the business has been 
of so recent a date, and the facts concerning 
it are of so hazy and undefined a character, 
that it would be inexpedient to pretend to fix 
and localize its operations. A considerable 
portion of the surface of this township was 
covered more or less thickly with bowlders 
called " nigger heads," granite rocks, vary- 
ing in weight from several tons to a few 
])oun(ls. To clean the land of these intruders, 
dropped by melting icebergs idly floating 
fnim the frozen regions of the north, was a 
task of no small (liniiiisions. The most suc- 
cessful manner of removing them was first to 
cut a large forked limb from a tree; then cut- 
liiisr llip two branches (iff, four or five feet 



-irf> 



,3 L> 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



from the point of their junction, there re- 
mained a piece of timber, harrow-shaped in 
its outline, or, as it might be called, V shaped. 
In the spring time, while the grovmd was 
slippery and icy, this implement, only five or 
six inches in height, and called a " lizzard," 
was hauled by chains fastened to its closed 
end, alongside of the bowlders in the field. 
By the aid of a lever, the stone was easily 
rolled upon the sliding vehicle and dragged 
away to some place of common deposit. 
These stones laid quite superficially, and they 
are now verv generally cleared away. 

The flora of any country is one index of 
its intrinsic character and value. There are 
so many agencies at work in building up this 
element that it may be determined pretty ac- 
curately from t\\(i flora of a district whether 
these agencies, seen and unseen, are of a bene- 
ficial nature, and whether they are or are not 
of a sufficiently desirable and permanent kind 
to be reliable and worthy of confidence as 
promising continuance. The forests of Lake 
Township were not only diversified in a re- 
markable degree, but they were of peculiar lux- 
uriance. Yet this is no more than might be 
expected, from the sketch already given of the 
character of the soil and of its substratum. 
The larger forest trees were the White Oak and 
Black Oak; the Hickory, of several varieties; 
the Ash, the Beech, commingled with which 
were the Linden, the Walnut and Maple, 
and not infrequently, upon the lower lands, 
the magnificent and towering Elm. These 
were the larger forest trees. From the Maple 
was derived an excellent sugar, and from the 
Linden, aided by various sweet-scented 
shrubs, came, through the laborious industrv 
of the bees, most delicious honey, for the 
bloom of the Linden tree is famous for the pur- 
ity and perfection of its honey-bearing quali- 
ties. To the royal company of these trees, 
not infrequently the Poplar, with its magnifi- 
cent flowers, lent dignity and state. Under- 



neath this great forest anothergrowth of trees, 
scarcely less interesting, sprang up in rich 
profusion. There were the Dogwood, the 
Iron wood, the Haw, and the Plum; together 
with the younger mendsers of the great forest 
giants, gathering strength and size with each 
advancing year. And beneath these again 
were found various vines and bushes, as the 
Grape, the Gooseberry, the Blackberrj', the 
Raspberry, and the Hazel, almost without 
limit; and after these came the wild straw- 
berry, and in many lowlands cranberries were 
found in great abundance. 

The larger trees, with the different aspects 
of their several kinds, with their varying 
shades of green, and form of leaf, afforded a 
most pleasing view as they displayed their 
foliage in the Springtime. In the Autumn, 
the innumerable tints which g-lowed amono-st 
the leaves — red, yellow, brown, purple and 
crimson — gave a charm to forest scenery un- 
known and unappreciable to those who have 
not felt the soft, voluptuous breath of Indian 
Summer. The smaller growth of trees in the 
forest — the Dogwood, Redbud, Haw and Plum 
especially — afforded, by their splendid com- 
bination of coloring, and their intrinsic beauty 
while flowering, a most agreeable and alluring 
appearance. The Wild Grape, Sweet Haw, 
and Sweet-brier lent delicious odors to the 
ambient air, and helped to give character, in 
their way, to the land. But oven here there 
were exceptions. The most beautiful, almost, 
of the Haw tribe of flowering trees, in respect 
to visual appearance, was unpleasant in odor. 
This is a general description of the flora of 
Lake Township, but in practical fact certain 
exjjlanations are proper. In the northern 
portion of the township, the Beech tree pre- 
dominated, with, of course, admixtures of 
Hickory, Oak and Ash, In the middle part of 
the townshi]) a mixture of all the prevailing 
kinds of timber takes place, with here and 
there a predominance of Maple or Sugar trees. 



"^i 



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324 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



enough to form an occasional sugar camp, 
whicli, especially in later times, became a 
limitoil center of sugar production. In tlie 
southern portion of Lake, Oak is the prevail- 
ing forest tree; and this tree is, taking every- 
thing into consideration, the lord of the forest. 
The productions of the ancient forest of 
Lake Township were numerous and import- 
ant. The mast and nuts were the food of 
innumerable squirrels and various kinds of 
birds. They served, also, not only for food 
to man himself, but they offered an abun- 
dance of food for the hogs and sheep of the 
pioneer. Hogs living upon the mast of the 
oak, the hickory and the beech, afforded a 
sweeter and more delicately flavored ham, ac- 
cording to the judgment of Thomas Jefferson, 
than those fattened \ipon corn. At all events, 
the products of the forest yielded an abun- 
dant supply for the swine of the early settler. 
Hogs, after receiving some mark by which 
their ownership could be determined, were 
turned loose in the woods to shift for them- 
selves. Ere long tliey l)ecame so wild and 
fierce that wolves were glad to give them a 
wide berth. Not only were stpiirrels and 
many other animals tit for food brought into 
the country by the ])r()ducts of the native for- 
est, but tiie pleasant shade, the abundant 
water, and the .multitude of small and se- 
cluded jjrairies, luxuriant witli the sweetest 
grass, invited the deer to take uj) its abode. 
The abundance of this species of game, for 
many years after the white man l>ogan to 
spoil the «orks of nature and substitute his 
own, was something wonderful. And Bruin, 
too, not infrequently came for his feast of 
wild grapes and plums, whose superabund- 
ance was incredible. Tlie sweet tooth of the 
black bear, like that of the small boy, did not 
fail of sometimes getting him into trouble, 
either with the bees, whose; treasures he cov- 
eted, or with the sturdy jnoncer, his rival in 
the pursuit of sweets. 



Mention has several times been made of 
plums, grapes, wild apples, and several kinds 
of berries. The plum was of difl'erent de- 
grees of excellence. Sometimes one plum 
orchard,-or "plum thicket," as it was called, 
would iiroduie several grades of fruit. Some 
were small, and. toward the ])it, quite astrin- 
gent; others large, yellow, flecked with red 
spots, and quite sweet and agreeable. These 
plums were, upon the whole, not equal to 
most varieties of the cultivated and improved 
fruit, but they possessed many useful and 
agreeable properties. The same may be said 
of the immense crop of wild grapes. There 
were many varieties of different degrees of 
excellence, but all inferior to the higher quali- 
ties of the inqiroved article. The crab-apple 
was a fruit that at first sight no one would 
think of using, but, cooked with honey, it 
made a most delicious preserve, and was 
highly prized. So, also, of the intensely acid 
gooseberry and cranberry. Honey was very 
abuhdant. The population for a number of 
years was sparse, while the forest range was 
great, and the cabin of the early settler not 
infrequently boasted of a barrel or more of 
wild honey. This was copiously used to pre- 
serve the several varieties of fruit and berries 
that the native forest afforded. 

Li the animal kingdom, or tlie fdidia, as- 
sociated with the ])rimitive forest of Lake 
Township, it must not be supposed there were 
no drawbacks; that everything was perfectly 
serene. Innocence and helplessness, para- 
doxical as it may appear, develop craft and 
savagery, not only amongst the human fami- 
ly, but equally amongst the brute creation. 
The harmless deer invited the presence and 
intensified the viciousness of the wolf and 
|)aiither. Wolves, panthers and wild cats 
abounded, and the smaller pests, as the fox, 
weasel and jiole-cat, wrought sad havoc in th(! 
barn-yard. One of the greatest trials of the 
early settler was brought upon him by the 



\' 



Via- 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



325 



mosquito, a most insignificantly appearing in- 
sect, but one which has caused more wicked 
speech than all the elephants and tigers of 
India. Added to this plague, which was only 
bearable when enveloped in the strangling 
smoke of the " smudge," were the horse-fly, a 
terrible insect, of large proportions, which 
tormented horses and cattle into a state of 
frenzy; and serpents of various species, and 
many other minor pests of great perversity. 
The " smudge" alluded to consisted of thick 
smoke given off by damp chips put upon live 
coals, which was placed in front of the cabin 
door in the summer evening, and sometimes 
within the dwelling itself. The remedy was 
severe, but preferable to the stinging and the 
singing of the assiduous mosquito. Many of 
the destructive vermin of the time atoned in 
some measure for their depredations upon 
chickens, young pigs, &c., with their pelts. 
The skin of the muskrat, fox, coon, and other 
troublesome " varments," as they were called 
in the vernacular of the time, were eagerly 
sought, and brought considerable revenue to 
the trapper. In times a little later than that 
of the true pioneer, the root of the ginseng 
was dug from the hill-sides and traded in the 
local stores for general merchandise. This 
article, commonly called "sang," found a 
ready market in the east, but for what spe- 
cific purpose is not so clear. Several consid- 
erable streams of water traverse Lake Town- 
ship. Upon the north, barely touching the 
township, in one or two springs or fountains, is 
found the source of Cherokee Man's Run, com- 
monly called Cherokee Creek. This is a con- 
siderable stream, belonging more to McArthur 
Township than to Lake. It pursues a tortu- 
ous, northwesterly course, and empties into 
the Miami River, just as it emerges from the 
Lewistown Reservoir. Lower down is the 
Flat Branch of the Buckongchelas. It takes 
its rise in the northeastern portion of the 
Township of Lake, and, taking first a westerly 



and then a southwesterly course, it becomes, 
after receiving important additions in the 
neighborhood of the County Infirmary, the 
Buckongchelas proper. Farther south, and 
about the middle of the township, is found 
Tucker's Run, also a fine stream. It rises in 
Jefferson Township, and, pursuing a south- 
westerly course, joins the Buckongchelas 
about a mile and a quarter below the County 
Infirmary. Tucker's Run and the Flat 
Branch may be regarded as the two forks, 
which, coming together, form the main stream 
known as the Buckongehelas. About three- 
quarters of a mile east of Bellefontaine, are 
the head waters of a large creek, called Blue 
Jacket. The general direction taken by this 
stream is also towards the southwest, and it 
joins Buckongehelas about six miles a little 
southwest of Bellefontaine. At the southern 
extremity of the township, a large stream 
known as McKee's Creek flows through its 
southeast corner. This water enters into the 
Miami River a short distance below DeGraff, 
and below the point where the Buckonge- 
helas enters the same stream. McKee's 
Creek takes the name of Stony Creek in the 
latter portion of its course. It will hence be 
perceived that all the waters of Lake Town- 
ship tend westward, and find their outlets in 
the Miami River. These, with the exception 
of Tucker's Run and Flat Branch, which are 
merely head waters of the Buckongehelas, are 
all valuable streams, affording power for a mul- 
titude of mills of various kinds, but of late 
years chiefly grist mills. 

Cherokee Creek was named from a solitary 
Cherokee Indian, who had, it seems, expa^ 
triated himself from his home in the Souths 
and dwelt upon its banks. Buckongehelas was 
a noted Delaware Indian Chief, and gave his 
name to the stream upon which he lived. Blue 
Jacket's Town once occupied the site of Belle- 
fontaine. Blue Jacket, himself, was a well- 
known Shawnee Chief, who lived, according 






^1 



ft 



^u*. 



326 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



to tradition, upon the southwestern decliv- 
ity of the elevation upon which Bellelbn- 
taino is built. His caliin was a few yards 
nortlieast of the spot whore the C. C. C. & I. 
Round House now stands, and in the im- 
mediate vicinity of several fine springs. 
Blue Jacket was one of the leaders in the 
Indian campaign in the northwest, which re- 
sulted in the defeat of the Indians at the 
battle of " The Fallen Timber," in the year 
1794. The stream whicii crosses the West 
Liberty Pike road, near the Fair Ground, was 
called from him. McKee's Creek is called 
from a white man, who, in company with one 
Elliott, had a trading-post in early times upon 
its banks; this was established and maintained 
to further British interests. Besides these 
streams there arc innumerable sjjring branches 
ruiniing in every direction through the town- 
ship, making Lake Township one of the most 
charming and productive portions of the land, 
which, as a whole, is probably the most lovely 
and desirable the sun shines on. 

It is believed that the first permanent white 
settlor in the present limits of Lake Town- 
ship was John Tuilis. There are others who 
appear to have settled there shortly after. 
Major Tuilis, as he was called, came to Lake 
Township about the year 1800, or a little 
earlier. He emigrated from Kentucky. 
Tuilis entered a quarter section of land, the 
northern line of which corresponds with the 
middle of Columbus street, in Bellofontaine, 
which ran, of course, just north gf the Public 
Square. lie had a family of several children; 
one daughter is now living one mile and a 
half northwest of BuUefontaine, she being 
the wife of John Smith, Esq., of Harrison 
Township. The other children have died, or 
gone to distant parts, anil have tlisappeared 
from the scenes .of their early history. Major 
Tuilis was a man of importance in his day, 
and was one of the proprietors of the town of 
Bellcfontaine. 



Henry Shaw was another of the early pio- 
neers of the Township of Lake. His name 
appears as clerk in the election held in Zanc 
Township in ISOG; but there is reason to be- 
lieve that his residence was at that time a 
little below West Liberty, on Mad River. 
Mr. Shaw next settled on a piece of military 
land in Lake Township, soutiieast of the site 
of Bellcfontaine. Being deprived of his land 
by other claimants, he settled upon a place 
near the location of Hull's Trace, west of the 
Fair Grounds about half a mile. This was 
just before the war of 1812. This gentleman 
left a familj', which is widely reiirosented at 
the present day amongst the respectable 
citizens of Logan County, and elsewhere. 
One of his daughters married Capt. William 
Watson, another married Dr. B. S. Brown, 
and another married Abedncgo Davidson, 
Esq. An early settler in this township was 
William McCloud. This gentleman was born 
in Ireland, but came to this country in his 
youth. Ho married, in Phiiadeljjhia, Elizabeth 
Boswell, a lady of education and refinement, 
the marriage being the end of an elopement. 
McCloud came to Fairfield, Green County, 
Ohio, where he remained several years. Sub- 
sequently he made his way to Zancsfield, 
Logan County. His name appears on the poll 
book above quoted, in IStlG. He came to the 
Township of Lake about 1810, and settled a 
little northwest of Bollofontaine. He was a 
sc(mt under Capt. William .McCuUoch, during 
the war of 1812. McCloud was a groat 
hunter, of fine apjiearance, and excellent 
social qualities. He had a large family, most- 
ly daughters, whose posterity is numerous 
and wide-spread, and of eminent respecta- 
bility. His dccendants are found in Wis- 
consin, Arkansas and California, as well as 
Ohio. He was a man of influence and value 
at the period of time in which he lived. He 
became one of the Associate Judges of tlie 
County Court at a later period. 



't'jsr 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



327 



William Powell was another of the early 
permanent settlers of Lake Township. He 
purchased a tract of land adjoining that of 
Tullis, and situated north of the public square, 
in Bellefontaitie. Powell was originally from 
Pennsylvania. He found his way, with his 
family, to Ohio before the beginning of the 
present century. Our first knowledge of him 
is at North Bend, in Hamilton County, Ohio. 
Here he was employed as a hunter for Gen. 
Wayne's army, a part of which was being re- 
cruited across the Ohio River, in Kentucky. 
He remained in that locality several years. 
We next find him in Salem Township, Cham- 
paign Co., Ohio, not far from Urbana. Here 
he also remained several years. Finally, on 
the 1st of January, 1812, he settled on his 
land in and near the present locality of Belle- 
fontaine. Powell had a family of ten living 
children, three of whom were girls. Sallie 
married Jackson McClure; Nancy married 
Samuel Carter, and Rachel married Jack 
Mays. These were fine women and excellent 
men. In addition to the families enumerated, 
James McPherson, also one of the earliest 
pioneers, had a fine family. One very hand- 
some and intelligent daughter married Daniel 
Workman, a prominent man of his time. The 
McCloud girls married well also. Sallie mar- 
ried the eldest son of William Powell; Let- 
titia married Dr. A. H. Lord; Betsy married 
Isaac Miller, and, after his death, Jacob Krous- 
kop; Eliza married Jonah Seaman, and Maria 
married a man named Handford. There were 
two or three families coming on a little later, 
as that of Maj. Reed and others. 

It will, therefore, be perceived that be- 
tween 1813, the year of the war, and 1820, 
when Bellefontaine was laid out, there was 
good material present and maturing for the 
foundation and superstructure of a good and 
healthy society. For, ignoring altogether the 
temptation to exaggerate the persons and 
things of the past, the fact is, that the people 



above-named would attract attention and 
challenge admiration in any age or country. 
There was not a defective nor an ugly person 
amongst them all. On the contrary, they were 
large, healthy, intelligent and industrious poo- 
ple. The boys in these families were bold and 
honorable, but the girls bore the palm. They 
were really beautiful, honest and wise. And, 
retrospecting from this point of time, the sum 
total of the results of life as it befel to these 
people, it must be confessed that the girls 
have had the best of it. These men and their 
families were the leaders, the brains, and the 
real workers in these old primeval days. But 
it must not be imagined that there was not 
another element at hand, and often trouldo- 
some at that time, as there is at all times in 
society. The verge of civilization was sought 
by outlawed and turbulent persons, who were 
driven from better established communities. 
The horse thief, the counterfeiter, shrewd and 
plausible; the petty pilferer, and uncouth ruf- 
fian were not wanting. The better classes, on 
more occasions than one, were compelled to 
resort to the whip, and to dire threats, in or- 
der to regulate portions of this element. 
Several families settled in different localities 
in the neighborhood, who were suspected, and 
no doubt correctly, of being associated with 
bands of horse thieves and lawless persons of 
various kinds. It was not uncommon to find 
suspicious parties loitering about these places 
without any ostensible business. Such char- 
acters were merely harbored for a time, it was 
believed, in order that they might run off a 
horse or two. For their supjiression, a band 
of citizens was organized, with John Work- 
man for Captain. They would seize the ob- 
noxious i)erson, and, tying him up, whip him 
severely, after which he was suffered to de- 
part, a permission of which the individual sel- 
dom failed to avail himself. 

The records show that in the year 1805 
John Gunn took out a license in Urbana to 



& - 



-*pv 



>?•. 



328 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



keep a house of public entertainment. Ac- 
cordingly, about that time, or shortly after- 
wards, Giinn established a tavern stand at a 
large spring on the farm now owned by Henry 
C. Miller. The location of this tavern was in 
the northeastern part of the present Township 
of Liberty. This spring is about 350 yards 
from the southern limits of Lake Township. 
It is one of the finest springs in Logan Coun- 
ty. Those who have located this tavern and 
spring upon the farm of Henry Taylor are in 
error. Mr. Gunn was a Canadian; his busi- 
ness here was to act as agent for certain hold- 
ers of real estate situated in the neighborhood 
of his establishment. During the prevalence 
of the war of 1812, there was, of course, con- 
siderable stir in the vicinity now under notice, 
for it was in the direct track pursued by the 
American troops, both going to and coming 
from the seat of hostilities on the northern 
frontier. 

It was about this time that it became evi- 
dent that a new (ouiity would soon be organ- 
ized, and it was upon a portion of a tract of 
land for which Gunn was agent that the first 
town in Lake Township was laid out. It was 
called Belleville. An attempt was also made 
to cbristen, by iisage, the nascent county, 
"Belleville County." This little town was 
intended for the future county seat. That it 
was built, if not under the direction, at least 
with the approbation of Gunn, and in the 
interests of his employers, is evident from all 
the circumstances. This seems to be a fair 
account of the rise of Belleville, and the 
reasons for it. The town grew up silently 
during the turmoil of the war. 

The old settlers appear to have no very 
definite idea of the exact date of its origin, 
or of tlie precise moment of its demise. It is 
known, however, that thn first and prob- 
ably the only tavern built in Belleville 
was owned by Edwin Mathews. George 
Krouskop came to this eountrv in 1812 



or 1813, and he worked upon that building 
soon afterwards. It would have been diffi- 
cult to find a worse place for a town in this 
township. Water, for a wonder, was difficult 
to obtain, the wells being deep and the water 
itself of a poor quality. The whole affair was 
a matter of eisrht or ten inferior houses. 
Mathews kept the first public house, and was 
followed by Garwood and Ballard. One 
" Dr." Emanuel Rost, from Cincinnati, a for- 
eigner by birth, kept a small store, containing 
a few groceries and notions. Isaac Miller had 
a saddler shop at the same place. There was 
no blacksmith shop, nor, so far as recollected, 
other place of business in the town. 

Belleville had a rather hard reputation, 
upon the whole, and excepting Gunn's it was 
the only centre of connnon congregation in 
the neighborhood. In its latter days, it was 
the place of holding county court a few times. 
There was a great deal of fighting and quar- 
reling, as well as dog-fighting, race-running 
and other rude pastimes indulged in there. 
This village dwindled away very soon after 
Bellefontaine was laid out. A small frame 
ho\ise belonging to Isaac Miller was haulecl 
bodily to Bellefontaine, and the other build- 
ings were deserted and suffered to decay. 
Belleville was situated about a quarter of a 
mile south, and a little east of the floral hall 
on the county fair grounds. 

There was very little to boast of in the 
way of public roads in the period of time 
anterior to the settlement of Bellefontaine. 
There was but one main road in the Township 
of Lake that was wortliy of the name, pre- 
vious to the organization of the county. 
There were various paths or trails loading from 
one Indian settlement to another. These 
trails were worn deeply by much travel. Some 
traces of them can even yet be discovered, 
especially leading east from the region of 
Gunn's old tavern to Zanesfield. The In- 
dians would ride usually about forty feet 




HISTOKY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



329 



apart in strict Indian file. In this way the 
hindmost Indian would escape the rebound 
of the bending branches of overhanging 
trees, after the foremost rider had thrust 
thorn forward from him. The principal road 
came from Urbana, and passed through tliis 
county in a northerly direction. Cominginto 
the neighbojhood of Lake Township, it crossed 
McKee's Creek a few feet west of the point 
where that stream is spanned by the Cincin- 
nati, Sandusky & Cleveland Railroad bridge. 
It continued almost directly north till it ap- 
proached the western side of the Round 
Prairie. Here it divided. One branch skirted 
the southern and southeastern edge of that 
prairie, and continued in a northeasterly di- 
rection until it reached Gunn's tavern. It 
then made an abrupt turn to the north, a 
little west, to the town of Belleville. 

The other branch of the road continued up 
the western side of the Round Prairie, and, 
after jiursuing a northerly direction nearly, a 
mile, it turned easterly and joined the former 
road in the village of Belleville. The roads 
being united, proceeded noith across the fair 
grounds, crossing the Blue Jacket, at the 
point where Cook's old mill improvement 
stands. After fairly raising the hill, it turned 
to the northwest, following the ridge a few 
j'ards north of Juds^e AVest's house. It con- 
tinued in that direction until it crossed the C. 
C. C. & I. K. R., between the houses of John 
Brunton and John D. Nevin. It then pur- 
sued a northerly course until it reached the 
site of the Irwin stone house; thence it skirted 
the hills until it reached the vicinity of Men- 
ary's Block House, near the buildings on the 
old Beal farm. From tliat point it went a 
little westward to McPherson's Block House, 
now the site of the County Infirmary. 

The military road, cut by the army of Gen. 
Hull, in its advance upon Detroit, passed 
through the southwestern corner of Lake 
Township. "Hull's Trace," as it is called. 



crossed McKee's Creek at the same point that 
the old road did. It kept nearly n(irth, pass- 
ing a little east of William Burkhart's house. 
Continuing in a direction a little west of north, 
it crossed Blue Jacket at the farm of Jacob 
Good; thence pursuing the same course crossed 
the Sidney road near the house of Mr. Dillon; 
thence pursuing a course nearly' identical with 
the former, it arrived at Menary's Block House 
and joined the old road already described. 
From there it pursued a direct course to the 
Block House of .Tames McPherson. 

About the time of the establishment of 
Belleville, three men, foreigners by birth, 
came to the neighborhood ot that town, and 
built a distillery. That establishment was 
situated on Blue Jacket Creek, a little way 
from the railroad bridge crossing that stream. 
It was not very far from the town of Belle- 
ville. Indeed, the merchant, Rost, above 
mentioned, had some interest in the distillery, 
also. These parties came from Cincinnati 
purposely to en<rage in the business of dis- 
tilling. The remains of the dam constructed 
by them can be seen to this da\', a short 
distance west of the railroad bridge. Charles 
O. Walpers, one Stein, and Galar (jjrobably one 
John N. Gluer), were the three parties im- 
mediately engaged in this still-house business. 
Walpers is described as a tall, dark man, with 
brilliant eyes, reticent, and believed to be 
dangerous. Whispers were sometimes heard 
of strangers coming into the range of this 
distillery and never appearing again. One of 
the sons of Anak, Jerry Stansberry, by name, 
who had stranded upon the shores of this 
wilderness, previously to the time under re- 
view, indulged in a little flirtation with the 
muses on the occasion of the establishment of 
the still by Waljiers & Co. One of his flights 
was as follows: 

"There's Charlie 0. Walpers, so quiet and still, 
He thinks he'll get rich by building a mill; 
AVilh his long iiistol shanks, around us he'll pace. 
And he'll cheat the poor devils digging his race." 



^IV 



A 



ft^ 



330 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



. Walpers' mill, grinding corn for the pur- 
pose of stilling, was useful also in grinding 
corn for tho genpnil public. He did not grind 
wbeat. In fact, thore was no wheat raised 
here at tiiat time. This distillery was car- 
ried on bj- different parties for a number of 
3-ears, when, upon the building of other and 
better establishments, it was abandoned. 

The Stansberry above spoken of was one of 
several of the same family. They were power- 
ful men, and were viewed with dislike and sus- 
picion. It was not tliouglit safe for the Regu- 
lators to interfere with them. Notwithstaud- 
iiig this, they were, no doubt, a good deal re- 
strained bj' the presence of that organization. 
They had a habit of clearing their own skirts, 
when any depredation was committed, before 
they were charged with it, which became pro- 
verbial, and it is not uncommon, even now, 
for the older citizens to exclaim, " Oh, no ! it 
wasn't you, Stansberry ! " when they hear a 
person 'isclaiming a knowledge of some 
doubtful transaction with which he isl)elieved 
to be familiar. 

■ One of the first schoolliouses in I-ake Town- 
.•ship was located upon the south line of the 
fair grounds, a little more than a quarter of a 
mile northwest of Belleville. It was built of 
logs. The seats were logs hewn square, or at 
least flat. The fire-place was enormous. 
There was no floor but the ground. Tiie 
chimney was made of sticks and mud. The 
windows were long open spaces cut between 
the logs at a suitable heigiit. These spaces 
were about eight Inches wide from top to bot- 
tom, and several feet in length. On tiie in- 
side, covering them, was ]ia.sted paper that 
had been greased, and it 8cr\-cd for window 
))ani-s. The school was ko])t open in the 
winter time only. It was attended by stu- 
dents from a considerable distance; not only 
the children of Belleville, but the Powells, 
the McClouds, and other settlers in the neigh- 
borhood, wont to it. Scholars came from 



Maj. Reed's place, two miles away, and from 
Hoyt's, a consiileralile distance southwest, and 
even from the Mad River country, three or 
four miles to the eastward. The books used 
were Webster's Spelling Book, for both read- 
ing and spelling; I'iko's Arithtnetie, a geog- 
raphy, and blank pnper for writing exer- 
cises. 

In those days writing pa]ier was not ruled; 
but, by the aid of a ruler and slim pieces of 
iead beaten to a point, reasonably good lines 
were drawn across the blank sheet, upon 
which to trace the words of the copy. The 
cop}', which the pupil was required to follow 
with as much exactitude as possible, was writ- 
ten by the " Master," as he was then called. 
It consisted of " coarse " or fine hand," ac- 
cordingly as the scholar was less or more profi- 
cient. For advanced students, the co]>y em- 
bodied some excellent moral precepts or 
useful truths. The pens were made by 
the master, out of goose-quills; and it was no 
small feat of dexterity to make a good pen. 
The writers frequently wanted their pens 
mended also. S]ielling was especially insisted 
upon, as containing the elements of all learn- 
ing. Spelling matches on Saturday nights 
were common, in which sides would be chosen 
and words given out to each side alternately 
until but a single speller was left who had not 
missed a word. Again, the whole school 
would stand up in line, and would sjiell around 
again and again; every one missing a word 
being counted out, until some solitary urchin 
would remain, the proud victor in the contest. 
There is probably no one living, in his right 
mind, but might also excel in some depart- 
ment of life, if he would, like the young 
speller of olden times, put his whole might 
into the effort. The first teacher was Isaac 
Myers, a bachelor, near fifty years old. He 
was succeeded by George Krouskop, well 
known subsequently as a ])r(iminent and use- 
ful citizen; these were good instructors. 



n'- 



^ 



V 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



331 



There wore no tan-yards in the nei^hbor- 
borliood before the establislimont of the per- 
manent county-seat. Samuel Taylor, who 
lived on King's Creek, would come into the 
settlements two or three times a year, and 
purchase such hides as were for sale. He 
took them home, whore he had some tan vats, 
and there dressed them. Blacksmithing is a 
trade that is almost indispensable to mpdern 
civilized life. There being no towns in the 
present boundaries of Lake Township before 
the rise of Belleville, the blacksmith would be 
apt to locate his business on such roads as 
were most traveled. We tind George Blaylock, 
a blacksmith, pursuing his vocation on the 
bank of Silver Lake, then called Blaylock's 
Lake. This place, it is true, would at this 
time be considered a good deal out of the 
way, but at that period the beauty of the 
Lake and surrounding country were elements 
which afforded reasonable promise of early 
sottieinonts in that locality. The fact is, that 
Hull's Trace, and the movement of war mate- 
rial from Url)ana through a region consider- 
ably to the eastward of the Lake, fixed the 
first permanent families along the line of that 
movement; and whatever natural features the 
Lake might possess of an inviting nature, 
were overshadowed by the stern exigencies 
and facts of actual war. And so it has ever 
been; war makes boundaries, not to hamhits 
and villages only, but to nations and empires; 
and so it ever will be. Besides Blaylock, a 
man named Samuel Tidd carried on the busi- 
ness of blaoksmithing, on a ifarm in Harrison 
Township, adjoining that now owned by 
Thomas McAra, and on the northeastern 
boundary of it. A road from the southeast, 
from Belleville and below, ran near his shop, 
in -the direction of McPherson's block-house. 
These appear to have been the chief, if not 
the only, blaoksmithing shops near the locality 
of Bellefontaine previous to the founding of 
that town. 



Nothing is more common than to hear the 
old pioneer, when in a certain mood, relate 
the difficulties, hardships, and discomforts of 
his early trials; without it is to hear the same 
pioneer, when in a dlH'erent mood, toll how 
free, how cheerful, and how glorious were the 
da}'S of his early pioneer life. Both of his 
pictures are true. What was pleasant and 
beautiful, was so in excess; and what of life 
there was that was fraught with danoer and 
deprivations, and obstacles to be surmounted, 
was bitter indeed. In a country like this, 
even in its wildest state, there was not so 
much of uncompensated hardship for the hun- 
ter and trapper, considered by himself, pro- 
vided he had good health. But to men with 
families, weakly women and helpless children, 
there wore seasons when, in behalf of his 
family, groat suspense and anxiety fell to his 
lot. H<' could move from danger; he could 
seek supplies and shelter, but his family could 
not. It is unnecessary to go very minutely 
into the details of pioneer family history. It 
is an old story. But a few salient points of 
that life will not be unprofitable subjects of 
notice, both with respect to the men and 
the women. 

Besides his trusty rifle, the principal tools 
the pioneer had to work with were his ax, his 
drawing knife and shaving-horse. To these, 
in a settlement of any extent, would be added 
probably an auger or two, a broad-ax, and an 
implement for splitting out clap-boards. The 
mere enumeration of these things suggest 
their uses. Of course there was very little 
land cleared in the times to which we are now 
confining ourselves. From five to fifteen 
acres of land was about the quantity farmed 
by the husbandman. This was far from occu- 
jiying all his time; his duties were not unre- 
mitting, as are the duties of a farmer of to- 
day. He had leisure, or he could take leisure, 
to hunt and trap, and, to a cotisiderable ex- 
tent, enjoy himself; or, at least, he could do 



^i 



332 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



so, in so far as his farminf^ duties affected liis 
time. He ]ilaiit(>d a small jnitch of corn, an- 
other of llax, a few pumpkins, beans and tur- 
nips; perhaps, later, a little rye to make into 
whiskj- — and that was about all. He spent 
much of his lime in hunting; that business, 
for a considerable period, being his sole re- 
source for meat. Venison and various kinds 
of game, with hominy and corn-bread, were 
his substantials; although the many products 
of the forest, already cntuiierated, added 
greatly to the richness and variety of his 
table. The pastimes of the pioneer were 
fighting, running, wrestling, jumping, shoot- 
ing at a mark, and various feats of strength, 
agility and skill. Many, on public days, got 
drunk, also. After all, these things were 
merely the overflow and escape of a super- 
abundance of spirit, energy, and strength, ac- 
quired and acHiimulated by a life which was 
essentiallj' in the open air, with good appe- 
tites and substantial food. 

The labor of the women was much more 
severe. In addition to the ordinary care and 
watchfulness of the family, the washing, the 
cooking, the women not only made their 
own clothes and garments of the children, but 
they made up their liusband's clothing also. 
If this were all there would be some idea 
presented, perhaps, by which an understand- 
ing of the extent of their work would be 
obtained. But in fact, the women spun, wove, 
bleached, and colored all the cloth that was 
used in the household. Look for a moment 
at the character and extent of this work. 
The flax had to be j)ulled up by tiie roots and 
tied in bunches. Men and women often joined 
in that labor. It had then to be broken, and 
the outer fiber se])arat'jd from the brittle in- 
ner straw. This was done by the men. An 
implement, ralli-d a hatehel, being a piece of 
Ijoard three or four feet long, and seven or 
eight inches wide, into the middle portion of 
which were fastened, in an upright position, a 



multitude of sliarji iron sjiikes about four or 
five inches long. These sjiikes were about 
the size and aj)]iearancc of the iron part of a 
scribing awl. There were about a hundred 
of them occupying a space on the board ten 
or twelve inches long, by five or six inches 
broad. It looked like a huge brush with iron 
bristles from four to six inches long. These 
spikes were placed in the board in a series of 
diagonal rows. The hatehel ])eing firmly 
fixed, small bunches of the dried llax were 
taken in the hands, by the men, and brought 
violently down amongst the spikes, the force 
of the blow being also used to draw the fiiix 
through the spikes towards the person engaged 
in the work. This was repeated until the 
brittle straw inside of the fiber was well 
broken and loosened. After this part of the 
work was done, the rough flax thus olitained 
was held in small (lowing bunches over the 
edge of a l)()ard, or pole; it was then whipped 
down with what looks like a wooden knife 
about eighteen inches or two feet long. By 
this process, which is called scutching, the re- 
maining ]>articles of loose straw that were 
entangled in the flax after hatcheling, were 
thrown down. 

The tow is now given to the women. They 
spin it into vast quantities of linen thread, 
then they weave it, for many pioneer houses 
had looms. Out of this thread is woven cloth 
for pantaloons and shirts for the men, cloth- 
ing for the children, as well as household 
linen. But in many instances a process of 
bleaching precedes the final manufacture. 
The ladies not infrequently would color cer- 
tain portions of their thread to weave into 
stripes for their own frocks. These were 
"•reatlv admired by th(! young gentlemen 
beaux of the period. The main fashion of the 
ladies frock was a very short waist which was 
drawn into a multitude of fine gathers l)y 
moans of a draw string. This was run en- 
tirely around the dress at the waist, drawn 



k 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



335 



tightly and tied behind in an elaborate man- 
ner. The young pioneer, although he might 
fight the prowling savage with a commendable 
degree of courage, and . even enter with en- 
thusiasm into a " scrimmage " with a bear, was, 
to say the truth, often completely humbled 
and abashed in the presence of one of these 
tremendous articles of feminine apparel. For 
winter clothing the wool of the few sheep 
that could be cared for, was "picked" by 
hand at wool pickings. It was carded also 
by hand, with cards made for the purpose. It 
was then spun and woven into cloth. From 
this was made the winter clothing. For the 
children and ladies wool and linen were woven 
together, making linsey-woolsey. This style 
of cloth is generally cotton and wool at this 
day; but originally was linen and woolen 
threads woven together — hence the name — 
" linsey-inooUey." A few of the more ancient 
and prominent pioneers wore buck-skin 
clothes. If they happened to be a close fit, it 
was said there was but one way to get them 
off, if they once got a wetting, and that was 
to wear them oft'. Young ladies and gentle- 
men of this period had the usual amusements 
of early times; such as dancing, various social 
games, and songs, which like the tales of the 
nurserj', seem to have descended, at least some 
of them, from the remotest antiquity. 

In the period of time under review, there 
does not seem to have been within the pres- 
ent limits of Lake Township any stated 
place for religious worship. A meeting was 
called at the house of Samuel Carter to con- 
cert measures to build a house for that pur- 
pose in Belleville. But that was a little 
anterior to the desertion of that town, and 
the project was abandoned. The citizens 
opened their own houses to some extent for 
religious purposes. A very common place of 
resort for holding meetings of a religious 
character was at the house of James Hill, a 
mile west of Bellefontaine. 



The limits prescribed for this article pre- 
cludes a continuation of the kind of descrip- 
tion preceding. The temptation is great 
to produce other facts and incidents. There 
is nothing more interesting or instructive than 
to consider the human being placed in diffi- 
cult and adverse circumstances, striving to 
surmount them. Such a life and such a strife 
develop the latent power of the human mind 
and bring to light phases of character that 
would otherwise never appear. Respecting 
the reminiscences of the cruel and savage war 
of 1813, little can now be said. In the midst 
of dangers and alarms, great actions and grand 
thoughts become common and are looked 
upon as matters of course, and like common 
and usual things they are little noted, and 
pass from memory. Most of the men whose 
names have been mentioired, and many others, 
were variously employed in their country's 
service during that contest. Tiicy were mem- 
bers of a company of scouts who were on the 
alert to detect signs of defection or treacherj"- 
amongst the Indians around them. They 
were also depended upon to perform the 
diflBcult task of penetrating towards the Brit- 
ish frontier, and gathering and transmitting 
information to the authorities. Their homos 
situated here in Lake Township were the first 
places for the sick and wounded and dying 
to receive shelter, when the troops, either in 
bodies or straggling parties, returned from the 
fight. For at that period there were no white 
settlements north of the Greenville Treaty 
Line, only four miles beyond Bellefontaine. 
That country was all Indian territory accord- 
ing to the terms of the treaty at Greenville. 
To give a history of the exploits of the spies 
and scouts residing in this vicinity, during 
the war with Great Britain, would occupy a 
volume; to give a single sketch, or even two 
or three, would be invidious. 

The first election in Lake Township, Logan 
County, was held in Belleville in the year 



r 



il 



=k 



33C 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



1818. It is undorstoed that the township in- 
cluded considerable more territory at that time 
than it does now. Some of the names will be 
recognized as those of persons living in what 
is now Union, Liberty, and Harrison Town- 
ships. The list of the electors is appended 
merely as a matter of record, and is as follows : 
James M. Reed, Isaac Miller, William .lohn- 
ston, John Colvin, John Tucker, .lohn Tullis, 
Sr., "William McKinney, Joseph Gordon, 
James Binley, James McClenaghan, William 
Mcllvain, David Kirkwood, Isaac Southcrland, 
Haines, Thomas Haines, Moses Mcllvain, 
William Carroll, Archibald More, David 
Jones, Henry Shaw, Thomas Newell, James 
Joseph Wilson, William Kirkwood, Samuel 
Shields, Joseph Coddingham, O. C Blalock, 
Levi D. Tharp, Nathaniel Crutcher, William 
Coddingham, Sim- Kansbottom, Joseph 
HaineSj John N. Gluer, Thomas Colvin, 
Daniel Vance, Daniel Purdy, George 
Blaylock, Mitchell Waggoner, John McDon- 
ald, James Wall, George Krouskop, Robeit 
Doty, James Wall, Sr., James Kirkwcod, 
James Bowen, Sylvanus Moorchouse, Josej)h 
Cummins, John Holmes, John Tinnis, John 
Wood, John Ens{>h, James Sargent, John G. 
Mcllvain, James Mcl'herson, William Mc- 
Beth, John Wall, John Newell, David Askren, 
Stephen Iloyt, William More, Robert More, 
^^'iliiam Wall, .Inseph Alexander, John Gunn, 
William Adams, .Sanniel Newell, Samuel Wil- 
son, Jacob Powell, George F. Dunn, Robert 
Newell, Raphael More, Samuel More, Jr., 
John Duiui, Joel Smith, Daniel \Vorknian, 
Sr., Abner Snoddy, Patrick Watson, Jacob 
Foster, James Smith, William McCloud, John 
Lud wick, John Peach, .lohn Naglee, George 
Countncr, Thomas Clark, Christopher llood, 
Robert Porter, John McBotb, Thomas Gar- 
wwkI, IsaaT Myers, Merida Blacock, David. 
McNay, .Tohti Crawford, .John Hall, James 
Lcapi^r, William Gray, John Shelby, Oba- 
diah Howell, Jesse Gale, Hczekiah Wilco,\, 



James Peach, William Powell, Thomas 
Baird, William White, .Justice Edwards, Dan- 
iel M. Brown, William Davis, John Cochren, 
Samuel Carter, Daniel Workman, Martin De- 
Witt, Ransford Hoyt, Alexander McGarvey, 
John More, .Tames Hill, Benjamin Yickers, 
Charles O. Walpers, Abraham Sager, Samuel 
Covington, John Askren, Samuel Hathaway, 
Thomas Thomi)son, Isaac Clemens, Thomas 
Powell, William Davis, David King, Emanuel 
Rost, Ross Thomas, Hugh Newell, Almon 
Hopkins, Jerry Stansberry, .fohn Tullis, Jr., 
Robert Crockett. 

The plat of the town of Bellcfontaine is re- 
corded on page 252, Book "A," of the records 
of Logan county. The record was made on 
the 12th day of August, 1822. This plat con- 
tains upon its margin (and it is so recorded) 
the following document : 

"State of Ohio, Logan County : 

" Personally came before me, an Associate 
Judge in and for said county, Solomon Mc- 
Colloch, director, appointed by the Court of 
Common Pleas of said county, Leonard Iloutz, 
John Tullis, Sr., William Powell, and .lohn 
Tullis, Jr., proprietors, who severally acknow- 
ledge the within town plat to be their act and 
deed, and desire the same to be admitted of 
record. 

"Given under my haiul mid s. al, March 
18th, 1820. 

"N. B. — The lots selected by the director 
on the part of Logan county are all even 
numbers. 

"(Signed) JOHN SHELBY, 

" Associate Judge." 

Thus the matter was settled, and the several 
claims and pretensions of different places re- 
specting the location of the county seat were 
decided. 

It would bo well(>nnugh to stop and iufpiirc 
by wliat authority these proceedings were 
had. Bv an Act of the Legislature of the 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUXTY. 



337 



date of Januarj' 27, 1818, provision was made 
for the appointment of a Commission to locate 
a site for the seat of justice for Logan Coun- 
ty. After considerable hesitation, the ques- 
tion was decided as above. The names of 
the Commission were Richard Hooker, .Tohn 
Hopkins and Solomon Smith. Their report 
was confirmed by the Court of Common Pleas 
sitting in the town of Belleville, on the 29th 
of December, 1819. The date of the 2Sth, 
which has been assigned to this proceeding, 
is erroneous. The land of the original town 
plat amounted to 100 acres. The claim of 
Leonard Houtz to proprietorship seems to 
cover his ownership of the thirty-foot street, 
bounding the town on the west. Powell's 
land reached only to tlie west line of the lots 
in his division, and to get an outlet to these 
lots on the extreme west it was necessary to 
purchase of Houtz as much land as would 
furnish that street. It is said that Mr. Iloutz 
recieived in payment two lots in the limits of 
the town. * 

Running north and south, the streets were 
named as follows: 1st — through the center of 
the town — Cincinnati street, SO feet wide; 
2nd — Mad River street, east of Cincinnati, 60 
feet wide; 3rd — Detroit street, west of Cin- 
cinnati, 60 feet wide; -Ith — Beyond the two 
last-named streets, bounding the town both 
on the east and west, were streets upon the 
corporation line, 30 feet wide.' Running east 

* Such is the commonly received opinion, and such is the account 
piveii by 11 descendant of one of tlte proprietora of the ovisinal 
town ot Bi-l!efontiiino. re^pcctinsr tlie part borne hy Leonarii Ilont/- 
in its f.mndation. Tnvr^tii.Mtion, llowever. discloses a soniewliat 
(iiflen-iit (.tale of t;i«ts. Wlun the orii^nnal platot Ihetiiwn was pro- 
jected, that part of it usnallv credited to Powell, iiiinielv the norlliern 
hall, encro;uIied Weslw.-irdly upon the lands of Honlz. for ut'ont 
\m feet— liy tape meiusure 101 feet. This place'! uiion lloutz 
the nr>rthern half of the western 30 foot Corporation street, 
as well as a portion of the northern 30 foot C'orporatitm street. It 
also, eml^racin^' the northwestern angle of this pl.it, eonlain.-l a 
considerable portion of the graveyard donated to the town. Ihaitz, 
therelore, had reniaininj: lor his available portion ..t tie- town fl. 
strip of land about .seventy feet broad, and extending Ir.ni the south 
lineol the graveyard to (_'olunibus street, a distance of throe lots 
only, lengthwise. Hence we find that the three lots <.xlending from 
t^olunilius street northwardly to the graveyard were owned by Houl/,, 
As tlies.. lilts are only (ilty-Kve feel wide, there would still be a mar- 
gin nmiogtohim. This will account " 

Powell lu lloutz, as meutioued above. 



and west, the streets were the following: 1st 
— through the center of the town — Columbus 
street, SO feet wide ; 2nd — Chillicothe street, 
south of Columbus, GO feet wide; 3id — San- 
dusky street, north of Columbus, 60 feet 
vride; 4th — The same arrangement of the 30 
foot streets upon the northern and southern 
corporation line as there was upon the east- 
em and western. The proprietors of the town 
devoted two squares, or one-fourth blocks, 
namely, the Public Square, for public build- 
ings, and a square at the extreme northwest- 
ern corner of the town plot for a church and 
a graveyard. 

The town of Bellefontaine is situated upon 
grounds generally sinking in a southwesterly 
direction, being the lower portion of an ex- 
tensive tract of land thus trending, for one or 
two miles, north and east. The land upon 
which it rests is underlaid by aii immense bed 
of gravel, and as the village approaches the 
foot of the gentle declivity, upon its southern, 
southwestern and western borders, it is greet- 
ed, as it were, with a surprising number of 
copious and clearsprings of pure water, whicii 
burst from the base of the elevation. From 
these, undoubtedly, the town took its name. 
On the 19th and 20th of March, 1S20, accord- 
ing to the best information attainable, the day 
after the acknowledgment of the instrument 
of contract between the director appointed 
by the court in behalf of the county and the 
proprietors of the town, there was a public 
sale of lots. This sale was for the benefit of 
the countj', and was confined to the lots that 
were donated to it. Powell and Tullis dis- 
posed of their lots at private sale. A number 
of the lots were disposed of at this time, 
although it was many years before either the 
director on behalf of the county, or the other 
proprietors had disposed of all their lost. 



-1,]^ 



338 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



CHAPTER VIII.* 

BEI.LEFONTAIXE— BEGINNINGS OF THE AH LLAGE— ADVANCE OF CIVI.IZATION— BUSINESS TUOS- 

PERITY— GROWTH OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS— SCHOOLS— CilUUCHES 

—BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES. 



THERE were two or three houses standing 
upon the site of Bellefoiitaine before it 
was laid out. A singular genius named Daniel 
Tucker lived near the spring, back of the 
Episcopal Church. He had cleared away two 
or tliree acres of TuUis' land and farmed it. 
Upon one occasion, Tucker rose in the morn- 
ing and found his corn frost-bitten. His basis 
of consolation was very much the same as that 
wiiich solaces many griefs throughout the 
world of sorrow. But Tucker had no more 
gumption than to speak out. " Thank the 
Lord," said he, " if my corn is killed, every- 
body else's corn is killed, too; if I don't get 
any corn, nobody will get any." Tucker had 
ahorse.' On one occasion, a neighbor called 
and requested the loan of the animal. "Sam- 
my," said Tucker, raising his right hand, "if 
my grandfather was to get out of his grave 
and ask for that horse, he shouldn't ride it from 
here to the gate." This man Tucker seems 
to be the "original Jacob Thompson," whose 
exploits on the Darby Ram are so graphically 
set forth in the truthful ballad, "Old Dan 
Tucker." Thomas Haines built a log house 
near the saw-mill before the town was lo- 
cated. Nathaniel Dodge lived in it after 
Haines. 

It is proper to mention that there was a 
schoolhouse built on the back end of the lot 
on wlii(!li the Presl)yterian Church now stanils, 
at a period also previous to the foimding of 
the town. It was simply a log structure, 
similar t<i the one described elsewhere, situ- 
ated in the vicinity of Belleville. The scbool- 

* Conlribulcd by Dr. T. L. Wright. 



house now under notice was, without doubt, 
anterior to the town of Belleville and its 
school building. One of the first teachers in 
it was George F. Dunn, who died in West 
Liberty a few years ago. Some of the earlier 
schoolmasters wore more renowned for zeal 
than knowledge. It was related that one of 
those had occasion to put out to a spelling 
class the word "pigeon." This does not 
appear to be a word possessed of any astonish- 
ing proportions, but it was a serious obstacle 
to the teacher in hand. After a careful con- 
sideration of the case in all its difficulties and 
diversities, the evident conclusion was that as 
p-i-g, with a hard g, spelled pig, it must be 
that piffffon presented a fair average of the 
various claims that could he made respecting 
the proper pronouiiciation of that word as it 
appeared to the natural eye. And it must be 
confessed that the untutored mind, after a few 
disastrous and ignominious defeats in its 
attempt at fathoming the mysteries of the 
spelling and pronounciation of the Englisli 
language, would look with justifiable appre- 
hension upon any new or strange form the 
enemy might take. A conclusion once 
formed, however, the laws of the Medcs and 
Persians were as the yielding willow when 
compared with the adamantine stabilitj' of tiie 
stand taken by the ancient schoolmaster in 
the defence of his opinions on points of 
science. Intrenching himself in the stubborn- 
ness of his conclusion, if not in its righteous- 
ness, our hero boldly holds \ip his head and 
says to the spoiling class, " Piggon." The 
word went around, but the right spelling was 



«> 
^\^ 



4. 



HISTORY OF LOGA?^ COUNTY. 



339 



never once thought of until young Peter 
Powell, who had mentally solved the difficulty, 
after carefully spelling pigeon, also carefully 
and correctly pronounced it ^:)*//eow. The 
light was too sudden and too great for the 
equanimity of the teacher. He made a grab 
at Pete of a hostile nature. Peter, however, 
was on the alert, and, springing backwards 
out of the door, yelled, " Come out here, you 
old Beesicks, and I'll — piggon you." 

One of the earliest, if not the very earliest, 
buildings put up in Beilefontaine, was erected 
by Joseph Gordon. This was a round log 
cabin on the rear of the lot upon which Boyd's 
grocery is placed. A two-story brick build- 
ing now stands upon the spot. Gordon occu- 
pied this house a little while, and then built 
the hewed log house on the corner of Cincin- 
nati and Chillicothe streets, which remains to 
this day, in part, covered within and without 
with dressed boards, and used as a general 
grocery store. While occupying this build- 
ing as a residence, Mr. Gordon made use of his 
first cabin as a stable. He soon parted with 
the second house, for we find Anthony Bal- 
lard occupying it as a place of public enter- 
tainment and resort as early as 1822. Gordon 
then built another log house on the premises 
now occupied by the residence of Mrs. Daw- 
son. This he sold in a few years to Reuben 
Arnold. It might not be inappropriate to say 
here, respecting Joseph Gordon, that he was 
an important local character during the war of 
1812. He was a mail-carrier. He was faith- 
ful, daring and energetic. He sought no 
shelter, but rode and slept in the forest 
swarming with hostile Indians, and carried 
news and information from post to post, and 
from army to army, his life always fluttering 
in his hand from the beffinning: to the end of 
the war. Such was Joe Gordon, a small, 
slim, active man, whom pioneers knew well 
and trusted. 

William Gutheridge was also an early set- 



tler in the new town. He built upon the lot 
now occupied by James Cowman as a resi- 
dence. There was, and is, a good spring near 
the back end of that lot. William Scott 
built a two-story log house on the place where 
the Watson building now stands. He there 
kept the first tavern in town. This he soon 
sold to John Rhodes, of Urbana, who kept 
the first stock of merchandise in Beilefon- 
taine. Nathaniel Dodge kept a public house 
a little north of the Presbyterian Church. It 
is remembered that his sign bore the date 
1822. Dodge was the first shoemaker in 
the new town. The first saddler was said to 
be .lustice Edwards, Martin Shields coming 
later. A man named Chevalier, opened a 
saddler-shop at a very early date. Abner 
Riddle worked as a journeyman in that shop 
as early as 1826. The first carpenter was 
William Powell, and he made all the coiBns 
in the earlier years of the settlement. He 
procured his walnut lumber from Marmon's 
Mill, on Mad River. George Blaylock left 
the banks of the lake, and he, with Tom 
Parkinson, were the first blacksmiths in town. 
Their shop was across the street from the 
Episcopal Church. The first brick-masons 
came from Urbana. A man named Bayles built 
Leonard Houtz's brick house near the town. 
Bayles studied law, and died in Beilefontaine, 
a member of the bar. William Bull's tav- 
ern, also a brick, was built some time before 
1824, by Martin Marmon, a bricklayer from 
Mad River. John Powell was the first tailor 
in Beilefontaine. Tailoring for a time was 
not very profitable. Buckskin suits were not 
cast off at once, and the manufacture of these 
from deer skins, as well as the making-up of 
the butternut-colored homespun, was to some 
extent, the work of the women. Jacob Powell 
carried on the important calling of gunsmith. 
For a time he was compelled to go to 
Kino-'s Creek to have his srun barrels bored. 
Water power was established at that place. 



y* 



til 



340 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



adapted to liis puqjose. After a time lie 
fixed up a mill for himself, a short distance 
southwest of liellofontaine, and got his power 
from a small tributary of Blue Jacket Creek; 
thenceforward he bored out his own gun bar- 
rels at home. Traces of the race can still be 
seen. His business -was good until the In- 
dians wore removed to the West, when it 
declined, and Mr. Powell went to Arkansas. 
The writer has used a rifle manufactured by 
Powell, and it was a good gun. The first 
tan-yard in the new town, was established 
upon the verge of the town plat upon a piece 
of ground that is now bounded by the rail- 
roads approaching from the west and south. 
It is about 150 to 200 yards southwest of the 
point of junction of these roads. This was 
adjoining the southwestern corner of the 
original plat of Bellcfontaine. Jacob Staley 
and Leonard Iloutz were the proprietors. 

Jacob Powell, as well as his brother Peter, 
played the " fiddle " verj' well, and this was no 
trilling accomplishment in jjioneer times. 
People must have seasons and places for 
amusement. The mingling of the young 
ladies and gentle.ncn in the dance, and 
song, and play, was a most agreeable fea- 
ture of the early days of life in Bellefontaine. 

The jjrogress of the new town was for a 
considerable time slow. For many years 
there was very little market for agricultural 
products. Money was scarce, and trading 
was mostly by barter. Farms wore small and 
poorly cultivated. The most important e.\- 
portations were a few hogs and cattle, which 
were purchased and driven to Detroit. The 
little wheat that was raised, was sown broad- 
cast and covered by great branches of trees, 
dragged over the ground in place of harrows. 
The wheat that could be spared was conveyed 
in wagons through the woods, 100 miles to 
the lakes and sold usually for about 50 cents 
jier bushel. Salt, leather and a few necessa- 
ries were brought back. Wagoners would oc- 



casionally, as a great treat, bring back a bolt 
of calico or muslin for their wives. 

Under such circumstances the inducements 
for the advent of new settlers were not very 
great. But every county seat presents a 
chance for political and legal preferment. 
There are also good opportunities for specu- 
lative investments, and even under the most 
unfavorable circumstances there must always 
be in such towns enough inducement for new 
settlers to affect the destiny of the place. 

The old ])i()iieer aspect of society began 
slowly to change. The process at first was al- 
most imperceptible. The giving up of old 
habits was very gradually effected, and the 
introduction of more modern styles of thought 
and life went quietly on. To analyze all 
the elements engaged in a radical change 
in the manners of a people, is a most interest- 
ing and important proceeding. It is r(>gret- 
ted that more space cannot be given to that 
subject here. We will only be piTinittcd to 
notice the causes which at length cTitirely 
abrogated the old and fully established the 
new, in the manners and customs of the in- 
habitants of Bellefontaine. 

These causes may be referred to under 
three heads: 1st. The removal of the primi- 
tive and savage surroundings which created 
and kept in activity certain manners and cus- 
toms that naturally grew out of these environ- 
ments, and which depended upon them for ex- 
istence. 2d. The next element in effecting 
.these changes in the condition of society was 
the inflow of new citizens from various jjoints 
of the compass. Those brought into view and 
into activity other and often more advanced 
habits of social life. 3d. Another element 
in effecting the change in society was the ap- 
pearance of a rising generation of youths of 
both sexes, which were unacquainted with the 
old, and were eager to seek, under the guid- 
ance of suitable instructors, the advantages 
of a better education and a higher refinement 



4= 



i± 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



3-U 



than was compatible with the circumstances 
surroundinn; the earlier pioneers. 

These influences were working, and grad- 
ually crystallizing society into a permanent 
and stable structure far in advance of its 
crude state in ancient times, when, between 
1846 and 1853, the last railroad was finished, 
and not only societ\f, but the material welfare 
of the town and county also, assumed posi- 
tions at one bound abreast of the high civili- 
zation of modern times. 

Concerning the first of the elements above 
alluded to, little needs to be said. The war 
was over. The Indian, as a disturbing ele- 
ment, ceased to exist. The dreadful war- 
whoop was forever stilled. The cabin door 
was no longer barred at night vnth ponderous 
beams of hewn timber to protect its inmates 
from the sudden rush of the wild and blood- 
bloodthirsty foe. Game became scarce; farms 
were enlarged and a little better cultivated; 
the necessities and exigencies of pioneer life 
no longer existed. Its dangers were past, 
and it fell into disuse and decay as the wel- 
come mantle of peace, security and law cov- 
ered all. 

Now the second element in promoting the 
advance in civil society and in refinement be- 
gan to appear. Persons came upon the scene 
who were unacquainted with the life of the 
pioneer and the reasons for it. The}' intro- 
duced other manners and customs and speech. 
In 1823, Henry Snyder came into the town to 
live. Dr. Lord appeared upon the scene in 
1823. He was from Urbana. Robert Patter- 
son came from liicking County with a family 
in 1824. He sohl plows, castings and hard- 
ware. In 1825, Benjamin McClure, an Irish- 
man, came into the village. He taught 
school. The same year, also, came the Rev. 
Joseph Stevenson, from Washington Co., 
Penn. He was a man of learning, a good or- 
gaiMzer, and of excellent executive ability. 
His work had great influence in placing the 



Presbyterian Church upon a firm basis, as well 
as in other directions of value to the commu- 
nity. 

It was in the year 1825 that Logan County 
was visited by a severe tornado. It is well 
enough to fix dates, when possible, with ac- 
curacy. The date of this storm has been 
placed on June 34, 1825, by the author of a 
printed work on the history of Logan County. 
In attempting to verify this date, we have met 
with some diiBculties. One old pioneer — a 
child when the catastrophe occurred — ^wishing 
to be very exact, says it was " just about the 
time the bark began to peel." Another says 
that it occurred when " Mariar was three 
weeks old," etc. John Houtz, who was a 
well-grown youth at the time, and was beside 
his father's house when it was destroyed by 
the storm, is positive that it took' place on the 
18th of May, 1825. This date is also given bv 
a daughter of William Powell, who still sur- 
vives, and whose memory is excellent. These 
two witnesses, coming independent of each 
other, are of undoubted authority, and the 
date given by them is certainly correct. 
Fortunately, the settlements were few and 
the damage done was small compared with 
the violence of the storm. It approached 
Bellefontaine from the direction of Silver 
Lake, demolished the brick house of Leonard 
Houtz, situated outside the northwestern 
limits of the corporation, and, continuing in 
its east-north-east course, it crossed Rush 
Creek Lake, and for thirty miles beyond de- 
stroyed all the timber in its path. It struck 
Bellefontaine at 12 o'clock M. 

Anthony Casad, a lawyer, came from Green 
County in the year 182G. About the year 
1827 or 1828, came William and Jackson 
McClure, good mechanics and intelligent 
men. In 1820, also, came George ShulBcton 
with his family, from Virginia. N. Z. Mc- 
Colloch, who had been here some time pre- 
viously, married one of the ShuiSeton girls. 



v> 



342 



HISTORY OF T.OGAN COUNTY. 



Thomas Coen, a carpenter, also came at an 
early day- Iliram McCartney and Samuel 
Walker, lawyers, were early settlers from 
abroad. Tommy Good, a blacksmith, worked 
where John Canby's store now is. Then 
came Capt. William Watson, a brick-mason, 
and Thomas Armstrong, a merchant. Dr. B. 
S. Brown came in 1828. Ruben B. Arnold 
came from Harrison County in 1829. Gen. I. 
S. Gardner came from Virginia in 1830. 
Gen. Gardner established a store for the sale 
of merchandise. He at once took a promi- 
nent position as a merchant, which he retained 
until ho retired. John W. Marquis came in 
1832 ; he retained a position as a prominent 
business man up to the period of his death. 
Also, in the year 1832, came John B. Miller, 
Abednego Davidson, R. T. and David 
Cook. Johft Miller, the silversmith, came 
in 1834; and also came, in the same j'oar, 
Benjamin Stanton and Walter Slicer. The 
Hubbards came about the same time. Judge 
Lawrence came here in 1841. This is only 
a partial list of citizens who adopted Bclle- 
fontaine as their home in its infancy. Some 
of these gentlemen were mechanics, some 
merchants and some professional men, l)ut all 
of thoin were substantial and useful men, 
guided in their lives by })rineiples of hon- 
esty and industry. 

The merchants usually carried on a general 
merchandise business; that is, they kept 
nearly all classes of goods — groceries, hard- 
ware, dry goods, leather, shoes and provisions. 
Much of the merchandise sold by tliem was 
purchased in Baltimore and brought over the 
mountains in wagons. 

3d. We now come to the consideration of 
the third element, active in producing the 
change in social and domestic life that was 
going on for a series of years, from the time 
of the early pioneer until that generation of 
people ceased to exist. That clement was 
the new generation that came upon the stage 



as the old times passed away. The people we 
have mentioned had families more or less ad- 
vanced in 3'ears. They early applied them- 
selves to procuring good teachers for their 
children. Some of the first of the new class 
of teachers, if we may designate them thus 
distinctively, were Mary Pierce, a relative of 
the future President of the United States, 
Mrs. Mason and John Wheeler. This gentle- 
man seemed to have taken a strong hold upon 
the affections and imaginations of his pujjils. 
He had the faculty of making the road to 
knowledge smooth, and of inspiring tie 
students with a love of knowledge for its 
own sake. Subsequently, Miss Mary Ladd 
taught a select school. Daniel Hopkins was 
another select school-teacher. Tlie distin- 
guished poet. Coats Kinney, taught a high 
school in Bellefontaine at one time. 

It is hardly necessary to say that the 
churches having become organized and per- 
manently established, began to exert upon 
society, both in its older and younger mem- 
bers, a benificent influence. The families of 
the new comers, with their various accom- 
plishments and peculiarities, together with 
the growing children of the older citizens, be- 
ing educated in an entirely new school, be- 
came in their habits of life and modes of 
thought, to saj' nothing of their subjects of 
reflection, very different from the pioneers 
composing a generation then passing away. 

It will bo remembered that the original 
pioneers have all gone to their last repose, 
from thirty to fifty years ago. These were 
the men of the " Golden Fleece" — the " Ar- 
gonauts," whose lives were full of romance 
and adventure. Time has mellowed the as- 
perities of their character, and of their deeds, 
and enveloped them in a haze of purple and 
golden light. The generation of men who 
settled in the limits of Bellefontaine in the 
first fifteen years of its existence, have gone 
only rcnentl}-, or linger yet for a moment to 



^' 



HISTORY OF LOGA:^ COUNTY. 



343 



look their last upon the green fields of time. 
Their children are the business men and 
■women of to-day. Many of the citizens of 
Bellefontaine of the present time, up in mid- 
dle life, some of them, and some past it, be- 
lonof to the new generation of children and 
youths just under consideration. Of them we 
have the Marquises, the Pattersons, the Ste- 
vensons, the Lords, the McCollochs, the 
Gardners, the Davidsons, the Kennedys, the 
Newells, the Cooks, the Arnolds, the Powells, 
the Millers, the Adamses, the Lawrences, the 
Hubbards, the McLaughlins, the Kerrs, and 
many other leading, substantial, and en- 
lightened men and women. 

Between the years 1849 and 1851, ^lessrs. 
James Walker, James Kernan, and Wra. H. 
West, settled in Bellefontaine. These gen- 
tlemen, with the assistance of William Law- 
rence and Benjamin Stanton succeeded in 
wresting entirely the legal practice from the 
hands of lawyers from Urbana and Spring- 
field, who had done a considerable business in 
Bellefontaine from the formation of the 
county. 

From the social and intellectual develop- 
ment of Bellefontaine, it is but a step to the 
consideration of its material advancement. 
Although the progress in intelligence and the 
accomplishments was creditable and steady 
under the influences we have named, the town 
presented up to 1846 rather a poor appear- 
ance. Although it had increased somewhat 
in area as time progressed, the character of 
the improvements were still of an inferior 
quality. The town seemed to have swelled 
rather than to have srrown. The buildino-s 
were very plain; the streets were muddy, and 
the sidewalks unimproved, except in a very 
limited degree. Very much of that improve- 
ment consisted merely in laying down flat 
slabs of limestone, without much attempt at 
symmetry or neat fitting joints. 

As early as 1840 the projected Mad River and 



Lake Erie railroad was a subject of considera- 
tion. Liberal subscriptions were raised in the 
town of Bellefontaine to aid in that enter- 
prise, but the documents are not at hand 
which will disclose specified sums. This road 
was not completed until 1847, but in 
anticipation of its completion, the afi'airs 
of the town began to assume a more 
promising aspect. In 1840 William Rutan 
came to Bellefontaine, and purchased certain 
desirable lots, amongst others the corner lot 
upon which is located the Peoples' National 
Bank. Mr. Rutan was the partner of Abner 
Riddle, who moved his family here in 1848. 
These men at once began improving their 
property. They moved the old buildings from 
the corner to localities farther west, and 
erected a three story brick house, with a front- 
age of fifty-five feet. This they occupied 
partly as a hotel for a time, but finally con- 
verted it entirely into business rooms. 

In 1853 the Bellefontaine & Indianapolis 
Railroad was completed. The town and 
county began to advance rapidly in pros- 
perity. Andrew Gardner and others built 
the Metropolitan Block, and several other 
valuable buildings went up. The surrounding 
country quickly responded to the central im- 
pulse. Warehouses were at the doors of the 
farmer; the wheat market was removed from 
a distance and brought into the neighborhood 
of the husbandman. No longer receiving 
fifty cents a bushel at Perrysburg and De- 
troit, he received one dollar a bushel for wheat 
at home. Brush fences quickly disappeared 
in flame and smoke; land was cleared; new 
fences were made, and old ones improved; 
fields ceased to be shapeless patches; calicoes, 
and even laces and silk, invaded the region 
so long held by home-spun in the cabin of the 
farmer. The cabin itself gave way to a new 
house; prosperity spread like a flying glint of 
sunshine over the whole land, and schools 
and intellectual and artistic improvements 



^1 



?A4 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



drove away the ignorance and loutishness of 
a retired, solitary and laborious life in the 
country. As more acrps were cultivatod, ag- 
ricultural machinery improved and multiplied, 
until the farmer, from being the dependent 
of the town, bejrsrins: a little credit and for- 
bearance, became the lord of the land, owned 
the soil he cultivated, and had money to lend. 

So the affairs of the town and th(! country 
alike were moving satisfactorilji- along. In 
the town business became in a great measure 
settled, classified and systenuitized. The 
stores were no longer magazines of general 
merchandise. Taylor & Chambers and An- 
drew Gardner were dry goods merchants; 
J. N. Allen had a hardware store; others were 
dealing iQ boots and shoes, some in drugs, 
and some in groceries ; and all wore gliding 
swifth' and smoothly on to fortune. 

But there was now impending an unfore- 
seen and terrible calamity. On the night of 
November 1, 18.50, at 10 o'clock, there went 
fonh the crj- of fire. The stable or barn 
behind the llutan building was discovered to 
be in flames. The weather was and had been 
dry; there were no puldic cisterns or fire 
de])artnient; private wells and a little spring 
branch were the main sources of supply for 
extinguishing a hideous conflagration. The 
people worked bard hour after hour; two 
acres were burned over; thirty-one business 
places were destroyed; goods of ever}' de- 
scri])ti()n were piled niion the streets and 
public squares. Happily, no lives were lost. 
The great, proud llutan building went down 
in ruins. ScarlFs row, where the Watson 
IMock now stands, was reduced to ashes. The 
buildings on both sides of West Columbus 
street were burned up; the main buildings 
north of Columbus street, upon the west side 
of Cincirmati street, were also consumed. 
Many other buildings took fire, but were 
e.\tiiigiiislied. The ne.xt day (Sunday) was 
oncj of gloom and despondency. The winter 



was at hand, and no successful effort at resus- 
citation was made; but when spring came, 
and the genial season of renewed life and 
renewed growth came, the elasticity of human 
hope asserted itself, and the process of build- 
ing new and buihling better began. Rutan 
and Riddle led the way. These people had 
amassed some capital by means of honest 
industry and honorable trade. They had lost 
over S'20,000; they held the ownership of 
certain large tracts of land, bought low for 
the purpose of speculating in the rise of 
property. These they sold as best they 
could, and from the proceeds the building 
where the People's National Bank now is, and 
the row of business houses extending west- 
ward to and beyond the alley were built. 
Others followed their example, and enter- 
prises, more or less co-operative, resulted in 
the erection of Allen's Block and the Melo- 
deon building, with a hall for public exhibi- 
tions. Soon after the Watson and Lawrence 
corner and the long row of excellent build- 
ings west of it followed; then came the 
Buckeye Block, the Empire Block, the Tre- 
mont Block, and other valuable blocks of 
buildings. At the present time, there is in 
coiu'se of erection the Opera House Block, 
containing ten of the most elegant business 
rooms of which any town of the grade of 
Bellefontaine can boast. 

By far the greatest individual enterprise 
that has distinguished the citizens of Belle- 
fontaine in the way of building was that of 
Thomas Miltenberger, in the erection of 
th(! hotel bearing his name. The building is 
of the most substantial description, is finished 
in the best style, and contains all mi idem 
improvements. It is 57 feet one way and 130 
the other. It is three stories high, and cost 
in round numbers j>45,000. 

Having thus completed our review of the 
early material development of Bclhffontaine 
and Lake Township, it will be proper to 



^' 






HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



345 



notice several topics which are not essential 
to the narrative in general. We will first give 
a brief account of the several additions that 
have been made to the area of the town at 
various times. Its incorporated limits are so 
extensive, and its external borders so atten- 
uated, that the following enumeration seems 
necessary in the way of explanation. J. S. 
Dawson made an addition to tlie southeast 
part of the town in 18-45. It is proper to say 
that the gentlemen making additions to the 
southern part of the corporate limits were 
public spirited enough to add thirty feet to 
the southern corporation street, making what 
is now Auburn street sixt\' feet wide; while all 
the other old corporate limits remain, as at 
first, thirty feet wide. The single exception 
is in the south-western angle of the old cor- 
poration just south of the Round House. The 
old thirty-foot street remains for the length of 
a single lot only. Gardner's addition was 
made in 1849. Walter Slicer laid of}' an ad- 
dition to the southern part of the town in 
1849. Beddows' addition was made in 1850. 
He made a second addition; this was to the 
south-western portion of the town. McCol- 
loch's addition was made in 1851. Western 
addition was made by Gardner in 1851. Pow- 
ell's first addition to the northern part of 
town was recorded in 1851; he made subse- 
quent additions. Aylesworth made his addi- 
tion on the west in 1851. Stanton laid 
out an addition in 185G. He made subsequent 
additions, this was on the north-east. Julia 
Powell made the trans-depot addition in 1866. 
D. W. Hoge made the East Grove addition 
in 1869. Lawrence made an addition in 1870 
on the west. Rambo's addition was made in 

1871. Howenstine's addition was made in 

1872. Eslie Powers made an addition in 
1878. There were other additions, the re- 
cords of which are not attainable, as: Nel- 
son's addition, McBeth's addition, etc. 

In the year 1871, there was a renumbering | 



-r*- 



of the lots of the whole town. The several 
additions, each comprising a few lots only, 
had made the distinction of lots as numbered, 
difficult. The lots of the entire town, in- 
cluding the additions, were numbered over 
again; so that by consulting a schedule in the 
oflSce of the County Recorder, the old num- 
ber, with the corresponding new number of 
every lot can readily be seen. 

While considering isolated topics con- 
nected with the history of Bellefontaine, 
which are complete in themselves, but which 
are also of importance as associated with that 
history in the abstract, the subject of the Fire 
Department shAuld receive attention. As 
might be expected, soon after the destructive 
fire of Xovember 1, 1856, a movement was 
made toward establishing a fire department. 
The munificent sum of $18.75 was appropriated 
to pay for 150 feet of ladders. In due time 
committees reported on eight fire ladders, but 
they were not painted. It was ordered that 
these ladders be painted a " cheap and dura- 
ble color." Also certain fire-hooks, with coil 
chain attached, were debated upon in council. 
The gross amount of expenditure on behalf 
of the new Fire Department, was in the neigh- 
borhood of 838 or 830. But in order that 
these valuable adjuncts to the extinguish- 
ment of conflagrations should not be lost or 
stolen, it was ordered that a carpenter should 
build a shed behind the court house, for the 
safe keeping of the above named fire extin- 
guishers. The material and work expended 
in the erection of this shed cost 824.24. 

This was a miserable business altogether. 
The much wagging of the sagacious heads of 
members of counil had not yet resulted in 
any phenomenal climax. But the time came 
when it was clear to men of sense that money 
must be expended or there would be no de- 
fense against fire. Accordingly, we find that 
upon March 8, 1858, an order was made that 
" $1,500 be given to the Committee on Fire 



ejv 



tnl 



34G 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUXTY. 



Engine, Hose and Hose Reel," to pay for the 
machines therein described. Tliisenfrinc was 
worked l)y hand, and was, no doubt, a fair 
sample of such machines. But it was very 
hard to move, and very hard also to work. 
There was no paid department, although there 
was a formal organization of a fire conijiany, 
still it was rather up hill work. It was difficult 
to get sufficient force together quickly to move 
the engine, and equally difficult to get enough 
hands to work it readily. Nevertheless, it did 
valuable service on many occasions. There 
was a smaller, and more portable engine in- 
troduced by the youths of the town, that in 
several emergencies, bj- reason of its lightness 
and facility of handling, did e.\ce!lent service 
when the other and stronger engine was not 
available. 

There were also some hook and ladder 
companies, which were, and are yet, most 
valuable auxiliaries to the Fire Department. 
These were independent companies, and, as a 
rule, supported by the citizens, although the 
Town Council would occasionally extend 
some aid. 

In the meantime cisterns were being sunk 
for a supiily of water, in case of fire. On 
the 11th of October, 1858, §34.5 was ordered 
to be paid to J. D. Lindsay for six " town cis- 
terns." There are now twelve town cisterns. 

It became evident, as time passed, that the 
Fire Department was inadequate to the grow- 
ing possibilities requiring its services. After 
much consideration an onlinance was passed, 
December 23, 187r>, purchasing a steam fire 
engine, which, with certain hose, but without 
hose-reel, cost :^4,30a. The reel was, of 
course, bought afterwards. This engine will 
throw three streams at one time, and has 
proven itself to bo reliable. Three horses . 
belong to the Fire Department, two of them go 
with the engine proper and one with thi' liose- 
reel. They arc well trained, and know their 
places and duties. The Fire Department is 



now strictly a " pay" institution. It consists 
of nine men. The Chief gets $100 per an- 
num. Three of the men receive an aggre- 
gate of 11,140 per annum ; the other five 
men, for sleeping in the engine house, receive 
each §20 per annum, making a grand total of 
$1,340 per annum. 

The five men receiving the $20 per annum 
for sleeping in the engine-house also receive 
$1.50 for each run u])on the alarm of fire. 

These sums, together with the necessary 
horse feed, light, fuel, etc., will not fall short 
of $3,000 per annum. This does not include 
repairs. There are attached to the Depart- 
ment two hose reels — one drawn by horse- 
power, the other by hand. There are 1,600 
feet of hose in good repair. From an alarni of 
fire until the, horses are reiidy to fly to the 
scene of disaster, the time does not exceed 
thirty seconds. This is altogether an inqwrt- 
ant and substantial inqirovement on any vol- 
unteer activity, no matter how relialdc. 
Everybody knows that a great thing in fires 
is to be at the scene early; and that great de- 
sideratum is assured by the Fire Dej)artment 
now in existence. The ordinance reorganiz- 
ing the Fire Department and adopting its 
present form was passtnl .January 10, 1879. 

In the year 1851), it was determ»ied to build 
a suitable house for the fire engine and the 
other appurtenances of the Department. Ac- 
cordiiio'lv, bids were received, and finally, on 
December 13, 1859, the house was formally 
accepted, by a committee appointed for that 
pui-])Ose, from the hands of its builders. The 
price paid was $1,335. The room is now 
occupied by the steam fire engine, the old 
hand machine having been sold and taken 
away. 

On the 8th day of August, 185C, the cor- 
poration limits of the town were extended. 
The various additions, made and in prospect, 
to the area of the town, had rendered this 
movement imperative. By the authority of 



n- 






HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



347 



an ordinance, a survey was made, and the new 
limits established. The area of the town 
proper was made to reach one mile and a half 
from east to west, and one mile from north to 
south. The form of the outline was an ob- 
long square, the opposite lines being equal 
and parallel, and the angles right angles. 
The center of the town was not moved, but 
remained the same as at first, namely: the 
crossing of Cincinnati and Columbus streets, 
northwest of the public square. 

The school fund collected in 1870 in Belle- 
fontaine amounted to $7,543.90. The same 
fund collected in 1875 was §7,617.80, while 
the same fund in 1879 was §11,443.74. The 
increase is accounted for by the augmented 
expenses incident to the building of the new 
house for union school purposes in the eastern 
part of the town. The condition of the 
school fund in Bellefontaine on the 31st 
of August, 1879, was as follows : 

Cash on hand 5:10,634 09 

State tax ],6o0 00 

Local tax 11,443 74 

From foreign scholars 78 2'> 

Teachers' salaries 5,GGS 7") 

Superintendent's salary 1,000 00 

Fuel and incidentals 4.4.59 81 

Cash on bonds for school buildings 6,880 00 

The statistics of the property and the expen- 
ses of the schools of Bellefontaine are as fol 
lows: 

Number of schoolhouses, including colored 

school 3 

Number of rooms 16 

Value of school property §30,000 

Number uf teachers 16 

Wages : Ladies, primary department, per 

month §37 

Gentlemen, primary, per month 35 

High school, ladies, per month 45 

" gentlemen, per month 65 

Duration of school per year, in weeks 36 

Number of pupils enrolled, white 903 

" " " colored 73 

Total number of pupils 976 

The number of pupils engaged in the study 
of sciences not included in the common 
school course are: 



In composition 700 

Drawing 712 

Map drawing 102 

U. S. history 113 

Physiology 33 

Physical geography 30 

Book-keeping 14 

Latin 21 

Natural philosophy 14 

Algebra 32 

Geometry 17 

Trigonometry 13 

Cliemistry 14 

Botany 14 

In addition to these, there are classes in 
moral atid mental philosophy, astronomy, 
logic and rhetoric. 

The statistics of Lake Township, not in- 
cluding Bellefontaine, as to school finances 
on the 31st of August, ]879, were as follows: 
Cash on hand, §880.41; State tax, §.321; local 
tax, §029.21; amount paid to teachers, §642; 
fuel and contingent expenses, §137.57. The 
schoolhouses in Lake Towjiship, of course, 
are not many in number. It will be remem- 
bered that the township consists of but a few 
square miles altogether. Exclusive of Belle- 
fontaine, tlie number of school buildings in 
the township is three; the number of school 
rooms, three; number of teachers, three; 
wages, ladies, per month of four weeks, §.')5; 
gentlemen, §40; number of pupils enrolled, 
307; value of school property, §2,500. 

It is due to the citizens of Lake Township 
to say that they contribute scholars to the 
High Schools of Bellefontaine, and that they 
are entitled to the credit of an ambition for a 
high school education. This fact the statis- 
tics of the township does not show. 

In contrast with the above, we present some 
figures derived from the public records, show- 
ing the facts connected with the schools of 
Lake Township in 1801 — the earliest report 
connected with that subject available. It 
should be remembered that this date was sev- 
eral years after the Union School system had 
been in successful operation in Bellefontaine. 
In that year the school funds of Lake 



^ 



f 



34S 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



Township were in the condition following: 

Cash on Jiaml §134 17 

Stale tax 2il4 -.'.C, 

Irrejiicible school fuiul 08 30 

Ueal lax .■... 2(10 00 

Pay of teachers S43 50 

Fuel ami inciilentals 104 59 

Number schoolhouses G 

Number pupils curollcJ 124 

For the same year the school affairs of 
Bellefontaine were reported as follows: 

Cash on haml 51,018 48 

State tax 1,152 ;)G 

Local tax 1,82(1 00 

Pail teachers 3,20:3 30 

Fuel anil inciilentals 605 98 

Number of school rooms 9 

Pupils cnroUcil, inclmlini; colored 808 

Value of school propeity §10,000 

The first Union School building was fin- 
ished in 18.33. It cost, including- the ground 
upon which it stands, between $11,000 and 
$12,000 For a niiinber of years before this 
buildiiiir was erected, the citizens of the town 
had been making efforts to maintain a select 
school, with but partial success, and consider- 
able inconvenience. In addition to names 
already given 'of prominent school-teachers, 
Miss Frizzell taught a school, not onlv "-ivinT 
instructions in the sciences, but in "manners," 
also. The hardest task some of her pupils 
encountered was the "Good evenin"-. Miss 
Rheny Ann," which she compelled hor pupils 
to say w-ith a bow or courtesy upon dismiss- 
ing school at night.. 

In 185-1 the Union School was organized 
and started -with a Superintendent and full 
corps of teachers, and has contiimod to pros- 
piT up to the present time. After twenty 
years, it became apparent that the old school 
building was not sufTicient to accommodate 
tiie children of the growing town. As usual, 
a good deal of talking was indulged in, but 
in 1878 the new school building, situated 
about one ficpiarc east of the old corporation 
litii-, and on Columbus street, was received 
from the hands of its builders. The contract 



price was |i:26,500, but heating apparatus, seats 
and other furniture, grading and improving 
the grounds, putting up an excellent iron 
fence, increiised the expense to about 835,000. 
It is a very hiindsome and commodious struc- 
ture. The seats and desks are of the latest 
and most approved pattern. The building is 
allotted to the primary pupils, in the east half 
of the town, and to the high school students 
of the -whole town, while the old school build- 
ing is set apart for the primary s(-ho!ars of 
the -western half of the town only. One 
Superintendent is employed for the entire 
school department. 

In addition to the two Union School build- 
ings, there is a very good brick structure, of 
sufficient size, set apart for the colored school. 
This de])artinent is instructed by a colored 
teacher, and is a verj- creditable school. It 
embraces not only the subjects of study be- 
lonijing to elementarj' branches, but it has a 
hisrh- school 'ffrade also. 

There are two banks in Bi^llefontaiiie. The 
Peoples' Bank was established in JFareh, 
1854, by Messrs. Riddle, Rutan and Lamb. 
It did a general banking and exchange busi- 
ness, both foreign and domestic, discounting 
paper and receiving deposits for twenty-six 
years. The first da^- of July, 18S0, it was 
re-organized under the name of "The Peo- 
ples' National Bank." Its capital is fil 00,000. 
The officers of the bank are: President, Abner 
Riddle; Cashier, Robert Lamb; I )irectors, A. 
Riddle, R. Lamb, J. M. Riddle, J. M. Dickin- 
son, R. B. Kellar, J. B. Williams. 

Tlio Bellefontaine National ISank opened 
for business April 1, 1871. The officers were: 
President, M'illiain Lawrence; Cashier, .lames 
Leister; Assistant Cashier, Charles McLaugh- 
lin; Directors, William Lawrence, W. V. 
Marquis, J. N. Allen, .1. B. McLaughlin, S. 
W. Goe. Capital, ^100,000. 

There have been a number of mills of 
various kinds established in Lake Township 



^ 



i, 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



349 



at different periods of its history. It may be 
mentioned here that John Horn built a saw- 
mill on Tucker's Run, a little more than a mile 
due north of Bellefontaine, about half a 
century ago. It fell into decay many years 
since, and has entirely disappeared. N. 
McMichael built a steam saw-mill on tiie 
Roberts property, on the Rushsylvania road, 
at about the same time. This was rather 
more than two miles a little east of north 
of Bellefontaine. This mill also long since 
ceased to exist. David Cook and David 
Robb, about the year 1833, built a grist-mill 
on Blue Jacket, the remains of which may 
still be seen a few rods north of the Fair 
Grounds. Another mill in Lake Township, a 
grist-mill, mostly for custom work, is situated 
on Blue Jacket Creek near the point where it 
enters Harrison Township. It is the property 
of D. W. Kay lor. 

Reuben V. Green is the proprietor of the 
oldest existing saw-mill in Lake Township. 
This mill is located in the north-eastern por- 
tion of Bellefontaine, a square beyond the 
original corporation line. It was built in 
1848. It has been greatly improved recently, 
employing from five to eight hands. Its capa- 
city is from five to-eight thousand feet of lum- 
ber per day. It requires 8"2,000 to pay for the 
labor necessary to carry it on per year. C. A, 
Walker established, in 1879, a saw, scroll and 
planing mill in the north-western part of the 
town. This mill employs seventy hands with a 
we^khf expenditure of §1,500. It saws lumber 
and furniture stuff. The market for this class 
of material is found mostly in New York and 
Boston. Fifty horses are employed in hauling 
logs. A great many logs are also brought 
from a distance on the cars. Railroad freights 
against the mill are about §G00 per month 
on the incoming material, and about 81,000 
per month on that which is exported. This 
difference is explained by the local teams 
hauling logs in large quantities from the 



neighboring country. Thirteen acres of land 
are connected with this mill, and about S18,- 
000 invested in it. Two extensive side tracks 
connect this mill with both the railroads. 

There are two planing-mills and lumber- 
yards in the town. That of Thatcher & Dick- 
inson is located between the railroads. In 
the whole business are invested about $13,000, 
and it employs from six to eight hands. The an- 
nual sales amount to from §50,000 to §75.000. 

The lumber-yard and planing-mill of Wil- 
liamson & LeSourd is in the eastern section 
of the town. The proprietors employ nine 
hands at an expense of S80 per week. For 
the six months ending July 1, 1880, the sales 
amounted to §G0,000. Capital, §13,000. 

There is an extensive woolen mill located in 
the town. This mill at the present time is 
engaged exclusively in the manufacture of 
hosiery. Sixteen machines are running on 
this work. The establishment employs fifty 
hands. The expense of running the mill, ex- 
clusive of stock, is in round numbers §700 
per week. Thej- use about §100 worth of 
wool a day. 

Colton Brothers, proprietors of the Belle- 
fontaine steam flouring mill, estimate their 
capital at §25,000. Their mill has five run 
of buhrs. There are eight men employed in 
the establishment. The capacity of the mill 
is 500 barrels of flour per week. 

There are three establishments engaged in 
the carriage manufacturing business. The 
Miller Carriage Company manufactures bodies 
and the other wood work of carriages and 
buggies exclusively. This company employs 
thirty hands. Miller Brothers are the pat- 
entees and proprietors of the "Eureka" car- 
riage body. 

O. S. Goodwin manufactures finished work; 
he employs fourteen hands. Ilis expenses 
are about §550 per month. He turns out 
about fifty finished jobs per annum, at an 
avcraa-e value of §175 each. 



350 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



The establishniftnt of Falte, Green & Co. 
use material to the amount of §5,126 per 
annum. They pay for labor §3,598. Their 
manufactured work is worth about $6,500 per 
annum, and their repair jobs amount to 
§3,500. There are two foundries and three 
machine shops in the limits of the town, one 
in the south-western part of the town — was 
originally established in 1840; another estab- 
lishment is owned by Joseph Humphrey, in 
the northeastern portion of the town. Mr. 
Humphrey is well known as an accommo- 
dating gentleman and an ingenious machinist. 

Bowman & Son are the proprietors of 
another excellent establishment of the same 
kind in the southern part of the town. Besides 
these, a considerable number of manufactur- 
ing enterprises are carried on in the township 
and town, such as cooper shops, tile factories, 
brick-yards, potteries, furniture, cigars, etc. 

Three firms are engaged in purchasing wool 
in Bellefontaine. The amounts bought by 
these firms respectively for the year 1879 were 
as follows: K. Patterson, 173,000 pounds; 
value §62,000. .Tames R. Gardner, 101,000 
pounds; value, §29,000. Kerr Bros., 61,490 
pounds; value, §22,146.40. Total pounds, 
337,490. Total value, §123,146.40. The 
amount of wheat bought for the same year by 
Messrs. Boyd & Sons, Colton Bros., and Kerr 
Bros., was 232,200 bushels; value, §274,480. 
Other grains and seeds, estimated, §40,000; 
hogs, estimated, §100,000; cattle and horses, 
estimated, §50,000. Grand total of agricul- 
tural exports, §587,626.40. It will be observed 
that there is no milling or other manufactured 
or mechanical products included in this esti- 
mate. 

The public buildings in the town were 
erected, of course, by the county at large, and 
a statement of the facts concerning them be- 
longs to another department of this work. 
The buildings of the town proper were the 
outcome of private enterprise and capital; but 



there were certain improvements .that were 
the work of the municipal authorities. Of 
these we have noticed the Fire Department 
and the Public Schools. The street improve- 
ments, the gas works, and the free turnpikes 
centering in the tow-n, were the offspring of 
the corporate authorities. These remain to 
be described. 

The town of Bellefontaine was incorporated 
by an Act of the Legislature, dated February 
19, 1835. The copy of this Act belonging to 
the town was destroyed, with other pajiers, in 
the great fire of 1856. As the Acts of Legis- 
lature, previously to 1840, were not alphabet- 
ically inde.ved, several failures attended our 
attempts to acquire exact information on this 
subject. We are indebted to the efl'orts of 
Hon. James Walker for our final success. 

We have spoken of the great and sudden 
improvement in the town and surrounding 
country, growing out of the building of 
the railroads that traverse the county and 
intersect at Bellefontaine. While these roads 
improved the country, as a whole, in an emi- 
nent degree, and while they greatly augmented ■ 
the imj)ortance of Bellefontaine in every ma- 
terial resj)ect, still they had a certain influence 
in retarding the advancement of that town. 
The very facilities aiTorded by these railroads 
enabled small villages in the interior of the 
county, situated upon them, to compete with 
the county scat in the way of trade of every 
kind. These little towns had good mercan- 
tile establishments. Thi^y bought goods in 
the East, and exported directly to the eastern 
market every kind of produce the country 
afforded. So far this was a loss to Bellefon- 
taine. Tliis advantage was maintained by 
these several stations of trade through the fact 
that the highways of the county were extreme- 
Iv bad for at least five months in the year. 
Much of the surface of Logan County is of 
clay, and the roads are sim])ly imjiassable in 
the winter and spring for loaded wagons. 



'5/ 



.tj@ 



■k 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



35r; 



Hence, an immense amount of trade was con- 
fined to the local marts in various parts of the 
county. Tliere was a great amount of timber 
in remote parts of the county, -which was 
really an incumbrance, and was remorselessly 
cut down and burned in log heaps. Now 
comes a record of a great stride forward in 
the prosperity of Bellefontaine. 

It is incontestible that the last ten years of 
tjie growth of the town has been out of all 
proj)ortion to its eailier promise, or even great 
advancement upon the establishment of rail- 
roads. This fact is owing to the building of 
a grand system of free turnpikes, nearly all 
centeriiijr at Bellefontaine. It is true some 
of them point in other directions, but even 
then the country tapped by them has also 
ready access to the county-seat. The author- 
ities of the town, by some inspiration, per- 
ceived the usefulness of these pikes, and 
acted upon that knowledge. On the 17th of 
May, 18G7, the Town Council appropriated 
$50,000 to assist in building such pikes as 
entered directly into the town. Hence, we 
see certain appropriations made and paid, as 
for instance, §800 per mile for the Northwood 
Pike, tiSOO per mile for the HuntsviHe Pike, 
$500 per mile for the Jerusalem Pike, etc. 
In fact, every pike entering the town has been 
liberally aided by it. Now people haul wood, 
timber, grain and other products a distance 
of eight, ten or fifteen miles, which, before 
the pikes were built they could not do. These 
pikes have also invited trade of every con- 
ceivable description, from the remotest limits 
of the county, to an amount that has sur- 
prised the most sanguine. The consequence 
is, that the advancement of the town in 
wealth and prosperity is extremely gratifying. 
And these advantages have been fully recip- 
rocated, for the lands of the remote districts 
are steadily rising in value, and the people 
are growing in enterprise and enlightenment. 

The streets of Bellefontaine, until a very 



recent period, were in a poor condition; so, 
also, were the sidewalks. For many years, 
teams found it dillicult oftentimes to pull 
through. Little by little, the town, in a feeble 
way, improved in respect to these things. 
Grades were nowhere established, but a little 
srravel was thrown here and there in the worst 
places, and dog-fennel spread over the 
greatest part of the street area. The side- 
walks were in a condition that it is hard to 
describe. True, they received some attention, 
at the hands of the citizens at quit(> an early 
period, but the utmost that was attempted 
was the laying down of a few poOr bricks in 
the business part of the town, reaching a few 
hundred yards only, in extent. There were 
now and then a few feet of sidewalk laid 
down with flags of limestone, drawn from the 
quarries near at hand. But these flags were 
treacherous, and as the trusting pedestrian 
vaidted from stone to stone, keeping in view 
only a general progressive movement, ho be- 
times would assume an attitude the reverse 
of dignified. In other words, the Hag-stone 
upon which he based his hopes would slip 
from under his confiding heel, and he i would 
lay supine, configuring upon the receptive 
earth that appearance so dear to this heart of 
the patriot, namely: the spread eaglo. 

In June, 185G, the question of street and 
gutter improvements began to be seriously 
agitated. July, 1857, grades on Detroit and 
Chillicothe streets were established. August, 
1857, there were several prominent ])oints on 
Cincinnati, Columbus and Chillicothe streets 
designated as grades. In 1858, other points 
of grade were established, and from that 
period to the present grades have been estab- 
lished at various points in the public streets, 
and improvements have followed. There 
was. a good deal of expensive filling and ex- 
cavating for a number of years. 

The bricks manufactured from the clay in 
this viciiiity Avere not very good, and the 






?)^>. 



354 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



walks made with them were not durable. 
After the ostaljlishinont of the grades, im- 
provements of the streets began to assume a 
more valuable and permanent character. 
Banks of gravel were purchased by the town 
authorities, and the contents lavishly spread 
upon the streets. They thus l)eeame, at a 
rather late day, it is true, thoroughfares crcd- 
italjlo to the place. They were, in fact, bet- 
ter than the sidewalks. But in the fall of 
1871 Mr. A. G. Wright, an official on one of 
the railroads, laid down a sidewalk in front 
of his lot, fifty-five feet in length, with flag- 
stones from the quarries of Berea, Ohio. 
These flags were aliout five feet long, and 
from three to four feet wide. They were 
rectangular in shape, and when laid down 
presented a beautiful, smooth surface, with a 
de])th of four or five inches. This walk at 
once attracted the attention of property own- 
ers generally. It was ascertained that such 
a sidewalk could be laid down about as 
chcajily as the old, ankle-spraining brick 
walks. The result was, Mr. Wright was impor- 
tuned to procure flags for his neighbors. He 
went, at length, into the Ijusincss, and he laid 
down over six miles of Berea stone sidewalks. 
Afterwards, others pursued the same calling, 
and the result is that the town is now thorough- 
ly paved with beautiful and durable sidewalks. 
In the year 1873 the corporate authorities 
contracted with R. T. Covordale, of Cincin- 
nati, to build gas works. This was strictly a 
municipal undertaking, and the works yet be- 
long to the corporation. The price paid was 
?i:}.j,000. A little more than 400 tons of coal 
are consumed in the manufacture of gas per 
annum. These works are in a healthy con- 
dition, being more than self-sustaining. Be- 
sides seventy odd street lamps, there are over 
200 private consumers. There are 200 meters 
s(?t. There are over four miles of mains. 
The amount of gas manufactured at the pres- 
ent time is a littl^ more than half a million 



feet per annum. The works are under the 
control of a superintendent who, with several 
laborers, are paid by the corporation. 

An important enterprise undertaken and 
completed by the public spirit of private in- 
dividuals was the purchase of grounds and 
laying out of a new cemetery. The old lots 
donated by the proprietors of the town for 
the burial of the dead had become inadequate 
to fulfill the purposes for which they were in- 
tended. On the 14th of March, an associa- 
tion was formed with the view to the 
establishment of a new cemetery. The 
names of the incorporators were: William 
Fisher, Jared S. pawson, James W. Fisher, 
and S. L. Taylor. Under the supervision of 
this body, twenty acres of land were purchased 
on a rising ground nearly a mile northeast of 
the public square. 

The property cost $000. The purchase 
money was raised by sixty citizens contribut- 
ing iJlO each. This contrii)ution conferred 
the right on these gentlemen to the first 
selection of lots. The final organization was 
effected in 1851, at a meeting of the proprie- 
tors, of which Gen. I. S. Gardner was Presi- 
dent. The directors then chosen were Benja- 
min Stanton, William G. Kennedy, James B. 
McLaughlin, B. S. Brown, N. Z. McColloch 
and William Fisher. 

N. Z. McColloch was elected President of 
the Board of Directors; B. S. Brown, Secre- 
tarj', and William G. Kennedy, Treasurer. 
The ground was surveyed and the lots laid 
off and numbered. The Town Council pro- 
hibited people from buryinii their dead in the 
abandoned graveyard. The new cemetery 
was improved at once with walks and high- 
ways, and it is now a handsome and secluded 
spot, abounding in costly monuments and 
rare shrubs and llowers. The ])resent Direct- 
ors arc: E. Bennett, President; I. S. Gard- 
ner, Secretary; G. B. Thrift, Treasurer; Ed- 
ward Patterson and R. P. Kennedy. 



-®[v> 



HISTORY OF LOGAX C0U5TY. 



355 



The history of Bellefontaine would be 
incomplete without some notice of the secret 
and benevolent societies — organizations that 
exert a widespread influence throughout the 
country. The Masons, Odd-Fellows and 
Knights of Pythias are the most prominent 
of the secret societies represented in Belle- 
fontaine. The Masons, the most ancient of 
these, trace their origin back to a remote 
antiquity, and claim for their order an organ- 
ized existence at the building of King Solo- 
mon's Temple. But it is not our province 
to go into the antiquity of the Order, and we 
shall confine ourselves to its history in this 
town. 

Bellefontaine Lodge, No. 209, A. F. & A. 
M., was organized Octolser 28, 1851, William 
Fisher, W. M.; E. M. Shelby, S. W.; G. T. 
Appleton, J. W. Present officers: William 
McElree, W. M.; J. D. McLaughlin, S. W.; 
Isaac Ivens, J. W.; R. B. Kollar, Treas.; 
George W. Rife, Sec'y; William J. Law- 
rence, S. D.; M. Koogle, J. D.; George P. 
Johnson, Tiler. The Lodge numbers at pres- 
ent 127 members. 

Lafayette Chapter, No. GO, Royal Arch 
Masons, organized October 4, 1854, G. B. 
Thrift, High Priest; James Moore, Jr., King; 
R. T. Cook, Scribe. Present officers: W. H. 
Martin, H. P.; R. T. Cook, King; Sidney 
Nichols, Scribe; William McElree, Capt. of 
Host; I. N. Zearing, Treas.; George H. Allen, 
Sec'y. Number of members at present, 120. 

Logan Council, No. 31, Royal and Select 
Masters, organized October 20, 18G0, Joseph 
W. Evans, T. L G. M.; B. S. Brown, Dept. G. 
M.; Cyrus W. Fisher, Cond. of W. Present 
officers: R. T. Cook, T. I. G. M.; M. M. 
ilcCracken, Dept. G. M.; William McElree, 
Prin. Cond. of Work; Sidney Nichols, Capt. 
of Guard; C. F. Bradon, Cond. of Council; 
William McCoid, Troas.; George H.Allen, 
Secretary. Number of members at present, 
III. 



The Odd Fellows lost their records in the 
fire of 1S56. There have been certain 
changes and reorganizations in that order in 
Bellefontaine which has caused the surrender 
of original papers and the substitution of 
more recent ones. The first Lodge of the I. 
O. O. F. was organized in the year 1847, and 
was called Logan Lodge, No. 72. The names 
of its first officers cannot be now ascertained 
with entire accuracy. The present organiza- 
tion of the order is as follows: Bellefontaine 
Lodge, No. 72— L. B. Barker, N. G.; Al. 
Starchman, V. G.; George F. Brandon, R. 
Secy.; R. B. Kellar, P. S.; Andrew Peebles, 
Treas. Number of members at present, 149. 

Bellefontaine Encampment, No. 73, has for 
its officers: Eslie Powers, C. P.; Al. Starch- 
man, S. W.; John P. Cost, Scribe; John 
Dushane, H. P.; A. Peebles, Treas.; David 
Kerr, G. W. Number of members at present 
time 53. 

Wilfred Lodge, K. of P., was instituted May 
5, 1874, by James Swope, Grand Chancellor. 
The officers were: R. H. Brown, P. C; O. 
C. Knapp, C. C; Isaac Ivens, V. C; \^'. H. 
Cretcher, Prelate; F. O. Batch, M. of H.; 
W. A. Arnold, M. of E.; S. M. Shurr, M. of 
F.; George T. Brandon, K. of R. and S. 

The present officers are: A. English, P. C; 
A. Bodey, C. C; R. F. Tremain, V. C; Frank 
Fox, Prelate; Walter S. Roebuck, M. at A.; 
John Kennedy, M. of E.; George Brandon, M. 
of F.; Frank Valentine, K. of R. and S. 
Number of members, about 80. 

We have now concluded the work allotted 
to us. We arc conscious of many defects. 
Sometimes the dates and coloring of facts may 
be to some extent erroneous. It has been 
impossible to verify all things. Satisfactorr 
records were often wanting; but it is hojjed 
and believed that errors, if any exist, are only 
of minor im]3ortance, and that the substantial 
points in our history have been correctly stated. 



7]^ 



-t. 



356 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



It is the work of the historian, usually, to 
commence his narrative in the infancy of 
society, and with the advancing centuries un- 
fold in painful story the moulding influences 
of civil and religious customs, of wars, of rev- 
olutions, and of intercourse with foreign na- 
tions in establishing a civilization pertinent to 
some particular State or nation. 

Our task has been different. We have 
commenced our story at a time within the 
memory of men now living. We find our 
characters at first surrounded by difficulties, 
dangers and hardships. We have found man 
with hands and brain alone placed in the 
midst of an unbroken wilderness, subjected 
to the peltings of the elements, the dangers 
of savage foes and wild beasts, and in the 
short space of seventy or eighty years wc find 
him surrounded by all the refinements and 
luxuries of the oldest and most civilized peo- 
ple. This implies an existence in the midst 
of a surging and whirling change, in personal 
and civil life, bewildering to contemplate, 
and assuredly very trying to the j)hysical. 



mental and moral nature of man. Un- 
doubtedly, such rapidity of change exhibits 
the protean nature of mind and soul, just 
as the unfailing abundance of the products of 
the soil proves its inexhaustible capacity and 
implies its unfathomable history. For example, 
place witliin the earthy soil the germs of the 
sweet cane, the bitter wormwood, the benefi- 
cent corn and the deadly night-shade; and, 
while all the science in the world will fail to 
detect the elements of either, in the air or in 
the earth, they will all grow and increase 
according to their kind, side by side. In a 
manner analagous, the facts of our history, as 
we have portrayed them, show the incxliausti- 
ble and illimitable qualities of the human 
mind. It is not only sufficient for the exi- 
gencies and changes of a single generation, 
but it cannot be palled or even satisfied with 
the infloiving weallii of manj' generations of 
ordinary life, leading it up in so brief a space 
from poverty and nakedness and ignorance 
to the affluence of the richest luxury of phj'si- 
cal and mental and esthetic enjoyment. 



JsoTE. — The history of the Churches of Bellefontaine, belonging in this chapter, having been 
misplaced, will be foujid in Cliapter II, page 217. 



^^.f^y:^ 



^•\* '^^i^^'^uit^j--^. 



v> 



HISToVvY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



357 



CHAPTER IX. 

MIAMI TOWNSHIP— OBGAN'IZ.VTION—TEKr.ITORIAL CHANGE.?— PIOXEER CIVILIZATION— PROMI- 
NENT CHARACTERS OF THE E.\ULY COMMUNITV— CHUKCUE.S AND SCHOOLS. 



MIAMI TOWNSHIP of the earliest rec- 
ords was not very much like the town- 
ship of that name to-day. When the first white 
settler penetrated its unbroken wilds, and 
sought a home in the valley of the Miami River, 
he formed a township extending " from Urbaiia 
to the lake," and bearing the name of the 
river, the valley of which offered the great- 
est hope of the township's future growth. In 
1818 the newly elected Commissioners contin- 
ued the name of Miami, the most westerly 
township of the four into which they divided 
the territory of Logan County. In 1832 the 
original township was divided into nearly 
equal parts, the northern half being known 
as Bloomfield. Of this upper part, Stokes 
was taken oif in 1838, and Bloomfield and 
Washington became separate townships in 
1839. Two years later. Pleasant Township 
was taken off the northern part of Miami, 
leaving the latter a rectangular body about 
seven miles long, from east to west, and about 
three miles wide. As constructed now, it is 
the corner township of Logan County in the 
southwest, is bounded on the north by Pleas- 
ant, on the east by Union, on the south by 
the Champaign County line, and on the west 
by the Shelb}' County line. Two villages, 
Quincy and De Graff", located on the Miami 
River and the Indianapolis branch of the 
Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indian- 
apolis Railway, are the centers of population 
and business in the township. 

The principal stream of the township is 
the Great Miami River, which reaches some 
fifty yards in width in this region. It takes 
its rise in the Lewistown reservoir, in the 



northern part of the count\', and, flowing in a 
southerly course, enters Miami a little east 
of the middle point of its northern boundary. 
After penetrating the township in a southerly 
course for a mile or two, it takes a sudden 
turn to the west, passing along the northern 
part, leaving out the northwest corner. Its 
principal tributaries on the south or east are 
the Stony Creek and Buckongehelas. The 
latter enters the township from the north, 
just cast of De Graff, and, passing around the 
village, joins the Miami just south of it. 
Stony Creek, with its branches, carries off the 
drainage of the whole of the eastern part of 
the township, at the same time affording an 
outlet for Black Lake, a body of water in the 
eastern part of the township, covering a few 
acres of ground. The banks of these minor 
streams are low, and in the early time allowed 
the accumulated floods to sweep over the low 
valleys, converting them into marshes. The 
timber was thus exterminated, and a rank 
growth of grass gave this section the ap- 
pearance of a low, wet prairie, and is often 
spoken of in this waj' by the older citizens. 
This 23art of the township, though embracing 
some of the finest land, was for some time 
avoided by the early pioneers as unfit for cul- 
tivation, and dangerous on account of the 
miasma that hung about it. The process of 
" clearing," however, has wrought great 
changes, and this is some of the choicest farm- 
ing lands in Miami, though not entirely free 
from miasmatic influences. With this excep- 
tion the whole township was heavily wooded, 
the prevailing timber being oak in the eastern 
part, and beech in the western. The soil is a 



•^^ k- 



"e) V 



ik 



35S 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUN'TY. 



substantial clay, mixed and underlaid with 
extensive beds of limestone gravel. The 
soil in the western part of tiie township, as 
indicated b\' the beech timber, is rather tiiin 
and adapted principally to grazing, though 
large crops of corn are raised, which are 
shipped, or fod to the large number of liogs 
that are raised along the valley of the Miami. 
In the eastern part, wheat is grown to a con- 
siderable extent, and \-ields second only to the 
rich valley of the Mad River. The extent 
of bottom lands is very small, the banks of 
the Miami, as well as that of its tributaries, 
rising abruptly, almost at the brink of 
the stream, to a considerable elevation. Back 
from these streams the land is pleasantly roll- 
ing, but nowhere becoming broken and un- 
tillable. The eastern part of the township 
is given principally to the raising of grain, 
while the western is divided somewhat be- 
tween corn and the raising of stock, hogs 
being the principal feature of the latter busi- 
ness. 

In the early traditions of Miami is found 
the history of the whole western portion of 
Logan County. The tide of population com- 
ing from the southern counties, true to the 
traditions of pioneer emigration, sought the 
valleys of the larger streams. In this section 
of the county, the Miami River, which gave 
name and its valley lands to the township, at- 
tracted the early settlers, and following the 
eastern bank, the early community settled in 
a narr(jw tract of country, from what is now 
tlie upper part of Washington Township, to 
the site of Quincy, in this township. The 
community, thus extending over miles of ter- 
ritory, were bound together by all the social 
tics of the early times, and the traditions 
handed down to us are of this community as 
a whole. In following the necessary sco[>e of 
this work, it is obviously a difficult mattrT to 
make an equitable division of those traditions 
that are the common heritage of all. The 



imion of Pleasant with Miami is still more 
closely joined, as it was not until 1841 that 
tlieir interests wore divided. 

The first actual settlement in what is now 
Miami, or closely contiguous to its terri- 
tory, was made in 1805. Hearing of the 
Mad River country, as this wiiole section was 
popularly called by the members of the 
various military expeditions, .Jeremiah Stans- 
bury broke up his establishment at Chilli- 
cothe and came into the territorj' of what is 
now Logan County. Attracted by the open 
character of the valley of Stony Creek, he 
entered a quarter section on that stream in 
the eastern part of the township. Two sons, 
Jesse and Isaac, accompanied him, the 
former, it is said, bringing with him the wife 
of another man. It appears that the woman 
brought a span of horses belonging to her 
former lord, probably as pay for her services 
as housekeeper. The deserted husband, in 
order to get even with Stansbury, sent officers 
to arrest him, but the woman proved her 
lovalty by insisting that she brought the team 
with her, and that Jesse only followed her, 
which saved him from the hands of the 
officers. The father was extremely migratory 
and felt uneasy in anything but a new 
character. lie was inclined to be vindictive, 
and dill not hesitite to use any means to de- 
fend what he conceived to be his right. In 
this same vear George ^IcCulloch came here 
with a negro from Urbana to erect a cabin for 
his uncle. The Indians were still in full 
possession of this territory, and were viewing 
the steady advance of the settlements with 
ill-disguised feelings of jealousy. The oper- 
ations of these two families aroused the 
savages to the necessity of immediate action 
if the impending danger was to be averted. 
Tecumseh had long been inciting the Indians 
to do somrthiiig to stay the progress of th(> 
whites, and this incident sei'ms to have pre- 
cipitated their movements. The Indians 



'f 




HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



359 



suddenly convened a council to determine 
upon their action. The great warrior chief- 
tain, Tecuniseh, was present and used his 
most jiersuasive eloquence to bring about a 
collision with the settlers, but under the in- 
fluence of Kenton and others, their fear of 
the power of the whites, whose venffeance 
they had so often felt on many a disastrous 
field, gained the control and a peaceful 
course was decided upon. A feast, at which 
all the delicacies that the Indian could com- 
mand were served, was set forth in token of 
their peaceful sentiments. The forest was 
lighted b}' hundreds of torch lights, manufac- 
tured from the fat collected from the game, 
and the woods rang with the whoop of the 
Indians during the festivities of this ratifica- 
tion meeting. After several daj'S the feast 
closed, but confidence was not so easilv re- 
stored to the whites. They were too well ac- 
quainted with the character of the Indian, to 
think that so momentous a question should be 
so readily settled, and for a year or two the 
Stansbury's were the only families in the wil- 
derness of Miami. In 1808 Benjamin Schooler 
and the three Makenson brothers came to this 
vicinity. They had been old neighbors near 
Le.xington, Kj-., and hearing of the glories of 
this Northern country, made haste to got the 
first choice of the lands. They found, however, 
that others had been before them, and though 
there was but one or two families on the 
ground, others had bought the land in the 
southern part of the township. They went 
up on the Stony Creek, near the line of Pleas- 
ant Township, and put up their cabins. The 
Makenson brothers, John and Thomas, were 
unmarried men. Andrew had a wile, and 
made a home for all, while they cleared up 
their purchase. In the same year came Wil- 
liam Lee, and settled near where Mr. Hoist 
lives; Samuel Black settled on the east side 
of the lake which bears his name, in the east- 
ern part of the township. This property had 



been entered originally by Turner Davis, but 
he failed to come on it to live. Black was of 
Irish parentage, and had but little money. 
This he put into his purchase, and, destitute 
of almost everything, he lived in a little cabin 
on the border of the lake, subsisting his family 
for some time almost entirely upon fish, which 
were found in the lake in abundance. In the 
following year, Phillip Matthews came with 
his four sons — David, Philip, Jr., Henry and 
Alfred. The head of the family was a man 
of extraordinary size, and well advanced in 
years, and was considered in every way a great 
acquisition to the new community. About 
the same time, Robert Moore come from Penn- 
sylvania and settled where Mr. Huling now 
lives. He bought a quarter section, and by 
his stability of character and friendly disposi- 
tion, won the esteem of the pioneer settle- 
ment far and near. ''The Moore family," in 
the language of one of that time, " was a 
noted, number one family." John Moore, a 
son of this man, was early killed, by a horse 
running away with him and crushing him in 
the woods. Of the new-comers in 1810, per- 
haps the most notable was the family of James 
Shaw. Mr. Shaw was a native of Ireland and 
had been trained to a rigid observance of the 
Sabbath and Christian principles. It is said 
that the children marked the day by the 
regular weeklj' luxurj' of coffee, which was 
served once on this day alone. But even this 
reminder failed to keep the days of the week 
clearly in Mr. Shaw's mind, and he was found 
by a neighbor, one Sunday morning, industri- 
ously plowing out his corn. It was some 
time before he coidd be convinced that he 
was violating his deeply cherished principles, 
and he related afterwards that he could not 
sleep well for several nights on account of 
this serious miscalculation. He came from 
Berkeley County, Va., in 1807, and settled in 
Clarke County, Ohio. Three years later, he 
sold his property here and came to Miami, 



tMir 



-r^ 



^^ 



it 



ft 



SCO 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



{rotting hero in December, of 1810. He fiist 
settlod on tlie place now owned by George 
Kinsingcr, and later, moved to the place where 
his son, now an old man, resides. There were 
two girls and four boys in his family, none of 
them grown up. In this year James Murphy 
came and settled on land just over the line, in 
Pleasant Township. He brought no family, 
but put up a cabin and made a deadening. 
This was a lonesome life, and he soon left, to 
return a few j-ears later, however, with a 
family'. On the other side of the river, John 
Moans came about this time and erected his 
cabin. This was familiar territory to him, as 
he had carried chain for tiie surveyor wlio 
made the original surveys in this country. 
Tory and Neal were the names of some squat- 
ters who took up their residence on the west 
side of the Miami l!ivor,and gavetlieir names 
to two of the smaller branches of that river. 
Means was the first settler west of the river, 
and a man of some property ; a fact that car- 
ried considerable iniluonce with it in the early 
community. 

The little community, thus planted in the 
wilderness, was princijially made up of set- 
tlers of limited means, and not generally well 
provided with the requisite means to mitigate 
the severities of frontier life. The purchases 
of land made by a large number of persons 
for speculative purposes, or held unoccupied 
for their children, caused the growth of the 
community to lag, and, thrown upon their 
own resources, it required the assembling of 
the settlers for mihs around, to erect a sim- 
ple log cabin. This was no easj' undertaking 
at that time, and under the disadvantages 
which they were forced to work, and it may 
not be inappropriate to copy a description of 
the maimer of those "raisings," from the pen 
of Judge Patrick, of L'rbana, not, as he says, 
•' for the enlightenment of the present gen- 
eration, l)ut from a desire to hand down to 
posterity tlie primitive structures up to 1820, 



believing that before 1920, this mode of 
building will have become obsolete and un- 
known." To this end, he says: "if a cabin 
was to be built from the forest, a leader was 
chosen, who was alwa\-s a man of experience, 
and dubbed cajitain. As an initiatory step, he 
would classify the congregated settlers, and 
assign to each their respective duties, about 
in this order: 

" 1. He would select four of the most expert 
ax-men as corner men, whose duty it was to 
first clear oflF the site, square it, and place a 
boulder at each corner to build upon, after !)0- 
ing duly leveled, then saddle and notch down 
the logs in good, workman- like order. 

"2. He would assign a sufficient number of 
suitable men to select, as near the site as pos- 
sible, the best large-growth, straight-grained 
white oak tree for clap-boards, whose further 
duty it was to fell it, and cross-cut it into suit- 
afjle lengths, split the cuts into square bolts, 
and with a fro rive them. Another branch 
of this classification was required in like man- 
ner to prepan! puncheons for floors, doors, 
windows, and chimney-corner jambs, out of 
such timber as was best adapted for the pur- 
poses, such as oak, chestnut or ash, which, 
when properly selected, could be made of 
sufficient length and width to make a good 
solid floor, when spotted on the underside at 
the ends out of wind, and to rest u])on sleep- 
ers i)laced at proper distances apart, with 
dressed, straight upper surfaces, and which, 
when top-drossed by a skillful adz-man, made 
a good substitute for i)lank, which, at an oai ly 
day, could not Le procmrMl. for want of saw- 
mills. 

" 3. He would select and detail such a num- 
ber as seemed necessary to cull out, as near 
the site as possible, straight, suitably sized 
standing trees, and fell them and chop them 
olV at suitable lengths for the proposed struc- 
ture, with teamsters to haul them in as they 
were lodged off. To this force were added 






-^ >?- 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUXTY. 



301 



other teamsters, provided with rough wood 
sleds to haul in the clapboards, puncheons, 
and such other materials as would be neces- 
sary in the comj)letion of the cabin. These 
preliminaries being all successfully arranged, 
and being carried into effect, the loader would 
take his station and make proclamation to the 
balance of the forces, dire3ting thom to forth- 
with prepare smooth skids, the necessary num- 
ber of forks, with grape-vine or hickory withes 
around the prongs, and two or tlaree cross- 
sticks inserted through holes bored in the 
lower ends to give hand-hold to push by; and 
also to provide a sufficient number of hand- 
spikes, of tough, small, round hickory, dog- 
wood or iron-wood, some four feet long, with 
ends shaved smooth, to be used by the men 
to bear up the logs while in transit to the 
corner men, or to the foot of (he skids, as the 
case might be. Then the order would be pro- 
mulgated that no one but the captain should 
give any direction in the farther progress of 
the enterprise; and, as the logs would be 
hauled to the spot, he, with a glance of the 
eye, would make the necessary directions, 
and which would, by his order, be conveyed 
to the corner-men u]jon handspikes, with 
sturdy men at the ends, walking abreast on 
both sides of the log, bearing it up to its des- 
tination; then the second log was borne in 
like manner, each being placed, after being 
spotted flat on the under side, so as to rest 
level upon the corner-stones, as the end logs 
of the structure, equi-distant apart between 
the ends; then the ends would be prepared 
by the corner-men with what was familiarly 
known as the saddle, which consisted in this: 
The expert corner-men would chamfer or 
bevel off at an angle of, say, forty- five degrees 
each side of the ends of the logs, the two 
chamfers meeting at a point on the top center 
of the log, presenting an end view of the upper 
half of the log. This preparation is to re- 
ceive the transverse logs, notched at each end 



so as to nicely fit over the saddles. The two 
end logs having been placed and fitted as 
above described, the leader would select the 
two largest logs being straight for the front 
and rear bottom logs; being sills, these two 
logs, when in the hands of the corner-men, 
would be notched deeper than the other logs 
of the building, so as not to throw the floor 
too high from the ground. The comer-men 
at each end of the log would cut their notches 
so exactly, at the same angle and at the same 
time, so as to exactly fit their respective sad- 
les, that when put to the proper place would 
make a solid fit and out of wind. This dex- 
terity in corner-men, no doubt, gave rise to 
the old aphorism, ' He cuts his notches 
close.' 

" The four foundation loffS having all boon 
properly notched and saddled, and in their 
places, and, upon the usual tests, being found 
square, the next thing to be done was to cut 
in the sill the slots, or gains, to receive the 
sleepers, which, if on the ground, and pre- 
pared as already intimated by being scotched 
straight on the upper sides, were cut to right 
lengths and fitted at the ends so as to rest 
solidly upon said slots, and put in their'places, 
though this was frequently done after the 
building was raised. 

"All things prepared for the superstructure, 
the leader, still at his post, with shrill, empha- 
tic voice, selects a log, and his forces bear it 
to the corner-men, as already intimated, rest- 
ing one end of the handspikes on the top log 
already placed, rolling it upon the two sad- 
dled logs; it was then fitted and prepared in 
proper manner, and placed plumb on the wall 
by the practiced eye, aided by the pendulous 
ax hold loosely at tip of helve, between the 
thumb and forefingers of the experts. This 
routine being continued until the building 
was too high to reach and rest the handspikes, 
as heretofore described, upon the wall, then 
the skids, resting on the ground at the butt 



•t'lr- 



->r 



-® pv 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



ends, would be reared up to the corners on the 
front side, and one end of the building, 
nearest the collection of the hauled-in timber; 
the logs one by one, selected as aforesaid, 
would be carried as before to the foot of the 
appropriate skids, and placed on them, and 
rolled up as far as the men could conveniently 
reach, and being stanchioned and held, the 
necessary number of forks were placed under 
each end of the log inside the skids, with 
lower ends held firinly down to the ground, 
were, by the order of the leader, manned at 
the cross-handles already described, at each 
end of the log, which was, at a given word, 
slid up the skids to the top, where, by hand- 
spikes, it would be thrown on top of the logs 
prepared to receive it. In this manner the 
building progressed to the required heighth, 
all being done with exact uniformity and 
celerity, and with dispatch and neatness 
fitted to their respective places in the wall. 
When the structure had been carried up to the 
square, the eave-bearere would be raised upon 
the two ends of the building. These pro- 
jected some twenty inches beyond the wall, 
and would be notched down and saddled back 
far enough to receive the timbers hereafter 
described. Then tlu; butting pole for the 
back side of the cabin would be shoved up to 
the front corner-men, and rolled to the back 
cave and notched down upon the saddles, pro- 
iectin'r some fifteen inches bevond the outside 
plumb of the wall, then the first rib would be 
sent up in the same manner, and rolled back 
to a proper distance inside of the butting pole, 
and notched down so as to give the pitch of 
the roof from the center of liutting pole to 
the top surface of said rib; then the corres- 
ponding timbers for the front of the cabin 
were]ilacod: Ihi-n tiie first two giible logs would 
be placed in notches cut into the ribs and 
chamfiM-ed at the ends to suit the pitch of the 
roof. The n'maining ribs anil gable logs 
being placed, thi- roof was then ready for the 



claplioards, which are laid down upon the ribs 
with tile lower ends resting against the but- 
ting poles, with small spaces between, which 
are top-covered so as to break joints. Knees 
out of the hearts of the clapboard bolts of 
proper length are prepared at each end, rest- 
ing endwise against the butting poles to hold 
the weight poles in place, which are laid upon 
the eave-courscs as nearly over the ribs as 
possible. In like manner, another course of 
clapboards is laid down with the lower end 
resting against the weight pole of the lower 
course. In this manner the roof is com- 
pleted." * 

This minute account from an eye-witness 
is a graphic picture of an undertaking which 
the present generation is apt to look upon as 
a very simple matter. But it needs only a 
careful jicrusal of the foregoing description to 
learn that scarcely less skill was required un- 
der the disadvantages of that time — without 
tools save an ax, without nails and with no 
mills — to put up a substantial d welling that 
would last for a score of years, and comfort- 
ably keep a family through the severest 
weather. And these structures were gener- 
ally completed in a day, with fire-place, chim- 
ney, doors and windows of the most primitive 
fashion, the whole being dedicated to the 
household gods by a frolic that lacked none of 
its relish because it had been earned by hard 
work. It is not difficult, however, to under- 
stand from this description, that in an under- 
taking which required only numbers in ad- 
dition to what nature and the ordinary pi<i- 
vidonce of the jiinncor provided, to success- 
fullv accomplish, would prove anything but an 
easy task to the little community on the Mi- 
ami. Their first elTorts at farming were car- 
ried on under e(|ually disadvantageous circum- 
stances. They were pioneers in the strictest 
sense of the word. Ko settlements had gone 
further north, leaving a well-defined trail 

• Antrim's Ilistory. 



Rs »- 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



SC3 



behind tlietn, but each family hewed his own 
way through the dense forest, and once settled, 
began to clear a space where the unobstructed 
sunshine could warm the earth into yielding 
a harvest. Dogs were the only thing that the 
community seemed to have in abundance. For 
some time a wagon belonsrino' to Philip Mat- 
thews was the only vehicle of any sort for miles 
about, and that was practically useless on ac- 
count of the forbidding character of the trails. 
Each man had cut so much of a trail as was 
was necessary for his ingress, and had, since 
then, found no time for the working of anr 
road. When Shaw came to Miami, he sold 
his wagon and most of movable property', and 
brought his family and household goods in a 
borrowed wagon, pulling it over such logs as 
would admit of such summary proceedings, 
and evading others of a more formidable size. 
This was true of this part of the county until 
about 1813, when Mr. Shaw went sixteen 
miles to " work on the road." He was obliged 
to start in the middle of the night, carrying 
the day's board with him. Thus almost en- 
tirely cut off from the outside world, their 
dependence for subsistence was almost wholly 
upon the soil. Indian corn grew readily 
with such cultivation as could be given with 
the crude implements of the time — right-hand 
plows with wooden moldboards, harrows with 
wooden teeth, or the top of a small tree for a 
substitute. 

In the second or third year an attempt was 
made to raise wheat, sowing it broadcast 
among the standing corn. This proved for 
years an almost total failure. Clouds of 
blackbirds flocked to the field and picked the 
grain up before hardly a kernel could be cov- 
ered. Mr. John Shaw relates that, to defeat 
the birds, his father would sow between but 
two rows of corn at a time, while his boys 
would follow close after him, chopping the 
ground with hoes, to cover the wheat. In 
some places, even after this laborious effort 



to secure wheat, it seemed to draw such rank 
growth from the soil that it proved unfit for 
food. When once g-rown, it had to be carried 
to Urbana, and later to Spring Hill, to be 
converted into flour. For some years, how- 
ever, all flour was obtained at Springfield. 
Wheat could not be raised under the various 
drawbacks, and flour was bought in Kentucky 
and brought to the principal town on the 
frontier, which was then the only market. 
Here, after a tedious journey by bridle-paths, 
through thickets and underbrush, the pioneers 
of Miami went to get salt and such other 
necessities that corn cotdd not supply. 

Game was found in great abundance, which 
helped to solve the problem of how this land 
was to be settled. Withovit this addition 
to the resources of the pioneer, this land must 
have remained a waste wilderness for years. 
But, for all that, the game was not an un- 
mixed blessing. The limited amount of stock 
owned in the Miami settlement was in con- 
stant danger from the attacks of wolves and 
bears, while the birds and raccoons exacted 
heavy tolls from the growing crops. Most of 
the settlers had firearms, but a larger propor- 
tion of them than we of a later day are wont 
to suppose were poor hmiters, or did not find 
time to hunt more than necessity compelled. 
Trapping, however, served an excellent pur- 
pose at this juncture, securing the needed 
provision and, at the same time, allowing the 
farmer to devote his time to his improvement. 
A mode of capturing wild turkeys, which 
yielded large results, was to build a square 
pen of common fence rails some three feet 
high, covering it with the same. A trail of 
corn or wheat was laid, leading to an opening 
at the bottom of the pen. A trap thus con- 
structed and baited would frequently catch a 
whole flock, which, attracted by the grain, 
would follow up the trail and unconsciously 
pass into the cage, and, becoming bewildered, 
would fail to find a way out again. For deer. 



A 



3C-i 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



wolves and smaller game, a snare was con- 
structed of a tough, elastic undergrowth sap- 
ling, to the end of which a rope with running 
noose was attached. The sapling bent over, 
and the noose adjusted so that an animal must 
put its head through it to obtain the bait, was 
the whole plan. This reqiiired some care, 
however, and made satisfactory returns only 
to the most skilful. The dead-fall was used 
more particularly for wolves and small " var- 
mints." This consisted of a trap with weighted 
slab, which, when sprung, came down upon 
the victim with crushing force. The larger 
ones, intended for wolf-catching, were very 
powerful, and sometimes proved dangerous to 
the trapper, if carelessly placed when baiting 
it. From such sources came a not inconsider- 
able revenue. AVulf scalps were a legal ten- 
der for ta.xes; deer furnished not only meat 
for the table, but material for the hunters' 
clothing, and the various fur-bearing animals 
supplietl the tal)le with those commoner luxu- 
ries to be obtained only at the store, miles 
away. 

Since the coming of the first families, the 
Indians had maintained, so far, a friendly at- 
titude toward the settlers. The disturbing 
element had withdrawn and had met a severe 
chastisement at Tipi)ecanoe. A village of the 
Shawanoes or Shawnees, known among the 
settlers as Oldtown, was located on the bank 
of Stony Creek, about a mile and a half south- 
west of the present town of I)e Graff. A good 
many of its inhal)itants, however, soon left 
after the accessions to the sottlemci t began 
to be more nmnerous, so that there was barely a 
rejiresentation of the natives in 1812. But a 
few miles north there was no such lack of the 
native lords of the forest, and the " troublous 
times" that wore ushered in by this year, 
brought to this community, as to manv 
others in tli(! Nortliwest, days of anxiety and 
nights of fear. ]t was a matter of moment- 
ous interest to this community to learn the 



attitude of tlie tribes that occupied the adjoin- 
ing territory. Opposite Oldtown, or nearly 
so, on the banks of the same stream, a block 
house was put up by Hiram Curry, at the sug- 
gestion of the settlers, who feared that the 
Indians here might not prove friendly, but, 
fortunately, was never needed for warlike 
purposes. The part played by the Indians in 
these times has been set forth elsewhere in 
this volume, and need not be recited here. 
Suffice it to say, the friendly tribes were col- 
lected elsewhere in the county and guarded, 
while they were protected from the assaults of 
the hostile savages. Every precaution, how- 
ever, was taken to protect this settlement from 
hostile incursions. The unarmed settlers were 
furnished with muskets and packages of cart- 
ridges, though there is no record of any of 
them being used against the savages. Not- 
withstanding these measures, the settlers 
knowing the weakness of their position, were 
easilv alarmed. SoMicrs passing through this 
section, kept them alive to what was going on 
bevond their sight and hearing, and vague 
rumors finding means of spreading in some 
iiicomiirehensihle way, kept many in a chronic 
state of fear. Mr. Shaw relates that the dogs 
of the settlement could be heard for three 
miles about, an<l when one began to bark, the 
whole dog community set up a disturbance 
that made every settler believe the Indians 
were right upon them. Old ^Ir. Shaw was 
seriouslv ill with a miasmatic fever at that 
time, and he had made uj) his mind to make 
no struggle if attacked. His wife, fie luently 
alarmed by the dogs, would leave the cabin, 
and, with the gun near her, hide in a brush- 
heap until the cold drove her back to the 
cabin again. With the return of peace, the 
Indians resumed their old haiuits, but only 
for the temjiorary puqioses of hunting and 
begging. Bead-work an<l fancy baskets were 
sold by the squaws, and their camps often 
jiresented a picturesque picture of the "noble 



^« 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



365 



red men " lolling about the fires, -while the 
squaws, busy with the colored strips of wood 
with which they made their baskets, worked 
by the fire-light. The baskets, filled with 
cranberries, which the marshes further north 
bore in abundance, were very tempting and 
found a ready sale at the larger settlements. 

In the meanwhile the settlement began to 
think about assuming the duties and responsi- 
bilities of citizens. It was with considerable 
difficulty that the requisite fifteen voters were 
found, but they were at length mustered at 
Mr. Shaw's house for an election of a Justice 
of the Peace. The candidates were Robert 
Dickson and Benjamin Schooler, and each 
took up his position on either side of the 
broad fire-place, one with a two-gallon jug 
and the other with a small cask containing 
whisky; as each man voted, he took a drink of 
his candidate's whisky. Each of the contest- 
ants had thus polled seven votes, including 
his own, and only Shaw had not voted. 
Here was a dilemma, the old man feeling that 
he could "be happy with either, were, t'other 
dear charmer away," vacillated between the 
two, finally voting for Schooler. The defeated 
candidate at once contested the election, on 
the ground that Shaw had voted after the 
prescribed hour for closing the polls, and 
the result was set aside. In the next election 
the procedure was followed, but anxious to do 
equal justice, Shaw cast the final vote, but 
cast it for Dickson. He declined the whisky 
before, but on this occasion he was forced to 
drink from both jug and cask. 

The demand for milling facilities was a 
very urgent one from the first. Removed 
from the nearest mill by miles of almost 
trackless forest, the settlers found it an almost 
intolerable burden to go to mill with their 
corn and wheat. Various devices were re- 
sorted to, to obviate this necessity. A rude 
mortar was fashioned out of a large block 
and a spring-pole made of a strong sapling, to 



which was attached a pole in the end of which 
was fastened an iron wedffe. With this con- 
trivance bushels of corn were "cracked" for 
the family use. Stansbury had a hand-mill 
of his own construction that would grind a 
kernel of corn at a time into a coarse sort of 
meal, but it was not available for the settle- 
ment. With a shrewd eye to business, how- 
ever, he set about building a mill on Stony 
Creek, near his place, as early as 1806, but it 
was a slow business single handed, and it was 
not until 1810 that he got it into successful 
operation. The character of the stream pre- 
sented some difficulties that were found diffi- 
cult to overcome with the means at couiinand 
in that early day. The low banks of the 
river were easily overflowed and the str(>am 
in this vicinity became a broad lake tnat it 
was necessary to dam before the mill could 
become an active member of the community. 
The dam was some ten rods long, and was 
made of brush and logs in the ordinary way 
of such structures. When completed, the 
mill was leased to John Provolt, who contin- 
ued operating for some months, when it was 
burned. This was a serious calamity, but 
what added to the seriousness of the occur- 
rence was the fact that it was generally be- 
lieved to have been fired by an incendiary. 
Stansbury had had some serious disagreement 
with Provolt, in regard to the mill, and, from 
the known character of the man and other 
evidence, public suspicion pointed at once to 
Stansbury as the author of the conflagration. 
The mill was not rebuilt, and the settlement 
was forced to send once more to other mills. 
Spring Hill being at the time the nearest 
point. 

The settlement of other parts of the town- 
ship was much later than at the bend and up- 
per part of the Miami River. A little colony 
of substantial people gathered in the vicinity 
of where Olive Chapel now stands, among 
whom were the families of Abner Newman, 



^'^ 



•> ■/» 



3CG 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



Nichols, Joseph Caiman, Jacob Kress, and 
Thomas Spollinan. The most of these fam- 
ilies came from Kentucky or Pennsylvania 
from IS'JO to 1828. Farther west was John 
Leach, from Kentucky, and on the river, on 
the site of Quincy, was .lames R. Baldwin 
from Berkeley Countj', Virginia. He was 
the earliest settler at this point. He >vas a 
tanner by trade, and early set about build- 
ing up a business in the new country. It may 
be said, in passinsr, that this point seemed 
especially adapted to the tanning business. 
A little later John Savior set up in the busi- 
ness a mile and a half southeast of Quincy 
and Thomas Turner about a mile down the 
river. He bought a quarter section of land 
situated on the high bluff ou the south bank 
of the river, and hoped to make his fortune 
out of the rise in land when the canal came 
up to that i)oint. In 1825 James Canby came 
from Lebanon, Ohio, and settled near the 
present site of De Graff. He was the first 
doctor in this part of the county, but, aside 
from his professional character, he was a stir- 
ring business man, and soon found out a way 
to employ his activities. He seems to have 
shared in the belief that slack water naviga- 
tion would extend up the river at that point, 
and, purchasing land here, he put up a grist- 
mill in 1828. 

Baldwin was the only resident at this point 
then, but the mill soon attracted emigration. 
Everybddy turned out and built the brush 
dam, which was unusually well strengthened 
and remains to this day, where tlie curious 
may see a sample of the engineering of the 
early time. Two run of stone were placed in 
the mill; one set of buhr stones were got from 
the " Haccoon Quarries, " while the other 
was the connnon "nigger liead," and were 
used simply to " crark " corn. Some years 
later, a saw-mill was added. Those industries 
attracted settlers from Clarke and Champaign 
Counties, and quite a community gathered 



about the future head of slack-water naviga- 
tion. In September, 1831, John Boll with 
his wife came to Quincy. He was a native 
of Berkeley County, Virginia, and an old ac- 
quaintance of Baldwin's. He had settle<l at 
Springfield, Clarke County, Oiiio, and had 
carried on the tanning business, renting the 
property he used. Un.able to renew his lease, 
he began to look about for another opening, 
when he heard of the prospect at Quincy, and 
moved immediately. He had learned the 
tanner's trade in the same yard where Baldwin 
served his apprenticeship, and soon rented 
the yard in Quincy, which he conducted for 
a number of years. He put up a log cabin in 
the newly laid-out town, which was the only 
one beside Baldwin's at this point. Enoch 
Smith and Thomas Stanage, an unmarried man, 
wore here when he came, and Benjamin Cox 
farther west. In the December following, Jes^se 
Dottson cam<> and put up the first store in the 
north part of the old town. His first start 
was in a sm;dl room in the end of his dwell- 
intr. His business grew, however, and later, 
in partnership with Manlove Chambers, did a 
brisk business. He afterwards met with finan- 
cial disaster, the first victim of a considerable 
number among the early business men of the 
tow'n. 

In 1830 Mr. Baldwin laid out a tier of lots 
on cither side of -Main street, aggregating 
thirty-four lots, and called it the village of 
Quincy, to express his ailmiration of John 
Quincy Adams. Three years later he adihd 
thirty-two lots adjoining the former on the 
Sf)uth, through which |>asses South street. In 
this same year, Miinlove Chandlers, who owned 
laud west of the town, jilatted a triangiilnr 
addition of twenty-three lots, about which 
Darlinirton, Liberty and Carlisle streets de- 
scribe the outlines. In 183(;, twenty-one lots 
were laid out on Walnut street, and twoyear.-i 
later Thomas J. Harriman added all that part 
lying directly on the river, and in 1830, the 






HISTOEY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



Chambers addition was extended to take in 
nine more lots. The business growth of the 
village at first was rapid, and bade fair to be 
the only business center of the township. The 
failure of the canal to come to the aid of the 
ambitious little village was the first damper 
upon its prospects. Later, Mr. B ildwin en- 
gaged in merchandising, but failed to make a 
success of it. In his failure, he unfortunately 
seriously compromised the interests of the 
town. Ho had mortgaged the unsold portion 
of his land, h'ing between Carlisle and Can- 
by streets, and all south of the two Baldwin al- 
lotments. This property- was sold on a mort- 
gage of §8.3,000, and liought in by the mort- 
gagees. These parties lived in the East, 
and being persons of wealth, and believing 
the property to be valuable, kept it out of the 
market for some years, to the great detri- 
ment of the town. When the railroad came 
through, the land had come into the posses- 
sion of heirs, and they, cherishing the same 
notion, gave a libera! grant for depot jjur- 
poses, engaging the railroad company to put 
up various buildings, besides a water tank, but 
still held the lots. Whatever impulse that 
the railroad might have given, the growth of 
the village was thus materially modified. 
Within the last few years this property has 
been put in market, and is rapidly being built 
up. 

About 1845 W. and D. Josephs brought to 
Quincy a small stock of goods, and opened a 
store. They soon established an ashery, 
which proved to be a valuable investment. 
They were stirring, shrewd business men, and 
soon infused a vigor in the business life of the 
town that made it seem like anew place. As 
their trade increased they expanded their busi- 
ness, renting the mills, continuing their ashery, 
adding a tailoring department and increasing 
their facilities for handling dry-goods, gro- 
ceries, boots and shoes and hardware. It is 
said that in a two days' trip to Cincinnati they 



would purchase §10,000 worth of goods, buy- 
ing as high as ten hogsheads of sugar and 
fifteen to twenty sacks of coffee at a time. 
Six and eight clerks were kejDt busy waiting 
on the trade that came from all parts of the 
country, from Bellefontaine, Sidnev, West 
Liberty and other points. Their main build- 
ing was sixty-six feet long, with an L fifty- 
seven feet long, and the whole eighteen feet 
wide. In addition to this they purchased 
everything a farmer had to sell. Corn, wheat, 
hogs and cattle were bought in large quanti- 
ties, and it is said every empty building near 
their place of business was at times filled to 
bursting with grain. But there was another 
feature of their business that failed to receive 
its due weight with the farmers. They were the 
heaviest borrowers of money in the county, 
and almost every farmer in this section held 
their paper, with the most extravagant in- 
terest. After continuing business for some 
fifteen j-ears, there came a time when they 
found it difficult to meet the payment of a 
large bill in Cincinnati, and a hurried assio-n- 
ment was made with liabilities at $70,000. It 
was a terrible blow to the whole country 
around the village. Many farmers had lior- 
•■owd money at a low rate to loan to the 
Josephs at a higher rate of interest. Others 
had accepted notes for produce sold, and wore 
doing business on this paper, and, when the 
bubble burst, it is said that the town clerk 
was kept busy recording sales of chattel 
property which changed ostensible owners to 
save being levied on in consequence of this 
failure. This was the hardest blow at the 
prosperity of the town that had yet been 
given, and it seemed for a time as if the fatal 
symbol Ichabod had lieen written upon its 
history to remain forever. The town is now 
recovering. The Blatchlay lands are being 
built up, local business, warranted by the 
steady growth of the communitv, is showing 
a thrifty increase, and Quincj- will yet justify 



^Vr 



'f 



3(>8 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



the sanguine hopes of its friends and citizens. 
The village was incorporated in 1853, and V. 
E. Bunker was the first Mayor; A. J. Daniels, 
Recorder. Good stone walks are laid down 
on Miami street, and the streets are pikod in a 
way that answers every purpose of paving. 
There are the usual number of stores, a hub 
and spoke factory, a grist-mill, with another 
to be built the coining year, and two steam 
elevators that handle upwards of 50,000 
bushels of grain per year. The present offi- 
cers are — Thomas Bell, JIaj-or, and B. N. 
Lecdom, Recorder. 

The site of De Graff, with the whole of 
fractional section 13 (some 503 acres), was 
entered as early as 1805, by John Boggs, a 
resident of Pickawaj' County, Ohio, and laid 
for years uncultivated and out of the market. 
In 18'iG, however, his son, ^yilliam, desiring 
to make a start in the world for himself, he 
gave him this property, which he at once pro- 
ceeded to occupy. In the j'ear named, he 
canii! in a wagon with his wife and child, ac- 
conii)anied by a man who had worked for his 
father, and had taken land in this vicinity in 
payment. He selected a fine site on a high 
hill west of the site of the village, overlook- 
ing the river and a fine stretch of country to 
the south, anil cani])ed in his wagon until his 
cabin was completed, which is still standing, 
in good condition. In 1833, Mr. Boggs built 
a saw-mill just below his cabin, going to Col- 
umbus for his machinery. In IS-Kl, he built a 
irrist-mill, which is still standing, now owned by 
Mnthias AVolf. In 1850, he laid out the vil- 
lage of De Graff. The Bellefontaine and In- 
diana road, now " Bee Line," had been pro- 
jected, and even staked out at this time, and 
.Fohn KoUp, who had purchased the land of 
.Mr. B'lggs, in company with Samuel Gilfillin, 
|>latted some sixty lots, one third of which 
were on thc> southeast side of the track. It 
appears that Mr. Koke found it difficult to 
carry out his contract, and the land, or a por- 



tion of it, reverted to the original owner. It 
appears that David Lewis, a noted land spec- 
ulator of that day, and a resident of Cincin- 
nati, tried to secure tins section, but was dis- 
appointed by .lohn Boggs buying it before 
him. It was his intention of laying out a 
town. at once, or as soon as possible, on the 
very spot where De Graff now stands. 

The location of the railioad insured the suc- 
cess of the town, and it was ap])ropriat(Iy 
named after the railroad magnate that pushed 
the railroad enterprise to completion. The 
site chosen was on high, rolling ground, in 
the path of the great tornado of 1S;J5. The 
great oak trees had not been cleared away, 
and, to add to the unjileasant features of the 
place, a dense growth of underbrush had 
sprung u]), presenting anj'thing but a desira- 
ble building spot. But railroads were a com- 
paratively new and ini])ortant thing at that 
time, and no one hesitated because of the un- 
favoraldeness of the prospect. In three years 
after the original platting of the town, thirty- 
three lots were added between Miami and 
Hayes streets, and in 185G nineteen lots be- 
tween Miami and Race streets were platted. 
Two years later, fifty-one lots were added 
north of Miami street, extending into Pleas- 
ant Township. Several cimsiderable addi- 
tions have since been made, until it now 
ranks second only to Bellefontaine in the 
couutv, and some ambitious citizen has studied 
the census of the present year (1880) until he 
has arrived at the conclusi<in that it ranks the 
thirty-sixth in the State. 

The first business was introdilced in the 
town bv J- M. Askrin, in April, 1851. In the 
following May, A. .1. Lippincott, from Lip- 
pincott Station, in an adjoining county, put up 
a store, and commenced business. It was ex- 
pecteil by the projirietors that Boggs street 
would prove the |)rineipal street for business, 
but to this Mr. Lijipincott dissented, and 
erected the first building on the east side of 



<? K> 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



Main street. The event has justified his judg- 
ment, and Main street is now the principal 
business street. The "Miami House " is the 
oldest frame building on Main street. The 
frame was put up at an early date, but for 
several years it stood uninclosed, a rather de- 
pressing object to would-be settlerfe. 

The platting of a village so close to Quincy 
naturally excited not a little jealousy and 
alarm among the citizens of that borough, and 
it is safe to say that nothing was done b}' them 
to help the new venture along. De Graff grew 
but slowly, yet did not cease- its progress, and 
each year found it a little nearer success. 
The projected Louisville and Sandusky Rail- 
road which promised to go through the vil- 
lage, but was not built, served to attract at- 
tention to it, and helped its growth. It was 
for several years undecided, the business men 
of De Graff investing liberally in its stock, 
and so long as it stood in this shape it was a 
benefit to the town. Later the pike which 
opened up the Muchinippi Valley brought an 
increased amount of trade. This, with the 
depressing influences at work at Quincj-, gave 
the new town a start which it has not since 
tost. Mr. Boggs has from the first proved a 
public-spirited citizen, and has freely invested 
his money when the prospect promised more 
benefit to the growth of his village than finan- 
cial returns to himself. One of his earliest 
enterprises was the erection of a warehouse 
for Aaron Mitchel, — "old Uncle Ben," as the 
citizens loved to call him — who, without capital, 
began to purchase wheat with the aid of 'Mr. 
Boggs, and soon made De Graff one of the 
best markets for grain in the county, with 
profit both to himself and the town. Of late 
years the growth of De Graff has been more 
rapid, during the last decade wresting the 
second place from West Liberty. In 18G4, 
the depot, freight-oifico, and the bulk of the 
business was done in the old warehouse; now, 
in 1880, it has a large depot with two im- 



mense water-tanks, and the best freight record 
of any town, save the county seat, on this line 
of road. In 1864= there was one drug-store; 
now there are two. There were two dry-goods 
stores, and now four; beside the addition of two 
tin shops, a hardware store, two barber shops, 
two meat shops, a bank, and a fine union school 
building. There are two warehouses that han- 
dle upwards of 200,000 bushels of wheat in a 
year; a grist-mill that does a large commercial 
business, and a saw-mill that turned out 250, 
000 feet of lumber, on railroad contracts, last 
year. 

The village was incorporated in 18Gi,with the 
first officers as follows: A. J. Lippincott, May- 
or; Mathias Wolf, Recorder, and Frank Kat-' 
ing. Dr. R. S. Gilchrist, G. Shoemaker, Samuel 
Prince and .James Hays, Councilmen. The 
first council passed, at their first regular session, 
an ordinance directing that a Marshal, Treas- 
urer and Street Commissioner be elected an- 
nually. On the following April, Owen Conck- 
lin was made Marshal, and John Shoemaker, 
Sr., Treasurer. In the following" j^ear, grades 
for the streets were established and sidewalks 
ordered, and in 1874 improved sidewalks were 
required on Main, Miami, Boggs, Koke, Hays, 
Moore and Church streets, some of them being 
of bereastone and others of gravel and brick. 
In 1877 the one half lot No. 20, fronting on 
Main street, was bought, at a cost of $500, on 
which to erect a town hall. A fine, two-story 
brick was at once erected at a cost of $y,300. 
In this building, on the ground floor, are the 
engine and hook and ladder truck, the Ma\"or's 
office and the " lockup." The latter consists 
of two roomy cells in the rear part of the 
building, lined with boiler-iron on a fifteen- 
inch brick wall, and floored, stone on concrete. 
Until 1873, no provision had been made for 
defence against fire. In that year a hook and 
ladder truck was purchased, at a cost of S225, 
and a volunteer company formed to man it. 
August 20, 1880, a No. 5 nickel-plated Silsby 



^f 



J^ 



372 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



steam fire engine was received, with two 
hose reels and 1,000 feet of good rubber hose, 
at a total cost, for the whole apparatus, of 
§3,750. Two large cisterns, holding about 
3,50 barrels of water each, furnish the sup- 
ply for a portion of the town, while the mill- 
race, which encircles the town on the south, 
furnishes an inoxhaustible supply for the 
larger part of the village. The engine is 
propelled by hand, which is au easy matter 
where the roads never get muddy. The 
present officials of the village are: II. H. Barr, 
Mayor; W. II. Ilinkle, Recorder; James Long- 
fellow, ]\Iarshal; A. Weller, Treasurer; M. 
AYolf, Dr. D. "\V. KichaVdson, S. K. Neer, 
James Hays, Milton Richards and H. Thacher, 
Councilmcn. 

The history of these villages would hardly 
be complete without some notice of the terri- 
ble tornado of July 7, 1872, which visited 
them with terrible effect, and we copy an 
account which appeared in the Cincinnati 
Gazitle, and quoted in Antrim's history of 
Champaign and Logan counties. " Indications 
of a storm were apparent to the close ob- 
server during the day, but as twilight came 
on the clearness of the atmosphere and the 
strange quiet that seemed to affect all things, 
gave evcrbody the cue to what was to follow. 
The whirlwind came from the west, and at 
about half-past six o'clock it struck in the 
vicinity of Quincy, tearing the forest to 
pieces, and then, after leaving their broken 
remnants behind it, coming upon the town 
itself. It looked like a massive balloon as it 
sped on its mission of destruction, and little 
clouds appeared to bo jmrsuing each other 
with lightning rapidity through the iqijier 
section of it, while the lower part, correspond- 
ing to the lower part of an aeronaut's vessel, 
seemed like the chimney of a locomotive, 
As it struck the town, houses, barns, stables, 
outhouses, buildings of every description, 
went to pieces with a continuous crashing 



that sounded like the shock of armies in battle, 
and the terror-stricken citizens, such as were 
unhurt, rushed wildly to and fro with irreso- 
lute mind, but feet of courier swiftness. 
Shouts of joy from mothers, finding their lost 
oll'spring; from husbands, at seeing their wives 
again, and from children, being assured of 
their parents' safety, mingled with lamenta- 
tions of grief from those whose search was 
unrewarded. 

"The scenes were such as would have en- 
sued had the end of the world arrived, and 
there is, perhaps, no resident of the town who 
did not, for the moment, think that such was 
the case. The terror was universal, and every 
thought was of self, until the wind had ex- 
pended its force. "When the nature of tlic 
shock was understood, however, many persons 
recovered a portion of their lost courage, and 
their thoughts reverted to their relatives and 
friends. They then endeavored to ascertain 
their whereabouts — and many who left their 
houses under such circumstances, fell in the 
streets, struck by flying timbers and debris. 
After the shock had lasted about a moment, 
its destroying force was carried onward to 
Dc Graff, which is situated three .miles from 
Quincy, and there the same scenes were re- 
enacted among the populace. The destruc- 
tion was principally wrought in the best sec- 
tion of the town, but was not as extensive as 
in Ouincv. The whirlwind seemed to be 
traveling in a straight line, at the rate of six- 
ty miles an hour, as it reached Dc Graff, and it 
covered territory from fifty to a hundred rods 
wide. After the hurricane had passed over 
l)e Graff, it progressed about three miles far- 
ther in its course, and then died away with 
its force expended. The citizens of the devas- 
tated villages were then able to proceed 
about the mournful task of hunting out the 
victims of the disaster, and the work was one 
to which all hands were turned, and which 
was soon completed. In De Graff about 






ftf 



^L>, 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



fifteen persons were hurt. The house of Jona- 
than Roll, a large two- story frame, fronting 
on the main street of the hamlet, was badly 
riddled and the roof torn off, and, during the 
alarming crisis, the occupants became over- 
whelmed with terror, and rushed into the 
street. Mr. Roll, in person, carried his little 
daughter Lulie, a girl seven years of age, in 
his arms, and had scarcely left the building 
before a mass of flying wreck struck and 
knocked him to the earth, and covered his 
body and that of his daughter out of sight in 
the ruins. When the rescuers reached him, 
after the accident, the little girl, the pride of 
his heart, was still clasped in his arms; but 
her eyes could never more twinkle the delight 
she felt while in his companj', and her tiny 
hand could never more })at his cheek — she 
was dead; and the form, five minutes before 
all grace and beauty, was now distorted into 
a shape that wrung floods of tears from those 
who witnessed the sight. Her injuries were 
so terrible that death could not have been de- 
layed long enough for her to know that she 
had received them. Mr. Roll sufl'ered a broken 
shoulder blade and numerous severe bruises- 
His wife and Levanda Moses (her daughter 
by a former husband) met with an equally 
terrible misfortune in their effort to seek safe- 
ty. The girl's brains were dashed out, and she 
was mutilated as badly as her half-sister, and 
Mrs. Roll had her left forearm crushed, be- 
sides severe internal injuries. 

" The ravages of the wind in De Graff are 
made plainly apparent to the occupants of 
passing railroad trains, and they still look 
confused and widespread, although every 
effort is being put forth to restore the town 
to its former shape. The chief thoroughfare 
abuts on the railwaj^, and a view of it in- the 
present condition is not gratifying. The last 
building on the east side of the street was a 
barn, which belonged to Newton Richardson, 
and adjoining it was the barn of Dr. Hance. 



Next to the last named came the frame house 
and stable of T. J. Smith, and then the Meth- 
odist Church, a large frame structure. These 
buildings were all some distance back from 
the street, and were leveled flat. In front of 
the church was the dwelling house, store and 
barn of Mrs. Christine, and not an erect tim- 
ber in either building was left standing. Mr. 
Roll's house and stable were situated next to 
Mrs. Christine's property, and the stable was 
wrecked completely. Adjoining the Roll 
homestead on the west were Mrs. Lippincott's 
house and barn. The house was bereft of its 
roof and otherwise damaged, while the stable 
was lesolved into lumber on the spot. The 
last buildings on this side of Main street were 
a small brick building, occupied as a tin and 
stove store by Samuel Pratt, and the frame 
cabinet shop of .J. H. Rexer, botli of which 
were ruined. 

" On the west side of the street the destruc- 
tion was not so great as on the east, but the 
number of buildings partially destroyed was 
about even. The list opens with Newton 
Richardson's frame business house, which 
lost its roof, as did the adjoining store of 
Conrad Mohr. The dwelling of John Van 
Kirk came next, and was similarly treated, 
and the owner's saddle and harness shop next 
door also suffered scalping. The next house 
was Schriver, Wolf & Co.'s drj'-goods estab- 
lishment, which, in addition to unroofing, was 
battered and broken in many places. A 
good-sized frame next to this last named, oc- 
cupied as a dry -goods store, and owned by 
Benjamin Crutcber, was unroofed and other- 
wise damaged, and the hardware store of 
Grafford, Crutcher & Co., adjoining, met with 
bad luck, being nearly destroyed. On Boggs 
street, in rear of Main, Mrs. Russell's dwelling- 
house, Lippincott & Hersche's cooper shop 
and barn, and Lippincott's stable, were 
all very badly damaged, and on the west 
side of this street the dwellings of John 



^ 



f ^ 



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ft^ 



374 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



O'Hara and David Gainey suffered severely. 

"C. H. Custenborder, a. faraier living half a 
mile distant, lost his house and two barns, all 
of which were blown to atoms. The grist 
.nnd saw-mills of Schriver, Wolf & Co., near 
Do Graff, were injured to a considerable ex- 
tent. In Quincy, about seventy buildings are 
believed to have been all or partially destroyed, 
and an estimating committee, who reckoned 
up the matter, calculated that the loss would 
reach §60,000. Among the chief losses were 
the following: Baptist and Methodist 
churches, frame buildings, both down; Wil- 
liam Cloninger's blacksmith, cooper and 
wagon shops leveled with the ground, and 
dwelling house rendered uninhabitable for 
several days; the dwelling was moved twelve 
feet from its foundation; large frame house 
occupied by Daniel Clark and Edward Fitz- 
gerald, was rendered almost valueless by the 
damage inflicted; Henry Keyset's frame 
house demolished; Elias Walburn's carriage 
shop partially destroyed; D. S. Wolfs hotel 
an<l pump factory, roof off the formei-, and 
the latter destroyed. 

" These were but few of the heaviest losses. 
Very few buildings in the entire town seem 
to have escaped the visitation. Several peo- 
ple were caught and imprisoned in the ruins 
of their own houses as they fell, and had to 
wait some time before succor came to them. 
Tlic force of the hurricane was felt very 
plainly in Quincy, and, as instances of its 
might, timbers of a thickness of eight or ten 
inches were blown from the Methodist Church 
edifice a distance of ten yards, and in one 
place, after the storm, a shinjrle was found 
ilrivcn into some weather-boarding, just as if 
it had been steel' and as sharp pointed as a 
razor. In De Graff it drew a pump from the 
well of Alexander Corry, and threw it ten 
feet over his house. A large piece of tin 
roofing was carried away from the town hall 
in the latter village, and was thought by im- 



aginative countrymen in its progress to be a 
winged gray horse. Masses of rubbish were 
carried several miles and deposited in fields, 
on the top of forest trees and elsewhere. 

" The first reliable intimation of the coming 
destruction was given to the inhabitants of 
De Graff by a countryman, who drove through 
town with his wagon as fast as his antiquated 
steed coidd go, shouting to the people to 
vacate their premises. Nobody understood 
the cause of his alarm, however, and many 
thought the volume of dust sweeping on to- 
ward them was caused by a runaway team. 
When the storm broke, a citizen named .John- 
son, whose chief physical peculiarity was a 
capacious abdomen, laid himself down beside 
a stone wall. He had not been there thirty 
seconds before Mr. Graffort, the hardware man, 
came sailing along and anchored on top of 
.Johnson. In another instant a Kentucky 
doctor of about Johnson's size capped the 
climax and buried the latter victim three deep 
with the lightness and ease of a three-story 
brick house. 

" The most miraculous event that occurred in 
De Graff is believed to have been the escape 
of a French stallion, a splendid animal, that 
was lodged in a stable on Main street. The 
stable was leveled flat with the ground, and 
a surface of perhaps 100 foot srpiarc was cov- 
ered with corn-cobs and nibliish, and the ani- 
mal was found afterwards standing where his 
stall ought to bo, and calmly feeding on the 
loose hay strewn about him. A similar inci- 
dent was the escape of a brood of pigeons. 
On Ilays street a small frame dwelling-house 
was tinned half way aroimd, with the gable- 
end to the street, without displacing a board. 
Tiie Ministerial Association of tiie Belle- 
fontaine District was to have met in the 
Methodist Church on the 13th, but the situa- 
tion did not promise a comfortaljle accommo- 
dation. In De Graff, the houseless ones were 
all provided with shelter by their neighbors. 



*^ 



iii 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



375 



but in Quincy the destruction was so general 
that many had to be sent to the country, and 
thrown on the hospitalities of the farmers. 
In many houses in Quincy the occupants could 
be seen at their work, by windows where sash 
and blind were gone, and in apartments with 
apertures large enough to admit a horse. The 
business men evinced that courage which 
marks the recovery from the blow as sure and 
certain. Stuck up consjiicuoush' in every di- 
rection was the following notice, written in ink: 

Blown down, but alive and ready to do duty 
in my dsvelling-house, one door north of the 
old stand. Sam. Frantz, stoves, queensware, 
etc. 

We now come to speak of the churches. 
Perhaps the earliest preaching here was in 
1813. At that time, James Sutton, a Baptist 
minister, moved into the settlement, and aided 
the people in their devotional exercises. • He 
was a man some eighty years old, and had a wife 
some si.vty years younger than himself. His 
wife soon died, however, and he left the 
place. John Gutridge was an early preacher, 
who found his way through the woods on a 
missionary tour. He was a native of Ken- 
tucky, and when a boy earned the title of 
" the wagon-boy," while teaming for his father. 
The famil}^ afterward moved to Adams County, 
Ohio, and John, at maturity, became a Bap- 
tist preacher. He used to preach in School- 
er's log barn, whicli, though small, afforded am- 
ple room for the little congregation that gath- 
ered there. Schooler was by no means a de- 
vout man. Indeed, it is related of him that 
he prided himself somewhat upon his skill in 
profanity, but he courted popularitj^, and 
opened his barn to the minister as a part of 
his plan to secure the applause of his neigh- 
bors. After the first schoolhouse was built, 
meetings were held here, and it served the 
double purpose of school and meeting-house 
for years. 

The first organized church was probably in 



the Newman neitrhborhood. Here a log 
church was erected in 1828, where a Methodist 
class had been previously organized. To this 
point the members of this denomination gath- 
ered for miles around and constituted an or- 
ganization of some twenty-five members. 
The building was arranged as was common 
in those days. The seats were principally of 
smooth rails supported on legs. To furnish 
the necessary warmth, a square box was placed 
in the centre of the room and filled with 
dirt; on this a wood fire was built, allow- 
ing the smoke to escape where it could. For- 
tunately for the comfort of the audience, the 
character of the early building offered little 
obstruction to the passage of smoke, and the 
peojjle suffered no great inconvenience from 
this source. Later, charcoal was used, and the 
people were saved from more serious conse- 
quences by the free ventilation allowed in 
the construction of the cabin. About 1840 
the present frame building yras erected, and 
the name changed from the popular title of 
Newman Church to Ohio Chapel. About a 
year later the Associate Reformed Presby- 
terian denomination erected a frame buildino- 
in Quincy, but it has long ago passed away as 
a society here, and the building is now used as 
a stable. A Baptist society was the next to 
follow in building a church edifice, but that 
was blown down in 1873, and the society, too 
weak to rebuild it, practicallj^ disbanded and 
joined the Methodist society. This latter 
society was formed at an early day, and 
preaching was held in James Baldwin's cabin 
as early as 1828. A frame building was put 
up as early as 1852, under the inspiration of 
Rev. Thomas Simms. This was destroyed in 
1872, and in 1874 a fine brick edifice was put 
up at a cost of some 85,000. There are about 
200 members in this organization. The Uni- 
versalists have a church building here, but the 
society has lost its vigor, and their building is 
used for public entertainments, as a public 



.|? 



A^ 



37G 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



liall. "With the founding of De Graff, and 
the gatiici-ing of a community at this point, 
came the demand for church organizations. 
The fierce jealousy that manifested itself in 
its rivalry for urban honors, found itsway into 
tiio church as -well as into business, and many 
who were members of the Quincy churches 
could not secure permission to organize 
churches here. Preaching was had, however, 
at stated times, the peoph; all joining to hear 
the different preachers, using the old ware- 
house as the most available place of worship. 
Somewhere about 1852, a church building 
was erected by general subscription, which 
was to be called the Presbyterian Church of 
De Graff. Here all united for several years, 
until the different denominations grew strong 
enough to provide for themselves. Rev. 
William M. Galbreath supplied the pulpit for 
the Presbyterians at first. The society was 
independently organized about 1860, under 
the direction of Rev. A. Telford, with some 
eighteen ortwenty membori;, and is still main- 
taining its services. It has at present some 
sixty members, with Rev. Francis Linn as 
" stated supply." 

The Methodist society erected their first 
church somewhere about 1855. Revs. Foster 
and Oldfield were early preachers in the old 
warehouse, but Rev. "William Boggs organ- 
ized the first class, consisting of some ten 
persons, among whom were Dennis Warner 
and wife, Isaac Smith and wife and Mrs. R. 
S. Gilchrist. The first place of worship was 
a frame building standing on the lot now 
owned by Jacob Andie. . In the tornado of 
1873, it was blown to atoms. It had just 
been repaired and refitted inside and out, pro- 
vided with new singing books, organ, etc., 
when it was all swept away. The only thing 
saved out of the wreck was the j)ulj)it bible, 
which was found near by, entirely unharmed. 
A new lot on Main street was purchased, and 
])rcparations at once ))ut on foot to erect an- 



other place of worship. In the meanwhile, 
they used the Presbyterian building until, in 
187J-, the societj- dedicated a fine brick edi- 
fice which cost some $12,000. The tower is 
supplied with a fine town clock, which was 
put in by general subscription. There are 
now about 250 members, only four of which 
are of the original class. 

The Baptist Church was organized in Feb- 
ruary, 1859, and in the following year their 
brick edifice was erected at a cost of %1,800. 
The society had some difficulty in securing a 
separate organization on account of the jeal- 
ousy of the home church in Quincy, and for 
some time it was only a branch of that 
church, and had preaching once a month. 
This church started with some twenty-five 
members, only nine of whom were males. 
The-first regular Pastor was Rev. A. J. Wiant, 
who served them for six years. They have 
now about 100 members. In December of 
1877, Rev. Thomas Heston organized the 
Christian Church, with some fifteen members. 
In just one year their brick church was dedi- 
cated, and practically clear of debt, though it 
cost some 5il,500 — no light load for such a 
small organization to carry. A bell has 
since been added at a cost of about ^'M. 
The first regular Pastor was Mr. Heston. 
The present Pastor is Rev. Daniel Lepley 

There are three representatives of the great 
benevolent societies in Miami Township. At 
Quincy is Quincy Lodge, No. 285, 1. O. O. P., 
instituted in 1851. They own the buililing in 
which their hall is situated in partnership with 
a business firm that occupies the lower part of 
the building. There are about forty members. 
The officers are as follows: Levi Ritter, N. 
G.; E. F. Curtis, V. G.; Price Castle, Rec- 
Sec; E. F. Claj-, Per.-Sec, and Jacob Allin- 
ger, Treas. At De Graff, is De Graff Lodge, 
No. 549, I. O. O. F., instituted July 16, 1873. 
The charter members were — D. W. Harris, 
Charles Gessner, Samuel Thatcher, Milton 



W 



T 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



Steen, A. E. Cory, Jonathan Thatcher, R. J. 
Smith, Robert Dickson, Adam Martin, George 
W. Nicewarner, F. H. Goodheart, Marion Mc- 
Alexander, Robert Brunson, D. H. McKinnon, 
H. D. Young and Lafayette McAlexander. 
The present officers are — Thomas Heston, N. 
G.; William Pash, V. G.; Mark Hiller, Rec- 
Sec; A. J. Smith, Per.-Sec; S. 11. Thatcher, 
Treas. The lodge has a fine hall in Thayer's 
block, and has about forty members. Boggs 
Lodge, No. 202, F., & A. M., own a fine liall 
here which they built in connection with Mr. 
Weller, in 1870, at a cost of some 81,400. It 
has about seventy members.* 

The first schoolhouse made its appearance in 
the same year with the first minister, 1813. The 
people who first settled in Miami were gener- 
ally of slight education, but thcj^ desired bet- 
ter things for their children, and provided 
school privileges. The first schoolhouse was 
a round, log afl^air, with a roof of round logs 
covered with leaves, and made solid by dirt 
thrown upon them. This was located about 
a mile north of Shaw's residence. Here 
Elcazer Piper, Jonathan Rea and Mr. Truat 
swung the birch and trained the budding in- 
tellects of the children of the frontier. These 
teachers all taught on the good old plan of so 
much per head, and took payment in produce. 
Mr. Truat, however, was a man of some 
means, and consented to teach only for cash, 
and $8 in cash was therefore paid him. This 
was quite an undertaking for the settlers, and 
it is related that Mr. Shaw had to take a coujile 
of hogs to Urbana to defray his share of the 
expense. About a year later, another school- 
house was built on the land now owned by 
Addison Henderson. John Waller taught 
here, and was the first of the frontier school 
teachers who could write, and this accom- 
plishment gained him no little distinction. 
Since then the schools at Miami have made 



• The writer hns failed to receive the furtiier iuforraation 
promised, niul is obliged to dismiss the Lodge with this state- 
ment in regard to it. 



rapid progress. Six schoolhouses, besides the 
special districts, to saj^ nothing of iiAproved 
methods, represent the advance in this direc- 
tion. The statistics gleaned from the County 
Auditor's reports make the following showing: 
Balance on hand, September 1, 1878, $498.99; 
State tax, $351 ; local tax, §994.80; total amount 
paid teachers, $1,250; balance on hand, Sep- 
tember 1, 1879, $403.13. Number of school- 
houses, 6, and value of the same, $3,800. Num- 
ber of Tjupils enrolled — boj's, 92 ; girls, 89. Of 
the special districts, that of De Graif was erect- 
ed first. As early as 1856, it was arranged to 
have the town set apart as a school district, 
and, by local enterprise, better facilities were 
secured. But, in 1864, the special district 
was organized and a neat, frame building, 
now usod by the Catholic Church as a phico 
of worship, was erected, at a cost of $600. 
In 1867, a brick structure of four departments 
•was substituted, at a cost of $8,000, which 
met the wants of the district until 1877, when 
it was torn down and the present elegant 
building put up in its place. This contains 
six rooms, and is located in spacious grounds 
on the corner of Boggs and Miami streets. 
It was erected at a cost of $14,000. The spec- 
ial district at Quincy was erected in 1865, and 
a two-story frame was erected to accommodate 
the scholars. This is now doing service as 
a public hall, etc. In 187G, a commodious 
brick building was put up, at a cost of $7,000 
for grounds and building. The statistics of 
these districts are as follows: 

' Quincy. DeOraff. 

Balance on hand, Sept. 1, 1878... ^ 718 83 7,307 89 

State tax 193 50 4f>t) 00 

Local tax 2,5i3 96 3,807 22 

Total amount paid teachers dur- 
ing year 815 00 1,711 75 

Balance on hand. Sept, 1,1879... 1,109 77 1,130 68 

Number of schoolhouses 1 1 

Value of properly 5,000 00 1,500 00-> 

No. scholars enrolled, boys 52, girls 46; boys 72, girls 68 

* The new building does not appear in thLs year's report. 



ol - 



■L 



-?]>>■ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



CHAPTER X* 

JLARTIIPR TOWNSHIP— INTRODUCTION— SETTLEMENT— VILLAGES- 
COLLEGE. 



-CHURCHES— GENEVA 



"There is a welcome in this western land 
Like the old welcomes, which were said to give 
The friendly heart where'er they gave the hand ; 
AVitiiin this soil the social virtues live, 
Like its own forest trees, unprun'd and free." 

— Thomas. 

STANDING on some jutting headland, let 
us view the panorama as it slowly passes 
l)y, unfolding the etchings the versatile artist, 
Time, has penciled thereon. Here, coming up 
out of the misty past, is the Indian in full 
chase after the bounding deer. He passes, and 
before his form dies away in the distance we 
see the first settlers moving forward with the 
slow-paced oxen, bearing their household 
treasures into the wildwood. A cabin of 
rude logs rises; the pioneer's ax rings through 
the woods; the cumbersome plow turns the 
furrow; the pioneer mill rises, and a new life 
has taken possession of the wilderness; the 
hunting-grounds of the red man are no more 
before us; they have moved westward toward 
the setting sun. Another scene unfolds be- 
fore us, and the rude sclioolhouse and chapel 
are seen, wherein gather the children of the 
pioneer for instruction, even amid the soli- 
tude of the border; and we hear the song of 
thanksgiving and the voice of melody rise 
upon the air, and blend with the song of birds 
and the rustle of leaves, as the summer 
zephyrs move the foliage of the trees. The 
stage coacli, with its load of humanity, rum- 
bles up to the door of the log tavern, the 
notes of the driver's horn, making merrj' 
echoes through tiie dim old woods, and start- 
ling the quail and partridge from their coverts 

•This chapter contributed by Dr. J. H. Se ChcvcrcU. 



by the wayside. Houses of more pretentious 
appearance begin to dot the landscape, now 
fast assuming the aspect of a civilized and 
prosperous community. Villages are rising in- 
to view, and church spires — sure indices of 
civilization and refinement — point heaven- 
ward, as if to lift the thoughts of the dwellers 
of the land to better things. Another picture 
comes before us as the jiarallel bands of iron 
conversing into one in the dim distance ex- 
pand into the railway track, along which 
thunders the lightning express, freighted with 
the precious cargo of human lives. The tele- 
graph brings the news from the far away sea- 
board, and the days of slow-moving trade are 
numbered and laid to rest. And now comes 
the closing scene in this great series. Now the 
sonsof these pioneers are going forth, en tnasse, 
to defend the flag of the country, which has 
o-iven them a government, under whose fos- 
tering care all these later scenes have been 
made accomplished facts. We look upon the 
serried ranks as they tnove forward, shoulder 
to shoulder, against the deadly blast of war. 
The cannon and musketry of traitors in arms 
thin their ranks, but forward they bear the 
colors of the Union reflected in their blood. 
Homeward they turn when victory is secure 
and the right has triumphed, their columns 
gaping from the havoc of shot and shell and 
the disease of camp; the starvation of the 
prison pen; their colors ragged and torn, but 
proud and defiant as ever. One grand ova- 
tion to the living, a sad, wailing requiem for 
the dead, and the romiuint of these brave vet- 
erans settle back into the busy routine of the 
private citizen; the war-cloud has passed awa}', 



r 



V 



•<.t®- 



IIISTOEY OF LOGAX COUXTY. 



379 



and gentle Peace covers all with her wings. 
* * * " Sometimes gleams upon our sight. 
Through present wrong, the eternal right; 
And step by step, since time began, 
We sec the steady gain of man." 

McArthur Township is situated in the north- 
central portion of Logan County, and is bound- 
ed on the north by Richland, south b}- Lake 
and Harrison, east by Rush Greek and Lake, 
and west by Washington. The only stream 
of water within the limits of the township 
worthy of mention is Cherokee Man's Run, 
the main branch of which rises near the south- 
east corner of the township, and flows a west- 
ward course through the southern portion to 
the line of the Cincinnati, Sandusky & Cleve- 
land Railroad, where it turns northward, reach- 
ing the northern boundary of the township on 
the Dunn lands. This stream affords water- 
power for numerous mills. The soil is a clay 
in the eastern portion, and a gravel loam in 
the south and west. The productions do not 
differ from those of the county generally, being 
mainly wheat, corn and grass. The surface 
in the eastern part is rolling, and in places 
broken, especiaily along the streams. In the 
west the appearance is that of a level table 
land, while through nearly the center of this 
elevated plain, extending in a southwest di- 
rection, is a narrow strip of low land, denomi- 
nated prairie. Here the soil is alluvial, and 
when properly drained, is extremely fertile. 
The pioneers found a land heavily timbered, 
with all the varieties natural to this section of 
country. Small tracts of original timber are 
still found in different parts of the township. 
The farm lands in general present an appear- 
ance well kept and neat, indicating the thrifty 
husbandmen, while the substantial dwellings, 
barns, outbuildings and extensive tracts of 
orcharding still further attest their care and 
industry. Prior to the collection of the In- 
dians upon the Lewistown and other reserva- 
tions, small parties of them were scattered 



about the township, and . numerous small 
" clearings " of an acre or two each, left by 
them, and thickly dotted over with stumps, 
w^re mute witnesses to their want of indus- 
trj'. In relation to the legal constitution of* 
McArthur Township, first election, etc., the 
present records show nothing, and the earlier 
ones having been destroyed, leaves the writer 
entirely "at sea" iu relation to these im- 
portant items. 

Among the first sales of land in the town- 
ship was that conveyed by Duncan McArthur 
to John and Samuel Harrod, by " title bond," 
bearing date, November 9, 1820. This in- 
strument conveys 4.50 acres of land, situated 
on Cherokee Man's Run, for the sum of $932. 
In the year 1823 a patent was issued by James 
Monroe, President of the United States, to 
Joseph Carter, of Richmond, Va., for 1,000 
acres of land, adjoining the Solomon's Town 
block, and embracing "Hull's Encampment," 
or the " Twin Springs." A portion of this land 
is now owned by David Wallace. The pio- 
neer settlers in the township were Thomas 
Scott and family, who located here in the 
spring of 1820 ; John and Samuel Harrod, 
who came with their families in the fall of the 
same year, and John Watt, who began settle- 
ment in the spring of 1821. Of these families 
we have no data. Peter and Samuel Hover 
settled near Harrods' in 1823. Robert Ed- 
minston settled just east of the present site of 
Huntsville about the same time. Peter Sta- 
mats, a Pennsylvanian, settled in McArthur 
in 1814. Of his numerous family but one 
child now resides in the county. Samuel 
Lease came to McArthur Township in the lat- 
ter part of December, 1823, and remained 
during the winter. In 1825 he purchased land 
here, and became a resident. He still resides 
on this property. Mr. Lease says when he 
came, in 1825, there were a number of fami- 
lies of squatters living in different portions 
of the township. None of them, however. 



3S0 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



bRc;ime actual settlers. George Hover and 
family, consistinfr of a wife and eight children, 
settleil in the township in lS"-i4; he was a na- 
tive of New Jersey, but had removed to Ohio 
•as early as 1810. The land he settled on in 
McArthur consisted of 200 acres where is 
now Iluntsviile. But three children now reside 
in the township — Saniiiel, Mrs. Mary A. AVis- 
hartand Mrs. Martha Reed. Hugh B.ckham 
began the improvement of a farm not far 
from Huntsville about the same timf. Isaac 
Cooper and wife located in the township in 
February-, 1826. Mrs. Cooper, to whom the 
writer is indebted for many items of value in 
the preparation of this history, says: "Every- 
thing was woods, wild plums, wild grapes and 
everything. Deer in plenty, and snakes — my 
sakcs! such big ones, as long as a door is 
high." Mr. Cooper lived near Harrods' until 
about 1830, when he purchased a tract of land 
in the vicinity of the present Huntsville ceme- 
terj', and near the sulphur spring he erected 
a tannery, the first in the township. This 
business he prosecuted until 1835, when he 
purchased an extensive tract of land near 
Lewistown, and here, in the house now occu- 
pied by J. O. Cherry, he died. In 1827 Ad- 
cock Carter came to Ohio and located upon 
the 1000-acre tract before mentioned as 
belonging to Joseph Carter. Vincent Mur- 
phy came at the same time, and located on 
the same tract. Both had small families. 
Samuel Stewart located in the township in 
1830, upon the farm he still occupies, and five 
years later he erected a small grist mill on 
this farm. Ke v. James AYallace, of the United 
Presbyterian Church, made a permanent settle- 
ment in the township in 1832. Assuming 
charge of the churdi of this denomination, he 
conlii\upd its Pastor for many j'cars. Ho 
died in 1877. A son, H.ivid, resides on the 
home farm, who, with a danghtor, Mrs. W. W. 
Tem])letot\, constitute all the survivors of the 
family now in the township. David Wallace, 



wife and one child arrived in the township 
from York County, Penn., in May, 1833. 
He made settlement on 300 acres of land, 
embracing "IIull's Encampment." All was 
a dense forest except a small "opening" 
near the spring, where the block-house stood 
during the war of 1812. Of this spring there 
is a tradition that two soldiers were sleeping 
near it wlien thoy wore surprised by the In- 
dians, killed, scalped, and their hearts cut out 
and suspended from the bushes near. An- 
trim's history says: "Captain Arthur Thomas 
* * * was ordered to Fort Findlay with 
his company, to guard the public stores at 
that place, and on their return they encamped 
at the Big Spring, near an old Indian town 
called Solomon's Town, about seven miles 
north of Bellefontaine. Their horses having 
strayed away in the night, ho and his son 
went in pursuit of them. AVhen they had got 
some distance from the encampment they 
were discovered by the Indians, who attacked 
them with an overpowering force, and they 
were killed and scalped." 

Joseph Wallace, with family, consisting, of 
a wife and three children, reached McArthur 
in April, 1833; he located upon a large tract 
of land just west of Huntsville, and there 
passed the remainder of his days. A portion 
of this property is now occupied by Wallace 
Templetou. John Shelby, who subsequently 
became prominent in the affairs of Logan 
County, and of the State, made his first set- 
tlement in the county during the summer of 
1809, in what is now Union Township. Upon 
the removal of the Indians from the Lewis- 
town reservation, ho bought some 4S0 acres of 
land in the southwest corner of McArthur 
Township. This he improved, and here he 
died. His widow now lives near Huntsville. 
Henry Hover bought land near. Daniel 
Workman lived on the farm now owned b}' 
Anderson Nocr. John Caseboalt occupied 
the present Miller farm, and in the vicinity 



'[•- 






HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



381 



lived the families of Black, Giabill and Wil- 
liams. John Coulter came to the county, from 
Newark, Ohio, in 1835, locating in Beliefont- 
aine, where he remained until 1835; he then 
purchased a farm and tannery of Isaac Cooper, 
near Huntsviile, and upon this property he 
passed his life, dying December 26, 1859. 
Mr. Coulter was a Justice of the Peace in this 
township for twenty years. A son of this 
gentleman is now Recorder of Logan County, 
and to him the writer desires to make acknowl- 
edgements for numerous favors. Kemp G. 
Carter canw> from Washington, D. C, to Mc- 
Arthur in 1835, and, tlie next jear, located iu 
Cherokee; here he still resides; lie has wit- 
nessed the rise and fail of this now decaying 
hamlet. Abraham Elder, Sr., wife and eight 
children, came from Perry County, Ohio, to 
McArthur in 1835, locating upon a large 
tract of land just south of Huntsviile. He 
hocame a prominent man in the township, 
and was Associate Judge of the cOunty for 
several years. But two children now reside in 
the township — Dr. Eider and Mrs. John Coul- 
ter. Among other settlers who are entitled 
to mention, but of wiiom the writer has no 
data, are James Steen, William Watson, .John 
Russell, William Bodkin, Adam Yearn, Jona- 
than Woodard, William Harland, Dr. Samuel 
A. Morton, Alexander Thomj^son, James 
Storer, Solomon Richards, William Langhead, 
Thomas Patterson, J. and S. Hays, and possi- 
bly others, whose names are not now remem- 
bered. 

The anti-slavery movement was warmly 
espoused by many of the citizens of this town- 
ship and here, for many years, was a station 
on that somewliat celebrated line of travel, 
the " Underground Railroad." Its particular 
location is not important to this work. It is 
sufficient to know that here the fleeing bond- 
man was always sure of food, clothing if 
necessary, and a safe transit to the next sta; 
tion. It is related that two, now prominent, 



citizens of a neighboring township, one day 
found an aged colored man at work in a field, 
and, thinking to have a little fun at his ex- 
pense, told him they come to convey him back 
to the south. He did not stop to argue the 
matter, but started on a run for the house, 
whore he procured a gun, this be rested on 
the fence, the muzzle towards the jokers and 
commanded a halt. Failing to discover a 
great amount of fun in this portion of the per- 
formance, they " stood not on the order of 
their going, but went at once," fully believ- 
ing, that in this instance at least, " discretion 
was the better part of valor." 

In pioneer industries the first was a grist- 
mill erected in about 1828 by Adam Yearn. 
This was a frame building, furnished with one 
run of stone, and stood on Cherokee Creek, 
about one-half mile southeast of Huntsviile. 
This mill, greatly improved, is now owned by 
Jacob Instine. Jonathan Woodard built a 
second grist-mill further down the same 
stream, and soon after put in operation a saw- 
mill; the saw-mill is now dismantled and 
going to decay. The grist-mill is now owned 
by Samuel Stewart, who in 1835 erected a 
grist-mill still farther down Cherokee, which 
is still in successful operation. The Township 
of McArthur has been better supplied with 
distilleries perhaps than any other kind of 
manufactories. The first of these was built 
by Hugh Bickham, early in the settlement; 
it was a hewed log structure and stood 
just south of Huntsviile. The second was 
built by Edward Harper in 1845; this was 
quite a respectable building; it stood near the 
Instine grist-mill, but did not pay, and after 
some five years was closed. The third and 
last distillery was built by William Harland 
and Henry Instine; this was the largest of 
the three. In later years it was operated by 
Kemp G. Carter. As before stated, Isaac 
Cooper put in oprration the first tannery in 
the township; Thomas Wishart established 



•«. 



HISTOKY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



the second. This stood on the site now oc- 
cupied by the Carroll warehouse in Hunts- 
ville. Other "first things" will be found in 
connection with the villages. 

About one mile east of the present thriv- 
ingviliage of Huntsville, on the Bellefontaine 
pike, is situated a little decaying hamlet of, 
perhaps, one dozen dwellings, the remains of 
the once promising village of Cherokee. The 
site of this town was formerly owned by 
Robert Edminston, Dr. Samuel A. Morton 
and Alexander Thompson, who, on ]March 19, 
1832, by the aid of James W. Maruion, 
County Surveyor, laid out the town. The 
name was doubtless derived from the princi- 
pal stream of water in the vicinity. Induce- 
ments were made to facilitate the sale of lots, 
and from the first the growth of the town 
was rapid. The Springfield & Sandusky 
Stage Line made this a point for '• relay," 
and in a short time Cherokee became a bust- 
ling, busy village. Two large hotels, the first 
by a man named Baker and the second by 
Samuel Harrod; stores by Joseph Robb, who 
was also the first Postmaster, Richard S. 
Caiiby, James Langhead, Linas Cutting, and 
others. Three blacksmiths, two wagon-makers, 
and other needed artisans came, churches 
and a school-buildings were erected, and the 
tide of prosperity set bravely in. During 
tliese palmy days, Mr. Carter states, he has 
often seen as many as ten four-horse coaches 
stop in succession for meals and relay, each 
with ten or twelve passengers. Whisky was 
as common as tea and colTee; in fact, there was 
more of it drank than both the others, but it 
was not different at Cherokee from any other 
locality. Scarcely anybody was strictly tem- 
])erate, though there were few habitual drunk- 
ards. 

The lands upon which is now the vil- 
age of Huntsville were owned by George 
Hover and Tlinmas Wishart. Improve- 
ments began here inimodiately after the 



survey of the Mad River and Lake Erie (now 
C. S. & C.,) Railroad was made. The plat 
was • made by Alexander Harbison, county 
surveyor in 184C, and from the running of 
the first train on the railroad the village was 
an assured success; stores, hotels, etc., were 
opened, and in proportion as Huntsville in- 
creased in prosperity, Cherokee declined. 
The churches and principal buildings were re- 
moved to its more favored rival. The rail- 
road having superceded the stage coach, 
the hotels at Cherokee were without guests, 
even the "old soakers" who hung around the 
bar rooms waiting for some one to ask them 
to drink, departed for more prosperous local- 
ities, and finally business of all kinds ceased 
and the work of decay began. The first 
house on the site of Huntsville was built by 
Thomas Wishart in ]Si4. Messrs. Buell and 
Dodson put up the first brick building in the 
village in 1848. It was first occupied for a 
store, the first, b}' the way, in the village. 
Thomas ^Yisha^t's house was the first brick 
dwelling, now occupied by Mrs. Mary Cooper. 
John BimeFs house was the second brick 
dwelling erected. During the year 1847 
Samuel Harrod built a hotel near the depot. 
This was burned during the summer of 1850, 
but the work of rebuilding was begun at 
once, and the following year witnessed the 
opening of what is now the " Grand Central," 
owned at present by H. P. Ingall. J. Bimel 
has recently enlarged and refitted the former 
residence of H. Shafer, and in this now en- 
tertains the traveling public. II. Shafer, a 
former merchant at Cherokee erected the 
lar^e wooden building, now occupied in part 
by the postofTice, and in this he prosecuted 
liis former avocation for some years. The 
postollice, as before stated, was first estab- 
lished at Cherokee in about 1830. Joseph 
Robb was the first Postmaster. The office 
was removed to Huntsville in about 1850. 
J. H. Harrod is the present Po-stmaster, and 



_jja_ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



3S3 



to him the writer returns thanks for numer- 
ous favors. 

The village of Huntsville was incorporated 
in December, 1865, and in April following the 
first election of officers was held. Sidney B. 
Foster was elected Mayor; William W. Beat- 
ty; William T. Herron, J. H. Harrod, A. 
Bartholomew and .fosiah Carr, Council; David 
Carr, Recorder, and Joseph Carr, Treasurer. 
The village now contains one dry goods, one 
general, one grocery and notion, two drug, one 
agricultural implement, one furniture, and 
two millinery stores; two blacksmith and 
wagon, three shoe, one harness, and three 
carpenter shops; one steam saw-mill, two 
hotels, three churches and one school build- 
ing. The population in 1880 was 4.30, a gain 
of 30 per cent in ten years. 

Northwood, a little hamlet situated upon 
the north line of the township, is principally 
noted for its school. The lands embraced in 
the plat were owned by Joseph Wilmuth. It 
was surveyed and platted by the County Sur- 
veyor, James W. Marmon, on May 12, 1832. 
The first store here was opened by Milton 
L. Anderson in 183S or 1839. The goods 
were hauled from Dayton. A very thin grade 
of calico sold at that time for 44 cents per 
yard. In later j'ears other stores were estab- 
lished here, but the village never attained 
much prominence aside from its College. 

The history of the religious denominations 
in McArthur Township is fraught with inter- 
est. Missionaries early penetrated the wilder- 
ness, and wherever they found a settler's 
cabin, proclaimed the glad tidings of salva- 
tion. Sleeping under the trees, the blue 
vaulted heavens for their canopy and the stars 
for their watchers, these self-sacrificing men 
rode their circuits for weeks at a time, swim- 
ming rivers, floundering through marshes, 
following the trail of the red man, guided by 
the stars or by that instinct of wood craft, 
gained by long familiarity with nature in her 



wildest aspect, trusting to find the cabin of 
some pioneer where they might break their, 
many times, long-enforced fast. Do the 
ministers of to-day, as they ride to and from 
their elegant churches, surrounded on every 
hand by ease and luxury, a munificent salary 
assured, ever think of those noble men, the 
advance guard of Christianitj' into the wild- 
woods of America? The Presbyterian Church 
of McArthur, formerly known as the Cherokee 
Church, was organized in the year 1833. It 
is the pioneer church of the Calvinistic Order, 
formed in Logan County. Meetings were 
held at the house of Thomas Scott during the 
early fummcr of 1833, and in September fol- 
lowing the Revs. Dobbins and Roberson 
organized a church with the following mem- 
bers : Thomas Scott and wife, Peter Hover 
and wife, George Hover and wife, Samuel 
Hover and wife, Robert Edminston and wife, 
John Watt and wife, and James Stover and 
wife. Perhaps one year subsequent to the 
formation of this society, a hewed log meeting- 
house was built at Cherokee. Some years 
later the society built a large brick church 
edifice, also at Cherokee. Upon the decline 
of that village this building was removed to 
Huntsville; the present cost is $3,000; the 
present membership of this society is ninety. 
The first church officers were : Peter Hover, 
Thomas Scott, and Robert Edminston, Elders; 
the present are : B. S. Collins, John Hunter, 
James McCormick and Samuel Hover. Rev. 
A. J. Clark, the present Pastor, resides at 
Belle Centre, and in connection with the his- 
tory of the Presbyterian Church at that place, 
will be found many items of interest to the 
church under consideration. A Sabbath 
School has been in operation in connection 
with this church almost from the first, which 
has been productive of great good; John 
Hunter is its present Superintendent. The 
average attendance aggregates some sixtj^ 
children. 






384 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



The second organization in the township 
was that of the Methodist Episcopal de- 
nomination. Some time during the summer of 
1823 a series of meetings were held at the 
house of Solomon Richards, who then occu- 
pied a little log cabin some half mile south- 
west of Cherokee, and in this rude sanctuary 
the bonds of Christian fcUowshij) were 
strengthened by the formation of a small 
class. The families of Richards, Pendergrass 
and Lease constituted the greater part, and 
possiblj-, all of the pioneer organization. 
Meetings were continuctl at Richards', Lease's 
and other settlers' cabins, in the vicinity for 
a few years, when the society having at- 
tained sufficient strength, a small frame meet- 
ing-house was built at Cherokee. This the 
society occupied until the rise of Huntsville, 
when it whs sold, and a more commodious 
structure erected in that village. This was 
built in 1866. The mimibership of this soci- 
ety is now numerous and its future encourag- 
ing. Rev. S. 11. Alderman is the present Pas- 
tor. AVhen the old Clierokte meeting-house 
was first occupied, tiie children were collected 
and a Sabbath School formed. This has con- 
tinued in active operation until this time and 
has now a goodly membership. 

The following history of the Huntsville 
(formerly Cherokee) United Presbyterian 
Church is compiled from matti^r written by 
Rev. James ^\'allace and ,J. II. Buchanan. 
This congregation was organized in October, 
1831, by Rev. S. Wilson, who was appointed 
to the performance of this duty by the Asso- 
ciate Presbj'tcry of Miami, and was comj)osed 
of the following persons: A. Elder and wife; 
A. Templcton and wife; "NY. Langhcad and 
wife; David Dow, Peter Dow, James Ilavs, 
Isabella Hays, Samuel Hays, John McElree 
and Jamc:s Patterson. The I'^lders chosen 
were: A. Templcton, A. Elder and William 
Langhead, Rev. James Wallace was the first 
Pastor, who says of this period: "The state of 



the country and the character of the inhal;i- 
tants, was widely different from the piesent. 
A body of Indians was located in, and 
about Lewistown, a few miles west of 
the church. Most of the hind was a wilder- 
ness. The few inhabitants, cliiclly pioneers, 
accustomed to limiting and fishing and rough 
living, cared little for improvement of any 
kind, especially religious." Rev. Wallace 
continued as Pastor of the church until 1801, 
when, by reason of failing health, he was re- 
leased from the pastoral charge. The first 
meeting-house of this society was erected 
soon after the church was organized. This 
was a brick building, and was subsequently 
converted into a woolen factory. They at 
present meet for worship in a frame church 
edifice in Huntsville. Rev. Mr. Wallace says 
that an cs]iecial effort was made at all times 
against Sabbath desecration, the demon 
intemperance, and that terrible sin slavery, 
now hajipily no more. Those were not popu- 
lar toi)ics but his motto seemed to be " Hew 
to the line, let the chips fall where they may." 
At the date Rev. Wallace severed his pastoral 
charge, the membership numbered ninety- 
five. Rev. J. II. Buchanan assumed charge 
of the church on the first Sabbath in October, 
1870. The Pastor in the interval was Rev. 
W. C. Dunn, a licentiate of the U. P. Pres- 
bytery, of Michigan, who was installed April 
11, 1865. The Elders in September, 1876, 
were James R. Katon, Roberts. Reed, James 
H. Renick, Samuel Stewart, ^V. W. 'J'cmple- 
ton and David Wallace. Of the history of 
this church since 1S7G, the writer has no data, 
although he made diligent effort to secure it, 
Rev. Buchanan says: "In reviewing the his- 
tory thus brought to a close, it might be pro- 
per to say that the congregation has not been 
characterized by sudden outbursts of excite- 
ment and religious fervor, but which often 
die away as suddenly as they come, leaving 
little or no permanent fruit behind them. 



n= 



'!±il 



-' — ^> > 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



385 



Its growth, though more slow, has been of 
an eiitluring kind, being founded upon the 
laborious, faithful, and abundant expositions 

of God's word." 

The Miami conffresation of the Reformed 

Presbj-terian Church at Xorthwood was formed 
in the 3-ear 18.33, by Rev. J. B. Johnston, 
and consisted of the following named persons: 
Abraham Patterson and wife, Thomas Fulton 
and wife, James Fulton and wife, Henry Ful- 
ton and wife, Robert Scott and wife, John 
Young and wife, and one or two others whose 
names are forgotten. The society met in the 
schoolhouse for a few months until thoy had 
constructed a small log church on the east 
bank of the Miami River, near where is now 
the cemeter}'. This log structure did duty 
until ISiO, wheTi it was discarded and a brick 
building erected near by. Tliis was occu- 
pied for many years. The society now meets 
in a conunodious wood church edifice in the 
village immediately south of the township 
line. The succession of Pastors is as follows: 
Rev. J. B. Johnston, J. C. K. Milligan, J. L. 
McCartney, who was the last Pastor of the 
original Miami congregation, and George 
Kennedy. The present membership (.July, 
18S0) \s 172. The Sabbath School, which 
followed the church organization, now num- 
bers 159 scholars. ? 

The following sketch of the United Presby- 
terian Church at Xorthwood is couii)iled from 
the history written by Rev. John Williamson, 
to which the writer was given access through 
the courtesy of Rev. J. W. Kerr: '• The 
United Presbyterian Congregation, of North- 
wood, was organized June 14, 1859, by the 
following commission: Rev. James AVallace 
and Benjamin Waddle, with Elders "William 
Langhead and Peter Dow. The congregation 
lacks but one year of being as old as the de- 
nomination to which it belongs. The follow- 
ins: were the orig-inal members: Ebenezer 
and Martha Bain. AIe.>cander and Margaret 



Furguson, Thomas and Agnes Scott, John M. 
and Elizabeth J. Johnston, Mary Patterson, 
William and Jane G. Cook, Hannah J. Roed, 
Thomas and Jane Cook, Charles and Martha 
Ann Cook, and David Blair. Messrs. Thomas 
Scott, Ebenezer Bain and Thomas Cook were 
elected Elders, and William Cook and John 
M. Johnson, Deacons. With no house of wor- 
ship of their own, this little handful began 
the work. The Reformed Presbyterian Church 
gave them the use of the^ir house" a part of 
the time. They also met in the Chapel of 
Geneva Hall until the fall of 1866, when 
their own liouse of worship was completed. 
Rev. AY. H. Jeffers was installed Pastor in 
1863, and remained until 1865. Rev. J. W. 
Taylor was the next Pastor, and contin- 
ued until 1871, when failing health forced 
him to cease his labors. At this time the 
membership numbered 112. Rev. Alexander 
Smith was installed Pastor in January, 1873. 
On April 1, 1875, the membership had in- 
creased to 162. Rev. Smith resigned, and in 
June, 1879, Rev. J. W. Kerr, the present 
Pastor, was installed. The following persons 
have held the office of Ruling Elder, in addi- 
tion to those first chosen: Samuel Johnston, 
C. I. Brooks, Joseph T. Wright, William 
Stewart, W. N. Vance, J. McCuno, Gilliert 
Newman and Alexander Milligan. Those 
who have held the office of Deacon arc, 
Charles W. Cook, Noah J. Smith, S. G. Ro.lg- 
ers, W. N. Vance, Gilbert Newman, D. S. 
Brooks, J. L. Creigiiton and John McKira- 
han. This completes the church organiza- 
tions in McArthur Township at this time. 

In about the year 1811 a camp meeting was 
held- on Cherokee Man's Run, south of the 
present site o£ Huntsvillo. Rev. Thomas H. 
Wilson was the leading preacher, though 
many others were present. A vast number 
of people convened, the settlers for many miles 
around turning out. A most extraordinary re vi- 
I val took place and hundreds became Christians. 



■< — 7- 



-15) PV 



A 



3SG 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



The writer has been unable to learn any- 
thin"' in relation to the first school in the 
townsliip. At an early day a term of school 
was tausrht by Henry Shelby, in a little log 
cabin in the extreme southwest portion of the 
township. Doubtless the first school was held 
in the Harrod settlement. The Huntsville 
Spocinl School District was organized at about 
the same time the village was incorporated. 
The matter is now being actively canvassed 
in relation to the enlargement of the territory, 
and should this be successful it is highlj- prob- 
able that a school building will be erected 
tiiat will accomtnodato the wants of the dis- 
trict. The report of the Board of Education 
for the school year ending August 31, 1879, 
is as follows, for the township: Whole num- 
ber of pupils enrolled, 411; whole amount 
paid teachers, |;l,7!U.0o; whole number of 
school houses, 9; value, with grounds, etc., 
$0,000. Huntsville Special District: Whole 
nnmberof pupils enrolled, 150; whole amount 
jiaid teacliers, §(;"-*0; whole numlier of school 
rooms, 2; value, with grounds, etc.. §1,000. 

The greatest interest is centered at North- 
wood, the fornier location of a classical and 
scioniific school under the auspices of the Re- 
formed Presbyterian Cinirch, known as Ge- 
neva College. Rev. .1. B. Johnston, Pastor of 
this church, wjs the originator of the project 
to form a school of this character here, and in 
1847 he took the initial step in that direction 
by the formation of a small class which con- 
vened at his study. The subscf|ueiit year, 
funds were raised and a small lirick building 
erected. This, soon proving inade(|uato for 
the wants of the rapidly increasing attend- 
ance, was added to, and the present hall was 
the result. In after years a female depart- 
ment was added to the school, and to secure 
the separation of the sexes, a large brick 
building was built by Rev. .Johnston for the 
exclusive use of the ladies. Two large board- 
ing halls were also constructed. In 1852, J. 



R. W. Sloane, A. M., was inaugurated Presi- 
dent of the institution, an able faculty chosen, 
and a full course of study adopted. Prof. 
Sloane continued in charge four years, resign- 
ing in 1856. The college now became aca- 
demic in form, and continued tlius until 1804, 
■when the building was purchased by the Re- 
formed Presbyterian Synod. In 1867, S. J. 
Crowe, A. B., was chosen President, and con- 
tinued in that capacity until 1870, when he 
resigned. Rev. W. Milroy was his successor, 
who was in turn succeeded, in 1872, by Rev. 
H. H. George, of Cincinnati, Ohio. The 
course of study adopted embraced science and 
the arts, and compared favorably with the 
best colleges in the land. During the last 
session of the Synod it was decided to remove 
the college to Beaver Falls, Penn., which is 
now being accomplished. A project is now 
being successfully canvassed to estal)lish at 
Northwood a normal school with a classical, 
scientific and commercial course of study. 
This will also be under control of the Re- 
formed Presbyterian Church. 

During the war of the Rebellion tlio patri- 
otic citizens of McArthur Townshi]i did their 
whole duty. Her soldiers suffered and died 
in the noisome trench and in the infected hos- 
pital; they starved in Andersonville until 
they became almost driveling lunatics under 
the brutality of a Wirz; they ciiafed in 
Libby, Belle Isle, and Salisbury; they fell in 
the skirmish, on the picket-line, and in the 
charge, amid the roar of cannon and the 
rattle of musketry. They made the sacrifice, 
but their works shall follow them to the end of 
recorded time; and living or dead, maimed or 
scathless, all honor to the soldiers of the Union. 

•' By fniry linnJs their knell i^ rung, 
I!y forms unseen their ilirge is sung; 
There Honor comes, a pilprim gray, 
To bless I he turf that wr»pa their clay 
And Freedom shall awhile repair, 
To dwell, a weeping hermit, there." 



c 

'^'- 



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HISTORY OF LOGAN COU>"Ty. 



389 



CHAPTER XI.* 



JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP— TOPOGRAniV—ORGANIZ 
—PROMINENT CITIZ1;NS— C 

THE territory comprising Jefferson Town- 
ship is about six miles square. Its north 
line is about eight miles south of and parallel 
with the north line of the county, and its east 
line is about four and one-fourth miles west of 
and parallel with the east line of the county. 
It is the middle township of the second tier 
from the east side. Mad River is the princi- 
pal stream, and, although its headwaters arc 
entirely within the limits of the township, it 
becomes a respectable mill stream before it 
crosses its southern boundary. It has two small 
tributaries from the east and three from the 
west. Sugar Creek, the largest, which drains 
Hadley's Bottom, originates in the hills which 
intervene between the waters of Mill Creek 
and Mad River, and empties into the latter 
near Dickinson's lower mill, a short distance 
northeast of Zanesfield. Another stream, 
which, so far as we can learn, has never at- 
tained to the digipty of a name, though at 
times it assumes large proportions, takes its 
rise in the northeast corner of Monroe, but 
immediately runs into Jefferson, near the 
southeast corner, and finds its way to the head 
of Marmon's Valley, where it toys awhile 
with a branch of Otter Creek, from which it is 
only separated by a narrow road, and then 
takes its course directly through the beauti- 
ful valley to Mad River, into which it empties 
about three-fourths of a mile south of Zanes- 
field. Flowing from the west, we find a small 
stream, taking its rise in the hills surrounding 
the head of McKee's Creek, but seeking an 
outlet in an opposite direction through a re- 
markably rough anil broken section, it reaches 
* Contributed by B, S. Scott. 



ATION AS A CIVIL BIVISION OF THE COUNTY 
HURCHES AND SCHOOLS. 

the Mad River Valley near the northern 
boundary of Calderwood's Survc}-, Xo. 3,139. 

Goose Creek heads a little north, and 
Tharp's Run a short distance south, of Belle- 
fontaine pike. They have in general a south- 
east direction, and empty near the southern 
limits of the township. They are separated 
through nearly all their course by a high, 
broken and irregular ridge. 

Of the streams that do not flow into Mad 
River, the head branches of Rush Creek drain 
the northwestern and north central part of 
the township, and flow into Rush Creek Lake, 
a small part of which is in the township. Mill 
Creek drains the northeastern. Otter Creek a 
portion of the southeastern, and McKee's 
Creek the southwestern parts of the township. 

The soil in the valleys is generally black 
loam, underlaid with limestone gravel — the 
gravel crojiijing out on the surface in places. 
In the upper parts of the valleys, in places, a 
large admixture of shale or slatestone is foinid, 
deposited from the ravines above. On the 
hills the soil is mostly clay, intermixed w-ith 
loam, sand and gravel, and underlaid with 
blue clay. The soil in the valleys is gener- 
ally very productive. Fifty, sixty and even 
seventy years of constant, and, in some in- 
stances, not very judicious cultivation, having 
failed to exhaust its productive energy. The 
soil on the hills is much less fertile. Though 
producing good crops when first brought under 
cultivation, but with a constant succession of 
crops without liberal manuring, it in time be- 
comes exceedingly sterile and unproductive; 
it is also liable to serious injury from wash- 
ing when cultivated every season. It is, 






V 






Ik 



390 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



however, highly valuable for pasture, and 
finely adapted to the cultivation of fruit. 

^yitil tlie cxcej)tion of a small poitioii of 
prairie in the Mad Iviver Valloj-, the land was 
originally covered with a heavy growth of 
tiinlj(,'r, consisting of Oak, Hickory, Poplar, 
Ash, Lind, Elin, Sugartroe, Beech, Walnut 
and Wild Cherry, on the hills and broken 
lands, with an undergrowth of Hickory, Iron- 
wood, Dogwood, Waterbeech, Sassafras, and 
in some of the coves Spicewood and Papaw, 
while in the valley the prevailing growth 
was Walnut, Sugartree, Red Elm, Hickory 
Elm, Burr-Oak, Hickory, I.ind, Huckborry, 
Sycamore and Wild Cherry. Wild Plums 
and Crabapples were abundant along the bor- 
der of the prairies, and nmlberries and service- 
berries were found on the hills. Wild graj)es 
were found both on the hills and in the val- 
leys. Wherever clearings were commenced in 
the forest, elders, blackberries and raspberries 
sprang up in great abundance. 

The .Mad Kiver Valley, in connection with 
the upper part of the Kush Creek Valley, or 
the low lands lying immediately south of 
Rush Creek Lake, extends entirely through 
the township from north to south, and affords 
a large body of fine farming land, except a 
small jjortion in the soutii, antl, perhaps, a lit- 
tle bordering on the lake, which is too wet 
for cultivation. The Sugar Creek Valley, 
known in early times as Iladley's Bottom, ex- 
tends from the Mad River \'alley a short dis- 
tance above Zanesficld, in a northeasterly 
diriK-tion, comprising the southeastern j)art of 
Calderwood's Survey, No. 3,1:J9, the principal 
part of Bradford's Survey, No. 3,130, and the 
southwestern part of Holt's Survcj', No. :i,0r4, 
ulVording a fine section of farming land about 
a mile ami one-half long and one-half 'a mile 
in width, and lying princiiially south of 
the road leading to North Greenfield. 

Marmon's Valley extends from the Mad 
River Vallev, eastward, almost to the south- 



east corner of the township, embracing the 
princijjal part of Samuel Davis' Survey, No. 
3,'21G, and the western part of Thewett's 
Survey, No. 4,001. The Marnion Valley, 
though of limited extent, is scarcely surjjassed 
by any in the county, or in the State, for 
beauty and fertility; and, when seen from any 
of the crowning eminences on either side, 
presents a picture of almost indescribable 
loveliness. The McKee's Creek Valley, in 
the southwestern part of the township, is not 
so clearly defined as those already sjjoken of. 
The valley proper is narrow, and yet the hind 
on either side rises so gradually that the val- 
ley seems to merge into the upland with 
scarcely any abrupt hills to mark its bcmndary. 
The hills comi)rise one long, crooked and 
irregular ridge, or chain of hills, on the west, 
and three distinct groups on the east of the 
Mad River Valley. Commencing with, the 
former, we find, near where the Bellefontaine 
road crosses the western boundary of the 
township, a very elevated point, from which 
the surface descends in every direction — to 
the east and south into the McKee's Creek 
Valley, to the west to Blue .Jacket Creek, 
and to the north to a slight depression in the 
summit of the ridge. Following this ridge it 
takes along near the western boundary of the 
township to within about a mile of its north- 
ern limit, where it is penetrated from the east 
bv a branch of Rush Creek, without, however, 
being disconnected with the high ridge (hat 
extends in the direction of Harper. From 
tills point it turns to the eastward and termi- 
nates in that direction nearly o])posite the 
neck of lowland that connects the Mad River 
and Rush Creek Valleys. The eastern decliv- 
ity of this ridg(! is penetrated by numcnnis 
gorges and ravines, one of which pushes it- 
self almost entirely through to the head of .Mc- 
Kee's Creek, and nearly diseonnci-ts it from 
the ridge that walls in the lower ])art of the 
Mad River Vallev on the west. From this 



^1 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



301 



point of depression it, however, reaches near- 
ly its former elevation, and continues in a 
south'jrn direction to the southern limit of 
the township, split and broken into spurs 
and headlands b" narrow valleys and 
ravines which penetrate its eastern face, af- 
fording outlets for numerous branches and 
streamlets, and presenting some beautiful and 
picturesque landscapes, as seen from the hills 
beyond the valley. 

Of the grovips or ridges east of the valley, 
the first commences in the north near the 
Rushs3dvania pike, aud runs south, throwing 
out numerous spurs to the eastward, which 
gradually decline to the level of the Mill 
Creek Valley. It is abruptly terminated on 
the south by Sugar Creek Valley. Its west- 
ern face is rough and precipitous; its eastern 
slope much more gentle, but yet rough and 
irregular from the intervention of valleys and 
ravines. The second ridge, or group, runs 
east from Mad River directly opposite Zanes- 
■field, and terminates near East Liberty. Its 
eastern slope is also gentle and rolling, whllp 
on the north, south and west it is extremely 
rough and broken, in manj' places being only 
adapted to the cultivation of fruits and ber- 
ries, and to pasture. The third and last ridge 
runs from Mad River eastward south of Mar- 
mon's Valley. Like the second, it is very 
abrupt and broken on the north, but, uidike it 
on the south, it continues high and rolling 
land, interspersed occasionally with ravines 
and valleys for a considerable distance till it 
reaches the waters of Mackachack. 

In describing the topograjihy of the town- 
ship, some peculiar features present them- 
selves: First, the Mad" River Valley, proper, 
seems to terminate where the old Sandusky 
road crossed the river, near Dickinson's Mills. 
The hills on each side converge to the chan- 
nel of the river, while the plain above, or 
even the channel of the river, has an eleva- 
tion 20 to 35 feet above the valley below. 



From this point the very narrow channel 
graduallv expands until in the eastern 
neighborhood, one and one-half to two miles 
above, it affords a body of farm land, 
which continues w-ithout anj- intervening 
hills to the bottom lands which spread 
out south and west from Rush Creek Lake, 
thus being connected with and being a part 
of the Rush Creek Valley in every respect, 
except that the southern part of it is so much 
depressed that the water, in seeking a level, 
flows south and finds its way into the Mad 
River channel. The same feature is notice- 
able at the head of the Marmon Valley, 
though to a less extent and with this differ- 
ence, that instead of the npperpart being cut 
off and isolated, it seems to extend beyond 
its proper limits, embracing a considerable 
extent of territorj', whose waters flow into 
Otter Creek — as though the eastern portion of 
the valley had tilted out of its proper level, and 
left its waters to collcet their forces and break 
through the barrier of hills in the direction 
of East Liberty, and so find an outlet through 
the Mill Creek A'allcy. 

Another locality of some interest is the 
highest point of land in the State of Ohio. It 
is on the farm of John G. Hoge, Esq., in the 
western part of the townshi]), and a little 
south of the Jerusalem pike. It is not a rug- 
ged eminence towering away up above the 
neighboring hills, but, on the contrarv, is a 
gentle elevation surrounded in all directions 
by high, rolling lands. It is easj' of access 
and susceptible of cultivation, as is all the ad- 
jacent land. Its elevation is so slight above 
surrounding hills that its pi-e-eminence is only 
determined by actual measurement. 

Many other points of interest in the town- 
ship are worthy of notice; among them Jeru- 
salem Falls, on the farm of Abraham Elliott, 
south of the Jerusalem and West Mansfield 
turnpike, and Slate Hollow, on the farm of 
Omar Brown, south of the Middleburg road. 



r 



-^|V 



a i^ 



•t> 



302 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUXTY. 



both of wlncli have become noted places of 
resort for ])icnics and pleasure parties. 
Wliiic a drive over almost any of the hill 
roads which traverse the township presents 
a frequent succession of charming and pictur- 
esque landscapes, remarkable at once for their 
variety and beauty — one of the most striking 
of which is suddenly revealed to the vision in 
driving from Jerusalem in the direction of 
West Mansfield — when near New Salem 
Church, on reaching the brow of an eminence, 
the whol'e eastern side of the county seems to 
be unveiled before the bewildered eye. 

From the best information to be derived 
from records accessible, Jefferson Township 
originally comprised, besides its present ter- 
ritory, that which constitutes Rush Creek, 
Monroe, Liberty, Union, Lake, Harrison, Mc- 
Arthur and Eichland. Lake was struck off 
when the county was organized in 1S18, em- 
bracing, ])robably, all of Harrison, McArthur 
and liichland. What constitutes Liberty, 
and probably Union, must have belonged to 
Jefferson in February, 1831. The y(?ar fol- 
lowing, Monroe was struck off, and as early as 
in IH'i'J — probably a j'ear or two earlier — Rush 
Creek was organiy,ed, leaving the present 
boundaries, which arc, on the north, Rush 
Creek; cast. Perry; south, Monroe; and west. 
Lake and Liberty, which laps on Jefferson 
about one mile, extending that much further 
than Monroe. 

The township lies entirely withiti the Vir- 
ginia Military I^and District, roinprisin'r the 
principal part of some thirty-two survevs, 
with a greater or lesser portion of some ten or 
twelve others which lie prineipally in adjoin- 
ing townships. It would pu//.!i! the student 
of geometrical figures to describe or even to 
account for the existence of some of the anom- 
alous outlines assumed by many of these sur- 
veys, only that the parties locating seemed to 
have consuming passions for irregularity; nor 
is this irregularity less noticeable in the num- 



ber than in the outline. Without noting 842, a 
very small fraction of which lies Avithin the 
northeast corner of the townshi|>, the first, or 
lowest number .is 2,674, generally known as 
the Smith and Lyle lands, and the highest 
number is 13,.593, which, strangeij' enough, 
joins it on the west for a considerable distance. 
After Thomas Holt's, No. 2,674; D. Bradford, 
No. 3,130; James Caldcr wood's, Xos. 3,137, 
3,138, 3,139; Samuel Davis, 3,210, and Alex- 
ander Dandridge, 3,220, had been surveyed 
and located, it would seem that the Green- 
ville treaty line was established, for the next 
surveys, in point of number embracing about 
two-fifths of the northern part of the township, 
were surveyed and located with reference to 
that line, thoxigh with a slight inclination to 
the right, which was doubtless the result of 
accident. Then commenced the process of 
gathering uj) the fragments found in the cen- 
tral and so\ithern part of the township, the 
result of which can only be comprehended 
by consulting the ma^. We only note, in 
conclusion, that survey' No. 3,137 was first 
settled; No. 3,220 is the largest, is rectangu- 
lar, and is bounded bj' meridians, as is No. 4,- 
447; No. 5,812 is the smallest, and No. 3,083 
has within it, the highest point in tiie State 
of Ohio. 

The township is divided into ten school dis- 
tricts, numbered from 1 to 5, and from 7 to 
11 — No. 6 being, for some cause, left blank, 
together with the Zanesfleld Union School 
District and a fractiimal district partly in 
Jefferson and partly in Monroe, the school- 
house being in the former. 

The ]>ro<luctions of the township are prin- 
cipally derived from the soil. The staples of 
export are chiefly wheat, corn, cattle, hogs 
and sheep, wool, green and dried apples, ma- 
ple sugar and molasses, clover-seed, butter, 
e^-gs and ]ioultry, black-walnut logs, and lum- 
ber have, for the last ten or twelve years, been 
exported extensively, and the general lumber 






■> " ^ ^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 






trade has not been inconsiderable. B'lourand 
leather constitute the only manufactured arti- 
cles worthy of mention as exports. Of the 
former article, the two excellent mills on the 
Mad River, near Zanesfield, have produced 
larg-equantities of brands that have been gen- 
erally sought after in this and the adjoining 
counties. There has, however, been a slight 
falling off in the trade during the last year. 
In the manufacture of the latter article, the 
one tannery in Zanesfield has been doing a 
quiet, unpretending business, that has far ex- 
ceeded the local demand; hence, a yearly ex- 
port of a considerable amount of harness and 
upper-leather that has found a market in the 
towns and villages of this and the adjoining 
counties. 

Amongst the articles produced more exclu- 
sively for home consumption may be enu- 
merated hay, oats, beef, pork, mutton, almost 
all varieties of small fruit adapted to the cli- 
mate, potatoes and garden vegetables gener- 
ally; sweet potatoes have been raised for ex- 
portation to a considerable extent in former 
years, but of late the demand in the immediate 
vicinity has about equalled the supply. There 
has been a considerable quantity of honey pro- 
duced in the township, but the amount sold out- 
side its limits has not probably been verv great. 

As the productions of the township partake 
largely of the agricultural element, so the 
pursuits of the citizens are generally directed 
in that line, a large proportion of the labor- 
ing class being engaged in cultivating he 
soil. Of the remaining classes, we have of 
1 linisters, who receive salaries as such, 3; phy- 
sicians, 3; students of medicine, 3; merchants, 
druggist, 1; capitalists, 4; blacksmiths, 4; 
pump-dealers, 2; carpenters, 4; wagon-makers, 
2; tanner, 1; millers, 2; masons and plaster- 
ers, 4; saddlers, 2; tinners, 1; general wood- 
workers, 2; merchant's clerks, 2; shoemak- 
ers, 2; horse-dealers, 2: hotel-keeper, 1; saloon- 
keeper, 1. 



Zanesfield is the only regularly laid out 
village in the township, aud is located in the 
Mad River Valley, about midway of the town- 
ship east and west, and about one-third of 
the distance from the south to the north end, 
on the original road from Urbana to Upper 
Sandusky, now known as the West Liberty, 
Zanesfield, and Rushsylvania Free Pike, 
whore it is crossed by the road leading from 
Bellefontaine to Columbus. Jerusalem, three 
miles north of Zanesfield, on the Rushsylva- 
nia Pike, has formerly beiin a point of consid- 
erable trade, having a cabinet-shop and sales- 
room, a wagon-maker shop, blacksmith shop, 
a country store and grocery. At present it 
has only a postoffice and family grocery. A 
fine, commodious Grange hall gives it consid- 
erable importance in the north end of the 
township. 

Of the origin of the name, and the history 
of the formation and organization of the town- 
ship, the records of the township and county 
are alike silent. The former was doubtless 
given in honor of the third President of the 
United States, then in the zenith of his 
popularitj^ and the latter grew out of the re- 
quirements and necessities of the times. 

The earliest official record in reference to 
Jefferson Township is found on page 123 of a 
book purporting to be a volume of township 
records, and is as follows: 

"5th. At a meeting of the Trustees of Jef- 
ferson Township, Champaign County, Ohio, 
Isaac Zane, 2d, and Nathuii Norton, present, 
January 1st (or possibly June 1st), 181G. 
Ordered, that Martin Marmon, Treasurer of 
said township, will receive of Jesse Stansberry 
all the notes and orders belonging to said 
township. 

"6th. At a meeting of the Trustees of Jef- 
ferson Township, on the 27th of July, 1810, 
Isaac Zane, 2nd, Nathan Norton and Joel 
Smith, judges of an election, in order to elect 
a Justice of the Peace in place of James 



394 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



A[cPherson,Es(|.,rcsigiieil, James M. Reed was 
duly elected as a Justice of the Peace for 
Jcftersoii Township: then adjourned." 

And on the following page we find this 
item, wlwch may be of interest to teamsters. 
It is in the proceedings of a meeting of the 
Trustees held the 24th day of August, 1816. 

' " Ordered, That each two-horse team, with 
fore wheels of a wagon, sled or plough, shall 
not be allowed more than 87^ cents per daj-, 
and o.xen at the same rate, four-horse or ox- 
tcam in proportion. 

•'Thomas Thompsox, 
" Signed — " Clk. pro tern. 

" Isaac Zase, 

"\. NOKTOX." 

By another entry on the same page, we 
learn that .lolm Gunn was Township Clerk. 

But why these entries in the middle of the 
book? AVe are only left to suppose that the 
first and second pages, which are entirely 
gone, have been transcribed at a subsequent 
date. It is to be regretted that, as the record 
carries us back so near the commencement, 
we cannot have an authentic account of the 
organization of the township and the election 
orap])ointmentof its first ollicers. The records 
show, however, meagre as they are, that on 
Monday, the Tth of April, 1817, at an election, 
of which Joel Smith, Isaac Zane and Nathan 
Norton were Judges, and Ralph Lowe and 
George Krouskop, Jr., were Clerks, Martin 
Mainion was elected Treasurer; Solomon Mc- 
Colloch, James JI. Workman, Isaac Zune, 
Trustees; George Krouskop, Clerk; Isaac 
Myers, Lister of Ta.xable Property; .lolm Til- 
lis, Mr., William ll'-ams, George Henry, Sr., 
Supervisors; John Collins, Henry Shaw, Con- 
stables; George McColloch, Thomas Dickin- 
son, I'cncc Viewers; John Tillis, Sr., William 
Tluii|), Overseers of the Poor. The latter 
would not scTve, and llenrj' Pickrell was aj)- 
puinti'd ill his place. Thomas Thompson was 
appiiiiil d llouHi' .Appraiser, there having been 
none elected. 



Among the entries made on the record oc- 
curs the following, dated April 17, 1817: 
Ordered that John Collins, Constable, warn 
Eleanor Ward and her child to leave the 
town, or give security that she will noi be- 
come a township charge, likewise to warn 
David Reed to leave the township or give se- 
curity that he would not become a township 
charge. It is not certain what Eleanor did, 
but David did not go, for on the 2d day of 
March, 1818, the Trustees ordered that Martin 
Marmon have an order to pay Dr. John D. 
Elbert $1 for visiting David Reed, and fur- 
ther, that Martin ^Marmon be allowed ^12 for 
Lis atttMidance on said David Reed in his last 
sickness. 

In August, 1817, Lanson Curtis was elected 
Justice of the Peace, in place of Ralph Lowe, 
whose term of office had expired. From this 
it would seem probable that James McPhersou 
and Ralph Lowe were the first Justices of the 
Peace, but of their election we have no ofiicial 
record. 

At the Ajiril election, in 1818, Thomas 
Sutherland and .lolin Brown were succeeded 
by Solomon McColloch and Isaac Zane as 
Trustees, and at a meeting of the Trustees, 
held August 22d, it was ordered that Jarvis 
Datighherty be apjiointed Overseer of the 
Poor, in place of John Tillis; that Noah Z. 
McColloch be appointed Township Clerk, in 
place of George Krouskoji, and tlidt James 
Henry be appointed Constable, in place of 
James Hill, occasioned by a division of the 
township. This division here spoken of was 
doubtless the cutting oil" of Lake Township 
from Jefi'erson and its organization, which prob- 
ably took jilace about the time of the organiza- 
tion of the countv in 1818. In confirmation 
of tliistho recordsshow that, ata joint meeting 
of the Trustees of Jefferson and Lake held 
the 17th of October following, Alexander 
Long and George Krouskop signed the record 
as Clerks. There is no record of Long's 



n- 



s\y 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



395 



appointment as Clerk, but his name is append- 
ed to records as Clerk as early as December 18, 
1818. As Krouskop and Tillis both resided in 
what was constituted Lake township, it seems 
clear that .Tefferson was the original township 
and that Lake was cut off from it. It is not 
so clear, however, what the original boundary 
was, and what part was cut off. What would 
seem most reasonable to suppose, is that the 
original boundary included Lake and Har- 
rison, with Union and Liberty on the south, 
and McArthur and Richland on the nortli, and 
that this whole territory was cut off and con- 
stituted Lake Township. But in February, 
1831, William Hopkins and David Norton were 
elected Justices of the Peace, in place of 
Israel Howell and Henry Robertson, the elec- 
tion being held in Zanesfield. As it is certain 
Israel Howell lived for some time previous 
to this either on the Henry Secrist or on the 
Isaac Dille place, both of which are in Liber- 
ty Township, it would seem evident that that 
part of the county was still within the jurisdic- 
tion of Jefferson Township. From 18"i2, when 
Monroe Township was set off, and Hopkins 
and Norton, who were both within its limit, 
John Bishop and Ralph Lowe held the office 
of .Justice until 1825, then Alexander Long 
until 1832, when he was succeeded by Dr. 
James Crew and William Henry until 1836. 
Dr. Crew held the office until 1841, when he 
was succeeded by L. P. Burton. Isaac G. 
AVilliams succeeded William Henry in April, 
1836, and held the office until 1848, when he 
was succeeded by Samuel J. Crew. L. P. 
Burton left before his term expired and 
Charles Amy succeeded him, to be succeeded 
in turn by Dr. J. W. Johnson, probably in 1816. 
Johnson served until his death, in October, 
1850. He was succeeded in April following 
by Daniel Cowgill. S. J. Crew served until 
April, 1854. Edward L. Carter and Amos 
Thompson were elected in April, 1854, and 
Asa Marnion and Thomas Elliott in April, 



1857. Asa Marmon removed from the State 
and Joseph Robb was elected in October, 
1857. Joseph Robb was succeeded in April, 
18G0, by Dr. Crew, and Thomas Elliott in 
April, 1863, by William Vance. B. S. Scott 
succeeded Dr. Crew in October, 1863, and 
^r. Crew succeeded AVilliam Vance, who re- 
signed^" mTA-Ugust, 1864. B. S. Scott's term 
expired in October, 1866; followed by Charles 
Rockwell in April, 1867. Dr. James Crew 
continued in office until his death in August, 
1868; succeeded by his son, N. S. Crew, who 
served vmtil his removal from the State in 
1873. T. F. Pope was elected in April, 1870, 
and continued in office until his death in De- 
cember, 1879. B. S. Scott was elected to N. 
S. Crew's vacancy in April, 1874, and served 
until April, 1880. Z. Laport and J. Slonecker 
were elected April 5, 1880. 

Among the names prominent as Trustees 
are — James M. Workman, Solomon McCul- 
loch, John Brown, Thomas Sutherland, John 
Smith, John Reed, Thomas Dickinson, Josh- 
ua Marmon, William Henry, Lot Garwood, 
Robert McCord, AVilliam McGee, Benjamin 
Smith, Johnson Patrick, of the olden time. 
The prominent Clerks were — George Krous- 
kop, Jr., Alexander Long, Col. Martin Mar- 
mon (3), David L. Hunt, Charles Amy and 
•John Mecliem, while Martin Marmon, Sr., 
had uninterrupted control of the treasury 
department from the organization of the 
township until 1841, and probably till near 
the close of his life. There is nothing- on 
record to indicate the political complexion of 
the township in its early history. From re- 
marks of old residents, however, it is nearly 
certain that in days of the younger Adams 
his supporters were largely in the majority. 
In 1840 the Whigs had a substantial majority; 
it is uncertain howLirgi!. After the formation 
of the Republican partj^, the Democrats were 
very frequently in the ascendency for a num- 
ber of years. Of late years the Republicans 



^k 



F 



,4 -^ — ^ 




39G 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



have usually had majorities ranging from 
ten to forty- Tlie vote usually polled is from 
340 to ."iSU. There are over 400 voters in the 
township. 

Of the early settlers in the township, Isaac 
Zane is considered to have been the first 
white man Avho resided within its limits. The 
time of his coming here must have been about 
the year 1800. The first reliable information 
we have of him in connection with the history 
of the township dates from 1805 to 1811. In 
the latter year he resided in a hewed log 
house, standing on the premises now owned 
bv -Mrs. I.vdia J)au<rhhprtv, in Zanosfield. It 
is difficult to locate ])recisely, but it is a little 
north of where the barn stands, perhaps a 
little farther east, and it fronted very nearly 
in the same direction that the barn does. Its 
stone fireplace and chimney were built on the 
outside at the east end, and it had a porch on 
the so\ith side, which was afterwards enclosed 
so as to make a shed-room. The location of 
this building was formerly a matter of some 
importance, as it was the starting point in de- 
scribing the boundary of the. lamcsCalderwood 
Survey, No. 3,137. Isaac Zane is said to have 
been a man of kind and amiable disposition, 
but having spent liis youth in the forest and 
in the camp, he had little taste or qualifica- 
tion for the pursuits of civilization. His time 
was mostly devoted to hunting, lie had three 
sons — M'illiani, Ebenezer and Isaac, the latter 
two of whom were intimately connected with 
the history of the township. He also liad 
four daughters — Nancy, who married Willinm 
McCoUoch (fatlier ot Judge Noah .Me( oIIdcIi); 

who married James M. lii-ed; Saliie, 

who married Itobi-rt Armstrong, and Kilty, 
who miirried Maj. Alexander Long. 

It has been generally supposed that Isaac 
Zano received a patent from the government, 
for the land on which Zanesfield now stands, 
and ilivided it betwren his children. Such, 
hciwever, was not the case. The history of the 



transaction is somewhat obscure, but is nearly 
this in substance: The government gave him 
a grant of two sections of land, prol)ably 
prior to the time that Congress lands in Cham- 
paign and Logan Counties we^e surveyed. 
He, in the meantime, made choice of the 
present situation of Zanesfield, already the 
site of an Indian village and settlement, and 
settled on it. This was, probably, before the 
boundary of the Virginia Military Land Dis- 
trict was established, as be ex])ected in due 
time to obtain a patent for the land he occu- 
pied. About this time, Lucas SuUivant ob- 
tained from government, a patent for 1,800 
acres of land to be located within the Virginia 
Military Land District, to be surveyed in the 
name of James Calderwood, ami came to the 
Mad Uiver Valley, ostensibly on a hunting 
excursion. Here he spent a number of weeks, 
boarding with Zane and acce])ting of his hos- 
pitality. Being, hinisolf, a practical surveyor 
and having assistants associated with him, 
after satisfying himself in regard to the most 
desirable location, and making a calculation 
as to the required l-.earingsand distances from 
the southwest corner of Zane's house, he se- 
cretly run the lines so as to establish the 
four corners of a lot, or tract of land 400 
rods* square. On this tract ho biid his pa- 
tent for 1,000 acres in the name of James 
Calderwood's Survey, No. 3,137. Surveying 
800 acres situated immediately south of this, 
he entered it in the name of James Calder- 
wood's Survey, No. 3,138. The government 
subsequently gave Zane a patent for two sec- 
tions of land in Champaign County, one a lit- 
tle south of the present location of Kingston, 
and the other a short distance north of Ur- 
bana, but he preferred rcmainingat Zanesfield. 
He subsequently purchased I'rum SuUivant tlie 
entire parcel of land contained in the two 
surveys, 3,137 and 3,138, but did not jiay 

• Tills WHS llio (wsunu'il dimonsinni <pf tlif sun-fy; hy acluiil 
niciuHiU'iiu'iit, it overrun 10 tu 20 rods. 



J^. 






HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



for it or obtain a deed for it during his life 
time. The survey, No. 3,137, appears to have 
been originally divided into six tracts extend- 
ing across the survey east and west. The 
first commencing at the nortli was thirty- 
three rods in width, ana the remaining 
five were each about seventy-si.x and 
two-thirds rods wide. The first and second 
lay north of what is called Lowe's lane. The 
third, between that and the Bellefontaine 
road. The fourtli extended to the line be- 
tween S. L. Wonders and Mrs. Courier. The 
fifth, to the north line of land sold by Robert 
M. Marmon's iieirs to Benjamin Shaots and 
the sixth to the south line of the survey. The 
second tract was conveyed by Sullivant to 
Isaac Zane, 2d, the third to Ebenezer Zane, 
the fourth to Alexander Long, the fifth to 
William Zane, and the sixth to Robert Arm- 
strong. These conveyances seem to have 
been made by Sullivant during Zane's life- 
time. Zane also purchased fiora Sullivant 
the tract known as Survey No. 3,138, selling 
400 acres (the south half) to Jarvis Daugh- 
hert}', for SI, 200. He paid the money received 
from Daughherty on the land, taking a title 
bond, he and his son-in-law, William Mc- 
Colloch, jointly binding themselves to obtain 
a deed and convey the premises to Daughherty. 
McColloch was killed in the war of 1812, and 
Zane failed to finish Jiaying for the land dur- 
ing his lifetime, and after his death, which 
occurred in the latter part of 1819, it was 
feared that Daughherty would lose not only 
the money he had paid on the land, but the 
improvements he had made. To add to his 
misfortunes, his mind became so much im- 
paired that he was scarcely capable of doing 
business. But through the intervention of 
friends, the sale of the lands in Champaign 
County was effected, the balance due Sulli- 
vant was paid, and he made Daughherty a 
dee<l and conveyed the remainder of the land 
to Mrs. McColloch, and Mr. James M. Reed, 



or his heirs. The first described lot in Sur- 
vey, No. 3,137, was conveyed by Sullivant's 
heirs to Isaac Zane, so late as February, 1833. 

Isaac Zane seems to have been a man of 
kind and genial disi^osition. Ilis house was 
much frequented not only by friends, but by 
strangers who chanced to come that waj-, and 
who were ever welcome to his hospitality. 
Mrs. Cynthia Smith speaks of often visiting 
there in the days of her childhood and youth, 
and of the pleasant recollections of his kind- 
ness and attention. And Mr. J. N. Dickin- 
son recollects his funeral as the first one he 
ever attended. He was buried under the 
boughs of an apple-tree a few rods from his 
residence, on the premises now owned and 
occupied by Mr. Ira Brown. No stone marks 
his resting-place, though it is very nearly 
indicated by a young apple-tree which grows 
within a few feet of the spot. 

The improvements made on Survey No. 
3,137 were nearly as follows: Isaac Zane, 2d, 
improved that portion of tract Nos. 1 and 2, 
lying west of the Sandusky road, and after his 
death, it passed into the possession of Dr. 
James S. Robb. East of the road, Joshua 
Folsom purchased thirty acres on the north, 
and John Bishop and Daniel Butler made the 
principal improvements on the remainder, the 
former where T. E. Pennock lives, the latter 
further east. Of tract No. 3, Lanson pur- 
chased the south half west of the road. The 
north was parcelled out to various persons. 
The greater part of the tract is now owned 
by Oliver Fawcett. Ebeiiezer Zane settled 
east of the road where John McCormick re- 
sides, and parcelled his land out in small tracts 
to numerous individuals — John Bishop, Jona- 
than Thomas, Daniel Cowgill, Benjamin 
Smith and others. 

Alexander Long settled on tract No. 4; laid 
out the village of Zanesfield, consisting of 
twenty-four lots, sold the part east of Mad 
River, with a part between the village and 



Tsl'V 



SOS 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



the river, to Isaac Kea, who sold it to 
Simon Kenton, who in turn sold it to lieii- 
jnmiii Smith. It is now princij)ally owned 
by S. L. Wonders. On this jjlace Simon 
Kenton lived for a number of years, and near 
this was tlie scene of some of his terrible ad- 
ventures with his savage foes. Of tract No. 
5, Lanson Curtis purchased, in 1819, all cast 
of the spring branch running through tiie 
prairie, except a small strip at the east end, 
sold to Martin !Marinon. The west end came 
into the possession of IJobert Armstrong, who 
built a two-story brick house near where Mrs. 
Knight resides. Armstrong became bankrupt 
before hnishing his house, and the farm was 
sold at sherilT's sale, and subsequently came 
into the possession of Zane McCoUoch. In 
the year 1834:, Benjamin Smith bought the 
house, ptdled down the walls, and of the 
brick built the house occu))ied by Oren Out- 
land. Tract No. C was purchased by Martin 
-Marmon, wlio sold tlio ])art west of the spring 
branch to his son, Roljert M. Marmon. Lucas 
Sullivant also obtained a patent for .lames 
Calderwood's Survey, No. ;3,130, contanung 
1,500 acres, and sold it to Simon lladley, who 
sold it again to Joseph Garwood, taking a 
mortgage to secure deferred payments. His 
son, Jesse, built a cabin and made some im- 
provements near the grassy hillside, on the 
cast bank of Sigar Creek, in tiie southeast 
part of the survey. Another son, Nimrod, 
settled on tlie hlft-hand side of the Harper 
road, near the hemi of the mill-pond, while his 
son-in-law, Thomas McRay, settled where Ed- 
ward II. Knight lives. Garwood failed, how- 
ever, to pay for the land; the mortgage was 
foreclosed by Rennick and his ailministrators, 
who purchased the hind at shcriirs sale, and 
sold it to Joshua Folsom, who conimence(l 
improving in the year 1K30. Previous to lils 
death, in 1S40, he diviiled his land between 
Ills three sons, giving his eldest son, George, 
491 acres in the northwest corner; to his 



youngest son, Charles, the homestead, consist- 
ing of G30 acres, and to Henry, his second 
son, the remainder. 

Ne.xt to Isaac Zane, it is most probable the 
Marmons — Robert, ?'Iartin and Samuel, three 

\ brothers, from North Carolina — were the ear- 

; liest white settlers coming in 1805. Robert 
settled on the farm on which his son, .loshua, 
resided for many years, and which he sold 

I some years ago to Omar Hrown. He jirob- 
ably purchased, in addition to the tract he set- 
tled on, all of Samuel Davis' Survey, No. 
3,216, selling to Henry Newsom 105 acres oflF 
the cast end, to Aiiron Brown 150 acres next 
to his son, Peter, the farm owned by John 
D. Elliott, and to his brother, Martin, the 
farm owned by David Springato, where he 
lived until his death. Samuel settled at the 
south side of the valley, in James Galloway's 
Surve}', No. 3,718, where he spent the re- 
mainder of his life. His farm is now owned 
by Omar Brown. 

The Marmons were men of marked influence 
in the early settlement and im])rovenient of 
the country. They were members of the 
Society of Friends, and it is probable that it 
was in this sphere that Robert was most in- 
fluential. Quiet and unobtrusive in his de- 
portment, orderly in his daily walk, and 
liberal in his hospitality, he contributed larg -ly 
to the encouragement and assistance of tliose 
less fortunate than himself. His son, Joshua 
Marmon, jierhaps as well and widely known 
as any man who ever lived in the township, 
married about the year 18"23, lived at the old 
homestead and took care of iiis father and 
mother during their declining years. He 
was intimately connected with the political 
history of the township, having served as 
Trustee probably oftener than any one that 
ever liveil in it. In politics he was radically 
and enthusiastically a Repul)lican in late 
years, as he was formerly a Whig. But not- 

I withstanding his strong party ])redilections, 



V 



^>. 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



399 



which sometimes amounted almost to bitter- 
ness, such was his genial nature and humor 
that he was highly esteemed even by his poli- 
tical opponents. He sold his home in 1871, 
where he had spent sixty-five years of his life, 
and removed to Iowa, where he resided with 
his son until his death on the 7th of last 
December. Richmond and Peter, older sons 
of Robert ilarmon, removed to the State of 
Mir:higan over fifty years ago. They are 
both deceased. Mrs. Jarvis Daughherty — • 
mother of William and Zaccheus — the only 
daughter, died some thirty j-ears ago. 

Martin Marmon, who, as already remarked, 
settled where Mr. Springate lives, was much 
more intimately connected with the organiza- 
tion, growth and development of both I the 
township and county than either of his 
brothers. Being a man of good business 
qualifications, and supplied with an inex- 
haustible store of humor and hilarity, his ser- 
vices and his social intercourse were alike 
ever in demand. And these good qualities 
were supplemented by a kind and sympathiz- 
ing nature, that ever prompted him to relieve 
the wants of those who were in poverty or 
distress. In illustration of this, it is related 
by one who knew him well, that at a time 
near fifty years ago, during the first settle- 
ment of the northerly part of this and the ad- 
joining county of Hardin, breadstuff became 
so scarce as to cause absolute suffering, bor- 
dering on to starvation, many families being 
not only without grain, but destitute of any 
means to procure it. Fortunately, alike for 
himself and for humanity, he had a large sup- 
ply of corn, which 'was greatly in demand. 
When called on for breadstuff, said our in- 
formant, the first question asked was, "Have 
you any money?" If answered in tiio affirm- 
ative, he was kindly informed of other 
places where his wants could be supplied. 
But if in the negative, he was promptly fur- 
nished with a grist of corn and sent on his 



way rejoicing. And in speaking of it after- 
wards, the old man exultingly exclaimed, not 
a single man whose wants had been thus re- 
lieved failed to pay him so soon as his ability 
permitted him to do so. In addition to serv- 
ing twenty-five years in succession as Town- 
ship Treasurer, he was the first County 
Treasurer serving four years in succession, 
while in the settlement of estates and transac- 
tion of other business where ability, tact and 
responsibility were required, his services were 
ever in demand. Of his sons, James W. will 
be noticed in the proper place as a physician. 
Robert M. married, settled and died in Zanes- 
field about thirty years ago. Samuel died 
perhaps ten years earlier, wiiile Henry W., 
still living on his farm, has attained to a good 
old age. He is quite feeble in health, and of 
late years has suffered much from a cancerous 
affection. Of his daughters, Hannah married 
Zaccheus Brown, died 18 — . Susan married 
Henry Cowgill, father of Speaker Oowgill, of 
the Ohio House of Rejiresentatives; survives 
her husband. Polly died in Zanesfield many 
years ago. Susan, the youngest, married 
David Brown in 1844, and died a few months 
afterward. 

Samuel had one son, Martin, and one daugh- 
ter, who married Jeremiah Reams. Martin 
was a Colonel of militia, and was Sheriff of Lo- 
gan County from 1835 to 1839. He acquired 
considerable property, but lost it dealing in 
stock. He removed to Hardin County, where 
several of his sons still live. 

About the time the Marmons came, and 
perhaps with and from the same place, Wil- 
liam Reams came, bringing- with him nine 
sons and one daughter, whose offspring have 
contributed to the population of this as well 
as one or two counties in Michigan. Of the 
father of the family, we learn but little e.xcej)t 
that from the organization of the township up 
to ISoO he scarcely ever failed to be elected 
Supervisor. He settled somewhere near Rush 



-| — ■* 



Ai 



— I— ->• 



400 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



Creek Lake, probably where his youngest son, 
John Roams, now lives. Caleb, his second 
son, made tiie first improvement on the farm, 
on whicli ho resided till near the close of his 
life. It is in James Galloway's Survey, No. 
3,718, and is now owned by Josiah Keams. 
Jeremiah, the third son, made the first improve- 
ment on the farm where he now resides with 
his son, Martin M. Reams. The situation 
has been remarked for the fine view it affords 
of the beautiful valley spread out before it. 
Silas, tlie fourth son, commenced the first im- 
provement where Hezekiah J. Reams lives, 
but emigrated to Michigan at an early day, 
too-ether with a large number of the connec- 
tions, settling in what is now Cass County. 

Aaron Brown bought of Robert Marmon in 
1818. lie was from North Carolina, and 
came north in the year 1800, stopping a short 
time at Redstone (now Brownsville) on the 
Monongahela, thence to Siiort Creek in Jef- 
ferson County, Oho, wliere he remained until 
he bought tiie farm in the Marmon Valley, on 
which lie lived until his death, in 18-10. Be- 
foru leaving North Carolina, he married Anna, 
fourth daughter of Dr. Benjamin Stanton, and 
sister of (afterwards) Dr. David Stanton, of 
Steubenville, who was father of Secretary 
Edwin M. Stanton. He, with his familj', be- 
longed to the Society of Friends, and, in com- 
mon with the largo family connection who 
came north near tlie same tinn;, came partly 
to find a more fertile and productive soil, 
which could then be clu-apiy purchased, and 
more es|iecially to give freedom to the slaves 
which belonged, by inheritance, to tlie family, 
and to escape the blighting influence of 
slaverj". On coming to Logan County, it is 
j)robable thai he first lived in a cabin just 
at the ascent of the hill at the north side of 
the valley, near the west line of the land for- 
merly occupied by his brother, John Brown. 
Possessing trreat energy and activity, and 
blessed with a robust family of sons, he soon 



cleared and brought under cultivation the 
fertile land lying in the valley, and before he 
had lived on the place eight j'oars he erected 
the very comfortable two-story brick dwelling 
in whiiji he resided the remainder of his life, 
and in which his grandson, Thomas S. Brown, 
lives at the present time. He was a man of 
excellent business qualifications and habits, 
though it would not seem that he ever aspired 
to office, as his name is rarely found in th? 
township records, but being a good scribe, an 
accomj)lishmcnt by no means universal or 
even common, and possesoing ready business 
tact and forethought, with general intelligence 
and pleasing address, he was well known and 
respected throughout the county. His wife 
was an excellent woman. She was resjiected 
for her sterling common sense, and loved for 
her kindness and gentleness. An old colored 
man who knew much of her private life not 
inaptly described her as a f/rcat hiij bundle of 
love. And truly her affections and sympathy 
were freelj' bestowed on all, especially on 
those in sorrow and affliction. She survived 
her husband, dying in 18.52. Aaron Brown 
had six sons, the children of his second wife, 
besides one Horton H. Brown, by a former 
wife, of whom we shall speak in another 
place. 

Of the second set of children. Dr. B. S. 
Brown, the eldest, will doubtless occupy a 
prominent place in the medical tlepartment of 
this history. Zaccheus married Hannah Mar- 
mon, and settled in Hadley's Bottom, on the 
road to North Greenfield. Ira married Re- 
becca Rea; died young, leaving two children, 
one of whom, a daughter, died in youth; the 
other, Ezra Brown, is one of the prominent 
farmers of the township, living near the upper 
end of Marmon Valley. Asa, the fourth son, 
married Hannah Sands, and settled, about the 
year 183S. in the north jiart of the township, 
in Survey No. 3,437, on a farm now owned by 
' Cyi-us Wickcrsham. James, the fifth fon, 



^■ 



r 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



401 



married Elizabeth Willis, and settled on and 
cleared up the farm at present owned by 
Georare D. Adams, where he lived till about 
the year 1859, when he removed to Iowa, 
where he first settled in Warren County and 
afterwards in O'Brien, where he still resides. 
David, the sixth son, married, about two years 
after the death of his father, Susanna Marmon. 
Both died in less than two years after their mar- 
riapre. The daughters were — Mary, who lost 
the use of one of her feet in childhood; she sur- 
vived both of her parents, making her home 
at the residence of her youngest sister, at 
whose residence she died in the year 1803. 
Anne, the second, who became the second 
wife of .John Outland, of Perry Township, 
and died in 186-. Martha, the third, who died 
single, at about the age of 28, and Elma, the 
youngest, who was married to Edward Ken- 
ton in 1845, and who now resides with her 
husband and three youngest children in La 
Porte County, Ind. Tlie girls were bright 
and intelligent, and partook largely of the 
amiable qualities of their mother. 

Among the early settlers of Marmon Val- 
ley, the name of Henry Newsom (colored) is 
worthy of mention. He, also, was from North 
Carolina, but was never held in slavery. He 
came at an early day, jjurchasing before Aaron 
Brown. He was well respected for his quiet 
demeanor and general upright character. His 
grandson, Darius Newsom, is one of the lead- 
ing colored teachers of the county. The farm 
he settled on is now owned by Mrs. Ellen 
Coram. 

John Taylor settled next, east of Newsom, 
in Survey No. 4,001. His wife was a Stanton, 
aunt of Hon. Benjamin Stanton. He died in 
early life, leaving three children — Benjamin 
S., who married Martha Outland; Mary, who 
married Lemuel Watkins, and Sarah Ann, 
first wife of John Outland. After his death, 
his widow married Edmund Marmon, and 
had three children— Joseph, Martha and Amos 



P. Marmon, all of whom married and settled 
outside of the township. After his mother's 
death, Benjamin occupied the farm during his 
lifetime, succeeded by his youngest son, Aaron 
Taylor, one of the leading farmers of the 
township. 

Benjamin Zane made the first improvement 
where Albert Jacobs' lives, selling to Reuben 
Watkins in 1830, who died in 1835, leaving 
his farm to Joel, his youngest son, who mar- 
ried Margaret Fowler, now Mrs. Jacobs. 
George Witcraft settled where Elwood Brown 
lives, succeeded by his son, John; John D. 
Elliott, and finally by the present owner. In 
the division of the John Taylor estate, that 
part south of the road fell to Lemuel Wat- 
kiuii', who, about the year 1858, commenced 
improving the farm on which Ezra Brown 
resides, first building a cabin down in the 
bottom west of the present dwelling. Peter 
Marmon, .Joshua's brother, made the first im- 
provement where John D. Elliott lives. It was 
afterwards owned by Dr. J. W. Marmon, and 
later by Joseph James. Col. Martin Marmon 
made the improvement on the Hannah Wat- 
kins farm, now owned by S. P. Strong, and 
Benjamin Watkins improved the farm on top 
of the hill south of Josiah Peeble's residence. 
Daniel Butler, whose wife was a sister of 
Reuben Watkins, as was Martin Marmon's 
wife, came about the same time of the Mar- 
mons, perhaps later; bought of Isaac Zane a 
small tract of land, so described as to include 
the mill privilege, where the Baldwin mill is. 
It does not appear that he ever used the mill 
seat. He built a house, and lived a little 
north of where the mill stands until about 
1833, when he sold to Daniel Hunt, and 
bought the MoAtee farm, now owned by W. 
J. Ljde, then unimproved. John Bishop 
bought immediately west of him, and made 
improvements, where T. E. Pennock now 
lives. In the year 1811, Joseph Dickinson 
came from Viro-inia. He lived two vears in 



& ■ 



V 



J: 



3 



402 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



a cabin staiulinjT wlierc Oren Outknd's house 
now is, in Zanesfield, and after that, one year 
near Ht^llefontaine. He then bought of 
Simon KiMiton IGO acres in the southeast 
corner of Survey No. 3,439, and commenced 
ini])roving, where J. W. Easton lives. After 
eijjiiteen luontlis, he learned that Kenton's 
title to the land was worthless. He fortu- 
nately recovered back his purchase money, 
but lost his labor in improving the land. He 
then bought of James Catlet 125 acres in 
Dandridge's Survey No. .3,220, where .John H. 
Dickinson now resides. Shortly after this. 
Lot Garwood bought inuiiediatel^' east in the 
same survey, and made imjirovements, where 
James K. Abraham lives; and about the year 
1822, James and Archibald Walker, from Dan 
liiver, in Virginia, settled immediately 
south. The land owned by the former is at- 
tached to the John H. Dicknison farm. Ed- 
ward Mason came from Kentuckj' a year or 
two earlier. He owned a large bocjj' of land 
in the southwest corner of the survey, and 
settled where his son-in-law, Jesse T. Grubbs, 
lives. Farther east in the same survey, 
George Henry, Sr., and his son, William, 
bought 100 acres, about the year 1811, the 
former building on the south half, now owned 
by Isaac Rogers, but i)relty well to the east 
end of the farm, and the latter on the north 
half, where Newton Garwood lives. Abra- 
ham Painter bought 100 acres ne.\t north, 
and built where Phillip Crouse lives. James 
Henry and Samuel J'. C'ostin bought the 100 
a('resnext north of Painter's, the former taking 
the part south, and the latter the jiart north of 
the Jiellefontaine road. The lOU acres north 
of this remained unimproved until 1831, when 
Justus Cooper bought it and imp.-oved it. 
The 1011 acres in tiie southeast corner of the 
survey was conveyed by Gen. McArthur to 
Rol)ert Armstrong forshowing the head spring 
of tiie Scioto River, tluTeliy securing an ad- 
dition of many thousands of acres of land to 



l(oi» 
J of til 
1 ditio 

11 1 



the Virginia Military Survej's, over and above 
what was included by the Ludlow Line. Of 
this 100 acres, William got a part, and Red- 
wood Easton a part. It is not certain where the 
former built, but the latter down in the hollow 
south of where Mr. DeVi'itt lives. Isaac, 
after selling his little farm, cast of Mad River, 
to Parkinson and Kenton, bouglit 100 acres 
ne.\t north of tliis, and subsequently acq\iired 
the principal part of this, also. Jonathan 
Sumner Ijovight 100 acres north of this, about 
181G, where he instituted a primitive tannery 
on a small scale — the first in the townsiiip, 
possibly in the county. He afterwards sold 
to Justus Cooper, and he, in lS:iO, to Joshua 
Scott. 

West of tlic l);iii(irl<igi' Survey, George 
Krouskop, father of David Krouskop, settletl 
on the end now the William McHeth farm, 
and Thomas Wilkinson built a mill on Me- 
Kee's Creek, as early as 1809, which was in 
running condition in -IS'-io. Sovith of Zanes- 
field, Solomon McColloch, settled where Mis. 
Lydia Daughherty lives in Survey No. 4,9.o7, 
and west of that George McColloch settled, 
where he still lives with his son, in Survey 
No. 6,4-19; and north of tliiit, in the same 
survey, his brother-in-law, Robert Breese, 
made tl;e first improvement. East of that on 
Tharp's Run, William Tharj) settled, where 
William liishop lives, and north of that, in 
the same Survey, No. 0,447, Daniel Grubbs 
made the first improvement. In the north of 
the township, one of the first settlers was 
John G. Parkinson, who settled on the old 
Moses Hrown ]ihu'e, east from New Salem 
Chapel, in ISlti. He did not remain long, 
being soon succeeded by Brown. He ' then 
settled on the Thomas Wickcrsham ))laco, 
north of Jerusalem. Gen. Simon Kenton 
settled on the Lingrel place, at Jerusalem, 
but whether Lingrel immediately succeeded 
him or not is uncertain. 

To the westward, near the lake, Haines 



^^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



403 



Parker settled on the Shaots place. Dunston 
and Stephen Leas settled on the south and 
west of him, and still further west, ileCoy 
made improvements; McCormick, the McCoids 
and John Easton, further south on the waters 
of Mad River, followed latLcr by Joel Henry, 
Daniel Antrim and Robert Dickinson, who 
settled on the farm owned by Benjamin 
Plummer. On the East Liberty road, Thomas 
Dickinson made the first improvements on 
the western part of the farm owned by Benja- 
min Knight. The eastern part was improved 
by James Monroe, who bought it of Gen. Mc- 
Arthur on the following terms : Having- ob- 
tained a title liond, on making a small pay- 
ment on the land, he assisted McArthur as 
chainiiian in a prott}' extensive job of survey- 
ing, and being in possession of a fine young 
mare (worth then, perhaps, $30 or 840) Mo- 
Arthur proposed to him that if he would carry 
his instruments home and let him have the 
mare, he would make him a deed for the land. 
The President, as McArthur always called 
him, accepted the offer, and they started. 
Getting as far as London, the General met 
with some of his old conjrades, and became 
(piito convivial. James, naturally anxious to 
have the, to him, important matter consum- 
7nated, remonstrated against further delay, to 
which the General responded: "Never mind, 
President, you are making good wftf/e.v." In due 
time, however, the President prevailed on the 
General to resume their journey, and, arriving 
attheirdestination, the latter fulfilled hisprom- 
ise, and the President, shouldering his saddle, 
wended his way back to Logan County, a 
happy man, if not a wealthy one, and the pos- 
sessor of a warranty deed for 80 acres of land 
and a saddle. 

It would be an interesting story, if we could 
describe the hardships and adventures con- 
nected with the journeyings of the sturdy ijio- 
neer from his far-off home in the Caroliiias or 
Virginia, or Pennsylvania, or the bleak hill- 



sides of New England, to this new, strange 
land of promise. But, unfortunately, tiic ma- 
terial from which to weave this strange, roman- 
tic story is difficult of access. Our fathers 
wrote their history on the forest and the hill- 
side and in the fertile valley, in which, if they 
did not cause the " wilderness to blossom as a 
rose," they did compel the hitherto unculti- 
vated soil to contribute its rich treasure to the 
sustenance and comfort of their dependent 
loved ones. They came and found a forest; 
they stamped upon it the trade-mark of civil- 
ization, and left, forgetting to chronicle their 
achievements. 

Wc cannot tell how Robert and Martin 
Marmon gathered up their effects on the Ro- 
anoke, or where they scaled the mountains, or 
how they succeeded in penetrating the intri- 
cacies of the wilderness, or what were the inci- 
dents of their journey. These would have 
been interesting facts, that a few years ago 
might have been garnered up, but then their 
value was not appreciated. It is probable 
that the Marmons and Outlands and Reamses 
and Butlers, coming from the interior of the 
Old North State, crossed the inountains in 
Virginia, and reached the Ohio thioiiuii the 
Kanawha Valley. While Aai'on Brown and 
his large family connexion, coming- from the 
region of Pamlico Sound, embarked at Beau- 
fort for Baltimore, and from there came in 
wagons, possibly by way of Cumberland, but 
more likely by way of Chambersburg, in Penn- 
sylvania, to Brownsville, the Masons came from 
Kentucky, probably crossing the Ohio in the 
region of Marysville, and it is altogether likely 
that the Walkers came from Virgiin'a by way of 
Kentucky. The Lowes came from North Caro- 
lina, coming either by way of West Virginia or 
Kentuckj', Mrs. Lpwe making the entire trip 
on foot, in company with the wagon that 
conveyed their goods. 

Having- penetrated the wilderness and se- 
lected a stopping place, the first want that 



'k 



40^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



claimed the attention of the settler, premising 
that he was in possession of clothing to supply 
his present want, and food to appease the de- 
mand of hunger, was a shelter for his family 
and his goods. To enable him to supply this 
want, nature had made a bounteous provision 
in the great variety and apparently inexhaust- 
ible supply of timber with which the hills 
and valleys abounded. This want supplied, 
the next that would naturally present itself 
would be meat and breadstufl, to replenish 
the constantly diminishing store. For the 
former he might, with some degree of assur- 
ance, look to the forest for an abundant sup- 
ply, and for the latter he might trust the 
f<'rtilo soil as soon as it could be reclaimed 
from a state of nature, and brought under 
cultivation. But the production of grain for 
bread suggested another necessitj' which was 
not overlooked — the erection of mills. As 
already noticed, Thomas Wilkinson built a 
mill on McKee's Creek as early as 1809. 
This was certainly the first ever built in the 
township, and, in fact, tlie only one until so 
late as ISoO, notwithstanding the several fine 
mill sites found within its limits. Previous to 
this, however, perhaps aliout 1805, the Gar- 
woods came from Virginia and settled on 
Otter Creek, at the present location of East 
Liberty, and immediately sot about the con- 
struction of a mill, wliiel;, however primitive 
in its character, was an important factor in 
supplying the wants of tlie people at that early 
time. Afterwards, but at a slill early day, 
George Moots built a mill on Mad Kiver, in 
Monroe Township, which did superior work, 
and which continiu'd tf> supply the farmers of 
Jefferson Township to a very great extent 
until the very excellent mills near Zanesfield 
were built, thirty to forty years ago. 

Tlie increase of populati< in developed new 
want.s, which in turn were redressed by the 
ingenuity and indefatigable industry of the 
sturdy men and kind-hearted women that 



came to develop the resources of a new 
country, and provide homes for a future pros- 
perous people. It is difficult to tell how early 
sheep were brought into the country. It was 
doubtless a hazardous uiulertaking- to ])rotcct 
them from the wild animals that infested the 
country. And yet, as wool was required to 
supply one of the settlers' most urgent wants, 
it is reasonable to conclude that sheep were 
introduced at a very early period in the 
liistory of the settlement of the township. 
And this conclusion is confirmed by the stories 
which our j)ioneers tell of the use of the 
hand- cards long before the introduction of 
wool carding machinery, when it is remem- 
bered that fifty years ago wool carding ma- 
chines were old institutions in the country. In 
this important branch of industry, however, 
Jefferson Township has been dependent on 
other localities. It was not until between 
thirty and forty years ago that a carding 
machine was established in the township, and 
that did not prove a success. The cultivation 
of flax being an important item of domestic 
econom}', was not overlooked, and a thrifty 
family might provide every article necessary 
to clothe a person comfortably, except shoos 
and hats, and even the latter might be impro- 
vised from braided straw. The first effort at 
tanning leather, as can be learned, was about 
the year 1810, when Jonathan Sumner started 
up a. little tannery on Goose Creek, about 
forty or fifty rods north of the Bellefontaine 
pike. This was an insignificant atlair and 
never amounted to much, though the remains 
were yet to be scon in 1830. Benjamin 
Smith started a tannery in Zanesfield in 1830 
with such fixtures as to enable him to do ex- 
cellent work, of which mention will be made 
in another place. The mercantile business, 
so far as we can loarn, was first rejiresonted 
by Lanson Curtis, who seems to have com- 
menced trade on a small scale at Zanesfield, 
soon after the close of the war of 1812. 



n" 



3]^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



407 



Social intercourse seems to have been en- 
couraged then as well as in later years, not 
only in gatherings, in which the men and 
women, both old and young, met together and 
shared each other's labor, and the interchange 
of visits between neighbors of the same vi- 
cinity; but a friendly intercourse was kept up 
between the various neighborhoods. Many 
of the early settlements had been made up, to 
a considerable extent, by Quakers or persons 
of Quaker origin and sympathies coming 
from different States and localities, and hence 
the encouragement given to social intercourse 
between the various groups situated at Darby 
and in the Beechwoods (by which was under- 
stood all that indefinite region about Gar- 
wood's Mills and beyond, and also on King's 
Creek in Champaign). It should not be under- 
stood that the social relations were restricted 
to any sect or denomination. If there were 
not as strong ties of sympathy between the 
various church organizations as seen to exist 
at present, still a difference of religious be- 
lief was not a bar to friendly intercourse. 

Social customs have changed materially 
since the first settlement of this countr}^, and 
yet the change has, for the most part, resulted 
from a change of surrounding circumstances. 
In regard to marriages, one of our county 
papers has recently published a list of mar- 
riages, as returned to the Clerk's office, from 
the organization of the county, showing that 
in the early history of the county those mar- 
ried by a minister were the e.xception, while 
for the last ten or fifteen years in Jefferson 
Township scarcely twice that many marriages 
have been solemnized by magistrates. An- 
other custom in reference to marriage fifty 
years ago: It would have been in violation 
of all rules of propriety for a bride to have 
appeared at the altar, or anywhere in public 
after marriage, without her head being incased 
in an elaborate cap. Sixty years ago it was 
not an event to occasion any remark for 



young ladies to walk five, six or eight miles 
to attend a religious meeting, or make a so- 
cial visit, while to ride on horseback behind 
her brother or a gentleman friend was a thing 
so common as to occasion no surprise. Cus- 
toms have changed as much in regard to 
travel, perhaps, as in anything else. The 
Hon. Benjamin Stanton returned with his 
wife from a visit to his former home in Jeffer- 
son County, a short time after commencing 
the practice of law in Bellcfontaine, traveling 
in a one-horse wagon — then usually called a 
" carryall." It was innocent of any top or 
covering and had only such springs as were 
constructed of wooden bars, and yet no one 
suspected him of compromising his dignity. In 
1830 there were not more than four covered 
carriages in Jeff'erson Township, and only two 
of them had springs. Steel springs in their 
present form were then unknown; the only 
carriages making any pretentions to ease and 
elegance were hung on thoroughbraces on 
the principle of the old-fashionod mail-coach, 
though differing materially in construction. 
Hearses were unknown. When Abraham 
Painter died, one of his neighbors sent his son 
with one of those old-fashioned wagons with 
a bed curving up before and behind, and a 
three-horse team, the driver riding the saddle 
horse, and driving the lead horse with a single 
line, to convey the corpse to its last resting- 
place, while a few men and boys were seated 
promiscuously in the wagon around the coffin. 
And nobody's sensibility was shocked, and all 
was regarded as being done with due respect 
to the solemnity of the occasion, while if a 
looking-glass had been left in the residence 
of the deceased, without its face being turned 
to the wall, it would have been regarded as 
something entirely unbecoming. As carriages 
were almost unknown, it was usually cus- 
tomary for the family of the deceased to fol- 
low the remains to the grave on horseback. 
Among the Friends it was customary to 



A, 



408 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



solemnize niariiage at the church, after -which 
the wedding guests, preceded by the bride 
and groom, rode on horseback to the resi- 
dence of the bride, sometimes constituting an 
imposing cavalcade; and that was not infre- 
quently the occasion of some envious or 
malicious scalawag sotting up a pair of pad- 
dies in some conspicuous place by the road- 
side as a token of derision towards the parties. 
As the locality had long been a favorite 
resort with the Indians, tliey were naturally 
intimately connected with its history. After 
the surrender of Gen. Hull at the River 
Raisin, large numbers of friendly Indians in 
the northern part of the county fled panic- 
stricken, and threw themselves on the pro- 
tection of the government. It is said about 
500 of these were brought in to the vicinity 
of ZanesBeld and cared for by the authori- 
ties. The feeling of danger, which was real, 
was constantly being excited, enhanced by 
false alarms and exaggerated reportsi In 
illustration, it is said that Esquire McCoid, of 
Urbana, then holding a Captain's commission 
in the volunteer service, with his command 
had charge of a party of friendlj' Indians, 
bringing them southward, and finding some 
of them tardy, or their sense of danger not 
being equal to his, he promised one of the 
Indians a dollar to secrete himself in the rear, 
and fire his gun and give two or three Indian 
war-whoops. The ruse had elTect, and more; 
for it is said that one of the command, hap- 
pening to be isolated from the rest, became 
60 overcome with the sense of danger that he 
ran as far as Colnmljus, the first white settle- 
ment he chanced to strike, with the startlinnr 
news that MeCoid's command was entirely 
cut to pieces and he alone was left alive to 
tell the story. The Indians, though not hos- 
tile, l)eing entirely unused to the restraints 
of civilized life, wore a constant source of 
anxiety and annoyance to the few scattered 
settlers. The braves as well as the squaws 



would visit the cupboard or the larder with- 
out waiting for an invitation, or realizing any 
sense of impropriet\' or want of etiquette. 
Sometimes their visits were exceedingly ill- 
timed and mortifying. While Joseph Dick- 
inson lived in Zanesfield, on his first coming 
to the county, his Excellency Gov. Meigs 
visited Zanesfield with his staff for the pur- 
pose of inspecting the blockhouses and other 
defenses of tlie post. It was resolved to 
make his visit the occasion of a grand recep- 
tion, and Grandmother Dickinson, than whom 
none knew better how to spread an excellent 
repast, was charged with the duty of ]iro- 
viding for the creature comforts of the Gov- 
ernor and his attendants. The arrangements 
bade fair to all be carried out in good order. 
The soldiers belonging to the blockhouse, 
with the armed Indians, were drawn up in 
line, and received their distinguished visitor 
with a grand salute, whose eclioes rolled 
down the valleys, bringing a horseman in 
hot haste from the extreme south end of the 
county, sup))osing the post had suffered an 
attack from the enemy. But what was the 
mortification of our excellent hostess to bo 
compelled, while his Excellency was making 
his round of inspection, to observe the im- 
perturbable braves from time to time gravely 
enter her cabin and unceremoniously appro- 
priate such of the viands as suited their fancy, 
until, when the hour arrivijd for her honored 
"•uests to dine, there was nothing left but 
such scraps as the dignified red men had 
deemed unworthy of their attention. 

With the return of jieaee, and the location 
of the Wj'andot Indians on their reserve 
near Upper Sandusky, they began gradually 
to disappear, until, in ls:i0, there were only 
four families connected with them in the 
reserve, and three of them were assimilated 
with the whites, and in fact all of them 
attended school, and made some progress in 
learnin'T. In the sutninor of that year they 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



409 



were seen in great numbers, for the last time, 
in the streets of Zanesfield. It was on the 
occasion of a camp-meeting- held in Union 
Township, and they passed this way going 
and returning. They rode ponies, and the 
squaws — many of whom carried papooses on 
their shoulders, secured by their shawls in some 
peculiar manner — presented a strange, fan- 
tastic appearance. 

Jefferson Township has been comparatively 
free from murders, suicides, or accidents re- 
sulting in death. A few cases of the latter 
have occurred, of which we can only call to 
mind the following: 

In the summer of 1848, Nathan Walton 
was killed at the steam saw-mill north of 
Jerusalem, by the saw coming in contact with 
a handspike with which he was attempting to 
steady the log. 

In December, 1850, Edwin Michener was 
crushed by a stone which he was attempting 
to bury. Having made an excavation by the 
side and partly under the stone, and being 
unable to roll it in, he got down and com- 
menced to dig further under the stone, when 
it rolled upon him, crushing him so that he 
died in a few hours. 

About the year 1851, Jeremiah Grimes, a 
young man, residing with his parents on the 
Sandusky road, just south of the township 
line, was killed by the falling of a limb, while 
cutting down timber in the woods. 

In the spring of 1864, Milton, son of Mr. 
George Corwin, living in the north part of 
the township, was fatally injured in the fol- 
lowing manner : He had hitched his horse to 
a rail in the fence, and, going to him, the 
horse scared, and, pulling back, jerked the 
rail out of the fence, which struck him, 
producing injuries resulting in death in a 
few days. In March, 1879, Isaac Rudasill 
received a fatal injury from being thrown 
from a horse. In company with two other 
young men, he was returning from Zanes- 



field to his home, near Walnut Grove. When 
near Frank Myers', a mile south of Jerusalem, 
they got to running their horses, when Ruda- 
sil's horse slipped and fell, throwing him on 
the road with such violence as to produce 
concussion of the brain, resulting in death 
the following day. 

On the 20th of July, 1880, Enoch M. Scott, 
a farmer, 70 years old, living near the head 
of Marmon's Valley, was returning from Zanes- 
field with a two-horse wagon and a spring 
wagon hitched behind it. On the road, his 
horses frightened, and became unmanageable. 
Running out of the road, they struck a log, 
which threw him off the wagon. Attempting to 
rise, the spring wagon knocked him down, and, 
runnino; over him, bruised and mano-jed him in 
a most shocking manner, causing death after 
about forty-eight hours of intense suffering. 

Thomas Thompson, who was the first Audi- 
tor and the first Recorder of Logan County, 
was one of the leading men in the early his- 
tory of Jefferson Township. He was distin- 
guished as one of the best scribes that ever 
held office in the county. He lived on the 
Urbana road, be\'ond the State bridge, and 
hence belonged to Monroe Townshij), after 
that was organized. 

John Brown, one of the Trustees in 1818, and 
several subsequent years, was a brother of 
Aaron Brown, and lived on his farm, and after- 
wards on Peter Marmon's, who was his son- 
in-law. He removed to Michigan about 1824. 

Ralph Lowe came from North Carolina at 
a very early date; was one of the first two 
Justices of the Peace, his first term expiring 
in March, 1818. He resided for awhile near 
the old saw-mill, one-half mile south of Zanes- 
field. He bought 100 acres of land lying im- 
mediately north of New Salem Church, on 
which he settled, and where he lived till 18G0, 
when he sold, and bought a house and lot 
near Zanesfield, where he lived until his 
death, in the year 1872. 



\' 



^\(S 



>\^ 



iii 



410 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



Lot Garwood was a prominent farmer, set- 
tling at an early date on the farm now owned 
by J. H. Abraham. He was a brother to 
Levi Garwood, one of the Associate Judges 
of Logan Common Pleas Court. He frequent- 
ly hold the ofTice of Township Trustee. 

David Krouskop, for many years a Town- 
ship Trustee, was born in the towiisliip, or 
moved into it with his parents in early youth; 
frequently held the office of Infirmary Di- 
rector; removed to Lake Township about the 
year 1866. 

Samuel Hyde Saunders was a man of 
many peculiarities, one of which was a mania 
for building all of his enclosures in the form 
of a hexagon, which gained him the appella- 
tion of He.xagon Saunders. He was the pro- 
prietor of S. H. Saunders' Surveys, Nos. 12,563 
and 13,076, and besides tlie tract constituting 
the farm of Lemuel Watkins. It was here 
that he attempted to elaborate some of his 
peculiar ideas. In 1830 he was entirolj' car- 
ried away with the project of raising silk- 
worms and producing silk. For this purpose 
he had cleared quite a little patch, and de- 
voted it to the culture of Chinese mulberries, 
for the leaves on wliich to feed liis worms. 
These he had arranged on shelves around the 
walls of his six-sided little shanty. During 
the feeding season which commenced as soon 
as the leaves, which wore of a rapid and lux- 
uriant growth, attained a sullicient size, after 
they had spun their cocoon, he used some- 
times to come to town with a parcel of them 
in a basket and stop at the house of some 
acquaintance to reel the silk. It was a curious 
though simj)le process. Ho was the first to 
instruct the housewives of the community in 
the manufacture of tomato catsup, then sup- 
posed to be the only use to which the tomato 
was adapted. He wag a man of extensive 
iiiionnation. and fond of companj', though 
living entirely alone. Zane McCoUoch was a 
favorite associate, and they spent many hours 



on the common, engaged in the old English 
amusement of shuttlecock. One or two sea- 
sons, however, seemed to satisfy "his curiosity 
in the silk-worm business," for he soon after 
disappeared. It is j)robab]e that he joined 
his family, who, for some cause or other, never 
lived in this vicinity. He died not many years 
after leaving here. 

Tom Hale was another peculiar character, 
though of a different type. He was remark- 
able for his ingenuity, which seemed to take 
the direction of looms and weaving. He had 
formerly lived in the eastern part of the 
State, and had sojourned awhile in the State 
Capital somewhat unwillingly, his visit being 
occasioned by the peculiar views he enter- 
taitied about the ownership of some bacon. 

A historj' of Jefferson Township would be 
incomplete without a brief mention of the 
colored population. The township being 
settled to a considerable extent by Friends, 
or Quakers, from North Carolina and Vir- 
ginia, it is natural that it should be regarded 
as an attractive stopping-place by an oppressed 
race, who were justified in regarding them as 
friends. Hence, from its earliest history it 
has been the abode of a very considerable 
number of colored people. The number, 
however, has latterly been de.lining, until at 
present it consists of but one family and per- 
haps two or three transient sojourners. 

Henry Newsom, John Newsom, and Kin- 
chen Artes were among the first to come, 
followed by Tabarns, Bynls, Wades, Wal- 
dens, Stewart^, Aliens, Ashes, Madrys, Mar- 
nings and others, until, from 1S40 to 1850, 
they constituted a very considerable element in 
the population of the township. About the 
year 1849, the Newlin family, consisting of 
some forty men, women and children, came 
from Carolina. They were directly from a 
state of slaverj', having been manumitted by 
their master by will. As a class, they were 
much inferior to the colored people hitherto 






J^l 



3L> 

3 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



411 



in the countrj^ being sadly addicted to the 
use of intoxicating drinks. 

Before this time, however, the colored peo- 
ple had begun to leave in considerable num- 
bers, going at first to Mercer County, about 
the time of the building of the Saint Mary's 
reservoir, and later to Cass County, Mich., 
and more recently still to Paulding County. 
Many of them have acquired a considerable 
amount of property and become good, intelli- 
gent citizens, while others, less energetic and 
provident, have made little or no advance- 
ment. They have usually shown a commend- 
able spirit in reference to education. Solomon 
Day, Esq., Principal of the colored schools of 
Dayton, was raised principally in JeflFerson 
Township. Micajah Dimry, who was the first 
colored juror of Ohio, came from North Caro- 
lina in 1831, and has resided in JefTerson 
Township ever since. Though not in affluent 
circumstances, he owns a good farm, which 
he has acquired since he came to Ohio. 

It is difficult to state who built or owned 
the first saw-mill in the township, or at what 
precise time. It is probable that it was built 
before the war of 1812, for it was abandoned as 
early as 1820, and in 1830 only a few vestiges 
of the ruins remained. The most remarkable 
feature about it was the race, which was 
nearly or quite a mile in length, commencing 
on the farm of T. E. Pennock, and extending 
to within about twenty rods of the south lino 
of the survey, the mill standing near where 
the West Libert}' road crosses the line of an 
old projected railway. It is probable that it 
was not a paying concern, as it was suffered to 
go down before any other mill was built in the 
community. The saw-mill built in the town- 
ship was by Joshua Folsom, in 1830, one 
mile north of Zanesfield. The dam was built 
of logs and earthwork about twenty yards 
above the present. The mill was constructed 
with a sash saw, and run by a flutter-wheel. 
The dam was several times washed out, 



which involved a heavy expense in repairs. 
Yet it continued to be successfully run, with 
various modifications and improvements, un- 
til in 1850, when Charles Folsom, into whose 
hands the property had passed after the death 
of his father, dug a new race from the old 
dam down to where the flouring mill stands, 
where he built a new saw-mill with a 24-foot 
wheel. But afterwards building a flouring 
mill, he appropriated the water power to that, 
and put in a steam engine to run the saw- 
mill. With this, he run it successfully for a 
number of years, but finally pulled it down 
and removed it, devoting all his attention to 
the flouring mill, and to other business in 
which he had engaged. 

About ] 843 or 1814, the next saw-mill was 
built on Mad River, near the residence of 
George Peters. It was run very successfully 
by the proprietor for a number of years ; but, 
Mr. Smith going into the mercantile business, 
the mill was rented out, and finally run down 
so as to render it an unprofitable investment. 
The property afterward came into the pos- 
session of Mr. Shaots, who sold all of the mill 
worth removing. The frame was moved to 
Zanesfield, where it is used by Brown & Mar- 
quis. Daniel Arbcghast, and Samuel Ley- 
master built a steam saw-mill, with a muley 
saw, a short distance north of Jerusalem, 
about the year 1848, which did an extensive 
and profitable business. It was afterwards 
run by W. A. Slenker, but has been removed 
a number of years. Near the same time of 
its erection, Luther Smith built one on his 
farm, near the head of Hadley's Bottom. It 
was similar in its construction, but not as 
successful in its operation. After being run 
awhile by Smith & Moody, and afterward 
by George D. Adams, it was sold, and 
removed to Union County. But the uprigiit 
saws have almost entirely gone out of use, and 
the portable engine, with its circular saw, 
seemed to take the field, -and one was found 



«C^ i 



-.— ^|V 



'112 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



in almost every neighborhood. But, with the 
great improvement in roads in later years, 
good, substantial, ])ermanent engines, with 
circular saws and all the late improvements, 
are more in demand. 

Of flouring-mills — passing the Wilkinson 
Mill with the brief mention already made — we 
have only two left of which to speak: The 
Baldwin Mill, built by John Pirn, in 183G, and 
the Folsom Jlill, built eighteen years later. 
The former was built, and run as a water mill, 
exclusively, for many years. Manj' improve- 
ments were made, however, on the original 
model, and finallj-, the water-power being 
deemed insullicient, a lease for several feet 
additional head was negotiated with Charles 
Folsom, and a steam engine was put in, which 
gave it a capacity for first-class merchant 
work, and it lias contributed largely to the 
business and prosperity of the township. 
The mill was run first by John Pim, then by 
I. J. Baldwin, Baldwin & Potts, Baldwin 
& Bro., then sold to Itiddle cS: Rutan, and run 
by G. P. Stevenson, an<l then sold to J. N. 
Dickinson. 

The Folsom Mill site possessed natural ad- 
vantages to commence with, surpassed by 
none in tli.e country, and to this was added 
a building of the very best material and work- 
manship, and in this was placed works com- 
bining all the modern improvements then in 
use. One of the conveniences connected 
with it is the water being trunked under 
ground from the forebay to the jx-nstoek, thus 
obviating trouble in regard to freezing, and 
dispensing with an ugly and inconvenient 
b.irrier to jtas.siige around the mill. 

It would be dillicult at this late ilate to 
•rive any account of the trails follow('d by the 
linlians in their migratory wanderings before 
-tiiiction of roails by the white settlers. 
.:!y as 1811 the State authorities sur- 
vcv. d :itid cut out ii road from Springfield to 
Lower Sandusky, -now Tremont. It passed 



through Urbana, up the West Liberty roa<l 
to a point where that road bears to the right 
to go down into the valley. From that it 
continued on up the oast side of the valley to 
the State bridge, so called because it was first 
constructed by the State. From this point 
northward through the Township the road 
followed the ])n>sent line of the West Liberty, 
Zatiesfield and Hushsylvania pike, except that 
it has been straightened in places, especially 
across the farm of Mr. Shaots, where it curved 
around up the valley, jiassing nearer the 
house than the present location. There was 
also a curve in the road just south of Zanes- 
field, which was straightened when the pike 
was built. 

It was most likely a number of years that 
this road was made before the road was sur- 
veyed and cut out from Columbus to Belle- 
fontaine; probably after the countj' seat was 
established at the latter place. It followed 
the line of the present road from Middleburg 
to Zanesfield, and then down the Urbana road 
to the south line of Major Long's land, which 
passed a short distance north of the residence 
of Mrs. Margaret Knight, and with that line 
west to the hill, up to the summit, bearing to 
the left, entered the Goose Creek bottom, just 
south of the corner of Oliver Fawcett's land 
and up the bottom to the line of the old road 
just below the pike, and thence up the hill, 
south of Jonah Bulwer's house. In 1833 the 
road was surveyed and opened irom Sandusky 
street, at Leas' corner in Zanesfield, west- 
ward on the line between Curtis and Long to 
the west line of the survey, thence west to 
intersect the old road in Goose Creek bottom. 
About the time the road from Columbus was 
opened — for there is nothing on record to in- 
dicate the date — the road Ui East Liberty, then 
known as Garwood's Mills, was opened, the 
line being the same as at present, except that 
it commenced in the Columbus road near the 
brick meeting-house, east of Mad River, and 



V 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



413 



running- obliquely up the bill, through the 
Wonders and Knight places, opposite Benja- 
min Knight's orchard. After Thomas Dickin- 
son settled on the Knight place, he secured 
the alteration of the road to its present loca- 
tion. 

The Solomon's Town road was one of the 
pioneer thoroughfares of the township and 
county. It started in the Sandusky road just 
south of the crossing of Mad River, and, lead- 
ing up the river on the left bank, continued 
northward, bearing west by way of Harper 
and Solomon's Town to Round Head's Town, 
as it was then spoken. In 1830, a guide 
board at the starting point indicated twelve 
miles to Solomon's Town. 

The road from Bellefontaine to Marion, 
though located at an early date, was less 
known and traveled fifty years ago than those 
above mentioned. It passed through the 
township on the line of the Jerusalem pike. 
The Mill Creek road in 1830 was but an ob- 
scure and winding way cut out wide enough 
for wagons to pass through the thick forest. 
It was mostly used by hunters and persons 
from the settlement who went out each spring 
and entered on unoccupied land for the pur- 
pose of making sugar. 

The route usually traveled left the San- 
dusky road near the corner of T. E. Pennock's 
farm, and crossed the river near the mouth of 
the tail-race. It probably kept south of the 
present road pretty much all the way as it 
run south of Kirkpatrick's house. 

In 1830, the Trustees granted a township 
road from the Sandusky road, southeast cor- 
ner of Isaac Zane's farm, westward, passing 
on or near the south line of Lot Garwood's 
land, and intersecting the Bellefontaine road 
between McKee's Creek and the township 
line. Subsequently it was altered to continue 
westward north of Krouskop's (McBeth's) 
farm to the township line. 

In 1833, a grant was given for a township 



road from the above road near Lot Garxyood's 
southwest corner, south to George Henry's 
southeast corner, thence on the nearest and 
best route to the county road near George 
McColloch's. A number of other townshiji 
roads have been constructed at a later date, 
but there is nothing to be found on record to 
indicate the time or attending circumstances. 
There has been but one toll road runniusr 

o 

through the township, namely, the Bellefon- 
taine and Zanesfield turnpike, running from 
Bellefontaine through Zanesfield to near 
Goshen Church, on the Middleburg road. It 
was built by a companj-in IS — . There were 
two gates — one near Bellefontaine, w-hich was 
afterwards moved to a point inside of Jeffer- 
son Township, and one near the brick church 
cast of Mad River. The toll charged for a car- 
riage and one horse was two cents per mile. 
As the number of free pikes in tlie county 
increased, it created a good deal of dissatis- 
faction. Men who had been taxed heavily 
to build free pikes at home disliked to pay 
toll on a road which they were so frequently 
required to travel over. In accordance with 
the petition of a majority of the land-holders 
along the line, the Commissioners purchased 
the road in 187-, and the only toll-gates ever 
erected in the county were removed. With 
the completion of two miles of pike in the Mar- 
mon Valle)-, which has already been granted 
by the Commissioners, there Avill be three 
pikes running directly across the township — 
one from North to South, and two from East 
to West. Work is also rapidly progressijig 
on the Mad River Valley road, a little over two 
miles in length, leading from Dickinson's Mills 
to the Applegrove schoolhouse, on the .Jeru- 
salem pike. There is also one in course of 
construction from Goshen raeetiiig-house 
southward, leading to Mingo, in Champaign 
County. 

Some time between the years 1837 and 
1845, a special act passed the Legislature 



A: 



M>^ 



414 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



proviiliiiar lor tlic iinprovement of the road 
luailinjr Irom Bflleluntaino to Marysville, by 
wiiv of Zanesfiold, E:i5t Liberty and Xowtoii, 
by applying the road tax on ail the property 
wltliin two miles of the line on either side to 
jirailing, bridging and such other work as the 
Commissioners having the work in charge 
should deem most profitable. The act prob- 
ably remained in force until it was set aside 
by the adoption of the new Constitution, in 
1851, and under its provisions a great im- 
provement was made in the road over the hill 
west of Zanesficld, much of which, liowever, 
was thrown away, as a change was subsequent- 
ly made in the road leading up the hill. A 
great improvement was made in the condi- 
tion of the road loading to East Liberty. 
Little is known of the construction of bridges 
in the early history of roads in the township. In 
the year 18^30 but one was found in its limits — 
that across Mad River on the Sandusky road. It 
was a simple structure, consisting of sills rest- 
ing on abutments covered with split puncheons 
secured with wooden pins. At the crossing 
of Mad lliver, east of Zanesficld, a very good 
ford was constructed by hauling large quan- 
tities of gravel in so as to make a solid road- 
way, and the same plan was adopted in other 
places, though in many places the crossing 
was difficult, especially when the water was 
high. At the present time the township is 
well sup])licd with good, substantial bridges, 
the best being the iron bridge across Mad 
River, on the Rushsylvania pike. 

The first stage-lino through the county 
passed through Zanesficld on the Spritigfield, 
Urbana and Sandusky road. It is not certain 
at what time it was established, but it was 
most [)robably in IS'25. It continued about 
two years, and then the line was changed to 
run by way of Billefontaine and West Lib- 
erty. It was a tri-weekly line. ^Vfter the 
rliaiige, a mail route was established from 
IJellefontaine to Marysvillo, by way of Zanes- 



ficld and Garwood's Mills, the mail being 
carried on horseback. 

Some time from 183-1 to 1837, a hack line was 
established from Bellefontaine to Columbus, 
by way of Zanesficld and Middleburg, but it 
was of short duration. Some time ])rovious to 
1860, the mail-carrier commenced carrying 
passengers in a light wagon or buggy, except 
during the muddy season. 

At the commencement of the Rebellion, 
great impatience was manifested on account 
of the want of better mail facilities. The 
East loft Bellefontaine three times a week, in 
the morning, before the arrival of the mail 
at that point. Hence, mail arrixing on Mon- 
day or Tuesday at that point would be de- 
layed until Wednesday before reaching Zanes- 
ficld. To obviate the inconvenience an inde- 
pendent daily mail line was organized and 
kept up by the patrons of the Zanesficld post- 
office during the continuance of the war. Af- 
ter the eomulction of the railroad through 
Marysville, the farmers' mail route was dis- 
continued and a new route established, run- 
ning: from East Liberty each morning, by way 
of West Middleburg and Zanesficld, to Belle- 
fontaine, and returning in the afternoon, thus 
giving the three jilaoes named mail facilities 
nearly equal to the most favored railroad towns. 
A very comfortable hack is run for the accom- 
modation of passengers. 

The village of Zanesficld was laid out in 
the year 1819 by Alexander Long and Ebe- 
nezer Zane, on lands sold to them by Lucas 
Sullivant, being part of James Calderwood's 
Survey, No. 3,137. The dividing line between 
them was near the centre of the Bellefontaine 
road, as at present located. From the best 
information to be derived, the Sandusky road 
ran eighty-four feet west of its present loca- 
tion, and Zane had sold Lanson Curtis a let 
bounded on the south by his south line, and 
on the east by the Sandusky road. An ar- 
rangement was entered info between Long 



HI* 



f 



'A 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



415 



and Zane to lay out town lots on their 
respective lands, and the very remarkable 
plat was agreed upon which can only be un- 
derstood by consulting the map, from which 
it will be seen that of the first six lots only 
one fronts on a street. 

Then after locating lot No. 7 on Zane's 
land, northeast corner of Columbus and San- 
dusky streets, coming back on to Long's part, 
Nos. 8 to 13 were located on the east side. 
The southeast corner of Sandusky and Co- 
lumbus streets was left vacant, probably for 
the reason that it was occupied by Isaac Zane, 
then near the close of his life; 14 and 15 
were located on West street, marked on the 
map Liberty street; then IG to 25 on San- 
dusky street, running back 160 feet, com- 
mencing on Zane's land, northwest corner of 
Sandusky and Locust streets; lots numbered 
dG to 28 run back to Curtis' east line, for by 
some intrigue with the Commissioners, Long 
liad secured the removal of the road to its 
present location. The residue of the lots, 
numbering in all 31, fronted on Sandusky 
street, and ran back west IGO feet. Instead 
of deflecting to the left at the commence- 
ment of the East Liberty road, it continued 
its course far enough to intercept the line of 
the road between C. H. Folsom's and T. E. 
Pennock's land. A quarrel had taken place 
between Long and Curtis, and by this means 
the former had designed to cut the latter off 
so that he could only reach Sandusky street 
by way of Locust street, which was only 
twenty-four feet ^ide. Zane, who was a man 
remarkable for his unsullied puritv, was an 
unsuspecting party to this little scheme of 
spite-work. Before the day of sale, however, 
he became incensed, whether for this or some 
other cause is not known, and pulled up all 
the stakes on his part and refused to offer his 
lots for sale. Hence lot No. 7, and all after 
25, are blank on the map. Being thus far 
successful. Long's next move was to secure 



from Zane the lot intervening between the 
street and Curtis' lot. For this he offered 
him 8100. Zane's reply was, " Mebby not." 
Seeing Curtis, Zane asked him if he wished 
to buy the lot. Curtis told him he did, and 
asked the price. He replied, " Mebby §10." 
The terms were gladly accepted, and Long's 
little scheme ended in grief. This circum- 
stance related alone, however, does Long in- 
justice. He was a brave soldier, a good citi- 
zen and kind neighbor. Influenced by jealousy 
and anger, he was capable of meanness that he 
would probably be ashamed of in his better mo- 
ments. The surveyed plat was filed in the Re- 
corder's office without anj- specifications. The 
plat was copied on the record, and in 1830 Al- 
exander Long filed specifications in accordance 
with the actual measurement of the plat, 
stating that he supposed it to have been an 
omission when the plat was filed. 

It would seem remarkable that with so fine 
a scope of land lying between the prairie and 
hill the village should have been crowded 
into the bend, of the branch so as to require 
the then leading road of the county to make 
an irregular crook of an eighth of a mile out 
of its line to reach it, and then as far back to 
leave it on reasonably solid ground. The 
only apparent solution is found in the fine 
springs abounding along the bank near the 
edge of the prairie, in the vicinity of which the 
first houses were built. The business centre 
having thus been established in that locality, 
there has never been a sufficient demand for 
business houses to warrant building up in an- 
other quarter. And as if to make tlie chano-e 
still more impracticable, McCollochs, when 
theyprojected their addition, in 1844, instead 
of locating their main street through the center 
of their plat, located an alley there and laid the 
street entirel- outside of all their lots. Thus 
it will be seen that whatever of beauty and ad- 
vantage the village possesses ithas inspite (}f, 
and not on account of, its civil engineers. 



^± 



!:W 



41G 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



It is true that Tcnery's Addition, laid out 
in 1853 by Josepli L. Tent-ry, exhibits a fair 
regard to taste and convenience in the loca- 
tion of its streets and allej's; the only incon- 
venience is that it is so far from the business 
part of the town for a village of such small 
dimensions; but, for quiet, pleasant resi- 
dences, it is seldom surpassed. 

It is impossible to give the order in which 
the first houses were built; but, as near as we 
can learn, Ebenezor Zane built a cabin where 
John McCormick lives, as early as 1805. Josejjh 
Dickinson lived in a cabin where Oren Out- 
land lives, as early as the fall of 1811. Lanson 
Curtis built, near where Dr. Coram lives, pre- 
vious to 1820. Alexander Long, on the S. B. 
Smith property, probably two years earlier. 
Joseph L. Tenery bought lot No. 13 soon 
after the village was laid out, and built a log- 
house on it opposite the rear of Browu's store; 
and near the same time Horton Brown bought 
lot No. 15, and built the house occupied by 
J. G. Hamilton. He afterwards bought lot 
No. 14, and traded or sold the two to Long, 
o-ettin<T in exchange the property occupied 
by Ira Brown, on which one of the block- 
houses stood, the walls of which he pulled 
down and converted into a dwelling. Benja- 
min Smith came in 1822, and bought lots 1 
to C, with the land lying between them and 
the Spring Branch, on which he erected a 
tannery. On lot No. 1 he built a good one- 
story frame dwelling, but in what year we 
are unable to say — perhaps as early as 1825. 
Near the same time. Dr. James Crew built 
th(! two-story frame where C. II. F(jlsom 
lives. It is uncertain by whom lot No. 2i 
was improved. Samuel Lipincut lived there 
in 1820, and Bcnajaii "Williams deeded it to 
Benjamin Sinilli in 182-i. Jacob Meyer l>nilt 
the brick house occupied by S. G. Baldwin, 
propably in 1828. Jonathan Thomas Iniilt 
the one-story part of Mrs. S. J. Folsoni's 
house in 1829. In 1830, John A. Robinson 



built on lot No. 20, William Easton on lot 
No. 8, and Daniel Antrim built on the north 
side of Ijocust street, opposite to Dr. Out- 
land's kitchen. Daniel Cowgill built about 
the same time on the corner of Samlusky 
street and the East Liberty road, and David 
J. Hyatt, shortly after, where J. G. Marquis 
lives. Between 1832 and 1838, Lanson Curtis 
built the Dr. Coram house; Benjamin Smith, 
the house occupied by Oren Outland on lot 
No. 1; Dr. J. W. Marmon and his brother 
Robert built the brick house southeast corner 
of Sandusky and Columbus streets; L. P. 
Burton, the brick on the opposite side owned 
by J. M. Reams; and Robert Marmon bought 
and finished up the frame commenced some 
years previous on lot No. IS, and built the 
brick on the north half of lot No. 16, now 
owned by Mrs. Marquis. Lanson Curtis also 
built the Methodist Episcopal Church now 
owned by the Zanesficld Baptist Church. 

Tlio first erected in McColloch's Addition 
was on lot No. 13, by Absalom Brown, the sec- 
ond by D. B. Holland, on lot No. 24. The first 
erected on Tenery's Addition on lot No. 4, 
bv M. M. Dickinson. Joshua Scott built on 
No. 7, Jedediah Cleveland on No. 9 and Ed- 
ward Bishoj) on 14. Zanesfield has never cn- 
cTa2('<l largt^ly in manufacturing. 

E. D. Sawyer built windmills here pretty 
largely for the times, in 1844-48. But, as a 
general thing, the only articles produced here 
have been for home consumption. The mer- 
cantile Ijlisincss has always been pretty well 
represented. 

The first merchant in Zanesfield was Lan- 
son Curtis. He came from New Ilamiishire 
soon after the close of the war, and bringing 
with him a load of japanned tinware, set up 
trade on a small scale. Ho met with many 
discourao-ements and losses, which would have 
disheartened a less determini'd spirit. San- 
dusky was then the most accessible jioint of 
trade, and in the winter, when the ground was 



^vu — ^ 






HISTORY OF LOGAX COIINTY. 



417 



covered with snow, was a favorable time for 
transportation. Hiring a man with a sled 
and two horses, to take a load to Sanduskj' 
for him, they were making their way through 
the wilderness; in the midst of a snow storm, 
their sled hroke down. "With only an ax. and 
auger, which they were fortunate enough to 
have with them, and with such material as 
they could cut from the forest, they proceeded 
to repair the sled; after several hours of 
tedious delay, they were able to resume 
their travel. Such were some of the hard- 
ships that men had to encounter in the early 
time, in laying the foundation of a fortune. 
By strict economy, unflagging energy and 
close dealing, he was enabled to build up an 
extensive business. He was very prompt, and 
acquired an extensive influence, being once 
or twice elected to the Legislature. But ow- 
ing to his close, hard dealing, was never really 
popular. He was probably the first Postmas- 
ter in the place, receiving his appointment 
about the year 182.3. He continued in busi- 
ness until about the year IS — and acquired 
considerable wealth. After closing business 
here, he removed to Colombus, where he en- 
tirely lost his intellectual faculties. 

The second individual to engage in the 
mercantile business in the place was Zane 
McColloch. It is uncertain when he com- 
menced, but it is probable it was somewhere 
from 1835 to 18.38. He occupied, as a store- 
room, a hewed log house, already spoken of 
as the residence of Isaac Zane. In 1830, and 
for some years after, he held the office of 
Postmaster. He was subsequently a partner 
in the firm of Burton, Heylin & McColloch, 
who built and occupied the store-room on 
the northwest corner of Sandusky and Colum- 
bus streets. This was about 1837. In 1847 
he sold goods in the same room in copartner- 
ship with his brother, Samuel. About 1837 
or 1838, J. W. and R. M. Marmon commenced 
selling goods in the room on the southeast 



corner of Sandusky and Columbus streets. 
After a year or two they were succeeded by 
^Yilliam Foos, who sold goods there in 1840. 
Succeeded in 1844 by Samuel Taylor, after- 
wards Taylor & Kenton; then James Kenton. 
Frequent changes were made after this. 
Cleveland, McBeth & Co.; Cleveland & Smith; 
Smith & Means; B. & S. B. Smith; Means & 
Marmon; Brown Bros.; Brown & Keys, up to 
1864. Since then, Brown & Sands, Asa Brown, 
O. Brown & Co. and Omar Brown have oc- 
cupied the room. 

In 1853, Charles Folsom built the store- 
room north of the drug store now used by 
Brown Sullivan, which was occupied at first 
by Marmon & Folsom, then by Baldwin & 
Potts; since that, S. D. Elliott, Marmon & 
Elliott, Hays & Smith, S. B. Smith, Ebrete & 
Brother, S. M. West and J. A. Antrim have 
sold dry goods, notions, groceries, clothing 
and millinery in turn there. James Kenton 
fitted up the room opposite about the year 
185-, and sold goods there, succeeded by 
Folsom & Kenton. 

In 1852, Davis & Crew sold goods in the 
room on the southwest corner of Sandusky 
Street and the Bellefontaine road. Numer- 
ous other parties have engaged in selling 
goods in the place at different times, but the 
above includes the names of the principal 
merchants of the place, and pretty nearly in 
the order in which they have been in busi- 
ness. 

We cannot speak with certaintv of taverns 
prior to the year 18C0. At that time, and 
probably for se\-eral years prior to that. Job 
Garwood kept tavern in a one-story wooden 
building on Lot No. 24. In the year 1832 he 
sold out to Jacob Gross, and bought Ebenezer 
Zane's property, where he lived until 1841. 
Gross remained in the tavern one year, and 
sold to Conrad Marshall, who, assisted by his 
son-in-law, Jeremiah Fisher, kept the house 
until 1840, when he rented to John Sloan and 






^l=zi 



418 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



his son-in-law, William S. Vaughn, who ran 
the house for two years. Previous to this, 
howovor, Marshall had built a two-story addi- 
tion at the south ( nd, and added a second 
story to the original building — adding ma- 
terially to the comfort and convenience of its 
accommodations. It was here, in the summer 
of 1839, that Mr. Marshall had the honor of 
entertaining a distinguished guest, in the 
person of Hon. Henry Clay, of Kcntuckj', 
who, while traveling through Ohio in his own 
private conveyance, rested over night and 
partook of his hospitalities. 

M'hen Sloan and Vaughn left the house, 
Marshall and Fif.lier retuined to it, and con- 
tinued to ko p it as a tavern for about five 
years. In April, 1 848, .Jacob Wonders rented 
it, and remained there for one year, succeeded 
by William Keys, and possibly others for a 
short time, when the use of the house as a 
liotel was discontinued. 

After Zano McCoUoch closed out his store 
in the old Isaac Zanc House, .John M. Young 
bought the property and fitted it up for a 
tavern, which he kept for a short time. 
About the same time, probably 1833, Robert 
M. Marmon bought lot No. 18 and enclosed 
the two-story frame erected on it a number of 
years before. After finishing it, it was used 
for a store room for a short time, when it was 
cnnvertcd into a tavern first Tcept by Abraham 
Mt'Neil and then by .Jonathan Hopkins, who 
had charge of the house in 1840 and for three 
or four vears after. He was succeeded by 
Daniel Mason, I. G. Williams, John Clinger- 
man, William Keys, Wilson S. Sloan, Thomas 
Wailc, James Cole, Horatio Clingcrman 
and James G. Hamilton, who occupied the 
house up to the night of the 30th of rs'ovein- 
bcr, 1S72, when it was entirely destroyed by 
fire. The two-story building on southwest 
comer of Sandusky street and the Bellcfon- 
taine road, built by Edward Kenton, and for 
a number of years owned by Amos Thompson, 



was by him kept as a tavern for a number of 

years. More recently Davis, R. B. 

Porter, T. F. Pope and John Horn have cared 
for the traveling public. 

The first tannery was established, as already 
hinted, by Benjamin Smith in lS2:i. He was 
a son of Christopher Smith, one of the earliest 
settlers of Zafie Township. He married Cyn- 
thanetta, a daughter of Levi Garwood, one of 
the first settlers near Garwood's Mills, now East 
Liberty, and immediately settled in Zancs- 
field, erecting a tannery immediately east of 
lots No. 4 and 5 in the bend of the Spring 
Branch, which he continued to carry on for 
about twenty years. After this he turned his 
attention more toward farming and the lum- 
ber business, and afterwards engaged in the 
mercantile business, in which he continued 
until failing health compelled him to retire. 
He had three sons — Samuel Bradford, John 
Crawford and Benjamin Franklin, the latter 
of whom died from wounds received during 
the war of the Rebellion, and six daughters, 
of whom Licetta, married David Michener, 
living in Champaign Co., III.; Eliza Ann; 
Michener; Mary II., married Robert B. Porter, 
living in Paulding County, Ohio; Cynthnnetta, 
married P. A. Camjjbcll, living in the State of 
Texas, and Eudora, married Ciiarles L. Hath- 
away, of West Mansfield, in this county. His 
ao-ed widow also resides in West Mansfield, 
in the enjoyment of good health, and seems 
to del'ght in conversing about the events of 
lon."--gone-by years, in regard to which she is 
blessed with a retentive memory. After Mr. 
Smith retired from the tannery business, the 
yard was carried on by George W. Downs, 
and by Marmon & Downs for a while, but was 
soon suffered to go down. John Monroi', who 
learned the trade with -Mr. Smith, was the 
original proprietor of the establishment now 
owned and carried on by Mr. John McCor- 
mifk. 

The different secret societies have been 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUIS'TY. 



419 



pretty well represented in Zanesfiekl. Pass- 
ing by the Eclanipus Vitus, whose history was 
as brief as its initiatory ceremony was unique, 
the first in order was the Sons of Temperance, 
organized in the spring of 1848, with Dr. J, 
W. Johtison first W. P. After a prosperous 
history of two years, it began to decline, and 
finally surrendered its charter. Many of the 
most worthy and influential citizens of the 
vicinity were enrolled as members. Its meet- 
ings were held in the attic of the build- 
ing now owned by Joseph James. The next 
in order was Anchor Lodge, No. 28, I. O. 
Good Templars, organized in the fall of 1854, 
with S. W. Stafi-ord as first W. C. T. Like 
the former organization, it had a season of 
prosperity', in which it seemed to be the means 
of infusing a very wholesome moral influence 
throvigh the community, but, like it, soon be- 
gan to decline, and, like the edifice in which 
its meetings were held, was numbered with 
the things that are past. The next in order 
is ^yapatolnica Lodge, No. 424, I. O. O. F., 
instituted June 25, 1809, with the following 
charter' members: George Folsom, Charles 
Folsom, C. H. Folsom, I. J. Baldwin, M. Long, 
James S. Robb, J. C. Smith, John Reese, 
Thomas Piper, M. Taylor, J. E. JIarmon, A. 
G. Heath, .John D. Inskeep and J. P. James. 

The following-named members have at- 
tained to N. G.: George Folsom, I. J. Bald- 
win, J. Reese, J. S. Robb, Charles Folsom, 
M. Long, N. S. Crew, C. L. Hathaway, John 
McCormifk, J. C. Smith, C. H. Folsom, Wil- 
liam Long, Omar Brown, A. G. Heath, C. J. 
Folsom, J. G. Marquis, T. F. Pope, T. S. 
Brown, James M. Reyner, Ira Brown, Pres. 
Shaw, William Y. Joslin, Ezra Brown— the 
present presiding officer. The Lodge is in a 
flourishing condition. It owns the building 
in which their hall is located, and an outfit. 

There is no Lodge of A., F. & A. Masons in 
the place, but the brotherhood has been well 
represented. Joseph L. Tenery, and perhaps 



others, were members of Harmony Lodge, No. 
8, long before there was a Lodge in the 
county. S. G. Baldwin, Asa Marmon, S. J. 
Crew and Ephraim Means were among the 
early members of Bellefontaine Lodge, No. 
209, in Zanesfield. The Lodge is now largely 
represented, as is also Lafayette Chapter, 
No. 60. 

Zanesfield has little to boast of in the way 
of buildings, either public or private. There is 
no hotel building in the town. The store room 
built by Charles Folsom about the year 186G 
is the only one constructed with any regard 
to adaptation to the requisites of a store room. 
The building is a good, substantial frame, two 
stories high. On the first floor is a fine, com- 
modious salesroom, well lighted and furnished, 
with a cellar and two convenient storage 
rooms, The upper room is finished and fur- 
nished for an Odd Fellows' hall, with all the 
necessary conveniences and appendages. 

Of schoolhouses, there have been three built 
in this place. The first in 1831, on Lot No. 
11, a one-story brick, about 18x30 feet in 
size; the best schoolhouse in the township 
at the time — perhaps as good as the county 
afforded. It was very plain and simple in its 
structure. In 1854, it was decided to pull it 
down and replace it with a larger structure, 
it having become dilapidated and unfit for 
use. Accordingly, the house now used by 
Robert Jacobs as a shop was built in its place, 
and was regarded as a long step in advance, 
but did not give entire satisfaction. In 
answer to the demand for better school ac- 
commodations. Lots No. 6, 7 and 8, in McCol- 
loch's Addition, and in the year 1875, a sub- 
stantial two-story brick building was erected, 
with two good school-rooms on each floor. 

Of church buildings, the oldest is that occu- 
pied by the Baptists, at the north end of the 
village. It was built in 1836, by Lanson Cur- 
tis, and used as a place of religious worship 
by the Methodists, though owned and held bv 



f 



420 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



liitn as private property until the 16th day of 
.Iul_v, I8i2, when, having removed to Columbus, 
he regularly conveyed it to Isaac S. Gardner 
and others. Trustees of the Zanesfield Metho- 
dist FJpisL opal Church. It was occupied by 
the church until October, 1807, when the new 
church building was completed and taken 
possession of, it having in the meantime been 
sold to parties for the use of the Baptist de- 
nomination. In 1872 a church of that denom- 
ination having organized, the property was 
conveyed to its trustees. The house was 
originally 21:x3G feet in size. In 1873 it was 
enlarged by an addition of ten feet to the 
front end. Other improvements were also 
made, making it a neat and comfortable, 
though simple and plain church edifice. The 
next church edifice in the order of building 
was the Prosbytorian, of which a brief notice 
will be found in the sketch of that church. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church, as just 
remarked, was built in the year 1867. It has 
a pleasant location, lot No. 10 of Tenery's 
Addition, and is in size thirty-six by fifty-six 
feet. It was erected and furnished at a cost 
of about ii!2,800. Its successful completion 
was largi'ly due to the energetic efforts of 
George Folsoni, S. D. Elliott and Ira Brown, 
and the liberal contributions of the member- 
ship generally, seconded b)' the indefatigable 
labor of the preacher in change, Rev. J. A. 
Wright. 

The block-houses were of historic note, 
datintr back bcvond either church or school- 
house. There were three in number — one 
near the residence of Ebenezer Zane, one 
near the present residence of Ira Brown, and 
one near the alley and nearly in a line be- 
tween the residence of John Everingliam and 
that of Mrs. A. E. Kol)b. The latter, still 
standing in 1830, was used as a stable by 
Maj. Alexander Long, who owned the prem- 
ises. The former two had been removed long 
before that time. They were garrisoned dur- 



ing the war by a company of volunteers, who 
were at one time relieved by a company of 
United States Infantry. As the post never 
suffered an attack, its history was a peaceful 
one. 

The historj- of Isaac Zanc's house, here al- 
luded to as the residence of the first white 
man that ever lived in the county, is the 
starting point from which the boundaries of 
the survey were established. Its history as 
a store-room, postolfice and tavern is brief. 
It was purchased of the owner of the prem- 
ises, probably Dr. Marmon by John Monroe, 
and removed to the northeast corner of lot 
No. 22, where it was rebuilt and used as a 
dwelling for many years, being owned and 
occupied by various persons until the year 
186-, when it was purchased bj' Robert 
Jacobs, who, after using it as a dwelling for 
a number of years, converted it into a shop, 
for which it was used until 187-, when it was 
taken down and removed, after having been 
in its last location over forty years. 
• There is little doubt that Goshen monthly 
meetings of the Society of Friends was the 
first religious society organized in the town- 
ship. As the early records are not to be 
found, no particulars of date or names can be 
given. The Marmons and Reamsos, who were 
the first settlers with the family of Josiah 
Outland, who settled near by in Zane Town- 
ship at the same time, probably at first con- 
nected themselves with the Darby meeting, 
organized 'and located just north of Middle- 
burg. Soon after this, however, a meeting- 
house was built on the spot now occupied by 
the Goshen church, one mile east of Zanes- 
field on the Middleburg road. Among the 
ori"^inal nuMubers most probably were Robert 
Martin, and Samuel Marmon, and-losiali Out- 
land, and their resjiective families; Daniel 
Butler and his family; Jos^eph Dickinson 
and others whose names are unknown. Aaron 
Brown and a number of the Reamses were 



if--'" 






i^ ! 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



425 



Bowers, 1859; Moses Hibbard, 1860; AVm. 
H. Peck, ISGl; Wm. H. Peck, 1862; Jason 
Young, 1863; John C. Miller, 1861; D. D. L. 
Reagh, 1865; J. A. Wright, 1866; H. J. Big- 
ley, 1867 and 1868; Benjamin Herbert, 1869, 
1870 and 1871; Charles Larnesworth, 1872, 
1873 and 1871; Wm. S. Littcll, 1875, 1876 
(removed during his last year — B. Herbert 
supplied); B. Herbert, 1877; M. M. Mark- 
with, 1878, 1879 and 1880. 

Among the pastorates noted for large ac- 
cessions to the church were those of Liuch, 
Fant, Frisby, Reagh and Biglej'. Numerous 
other pastors have enjoyed considerable in- 
gathering. 

Only one meeting-house has been built by 
the church, the first having been an individual 
enterprise. As the building of this has al- 
ready been spoken of, it need only be added 
that the house is in a good state of repair, hav- 
ing recently been repainted. 

Of the members who have- contributed 
their means and labors and influence to 
build up and sustain the church may be men- 
tioned the names of Lanson Curtis, .fohn S. 
Knight, Jonathan Bishop, Joshua Scott, Rufus 
Sprague, Daniel Cowgill, George W. Downs, 
Dr. J. W. Johnson, Jacob Wonders, George 
Folsom, S. D. Elliott, G. S. Parkhurst, J. W. 
and Joel Easton, B. and J. Plummer, Ira 
Brown and Oren Outland. A Sabbath school 
in connection with the church has been sus- 
tained for at least thirty-five years, and the 
greater part of the time it has been in a flour- 
ishing condition, and although under the 
control of the church, members of other 
denominations have contributed largely to 
its numbers and interest. 

The fpurth church in point of time organ- 
ized in the township was the Presbyterian, 
organized on the 11th day of January, 1851. 
It would be, perhaps, impossible to state au- 
thentically who were the first Presbyterian 
families to settle in the township, or the date 



of their advent. John Robb, an uncle of Dr. 
James S. Robb, of Zanesfield, came with his 
family, consisting of his wife, two sons and 
two daughters, from Guernsey County, as 
early as 1832, and settled near the upper end 
of the McKee's Creek Valley; but being con- 
nected by membership and association with 
the Bellefontaine Church, they were scarcely 
considered as a part of the religious of the 
township. Though worthy and respected, 
thev left without ever being identified with 
any religious organization in the township. 
This influential denomination may have been 
represented by individuals, and possiblj' fam- 
ilies, prior to this time; but, if so, we have 
not been able to cull up the facts. Next, so 
far as we can recollect, came L. P. Burton, 
Esq., and his estimable wife, and perhaps one 
or more of her sisters. They came about 
183 — , and remained until about 184-'.3, and 
during the early period of their residence in 
Zanesfield organized a Sabbath school in the 
small brick schoolhouse standing where Mr. 
Jacobs' shop now stands. This was the first 
school in the township established on the 
basis of the American Sunday School Union. 
The school continued for a considerable 
length of time, but for some cause unknown 
to the writer it was discontined; and there is 
nothing on record to show when the first ser- 
mon was preached by a Presbyterian minis- 
ter. It was, however, most probable that it 
was between the years 1842 and 1845; for it 
is pretty certain that in the latter year Mr. J. 
H. Gill and Mr. W. M. Galbreath (the latter 
at the time a student, or if a minister, of 
recent ordination) were in the habit of visit- 
ing Zanesfield and holding religious services 
in the Methodist meeting-house, then the only 
house of public worship in the place. 

In the meantime, Sylvester Robb and wife, 
and William Cook and wife, settled in the 
township, the former perhajis as earlj^ as 
1835, and the latter in 1840, and theirnumber 



^ 



^^=± 



-* 9 



LiL 



•120 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



•was augmented by the addition of Mrs. James 
Kenton, in 1845, and Mr. (now Rev.) Luther 
Smith and wife shortly after, thus forming a 
nucleus around which a Presbyterian influ- 
ence continued to gather and increase until, 
in the latter part of the year 1850, it took 
shape in a memorial j)repared and presented 
to the Presbytery of Sydney, on the 11th day 
of December, requesting that the memorial- 
ists be organized into a church to be called 
'•The Zanesfield Presbyterian Church." The 
request was granted, and J. 11. Gill, "VV. M. 
Galbreath and J. M. Glover appointed a com- 
mittee to open the cliurch if way opened. 

On the 11th dav of January, 1851, the com- 
mittee convened at Zanesfield and organized 
a church consisting of Solomon Adams and 
wife, "William Cook and wife, Sylvester 
Robb and wife, Luther Smith and wife, 
Mrs. James Kenton, John Nelson and wife, 
Joseph A. Nelson and wife. Judge Joshua 
Robb and wife, and two daughters, Jesse 
Milner and wife, with others, amounting 
in the aggregate to thirty-three persons. 
They were not, however, all residents of Jef- 
ferson Township. One of those unfortunate 
dissensions that occasionally mar the har- 
mony and impair the usefulness of a church 
had broken out in the church at Bollefontaiue, 
and hence a number of influential membiers 
of that church withdrew and became constitu- 
ent members of the church at Zanosfiold. At 
the organization of the church. Judge Robb 
and Luther Stnitli, were elected and installed 
ruling Elders. 

It is difHcult, in the absence of any definite 
record, to give a detailed account of the dif- 
ferent p.istorates, but they occurred in about 
liie fiijliiwing order: Rev. J. K. Lye, a young 
ministir from Kentucky, continued to preach 
for the church for a few months after its or- 
ganiziitiiin, but left probably in May or .Tune 
following; anil we find no record of any inoet- 
ing of the session or other act of church until 



November 12, 1853, when Justus Rutan, liis 
wife and five others were received into the 
church, Rev. T. T. Smith then being Pastor. 
Mr. Smith probabi}' only remained one year, as 
Rev. E. D. Rafifensperger was present and or- 
dained Mr. Rutan a ruling Elder in May, 1855. 
The pulpit was supplied occasionally — per- 
haps a part of the time regularly — by Revs. 
Seth Howell, L. H. Long, W. B. Spence and 
E. D. Rafi'onspergcr until September, 1857, 
when Rev. William G. Hillman assumed the 
duties of pastor, only remaining, however, one 
year, after which the church was supplied by 
Rev. J. H. Gill and perhaps others, including 
Rev. L. I. Drake and Mr. James A. Marshall 
until June, 1860, w^hen Mr. Marshall was or- 
dained and installed as Pastor of the church, 
which relationship he held for three years, in- 
terrupted only by an interval of failing health, 
during which the church was supplied by 
Rev. Mr. Kingsley. At the close of Mr. 
Marshall's pastorate, we are only able to learn 
from personal recollections that the Rev. J. 
Drake, Principal of the West. Liberty Union 
School, supplied the pulpit for a considerable 
length of time, followed by Mr. Charles Hill, 
who commenced his labors ::s a supply in 
ISGti, and was ordained and installed as Pastor 
of the church in the early jiart of 1S07. He 
continued Pastor of the church two years, af- 
ter which Rev. L. I. Drake continued to sup- 
ply the church regularly, in addition to his 
arduous duties as Pastor of the Church at 
West Liberty, until tlie latter part of the year 
1874, when Mr. Luther Snntli, then in his 
seventy-fourth year, in accord with the advice 
and approval of his friends in the church 
and in the ministry, jiresentcd himself before 
the Presbvtery as a candidate for ordination. 
He was ordained and installed as Pastor of 
the church, in which capacity he continued to 
serve until his resignation in October, 1879, 
since which time the church has been without 
a Pastor; Mr. 1). C. Ghormley, a student of 



?' 



^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



427 



Princotoii University, is serving as temporary 
supply. From tliis brief review it will appear 
that the pastorates have usually been short; 
none exceeding three years except that of 
Mr. Smith, and no one has followed his pre- 
ceding one without an intervening vacancy. 
And yet the church seems to have made a 
reasonable progress, having received into its 
communion two hundred members. The 
ruling Elders have been: Joshua Robb, Luther 
Smith, Justus Rutan, E. T. Davis, Samuel 
Marquis, George D. Adams, Charles H. Chap- 
man, J. K. Abraham, Samuel Jameson, 
Thomas Marquis, William S. Irwin, Claarles 
Rockwell, C. A. Rockwell, R. B. Porter, J. 
E. Smith and G P. Stevenson. 

At an early period in the history of the 
church — perhaps in 1833 — a house of wor- 
ship was erected on lot No. 4, McColloch's 
Addition to Zancsfield. It sinipl}^ consisted 
of a good, substantial frame building, 36x50 
feet in size, with two doors in front, with an 
aisle leading from each to the rear, where a 
plain pulpit was constructed. It was furnished 
with plain but comfortable seats. The posi- 
tion of the pulpit and seats have several times 
been reversed, but at present occupy their 
original position. The house was erected by 
William Cook and Joshua Scott, but at what 
cost we are unable to learn, as much of the 
labor and material was furnished by contrib- 
utors, of which no record is to be found. Dr. 
J. S. Robb was a leading member of the 
building committee. Some five years ago, a 
proposition was entertained to repair or rebuild 
the house, which was very much out of repair, 
but, a large proportion of the membership 
and congregation residing in the vicinity of 
East Liberty, the project was overruled, and 
a very neat edifice erected at that place, 
where the church holds services alternately. 

During the pastorate of Mr. Hillman, a 
Sabbath school was organized, of which he 
was Superintendent. It was in successful 



operation for two or three years, but after the 
departure of Mr. H. waned in interest, and 
finally disappeared. Schools have been or- 
ganized at different times subsequenth', but 
have never become permanent in duration. 

The East Liberty Free Will Baplist 
Church is a body composed of two congre- 
gations — one at East Liberty, haviuEf a house 
of worship there, and the o her in and around 
the head of Marmon's Valley, having a house 
of worship three miles east of Zancsfield, on 
the Middleburgroad. The two congregations 
grew up simultaneously about the year 1853, 
under the missionary labors of Elder David 
Dudley. Of the last mentioned branch or 
congregation we aim to give a brief sketch. 
Atemporary organization was effected at a 
prayer-meeting held in the schoolhouse in 
District Xo. 1. Among the first members 
were Edward Outland and daughter, Samuel 
Reams and wife, A. P. Curl and wife, A. P. 
Marmon and wife, Samuel Butler and wife, 
one of Benjamin S. Taylor's sons, and prob- 
ably several others whose names are not 
known. The church continued to worship in 
the schoolhouse a few years. Shortly- after its 
constitution, following a very refreshing re- 
vival at East Liberty, Rev. Oscar Baker com- 
menced a protracted meeting at this point, 
which resulted in a great ingathering. It is 
probable that through the impetus thus given 
the neat and comfortable meeting-house was 
built, now used by the church. We cannot 
give the dimensions of the building, nor the 
expense of erecting, but its size is sufficient to 
accommodate the very respectable congrega- 
tions that usually assemble there; and in re- 
gard to the cost of building, it was clicerfully 
contributed by the community in'.erested, 
without soliciting foreign aid or incurring the 
blighting influence of a church, debt. After 
the pastorate of Elder Baker, which contin- 
ued until about the year 1849, the Rev. 
Mr. Colyer became Pastor of the church, and 









Jl 



A 






428 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



continued in that relation until he enlisted in 
O. V. I., in 1862. He was followed by Elder B. 
F. Zell, who continued with the church until 

the year 1875, succeeded by Elder Hig- 

•rins lor one year, since which time Elder A. 
H. Whitaker has been Pastor of the church. 
An interesting Sabbath school has been kept 
up in the church for many years, perhaps 
throughout most of its history. 

The New Salem Evangelical Lutheran 
Church was constituted about the year 1850, 
at the schoolhouse in District No. 5, about 
one mile east of Jerusalem on the road lead- 
ing to West Mansfield, its constituent mem- 
bers having been previously connected with 
the Lutheran Church in Bellefontaine, wor- 
shiping in the old brick meeting-house on 
South Main Street. It was constituted under 

the auspices of the Rev. Shaffer of that 

place. The New Salem meeting-house was 
built about the year 1851. Mr. Shafi'or did 
not continue his relationship as Pastor of 
the church, and the church was without a 
Pastor for a number of years, during which 
the Uev. Peter Dctrick, of the German Bap- 
tist Church, was accustomed to preach in the 
church frequently. In the year 1858, Rev. 
Enoch Smith, of Bellefontaine, commenced 
to labor for the church, ;.nd continued for 
eighteen months, after which the church was 
again without a Pastor until the year 18G8, 
when the Rev. A. R. Ilowbert assumed the 
duties of Pastor, which he has since continued 
to discharge. There has been a Sabbath 
school kept up in the church for a considera- 
ble length of time, but we have not been able 
to obtain the statistics of the scliocil or liic 
church. 

The Mt. Zion Evangelical Lutheran was 
organized in the year 1874, the constituent 
members being mostly from New Salem 
Church. The organization of the church was 
the result of the labors of the Rev. A. U. 
Ilowbert at the two schoolhouscs situated in 



the southwestern part of the township. After 
the organization of the church a beautiful 
building spot was selected, about one mile 
south of the Bellefontaine and Zancsficld 
pike, on the Township road, running south 
from the old Costin Corner, on which a neat 
frame structure was erected, of sufficient size 
to accommodate an ordinarily^ largo congre- 
gation. The house was finished and dedi- 
cated in 1877, Rev. Dr. Helwig, of Witten- 
berg College, preaching the dedicatory sermon. 
The Rev. A. R. Ilowbert has been Pastor of 
the church since its organization. A Sabbath 
school is held in the church. 

The Zanesfield Baptist Church was organ- 
ized on the llth day of May, 1872, by the 
following named members, holding letters of 
dismissal from Tharp's Run Baptist Church: 
Rev. H. H. Dunaway, Lydia A. Dunawaj-, 
Jordan P. Dunaway. Martha S. Dunaway, 
Phiiieas Runyan, Ruth Lowe, Elizabeth El- 
liott, Patience Henry, Sarah F. Draper, Sallio 
E. Scott, Amelia L. Scott, Eliza A. Scott, 
and B. S. Scott. A council was called to 
meet the 8th day of June following, to con- 
sider the propriety of recognizing the 
church. The surrounding churches were in- 
vited to send delegates. On the day ap- 
pointed, the council met in the Baptist 
meeting-house in Zanesfield, and organized 
by appointing Rev. James Harvey, Jlodcrator, 
and Rev. John Wright, Clerk. After due 
discussion, the council agreed to rccogtiize 
the church; after which, Rev. H. 11. Duna- 
way was called to act as Pastor, and B. S. 
Scott as Clerk. Elder H. IT. Dunaway con- 
tinued Pastor of the church until the 1st of 
September, 1873. In August, 1874, Elder 
D. Vance Avas called, and served the church 
as Pastor for one year. From July, 1870, to 
September, 1877, Elder Vance supplied the 
pulpit, but did not sustain the relationship 
u[ Pastor. The remainder of the time the 
church has been without a Pastor until July, 



^ 









HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



429 



1878; since which time Eider Milton Squibb 
has been Pastor of the church. 

In writing of the early schools and school- 
houses of Jefferson Township, we have to 
enter at once on the field of conjecture to 
some extent. As early, probably, as 1818, a 
largo log house was erected in the north part 
of the township, for the purpose of a Baptist 
meeting-house. Its location was near the 
southwest corner of J. C. Kitchen's farm, on 
the road from Zanesfield to Harper. It was 
used at a very early period — perhaps as early 
as 1822 — for a schoolhouse, and here the 
youthi of the neighborhood received instruc- 
tion — at first from Richard Baldwin, Pliilip 
Stout and William Charles, and later from 
Joseph Robb, and Vincent Reams, and Wil- 
liam Bain, after which it eventually gave 
place to the old schoolhouse in District No. 

4. A little after this — perhaps in 1823— a 
brick schoolhouse was built at Goshen meet- 
ing-house, preceded, however, bj- a log-house 
near by, in which one John Garretson taught. 
At the approach of Christmas, while he was 
teaching, the boys insisted that he should treat 
them to apples, which he persistently refused 
to do. They persuaded, him by placing him 
intellectual part downward in a pool of water. 
Against this he remonstrated as well as he 
could under the unfavorable circumstances. 
Physical force, however, triumphed over argu- 
ment and protest; the minority in strength 
and number had to submit to the majority; 
the apples were purchased, and hostilities 
ceased. We cannot state, certainl}', who 
taught in the brick house first. It is toler- 
ably certain that Benjamin Stanton and B. 

5. Brown taught there, and it is reason- 
able to suppose that Brice Blair and Miss 
Ann Gunn taught there, as their names were 
familiar as teachers in the neighborhood. 
About the same time a brick schoolhouse was 
built near the present location of the New 
Salem church, but the early teachers are un- 



known at a later period. Asa Brown was a 
favorite teacher there. In the southwest 
quarter of the township the first house, so far 
as known, stood near the southwest corner of 
J. C. Mason's farm, on land then owned by 
his father, Edward Mason. It stood on a 
gentle elevation between two small branches 
that unite some rods westward of the building, 
near a spring from which water was obtained. 
Originally in the midst of the forest, the 
timber had been taken from the plat around 
the building to construct it, and for fuel after 
it was completed. It was constructed of round 
logs, and was about 18x20 or 22 feet in size. 
A hole was cut in the east end, about six or 
eight feet wide in which to build the fireplace. 
This was built of boulders laid in clay mortar 
and secured and kept in place by a pen of 
split logs built on the outside. The chimney 
was built on top of this, of lath or split sticks 
of sufficient length to give it the proper size, 
and laid up in clay mortar so as to entirely 
protect the wood from the fire and render the 
structure very solid and permanent. The 
floor was of puncheon, hewed so as to give a 
good, smooth surface. It had one door in the 
south side near the southwest corner. In the 
north side a log was removed the entire 
length, or possibly it was the lower half of 
one log and the upper half of the log below, 
was hewed awav and sticks secured at inter- 
vals of eight or ten inches, so as to form some- 
thing like a sash, on whicii jiapor was pasted 
and then oiled so as to transmit the light. 
Across the west end, light was obtained in the 
same manner. Under these openings, at the 
proper height, pins were inserted, having the 
proper inclination, on which wide boards were 
nailed for writing desks; slabs from the snv- 
mill, or puncheons split from logs, with legs of 
the proper length supplied the seats. A water 
bucket and tin, with a shelf to set it on, a 
poker or handspike to stir the fire with, a 
hickory broom, a shingle with OUT on one 



^ 



4: 



'k. 



430 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



side, and IX on the other, liuiirr at the door, 
foiiii)loted the outfit of furniture. The above 
description would apply to schoolhouses fre- 
quently met with previous to 1830, and occa- 
sionally afterw.\rds; but better buildings were 
soon introduced, and after IS-lOa schoolhouse 
without stoves, and glass windows would have 
indicated an unprogressive community. "We 
cannot give the name of the first teacher in 
the house last mentioned; David Kemper, 
now a minister in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, taught there in the winter of 1831-32, 
having a very interesting school, confined, 
liowever, to the study of orthography, read- 
ing, writing and arithmetic, in which very 
creditable progress was made by many of the 
pupils. In addition to the school alreadj' 
alluded to, many were taught in private dwell- 
injTS, of which we only mention one, taught by 
Marv Brown, daughter of Aaron, in the cabin 
her father had iirst lived in, after he had 
moved into his brick house; one taught by Dr. 
Nathan M. Thomas, now of Schoolcraft, Mich- 
igan, in the old Simon Kenton house, stand- 
ing on the banks of Mad River, on the Mid- 
dlcburg road, jtrobably in 1826, and one 
taught in the north room of the house occu- 
pied by Mr. J. G. Hamilton, in Zanosfiold, by 
Miss Ann Amy, in 1830, in which only read- 
ing, writing and spelling were taught. The 
first school taught in the brick schoolhouse in 
Zanesfield, in 183), was by Orson Marsh, of 
IJeekmantown, N. Y. Jt is impossible to give 
a correct statement in regard to wages of 
teachers. In subscriptions, the teacher re- 
ceived, proliably, from 1*1.50 to *2.5U per 
]iupil, for a term of three months. Later, 
when teachers were employed by the term, 
^(45 to mo per term of thirteen weeks, was 
consiilured good wages, the latter being seldom 
c)l)tained in the country sc1io(j1s. We append 
statistics, kinrlly furnished by W. H. Outland, 
Township Clerk, of schools exclusive of Zanes- 
ficld Union School. Number of schoolhouses 



built within the last year, 1, cost, $300; num- 
ber in townsliip, 11; total value of school 
property, $3,500; number of teachers employ- 
ed during the year, males, 4, females, 12; 
average wages of teachers per month, males, 
$36, females, S23; average number of weeks 
schools were in session, 30; number of differ- 
ent pupils enrolled during the year, boys — 193, 
girls, 163, total 356; average monthly enroll- 
ment — boys, 152, girls, 118, total, 270; average 
day attendance — boj's, 104, girls 87, total, 191; 
number of different pupils enrolled between 
16 and 21 years of age — boys, 42, girls, 23, 
total 65; number of pupils in each brahch of 
study, alphabet, 57; reading, 284; spelling, 
299; writing, 253; arithmetic, 240; geography, 
120; English grammar, 89; oral lessons, 122; 
composition, 30; drawing, 11; map drawing, 
13; United States history, 11. 

The following sketch of the Zanesfield 
special district is furnished through the kind- 
ness of Dr. .J. J. Coram: 

" While the common schools of America are 
her pride and boast, it is yet the aim of her 
best minds how to jnake them most efUcient, 
and to raise the standard taught therein. It 
was to further these purposes that petitions 
were presented to the Township Board of 
Education, who met in Zanesfield, Ohio, Oc- 
tober 17, 1853, praying that the sub-districts, 
Nos. 3 and 12, might be united, and known 
hereafter as District No. 2, and that a large 
and commodious brick building be erected, to 
be known as the Central or Township School- 
house. The district would thus draw double 
the usual school funds, and so be enabled to 
employ a higher grade of talent as teachers. 
"It w,i8 doubtless the intention, too, that 
such scholars in the township as as])ired after 
a higher standard of education than could be 
oi)tained at the smaller sub-districts might be 
accommodated here at the central district. 

"At any rate, the prayer of the petitioners 
was granted April 2, 1854. At the regular 



^ 




'k. 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



431 



spring meeting, April 17, 185-1-, the Township 
Board of Education appointed Ephraim Means, 
Asa Brown and Thomas Pennock as the l)iiild- 
ing committee, to whom was given the dis- 
cretionary power to decide as to the kind, 
size, cost, etc., of the House to be built. 
They decided to build a two-room brick build- 
ing of large size, and the contract was let to 
Mliitson B. Sands. The house was completed 
in the fall, and Joseph Robb and Maria J. 
Inghram taught the first school in the new 
building. Here the school continued as a 
central district until a short time after the 
village was incorporated, when, by a vote of 
the people, it was changed to an independent 
village district. 

" The first Board of Directors was elected 
April 12, 1869, consisting of Charles Folsom, 
for three years; Samuel L. Wonders, for two 
years, and Dr. J. S. Robb, for one year. The 
present building was becoming each year less 
able to accommodate the number of schol- 
ars attending the school; so it was decided 
to build a larger and a more commodious 



one, in a more suitable part of the village. 

"In the summer of 1875 the large four-room 
brick now occupied for school purposes was 
erected. It was put up under the superin- 
tendence of Ira Brown, Charles Folsom and 
Samuel L. Wonders, as directors. Though 
deficient in external beautj-, it is pleasantly 
located; is well lighted and furnished with 
modern improvements. Tiiis, with the gen- 
erally advanced grade of teachers employed, 
has left little to be desired in the way of 
opportunities offered for obtaining a common 
school education. 

" James M. Ebrite, Z. E. Rutan, and Mrs. S. 
J. Clyde were the teachers employed to teach 
the first term. 

" Last year, the board tried the experiment 
of employing all lady teachers, which proved 
entirely satisfactory. The Superintendent 
having declined the position this term, a 
gentleman was employed in her place. The 
wages paid last year was $50, $35, and $30 
per month; the present year, $15, $37.50, and 
$32.50 per month." 



VI ^ 



'A: 



^. 



4^,2 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



RICHLAND TOWXSIIIP- 



CH AFTER XII.* 

-GKNER.\L CHARACTERISTICS— SETTLEMENT- 
CASUALTIES. 



-VILLAGES— CHURCHES— 



" Here lute the savage, hid in ambush, lay, 

Oi roamed th' uncultured valleys fur liis prey ; 

Here frowned the forest with terrific shade ; 

No cultured fields exposed the opening glade. 

How changed the scene! see nature, clothed in smiles, 

AVith joy repays the laborer for his toils." — 3Ieiys. 

Cj TANDIXG as we do clown the stream of 
lO time, far removed from its source, we must 
retrace its meatiderings with scarce anything 
to guide save the few molderiiig relics of the 
past which lie along the shore, and even 
these grow fainter and still more faint and un- 
certain as we near its fountain, if, indeed, they 
arc not wholly concealed in the dchn's of ages. 
"Written records grow loss and less explicit, 
and finally fail altogether the nearer we ap- 
jiroach the beginning of the community whose 
life it is our purpose to resiiuc from the glootn 
of a fast-receding past. The old pioneers 
are fast sinking to rest after the toils and pri- 
vations of the border, whither they came 
buoyed up with hope and nerved with vigor, to 
build forthemsolves and their loved ones homes 
amid the beautiful scenery, while yet the 
whoop of the Indian and the howl of the 
wolf resounded on every side. Here and 
there a white-haired veteran, bowed with the 
Weight of year« and the unrcinitting toil of 
pioneer life, remains to tell us of those days 
" laiig syne," and from their lips the writer 
has received the data from which to weave 
the fabric of this history. In some instances 
memory may have been at fault, trifling errors 
in date may be found, yet should this be the 
case, it is hoped these may be found of 
minor importance. 

•I .ntribuuil t>y Dr. J. n. Sc ChevcrclL 



That portion of Logan County, now known 
as Eichland Township, lies in the extreme 
north of the county, adjoining Hardin Countj% 
by which it is bounded on the north; McAr- 
thur Township lies south. Rush Creek, east; 
and Washington and Stokes, on the west. 
The surface features are those of a nearly 
level plain, the only exception being along 
the water courses, and even there, the monot- 
ony is broken only in a slight degree. The 
territory is traversed by the north and middle 
branches of the ^liami River, while the west 
and southwest portion, to the extent of sev- 
eral thousand acres, is submerged by the 
stagnant waters of the Lewistown Reservoir. 
The north branch flows across the northwest 
corner of the township, discliarging its waters , 
into the extreme northern portion of the res- 
ervoir. The middle branch passes westward 
across the entire southern portion of the town- 
ship, reaching the reservoir on lands of Jacob 
Fry. In the eastern portion of the township, 
the soil is clay, slightly mixed with gravel, and 
producing little else but wheat, wliile the al- 
luvial soil of the western portion, may be util- 
ized in the production of all cereals. The 
maiti products of the township are wheat, 
corn and grass, and the average is well up in 
the sisterhood of townships, composing Logan 
County. In a state of nature, the eastern part 
of Richland was covered with a heavy growth 
of trees, composed mainly of dilTerent varie- 
ties of the oak, while farther west, maple, 
hickory, walnut, and other common varieties, 
were found to predominate. Iti this portion 
were several small tracts, embracing an area 
of a few acres each, called prairies. Upon these 



_9 ^^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



433 



the only vegetation was a rank growth of wild 
grass, interspersed with stunted shrubs, and 
about these localities was found the deadly 
rattlesnake in great profusion. For many 
years after the beginning of the settlement in 
Richland, malarial diseases prevailed univer- 
sally, and doctors multiplied accordingly. 
The lands, at present, embra'^ed within the 
limits of Kiohland, were attached to McAr- 
thur Township until the year 1845. At the 
December session of the Board of County 
Commissioners of this year, it was ordered 
that the lands lying north of the south line 
of the Solomon's Town survey, in the Town- 
ship of McArthur, be, and the same are, 
hereby erected into a separate township, to 
be known as Richland, and that an elec- 
tion to perfect this organization, be held 
at the sciioolhouse in the village of Rich- 
land, on the 20th day of December, ISio. 
The records of this election are still pre- 
served in the office of the Clerk of the town- 
ship, and they are the first found in the coun- 
ty. FoUowiiig is a copy: " Richland, Logan 
Co., Ohio. Agreeably to the order of the 
County Commissioners, the legal voters of the 
newly constituted Township of Richland met 
at the schoolhouse in Richland village on De- 
cember 20, 1845, and organized by the selec- 
tion of Eben Bain, Alvin Clark and S. Mead, 
Judges, and L. B. Wysons and Allen Dunn, 
Clerks of said election." The persons who 
were elected to fill the different official sta- 
tions were: James Thompson, Alvin Clark 
and Samuel A. Morton, Trustees; A. S. Chap- 
man, Clerk; Thomas Scott, Treasurer; James 
S. Sims, Assessor; Robert Lowry, Constable, 
and five Supervisors of roads and highways. 
William Lease was the first Justice of the 
Peace elected in the township, and it is said 
he served twenty-one years in that capacity. 
The officers for 1880 are: A. C. McClure, W. 

D. Spencer and S. M. Hover, Trustees; E. 

E. Nafus, Clerk; T. N. Harrod, Treasurer; D. 



N. Cutting, Assessor; George Earick and 
William Bickham, Constables; H. M. Cline 
and John Bickham, Justices of the Peace, 
and seven Supervisors. The lands in Rich- 
land Township were surveyed by the Govern- 
ment into tracts embracing 1,000 acres each, 
and in those early times, when it only required 
a small amount of money to pay for a large 
tract of land, many of these 1,000-acre farms 
were sold entire to one individual, who in 
turn sold in smaller lots to the settlers. 
Among these extensive land proprietors were 
Duncan McArthur, James Taylor and Walter 
Dunn. 

During the summer of the year 1810, 
James Hill and family, consisting of a wife 
and six children, and Samuel Tidd, a brother- 
in-law, with his wife, left the shore of Lake 
Erie, in Ashtabula County, for that far away 
"land of promise," Zanestown (now Zanes- 
field), of the superior advantages of which 
the most wonderful stories were told. The 
mode of transit, a team of horses; the route 
along blazed lines, through dense woods, in 
many places almost impassable. At last, after 
many wearisome days of travel, they reached 
the end of their journej-. They remained at 
Zanesfield seven j'ears, removing to the 
southwest portion of what is now Richland 
Township during the early summer of 1817. 
Mr. Hill erected his cabin upon the farm now 
owned by James Sims. Samuel Tidd settled 
just south, in what is now McArthur Town- 
ship. None of either family are now living 
n the vicinity except Mrs. Nancy Colvin, a 
daughter of Mr. Hill, who now lives in 
Hardin County, and to whom the writer is in- 
debted for many facts of early history. Soon 
after Mr. Hill's arrival Thomas Rutledge and 
Thomas Burton, who each had a numerous 
famil}', located in the immediate vicinity. 
These three families are the pioneer settlers 
in Richland Township. William Lease set- 
tled near in 1823, and spent the remaining 



^' 



>y 



^! 



434 



HISTORY OF LOG AN. COUNTY. 



j'ears of his life upon the farm he first im- 
proved. Lorenzo Dowling first occupied the 
farm now owned b^' William Scott. William 
Thompson lived on the present William Wal- 
lace farm. Martin Hili made the first im- 
provements on the James MeClure farm. 
Joseph Wilmuth settled, on the lands forming 
the site of the present hamlet of Northwood 
prior to 1830. Henry Hendricks, agent for 
James Taylor, occupied the farm now owned 
b^- William Reed. John L.' Hemi)liill was 
proprietor of the lands upon which Rich- 
land village was laid out. James Boyer be- 
came! the owner of the 1,000-acre tract 
embracinsr the Indian viilstse of Solomon's 
Town. Jacob Powers lived on the S. P. 
Joiinston farm. Lewis Wysons was the orig- 
inal occupant of the farm now owned 
by Dr. T. L. "NA'right. James Gray also 
lived near Richlan(i, and was among the early 
settlors. James Ilarrod lived on the John 
Key's farm until 1852, when he removed 
to Hardin County, where he still resides. 
Rev. Thomas Clarke, William Holt, Samuel 
.Jenkins, Lemuel Liles and William Brooks 
came at the same time, and settled between 
Belle Centre and Northwood. Jacob Sessler 
occupied a farm on the Miami River; Robert 
Scott located immediately west of Belle Cen- 
tre; William Wallace was also one ^of the 
settlers of this period. Daniel Colvin was 
proprietor of a portion of the lands now em- 
braced in the village of Belle Centre; Robert 
Mitchell lived on the farm . now owned by 
.Milton L. Anderson. Alexander King, a 
native of Pennsylvania, located pc^rmaiiently 
in Richland, in 1820; he still occu])ies the old 
homestead. William Johnston became a 
r.isident f>f the township about the same time. 
Robert Scott lived near Northwood. J. S. 
Johnston came to Richland in the summer of 
1833, and has been prominently connected 
with the mercantile and educational interests 
of the township the greater portion of the 



time since. Robert Boyd is among the later 
arrivals; he owned the Isaac Patterson prop- 
erty. Gersham Anderson located near North- 
wood in March, 1837; a son, Milton L., and a 
daughter, Susan, who came with the parents, 
now reside near Belle Centre. The father 
died in 18-13, after which Milton engaged in 
school teaching for several years, in Logan 
and Ross counties. Cornelius Jameson set- 
tled in the township in the fall of 1837; he 
now lives in the village of Belle Centre^. The 
setttlement of this township differs from many 
others in this part of the State in this, that 
the first settlers were largely from the Eastern 
States. Their characteristic enterprise is 
plainly manifest in the improvements and 
general thrift seen in every part of the town- 
ship. 

During the early years of the settlement 
the inhabitants were compelled to make ex- 
tensive journeys to get their grain ground. 
To go tveenty or thirty miles through un- 
broken forests, was no small undertaking, and 
as each grist was ground in the order pf its 
reception at the mill, the trip to and from the 
mill often consumed days of valuable time. 
Frequently the " stump mortar " would be 
brought into use. A cavity burnt into the 
top of a stump, and a spring pole to the end 
of which the pestle was attached, formed the 
mechanism of this primitive "flouring estab- 
lishment," and ho who produced the motive 
power for this rude appliance slowly obeyed 
the scripture injunction: "In the sweat of 
thy face shalt thou eat thy bread;" others pre- 
pared the corn by cutting it from the cob 
with a plane. "Hulled corn"' made by soak- 
ing the grain in a weak solution of lye, to re- 
move the hull, and afterward boiling it, was a 
Comm6n article of food calm with butter and 
ma]-)le sugar, it was amongst the luxuries of 
life. The writer remembers one night, so 
many years ago that he does not care to be 
e.\act as to date, being obliged to seek lodging 



■Ojij- 



,V 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



435 



in a little moss-cov^ered log cabin on the 
the banks of the La Belle JRivere., after a 
weary jaunt amongst the hills of Washington 
County, a huge dish of "hulled corn" garnished 
the evening board, and whether it was this 
or the keen appetite, it is difficult to state; 
yet, the recollection of that supper still lingers 
like a delightful dream about niemor3''s jiath- 
way. The pioneer grist-mill in Richland 
Township was built by Joseph Wilrauth 
about 1830. It was a small affair, built of 
logs, and stood on the banks of the Miami 
River, near Northwood. After a few years, 
Gcrshani Anderson purchased this proportj', 
and soon replaced the old log building 
with a substantial frame one. This was 
furnished with two run of stone, and was 
well adapted to liie wants of the com- 
munity. The building is still standing, 
though its wheel is silent and all going 
to decay. At this time a large steam grist- 
mill at Belle Centre, and a portable saw-mill 
adjacent, furnish ample facilities for the ac- 
commodation of the inhabitants. Early in the 
settlement Samuel Mitchell put in operation 
a tannery, about one mile west of Belle 
Centre, on the farm now owned by William 
Scott. This was in active " blast " for several 
years; now closed. The first thoroughfare in 
Richland Township was made along " Hull's 
Trace," running from Cherokee to Richland 
vdlage, and thence northwestwardly. A level, 
graveled turnpike now passes over nearly the 
same route, forming one of the manj' travers- 
ing different parts of the township. The Cin- 
cinnati, Sandusky & Cleveland Railroad passes 
through the township. 

In July, 1832, John Hemphill, then an exten- 
sive landowner, conceived the idea of a vil- 
lage on the line then traversed by the gay 
"turnouts" of the Springfield and Sandusky 
Stage Company, and accordingly the services 
of James W. Marmon, County Surveyor, were 
called into requisition, and in due time the 



plat of the town of Richland appeared. Lots 
were offered for sale, and soon a numlier of 
log buildings were erected. From the largest 
of these was a sign bearing the device: " E. 
Bane — At Home." This was the pioneer 
house of entertainment. A man named Wil- 
liams put a stock of goods into another,and thus 
the mercantile interest was established. Al- 
bert Chapman was ajipointed Postmaster, and 
Richland postoffice came into existence, and 
now the success of the enibrvo villaare was 
apparently assured. In time a church organ- 
ization was effected, and a small frame meet- 
ing-house erected. Next, a schoolhouse arose 
amid the stumps, where late towered the 
giant forest trees. The settlers increased; 
frame dwellings began to appear, and Rich- 
land was on the high tide to a great future 
Messrs. Johnston & Mitchell had opened an 
extensive stock of general merchandise. The 
project of building the Mad River and Lake 
Erie Railroad now began to be agitated, and 
at last the survey was completed and the 
route established. It was thought Richland 
did not manifest sufficient interest in the en- 
terprise, and finally inducements were offered 
for the location of a village, some two miles 
to the northward. J. S. Johnston became the 
champion of the new village, and worked 
lieartily for its establishment. The main issue 
seemed to be, which should secure the loca- 
tion of the water tank, this being considered 
a valuable matter in those early days of rail- 
roads. The battle waxed warm, and anvils 
were fired, long and loud, whenever either side 
gained a point. At last Belle Centre (as the 
new village was called) secured the coveted 
prize, and the glory of Richland village, of 
late so full of promise, departed forever. The 
postoffice wao removed to Belle Centre; the 
hotel closed, and the church went to decay. 
It is now a "flag station," and only a small 
iiumber of scattering buildings mark the site 
of this once flourishing hamlet, while Belle 



<fUr 



%* 



^i, 



43G 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



Centre, the mere favored rival, has become a 
respectable viiliige. J. S. Johnston removed 
his stock of goods to this place in 1847, and 
opened a store in a building, the corners of 
which rested on four stumps. A man named 
Horton opened a boarding- house here soon 
after, and the subsequent year George Hartin 
built the brick hotel now under the manage- 
ment of M. Mclntire. In 184G the site of 
Belle Centre was covered by a sugar orchard. 
It was created a town corporate in 1867, the 
first election being held on April 1st of that 
j'ear. Following are the officers elected: J. 
H. Brown, Mayor; T. S. Patrick, Recorder; 
George Earick, Treasurer; John Morton, F. 
^r. Bergcrt, B. F.McKinnon, David Ilerron, 
and John Dennis, Council. The roster for 1880 
is: George Young, Mayor; F. M. Bergert, 
Clerk; P.O. Ellis, Treasurer; B. W. McKin- 
non, R. M. Hosack, T. N. Harrod, W. L. 
Sickles, Jacob Earick and J. J. Wright, 
Council. 

Prior to the incorporation of the village, a 
small numlier of individuals, members of that 
noble brotherhood whom the greatest men of 
the world have delighted to honor — the Ma- 
sonic Order — held an informal meeting, the 
result of which was the formation of Belle 
Centre Lodge, No. 347, F. & A. M. The 
charter of this societj' is dated October 18, 

A. L. 5804, and bears the names of the fol- 
lowing constituent members: J. A. Rodgers, 
J. W. Creswcll, A. C. Gossard, AVilliiim Ram- 
sey, John I'atterson, John Kerns, Henry Hin- 
kle, Harvey Howell, Joseph Paullucci, John 
Lunger, Jacob t^arick, John Roberts, R. H. 
Trumltull, D. N. Cutting, Joim L. Clark, R. 

B. Simpson, W. S. Wysong, H. A. Ramsey 
and A. C. Ramsey. The lodge convened in 
the hall over Ramsey's store until the lall of 
1877, when it removed to its present elegant 
rooms in the second story of J. D. Campbell's 
building. The regular communications arc 
held on Wednesday evening of each wouth 



on or before the full moon. The society has 
steadily increased its membership and its use- 
fulness, now numbering fifty-four members, 
among whom the utmost harmony prevails. 
Following are the succession of Masters: J. 
A. Rodgers, John Lunger, John Kerns, T. C. 
Laughlin, D. N. Cutting, C. W. Hinkle, and 
George R. Archer, who at present presides. 
Following this we fiml the sister society. Odd 
Fellowship, taking root in the vicinity. Belle 
Centre Lodge, No. 558, I. O. O. F., was or- 
ganized during the summer of 1873. Its 
charter, which bears date September 12 of 
that j'car, contains the names of the following 
charter members: J. C. Porter, O. Howell, P. 
C. Ewart, Thomas N. Harrod, F. M. Lans- 
down, George Liles and James B. Mustain. 
J. C. Porter was the first presiding officer and 
E. E. Nafus is the present (1880). The mem- 
bership has increased to forty. The regular 
meetings are held in Earick's block on Sat- 
urday evening of each week. Financially, 
the society is "above the tide." 

A large society of the Patrons of Hus- 
bandry formerly existed in Belle Centre, but 
is not now in active operation. The Soldiers' 
Memorial Association of Richland Township 
was organized on May 30, 1879, with H. M. 
Cline, President; E. E. Nafus, Secretary; 
and A. F. JlcConnell, Treasurer. Its object: 
" The perpetuation of the memory of the 
dead heroes of the war." Through the 
efforts of this society and its friends, the 
beautifully solemn memorial service of 
Strewing flowers upon the graves of the 
sainted soldier dead, is performed on each re- 
curing thirtieth day of May. 

A weekly paper, the Paragrapher, has 
been published for some time past in Belle 
Centre, by D. W. Thompson. It was a 
thirty-two column quarto, patent inside, and 
neutral in politics. Not receiving a sufficient 
patronage its publication was recently sus- 
pended. Following is Belle Centre in 1880 : 






HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



437 



Two dry goods, two grocery, two drug, two 
milliner}-, one jewelry, one hardware, and 
two tinware stores; six blacksmith, two car- 
riage, and three shoe shops; one bakery, one 
cabinet maker, two wagon makers, hotel, two 
liveries, one steam-grist, and one steam saw- 
mill; sash and door manufactory, tile works, 
an extensive grain warehouse, four churches, 
and one school. Northuood, a little hamlet 
situated on the line between Richland and 
McArthur, will be found in the history of the 
latter township. 

The history of religious organizations in 
Richland Township dates from the year 1819. 
Mrs. Nancy Colvin states that during the 
summer of this year a minister of the Jletho- 
dist Episcopal denomination, named Roberts, 
held several meetings at her father's (James 
Hill) house, and here a small class was formed 
in the fall following. This was composed of 
.lames Hill, his wife and three children, 
Nancy, John and Polly, John and Polly Ritchie, 
a negro named Tom, and several Indians, 
with unpionounceable names. This was the 
foundation of Methodism in the township. 
Subsequently Rev. William Brooks came to 
live in the vicinity and the place of meeting 
was changed to his house. Here William and 
Samuel Brooks, Samuel Liles, and Daniel 
Colvin, with their wives, were added to the 
mcnybership. ilectings continued at the 
house of Rev. Brooks until his removal from 
the township in 1841, when they were continu- 
ed at Daniel Colvin's and at the schoolhouse, 
until 1850. At this timeasmall, brick meeting- 
house 'was erected in the village Belle Centre. 
This building was occupied until increased 
membership and attendance rendered a larger 
structure necessary. The present commodi- 
ous brick edifice of this society was completed 
in 1872. It is in size forty by sixty feet, with 
a tower, and cost originally $3,GU0, but re- 
peated damages by storms has swelled the 
amount fully §3,000 more. The present mem- 



bership is sixty. A Sabbath School was 
formed b}"^ il. L. Anderson, many years since. 
This has now an attendance of seventy the 
entire year — E. E. Nafus, Superintendent. 
Rev. J. S. Blair is the present Pastor of this 
church. B. W. McKinnon, W. S. Sickles, C. 
H. Shields and M. A. Smith, Jr., Class 
Leaders, and M. L. Anderson, Steward. The 
seed sown in the Hill neighborhood caught 
root and eventually resulted in the formation 
of a second class in that portion of the town- 
ship. This has become quite a flourishing so- 
ciety, and meets for worship in McGraw 
Chapel, a neat frame building in the vicinity, 
where formerly dwelt James Hill. 

The Disciple Church was formed in the 
year 1839, at the dwelling of James Harrod, 
who lived some two miles southeast of the 
present site of Belle Centre village, by the 
Rev. William Dowling. The constituent 
members were James and Samuel Harrod, 
Samuel Jenkins, Hugh Bickham, Samuel 
Stillwell, Alexander Patrick, Hulsey and 
Obadiah Howell, Samuel Dennis, Henry 
Bennett, Robert Lorentz, Jesse Roberts, and 
John Rudicill with their respective wives, 
and Mary Cooper, Rebecca Hover, Nancy 
Mclntire and Elizabeth Howell. Regular 
service was continued at Mr. Harrod's until 
his removal to his present location, in 18.32. 
For about a year the society met in a school- 
house, and in 18-53 removed to their church 
edifice just completed in Belle Centre vil- 
lage. The membership has greatly increased 
and now numbers 140. The early settled 
Pastors were John Stannard, Robert Lorentz, 
John Winters, and Quincy Randall; Richard 
Windbigler is the present Pastor. The church 
officers are: James and Miner Harrod, and John 
Lile, Elders; E. G. Mclntire and George Finn, 
Deacons. A Sabbath School has been held in 
connection with this church, at intervals, since 
the first formation. Its present attendance 
numbers sixty; George Finn, Superintendent. 



,v?" 



438 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



The following history of the Presbyterian 
Cliurch at Belle Centre is from the pen of Rev. 

A. J. Clark : " In the year 1832 Rev. Thomas 

B. Clark left Eastern Ohio and settled in the 
northern part of Logan County, some two or 
three miles from the present site of Belle 
Centre. He devoted himself to missionary 
work in this and adjoining counties, and 
about 1833 or 1834 he organized a Presby- 
terian Church in this vicinity. A division of 
the church occurred in 1837, and in about 
1839 Rev. Pogue formed a church of the New 
School near Richland village. Neither of 
these organizations had a house of worship, 
but met in a grove, barn, dwi-lling or school- 
house. Their services were infrequent, and, 
after a term of years, ceased altogether. The 
present Presbyterian Church at Belle Centre 
was formed from tlie fragments of the two 
churches and a few others who had settled in 
this community, b)' Rev. H. R. Price, J. H. 
Gill and Elder Samuel Hover, on December 
!•, 1852. Following are the original mem- 
bers: Rebecca Zimmerman, Susan Gabby, 
Elizabeth Hemphill, Eleanor Hemjjhiil, Sam- 
ui-l Lambert, Eleanor Lambert, Mary Hemp- 
liill, Elizabeth C. Ilukill, Hazzard Hop- 
kins, John Zimmerman, Alvin Clark, .Tane 
Scott, James Dunla)>, J. L. Hemphill, Mary 
J. .Martin, Maria Laughlin, William Yates, 
Margaretta Yates, Jose])h Palton, Marga- 
ret E. Patton, C. C. Scott, Sarah Deer, 
Andrew Yates, Francis Mains and Sarah 
Pliilbrick. Of these only four are still mem- 
bers of this church (1880): Mrs. Mary Clark, 
Eleanor Lamliert, Jane Scott and Francis 
Mains. Rev. J. A. Meeks was the first Pastor, 
who remained until 185.5. William Young 
succeeded him for three years. Amns Bar- 
thi>lomt>w assumed charge early in 1859, and 
reiiiaiiii'd almost continuously luitil near the 
close of the year 1807. H. M. Shockley was 
Pastor from about 1870 until the close of the 
year 1876. Rov. A. J. Clark, the present 



Pastor, began his labors here August 1, 1877. 
This society has always been united with the 
Huntsville church in one pastorate, and the 
ministers formerly resided there. Rev. Shock- 
ley was the first to reside at Belle Centre, and 
the present Pastor resides there. Having no 
house of worship, the society met for a time 
in the old Methodist Cliurch, and also in the 
schoolhouse. Under the leadership of Elder 
Clark it was resolved to build. This was ac- 
complished principally by volunteer work, 
Mrs. Capt. Mains boarding the workmen with- 
out charge, and all giving liberally. The 
church is of wood, and was first occu- 
j)icd in 185-1 or '55. The society has no 
manse or parsonage, though one is greatly 
needed. Following are the names of those 
who have served as Ruling Elders: Alvin 
Clark, James Dunlap, Janlcs Ritclipy, .loseph 
Clyde, William McClain, William F. Lowrey 
and James S. Sherral. The present session 
of Elders consists of: Archibald Jameson, 
Josiah R. Laughlin, Soth Taylor, Samuel 
Harbert and William R. Ritciiey. Of this 
number, Alvin Clark served from the organi- 
zation, until his death, in August, 187S. The 
list of Deacons, is as follows; William ilc- 
Clain, John A. Hemphill, John L. Clark, 
Josiah R. Laughlin, R. B. Simpson, William 
Hoon, William Hcm]ihill, S. H. Bergort and 
C. Zahlcr. A Sabbath School has been 
held in connection with the church, prob- 
ably from the beginning. The membership 
of the church is now 105. In common with the 
5,500 churches of the United States,this society 
holds to the system of doctrine, commonly 
called Calvanistic, as contained in the West- 
minster Confession, and to the Presbyterian or 
representative form of church government." 

The writer is indebted to Dr. M. D. Will- 
son for the data embodied in the following 
sketch of the Reformed Presbyterian Church 
at Belle Centre. For many years the mem- 
bers of the Miami congregation, who dwelt 



'H 



^1 



-^tv^ 



HISTORY OF LOCtAX COUNTY. 



439 



in and about Belle Centre, desired the parent 
church at Northwood to furnish them with 
preaching at least a portion of the time. This 
request was granted, and for a time occasion- 
al service was held. Prior to the union of the 
United iliami congregation the matter was 
earnestly canvassed in relation to the forma- 
tion of a separate organization at Belle Cen- 
tre, and as early as 1ST7 a petition witli tliat 
end in view was presented to the Presbytery. 
This was reported upon favorably,, and Rev. 
H. George, J. L. McCartney and James 
Wylie, Ruling Elder, were appointed to ef- 
fect an organization. This was consummated 
during the summer of 1877. Cornelius Jame- 
son, William .MeClurc and Dr. M. D. Willson 
were elected Elders, and Alexander C.' Lig- 
gitt, Robert M. Wylie and Ebenezer Hosack, 
Deacons. Tlie original meml)prship num- 
bered thirty-eight. A subscription was im- 
mediately circulated, and tiie requisite funds 
pledged for the building of a house of wor- 
ship. The Deacons with .J. B. Torrence and 
Dr. Willson were appointed a building com- 
mittee, and the work pushed forward so vig- 
orously that the building was enclosed before 
winter. It was not completed, however, until 
the fall of 1879. The building is of brick, 
with tower, stained-glass windows, and mod- 
ern furniture. The entire cost was $.3,500. 
During the interval prior to the occupancy of 
the church, the congregation met in the house 
of the Presbj-terian Society. Rev. .1. Lynd 
was the first settled Pastor. The meudaership 
at this time (1880) is seventy-two. A Sab- 
bath School was formed early in 1877, and 
has now an average attendance of fifty chil- 
dren; Alexander McConnell, Superintendent. 
A history of the Northwood churches will be 
found in connection with McArthur Township 
history. 

The first school in Richland was taught in the 
Hill settlement, but of this the writer has been 
unable to learn anything except that the date 



was prior to 1825. The only school of which 
anything authentic can be found, was 
taught by Milton L. Anderson in a little log- 
house standing on the south bank of the 
Miami River, on land now owned by William 
Pollock, during the sunmier of 1839. Mr. 
Anderson says: " The rod was plentifully 
used, and in the majority of cases was 
merited." That primitive method of instill- 
ing the rudimcMits into the minds of the 
youth has happily been abandoned. Yet, 
whether that or the present "stuffing" pro- 
cess was the most commendable is a question 
for the parents of the present thin-chested, 
hollow-eyed students to determine. The 
present status of the school interest in the 
township is as follows: 

Whole number of pupils cnrolleil 312 

" iuiiimnt paicl tcaclicri' .51,l:i2 

" iiiiiiilier sclioolliouses 

Value, with furnilure and grounds §2,500 

The writer has been unable to gain any au- 
thentic data of the Belle Centre special 
school district except that given in the report 
of the Board of Education which is as fol- 
lows: 

Whole number of pupils cnrolloil 242 

" amount paid teachci-s Sl,.'i36.80 

One school buildinfr, with rooms 4 

Value with furnilui-e and grounds 82,500 

Near the southern boundary of the Town- 
ship, on lands now owned by A. C. McClure, 
Esq., is the site of the ancient Indian village 
of Solomon's Town, which, tradition states, 
was, prior to the dawning of the present cen- 
tury, a populous community of the Wyandots. 
The name was given to it in honor of a ven- 
erable chief of the nation who resided at this 
point. History records the fact that, in about 
1800, Tarhe, or the Crane, chief of the Wyan- 
dots, had an abiding place here. The resi- 
dence of Mr. McClure is situated near the 
center of the former village, immediatelv 
across the pike, which, by the w'av, is con- 
structed on " Hull's Trace," is an extensive 



'y 



440 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COIJXTY. 



aravel ridge of a nearly uniform height, ex- 
tejiding in a northwesterly direction. Not far 
from the southeastern extremity of this ele- 
vation is a circular mound of about 100 feet 
in diameter, a perfect oval, surrounded by a 
ditch, the bottom of which is at least six feet 
lower than the summit of the mound. Per- 
haps sixty feet to the northward, along the 
apex of the ridge, may still be seen the stump 
of a monster white oak tree. Far up in the 
limbs of this monarch of the forest was built a 
rude lookout, or sentry-box, from which a 
watch was kept of the surrounding country, 
commanding an area of many miles in every 
direction, Still farther to the northward the 
laud is level for some distance, and along this 
the unfortunate prisoners were compelled to 
run the gauntlet. The statement that Simon 
Kenton once suffered this indignity here is 
doubtless an error. To the south of the mound 
at the distance of some twenty-five rods, 
stands the blackened and tottering remains of 
the large elm tree under which, local tradi- 
tion puts it, Simon Kenton was a second time 
placed in captivity. 

Antiim's history of Logan County states, 
after the life of Kenton had been saved by 
that notorious renegade, Simon Girty, in 
whose whole life this one act is the only white 
spot, he was clothed, furnished a horse and 
equipments, and in company with his bene- 
factor, roamed about the country. After some 
time spent in this manner, a war party of In- 
dians returned from an expedition to Wheel- 
ing, where they bad suffered defeat and the 
loss of several warriors, killed and wounded, 
and full of revenge, "detiTmined to kill any 
of the whites who came within their grasp." 
Kenton was the oidy white man near, and 
being at Solomon's Town, with Girty, a mes- 
senger was sent to him (Girty), requesting his 
immediate attendance at a grand council to 
be held at Wapatoinica, and that ho bring 
Kenton with him. " The two friends met the 



messenger on their way," hence it is hardly 
probable they were sitting beneath the wide- 
spreading branches of the elm before men- 
tioned, within the circular enclosure, the red 
men held their council. Here was discussed 
the great questions of peace or war. Here 
was the hapless victim doomed to a fate worse 
than death, and here occurred the traditional 
pow-wows and dances of the Aborigines. A 
few rods east of Mr. McClure's residence is 
the immense spring spoken of in connection 
with Solomon's Town. In this vicinity for 
many years was held the aimual muster of 
the militia, events upon which the few sur- 
viving ex-militia delight to dwell, recounting 
with much evident satisfaction the many 
bloodless battles fought on these occasions. 
Some five years since, when the Miami turn- 
pike was being constructed, the workmen 
engaged in hauling gravel from the northern 
extiemitj"- of the gravel ridge, unearthed a 
great number of human bones, which from 
their size indicated that the original owners 
were people of immense stature. Numbers of 
copper beads were also found, and one fine 
specimen of a stone pipe. 

Two events in the later history of this 
township would seem to warrant more than 
a passing notice at our hand. The first is the 
never to bo forgotton cyclone in the early sum- 
mer of 18?3; the second, the still more terrible 
murder of Allie Laughlin, occuringtwo years 
later. Jlay 0, 1ST3, ought surely to go on the 
record as the " Black Friday " of Belle Centre. 
Between 3 and 4 o'clock on the afternoon of 
the date given, tlu^ dense black clouds which 
obscured the heavens like a pall, were rifted, 
and instantaneously the storm king began his 
terrible work of destruction. The first evi- 
dence of the storm was upon the farm of 
Mrs. Alexander Thompson where a valuable 
orchard was entirely destroj-ed. Continuing 
eastward it wrought devastation at William 
Wallaces', in buildings and orcharding. 




^Mu^^-^a^ 




HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



443 



Next it struck the village of Belle Centre, and 
for a few brief moments it appeared as if the 
end of the world had come; the awful dark- 
ness; the crash of the falling buildings, 
mingled with the shrieks of the frightened 
populace, made up a scene that might well 
appall the stoutest heart. The first damage 
to the village was the entire demolition of 
John Reag-en's iirick house, without injury to 
the wife and infant daughter. .lames Shafer's 
house was carried across the lot with but 
slight injury to the inmates. The Methodist 
Episcopal Church just completed was un- 
roofed, and the tower blown down; the Pres- 
byterian Church slightly damaged; Howell's 
hotel entirely demolished; Nal'us' carriage 
manufactory and dwelling, and Bergert's 
wagon shop were unroofed and otherwise in- 
jured. The school l)uilding was rendered 
entirely worthless. The teachers, observing 
the ap])roach of the storm, dismissed the 
children and thus prevented, what must other- 
wise have been a serious loss of life. Those 
were the main buildings damaged, and strange 
enough, no lives were lost. The following 
yi'ar a second storm visited the village, dam- 
aging the Methodist Episcopal Church to the 
amount of -SiOO and slightly injuring other 
property in the vicinity. 

The data from which the following sketch 
is written is furnished by E. E. Nafus, Esq. 
Perhaps the most terrible crime which has 
blackened the fair pages of Logan County's 
history occurred within the borders of Rich- 
land Township. Yet, while we think with 
horror of the fiendish brutality of the worse 
than sav?ige murderer, it is consoling to know 
that justice, sure and certain, quickly fol- 
lowed. The circumstances are briefly as fol- 
lows: James Schell, a Canadian, had resided 
with his family for some years on the farm of 

Laughlin, near Belle Centre. Having 

contracted an intense hatred for his employer, 
he lost no ojjportunity to do him injury. Mr. 



L. had two houses burned under circum- 
stances that pointed to Schell as the cause, 
but nothing was done about it. Mr. L., be- 
ing strictly upright, believed others the same. 
On ^Vednesday, September 22, 1875, Schell 
induced Miss Alice Laughlin, daughter of his 
employer, to accompany himself and wife to 
the reservoir to gather wild plums. Return- 
ing late in the day, he stated that " Allie was 
lost." The news spread like wild-fire, and 
soon the country for miles around was 
aroused. A strict search was instituted, which 
resulted in finding, on the day following, the 
dead and brutally mangled body of the girl. 
Schell was arrested, and so intense was the 
feeling againsfchiin that it was with ditliculty 
the excited citizens were prevented from 
hanging him on the spot. Better counsel pre- 
vailed, however, and he was taken to Belle- 
fontaine and loJged in jail. The day follow- 
ing, at the in(piest, Mrs. Schell testified that 
her husband had killed the girl for revenge 
on her father; that he had burned the build-, 
ings before mentioned, etc. A few words 
will tell the sequel: At about twelve o'clock 
Friday night a crowd of at least 1,500 people 
surrounded the jail. The doors were bat- 
tered dowMi, Schell takcm to a tree in the 
court house yard, a ropc' placed about his neck 
and over a convenient limb, and after a few 
minutes' time being given the wretch for re- 
marks, he was swung into eternity. 

During the war of the Rebellion the Town- 
ship of Richland came nobly to the front. 
Her sons went bravely forth to battle for the 
right, and many never returned, while others 
bear sad proofs of the bloody conflict in their 
empty sleeves and crutches which support 
their maimed bodies. The voices of freemen 
sleeping lowly on Southern fields, and in the 
prison pens, bring to mind the time when 

" The valiant lines of the blue and the graj' 
Stood ranked in proud and stern array, 
All eager, all ready for deadly affray." 



444 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COrXTY. 



CHAPTER XIII.* 

RUSH CRKEK TOWNSHIP— BOUNDARIES AND TOPOGRAPHY— THE COMING OF THE 
CHURCHES— PIONEER PREACHERS— SCHOOLS, ETC. 



WHITES- 



ON the boundary line between Rush Creek 
and Jefferson Townships, and near the 
east end is Rush Creek Lake, in the waters of 
which the Indians,' not half a century ago, 
" dipped their noble limbs," and on " whose 
bosom they paddled their light canoes." It 
now covers a surfane of about ninety acres. 
A marshy region extends northward about 
three miles, and also southeast about the same 
distance. This marsh is now mostly cultivat- 
ed, and the fact of its being now much firmer 
than it was forty years ago, conveys the im- 
pression that the lake is not much more than 
the onc-lmndredth part as large as the one on 
which sported the Aborigines, or the onewhich 
was first viewed by the early pioneers. 

The margin of this lake in places is so miry 
that one attempting to wade into it would 
sink almost as quickly as in water. There is a 
tradition that two Indians, pursuing a deer 
into the lake, instantly sank into this mire, 
and ilisappeared like Walter Scott's hero in 
the Bride of Lammormoor. The lake abounds 
in fine fish and has been the resort for sjjorts- 
mcn since the township began to be settled. 
Here forty years ago assembled the girls and 



muddy and scattered into miasmatic swamps. 
In Rush Creek Township the banks of this 
stream are for the most part high and the 
scenery romantic and pictures(|ue. The source 
of Mill Creek is about three miles southeast of 
of Rushsylvania, and flowing onward in the 
same direction through Perry Township, it 
turns eastward and meanders through Union 
county into Delaware, and finally loses itself 
in the waters of the Scioto River. The two 
branches of the Little Miami have their source 
in the western part of this township and flow 
in the same direction. The sources are about 
five miles apart and the streams meet each 
other in Richland Township. The above 
mentioned streams with their tributaries con- 
stitute the drainage of the township. 

The water-shed between the Scioto and the 
Miami runs north and south the full length of 
the township. In some places this shed is 
very narrow, the op])osite sides of some 
marshes sending tributaries to Rush Creek 
and the Miami. The soil is well diversified. 
The high points arc hard and often called 
"clay knobs," and in some ))lacos these are 
almost barren. On the lowlands and in the 



boys, and surrounded by scenery grand as creek bottoms the soil is very productive, and 
ever charmed the pencil of an artist, told in I is black and sandy. There are, however, few 
whispers their honest talcs of love. places in the township where the soil is of 
Rush Creek rises in .IcfTcrson Township, any great depth; a descent of three feet gen- 
runs through Rush Creek Lake, flows north- erally, but sometimes one and two, finds a 
ward, tlien nortiieast, through Hnkes Creek hard strata of clay almost impervious to 
Township, and into Marion county, where it water. There are immense formations of 
finds the Scioto River. Here and there it is a limestone here and there throughout the 
clear stream, washing a sandy bottom, rippling townsliip, strata piled on strata as the leaves 
over bowlders, and then again its waters are of a book, each strata telling its own story in 
• Conlribuicd by J. H. Wyiic. , the stony characters of the petrified forms of 



k 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUXTY. 



445 



animal and vegetable life, as if chiseled in the 
rock by the Almighty Architect. There are 
several extensive quarries in the township, 
one of the principal ones being on the farm 
of William Stevenson, about a mile and a 
half east of Rushsylvania. There are also 
numerous beds of gravel. One of the most 
extensive of these is on the Pugh farm. This 
farm, of about 238 acres, has a deposit of 
gravel underlying at least three-fourths of it. 
It also possesses many other peculiar charac- 
teristics, wiiich are ably described in a paper 
contributed by Mr. John Waters, of Dela- 
ware County: " On this farm are some of the 
most singular evidences of a past age. On 
the west part a very rich alluvial bottom of 
unexcelled fertility occurs. Underneath this 
alluvial Imttom, immense beds of gravel, 
shells, and a white deposit which resembles 
lime, are found. Gravel is shown to exist 
everywhere by uprooted trees. A ditch, 
which was made from Rush Creek Lake to 
straighten Rush Creek, shows this deposit to 
be about three feet and a half thick on an 
average. It is made on the top of vegeta- 
tion, which can be distinctly observed by 
leaves, seeds, etc., to the thickness of an inch. 
When this deposit ceases, a rich black soil 
commences. In this ground are cracks which 
are najrow at the top and widen downvrard. 
The ditch is about seven feet deep, and at its 
head lor about one mile it continually heaves 
or falls from the bottom. On the Moosehead 
farm, where the Pugh family reside, the head 
of a moose was taken whilst excavating the 
ditch. A slim bone of the animal, about fif- 
teen inches in length, to which the head be- 
longs, was also taken from the ditch. A tooth 
six inches long, four inches square, and weigh- 
ing three and a half pounds, was found in the 
same localit3'. Evidences of beavers were 
found in sticks of timber which bore the im- 
press of their teeth, and also the skeleton of 
one of these animals. Two theories seem 



apparent: One that the bottom and sloping 
bank are the basin of a lake in whose waters 
the shells abounded which now so plentifully 
exist, or else the deposit was the result of 
some upheaval or convulsion which occurred 
at a remote period and submerged the moose, 
mastodon and other animals whose remains 
are found imbedded. A stick of timber 
about two feet long, and still showing the 
gnawing beaver, is now in possession of the 
family. Many others were taken out, but this 
is the only one preserved. There is a pecu- 
liar feature about the shells, especially those 
of the snail, which present the same appear- 
ance on both sides. There is also a sulphur 
spring on this farm." 

One of the curiosities of this township is its 
flowing wells, which are obtained at a depth 
of from forty-five to sixty feet. A magnificent 
well of this description is found on the farm 
of Michael George. The stream flowing from it 
waters the country for three or four miles 
below it. There are two on the farm of Job 
T. Pugh, one of which is sulpjjur, and tlie 
other with strong mngnetlc projwrties of such 
power that a knife blade, thrust into its 
waters, will attract and lift needles, pins, and 
other metallic substances. Its column of 
water is strong, and is one of the curiosities of 
the township. Numerous mineral springs 
abound along Rush Creek, the most import- 
ant of which are in the vicinity ^f Rushsyl- 
vania, on the farm of Dr. I. A. Doran. This 
locality is a famous place for picnics and 
pleasure rambles, where lovers stroll to 
quench their thirst and renew or plight their 
vows. 

A great many varieties of timber exist here, 
among which are the oak, the ash, walnut, elm, 
lynn, beech and sugar-maple. There are 
three varieties of the oak. The white oak is the 
largest species of timber found in the town- 
ship. It grows to a thickness of from three to 
four feet in diameter, and is tough and 



-ispV 



440 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COfXTY. 



durable. Next in size to the white oak is the 
ash, which grows to the thickness of from two 
to three feet in diameter. The best wabuit 
timlfer has been abeady hunted out to satisfy 
the demands of trach-. There are ebns which 
even Xew P'ng'hind might be proud of, and 
more beech timii any other variety found in 
the township. The sugar-maple is very 
abundant in some localities, and large quan- 
tities of sugar are produced. 

The land is rather rolling, especially near 
IJushsylvania, where it is very hilly and some- 
what cut into deep ravines. The country 
around Rush Creek Lake, and in the western 
part of the township, is more level, l)ut there 
are very few portions of anj- great extent that 
can be calle<l really level. The land which 
is in the Virginia Military district is incon- 
veniently divided. Few or none of the thor- 
oughfares and by-roads are laid off with regard 
to the cardinal points of the compass. Sec- 
tions, half sections and quarter sections are 
ni'vcr mentioned in speaking of land. In 
laving out the township our pioneer fathers 
followed the old Indiiin trails, or their natural 
inclinations, winding around hills and swamps, 
and seeking the most accessible crossings at 
the streams. But such as it is, the gray- 
haired pioneers wonder if "Rush Creek 
Township" is a dreamy romance or a reality. 
Instead of the Indian war-whoop, they hear 
the shrill whistle of the locomotive. Where 
once the smoke arose from ten, twenty, or 
perhaps a hundred wigwams, they perchance 
see Ruslisylvania, Harper, Big Spring and 
AValnut Grove. They behold the ground 
stripped of its native trees, and the dense for- 
ests converted into fi<'lds ripe with golden har- 
vests. And as they, one by one, ])ass from 
their toils into the unseen land of rest, let us 
not forget that the simple story of their deeds 
is more noble and more worthy of being ini- 
mortali/ed than the achievements of earth's 
most renowned heroes. 



The Greenville Treaty Line runs across the 
township about one mile from its southern 
boundary. Rush Creek was struck off from 
Jefl'erson Townshi]) in the j^ear 182."), and 
constituted a legal township in 1832. It then 
not only embraced the territory known as 
Bokes Creek Township, but also Taylor Creek 
Township, in Hardin County. The latter 
township was struck off when the boundary 
lino between I^ogan and Hardin Counties was 
established, and Bokes Creek was legally or- 
ganized into a township in 1837. Rush Creek 
is the largest township in Logan County. Jt 
is rectangvdar in shape, and is about twelve 
miles in length, and about ten in width. Its 
northern boundarj' is the line between Logan 
and Hardin counties. Bokes Creek Township 
lies on the east side, .Jefferson on the south, 
and RiclilMnd and McArthur on the west. 
Its low lands are adapted to corn, and its 
once oak-timbered lands j)roduce fine wheat, 
while its " clay knobs " are well adapted to 
grazing puqioscs. 

Rushsylvania is locatc>d almost in the center 
of the township; Big Springs in the northeast 
corner, and Harper about three miles south- 
west of Rushsylvania, all on llw Clevelaiul, 
('olunibus, Cinciiniati & Indianapolis Railway, 
which passes through the townshij) from north- 
east to southwest. Walnut (irove is also a 
small village in the southeast corner of the 
townshij). In the northwest corner is ii school- 
house on the site where, in early "lays, stood 
a small village named North Alexandria. It 
was laid out in the j-ear 1832 by Win. White, 
after whom it has sometimes been called 
White Town.* It consisted of several log 
cabins, and was iu)ted more for the roughness 
of its citizens than for any nuignificence it 
displayed. A man by the name of John Fry 
kept a small grocery there. This estiib- 
lishment, though a small concern, was large 

*I'r<mi Sc'wspnpcr roiitribiilions by Mi.« Sariili A. Kerns, 
imil n paper by Joscpli Edwords. 



^f 



i. 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUXTY. 



447 



pnough to break up him and hisfath(»r. Felt 
Bowers also had a store in this plac(>. His stock 
consisted of. corn meal, whisky, wooden 
combs, powder and lead, gun flints, Ijuttons 
and other notions. It was the usual place of 
resort for jiersons who met to arrange for 
squirrel hunts, to shoot at targets, drink 
whiskey and tell hunting stories. But Xorth 
Alexandria is no more, and few remember even 
the name. 

The first settler in this township was 
Thomas Stanfield, who with his wife and ten 
children, nine daughters and one son (Thomas 
Stanfield, Jr)., immigrated fnjiu Tennessee in 
1805, and settl'd on the farms now owned by 
John Q. Williams and William Hall. Soon 
after, William Reams came from North Caro- 
lina, and settled near !Marmon's bottom; this 
Reams also had ten children, nine sons, and 
one daughter; the latter was married to 
Thomas Stanfield, Jr., May 30, 1814. Thomas 
Stanfield, Sr., was a Quaker, and, like 
William Penn, gained the friendship of the 
Indians to such an extent that he was unmo- 
lested, with one exception, during the war of 
1812. They were often welcomed to his cab- 
in, received his hospitality, and manifested 
marked friendship for him and his family. 
At one time, however, they became enraged 
at Stanfield, and set a certain night to massa- 
cre him and his whole family. Concealing 
themselves in the bushes that grew around 
the eal)in, they la}- there awaiting the gloom 
of night to accomplish their fiendish plot. 
Dani(d McCoj", a settler who lived near 
Zanesfield, learned of their design, and deter- 
mined to rescue the familj'. Failing to se- 
cure the aid of troops, and taking a hearty 
drink of "good old rye," he mounted, at dusk, 
his gray horse, and galloped along through 
the forest in the direction of Stanfield's. 
Coming within a quarter of a mile of the log 
cabin whose inmates were unconscious of the 
danger so near them, he yelled, "Here they 



are; come on!" as if he gave the command 
to 50,000 armed troops. He then rode back 
and forth, all the time shouting " to come 
on." Galloping to the cabin, he told the 
Stanfields of the danger awaiting them, who, 
together with the brave McCoy, fled to 
Zanesfield. On their return, some time after- 
ward, th(\y found the hut had not been dis- 
turbed in their aljsence. Wlien peace was 
concluded, the Indians told them that McCoy, 
by his daring conduct, saved their lives. 
Thomas Stanfield's cabin was the first in 
Rush Creek Township, and stood near the site 
of William Hall's house. The bodies of this 
pioneer and that of his wife rest in Rush 
Creek Township's first graveyard. Here 
moss-covered ston(>s, reared by the hand of 
affection, mark their resting ])laces. In the 
family record is found the following, written 
by Thomas Stanfield, Jr.: "Thomas Stan- 
field, Sr., departed thi.s life the 5th month, 
the 11th day, 1824, aged 76 years, 5 months 
and 12 daj-s. Hannah Stanfield, his wife, de- 
parted this life the 9th month, the 28th day, 
1830, age not certainly known, but something- 
rising 80 years." 

In 1811, a man 1)\- the name of Dalles pur- 
chased the farm now owned by Aaron Grabiel, 
clearing about forty acres. He then left and 
never returned. As early, perhaps, as 1814, 
Aaron Reams built the first cabin on the 
Sutherland farm, near the old Baptist church 
and graveyard, and where Thomas Sutherland 
settled in 1816. His wife, Phoebe, was a 
daughter of Thomas Stanfield, Sr., and was 
noted in those days for her industry and be- 
nevolence. Few or no other settlements were 
made prior to 1820, and even then emigra- 
tion to this section of the country appears to 
have been slow. The following list of settlers 
contains the names of all the writer has been 
able to ascertain: Abovit the year 1823 old 
man Richardson settled on the farm now own- 
ed bj- J. L. Foutts; John Wolf, on the farm 



k 



448 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COl'XTY. 



of Williiini Stephenson. On the' farm of Mr. 
O.'.ias settled old man Kodaker. After the 
township was legally orfrani/ed, John MoClure 
settled on the farm of Jacob Arbegast. Joel 
Thomas, Sr., settled on the Roberts farm in 
1S^4, John Wilson on the Jasiiisky farm, and 
the Pugh farm by John Prater the same 
year. The farm of Johnson Ansley by William 
Smith in 1825. The farm of Martin ilcAdams 
by Conrad Collins in 182G. The farm of Peter 
Kantzman by Nelson Tyler in 1828. The 
farm of Martha Bronson by Benjamin Green 
in 1823. The farm of Clark Williams by 
Samuel Ruth in 1825. The northwestern 
section of Rush Creek Township was settled 
as follows: In 1823 the farm of William 
Stewart by Calhoun. In 1827 the Crawford 
farm was occupied by Young. The Ho|)kins 
farm bj' Hazard Ilojikins in 1828. In tlic 
same year the Clark farm by William llolt; 
the Anderson farm by John B.Anderson; the 
farm of W. K. Newman liy Silas Thrailkill 
in 182U. Jonas Fry took the farm west of 
Joel Thomas in 1829. The farm of John 
Kerns by Jacob Kerns. 

Among the first Trustees of Rush Creek 
Township are Nicholas Beal, James Roberts 
and John Hull. John Wolfe was the first 
Clerk. George Rodaker was the- first Justice 
of the Peace, and Benjamin Corsin the first 
Constable. A circumstance occurred once in 
connection with the olFice of 'Squire Rodaker 
worthy of note. About the year 1833 the 
Township Trustees sued a man living on Tay- 
lor Creek, on account of some stray animals 
they had taken up. Anthony Casad was en- 
gaged as counsel for the defendant. After 
the evidence, pro and con, had been heard, 
Casad arose to make his pica. The 'Sipiire 
told him he woulil aHow no "speechifyino- " 
in the case, remarking, "We have no lawyer 
on our side, and you shall make no speech on 
your side." Casad, however, pcrsi.sted, and 
after many interruptions from the 'Squire, 



succedcd in making the points intended, 
remarking that ho had now "said all that he 
desired," when the 'Squire replied, "Yes, 
and I decide against you." 

In the eiirly history of the county the peo- 
ple lived almost exclusively by trading. A 
man would load his wagon with wheat, start 
for Sandusky, get perhaps a barrel of salt, a 
roll of leather, and such necessary articles, 
reserving enough money to pay his taxes. If 
he got 50 cents a bushel for his wheat he 
thought he was doing well. After the San- 
dusky road was opened the old Conestoga 
wagons carried much of the produce to mar- 
ket. A story is told of one of those teamsters, 
by the name of Marquis. It appears that 
bees-wax was of great value at that time, and 
this Marquis, having procured a great (p;an- 
tity of the article, covered cakes of tallow 
with it. He was, however, discovered by one 
of the cakes thus covered being broken, and 
fined heavily for attempted fraud. The name 
" Bees- wax Marquis " ever after clung to him. 
The wages for work hands ranged from 50 to 
00 cents a day. The pioneers' boys would 
work for 37i to 50 cents, or from ^8 to ^10 
a month. Scenes of mirth and pleasure were 
generally preceded b}' those of labor. The 
chopping, the log-roiling, the corn-husking 
and quilting were always before the dance or 
play. 

Among the first marriages were Joseph 
Stephenson to Delilah Fry, and John Fry to 
Nancy White, by 'Squire McAnis. " Big 
Lewis," a noted chief, was buried in 1810. 
He was the father of Little Lewis, who was 
chief of the Shawnee Indians. When these 
Indians left the Logan County reservation, 
the tribe numbered about 1,1U0, and had 700 
ponies. .lacob Goods, Daniel Hall and an- 
other Ijlacksmith by tin; name of Joseph Ells- 
worth shod their ponies, the ponies being 
thrown upon their backs and tied with ropes. 
Hush Creek was in the course of the tornado 



ii 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



449 



which swept through Logan County in 1825, 
from southwest to northeast, in a direct line 
for many miles. Its track was about half a 
mile wide. The following is a description of 
it, given by Joel Thomas, Sr.: "This terrific 
storm occurred about 9 o'clock in the morn- 
ing. At sunrise, distant thunder was heard. 
Soon after, a greenish-colored cloud com- 
menced coming up from the southwest, rising 
higher and higher, until the roar of the ap- 
proaching storm could be distinctly heard. 
It soon came in terrible majesty and force, 
and passed furiously on, tearing down trees 
of all dimensions in its pathway, those in the 
centre falling backward and those on the 
skirts falling forward. Its general average 
was about half a mile in width. It entered 
the township at the northeast corner, passed 
over the south end of Rush Creek, and on 
toward where Walnut Grove now stands, and 
thence into Bokes Creek Township. A door 
was carried from a house which was demol- 
ished by the storm, and picked up on the 
farm of Clark Williams, and afterwards used 
by him. The cattle of Joel Thomas, Sr., 
were completely surrounded by the fallen 
timber, but, strange to say, not one was in- 
jured. Enoch Lundy's cabin was in the cen- 
tre of this path of destruction, and a tree fell 
on the corner of his cabin, having fallen con- 
trary to the direction of the storm. It was 
three days before he could extricate himself, 
and had carried his household goods on his 
back from this remarkable scene of danger. 
Himself, wife and four children were in the 
cabin at this time, not one of whom were in- 
jured. It is claimed that mud from the bot- 
tom of Rush Creek Lake was dashed against 
trees for a quarter of a mile away from the 
lake. A considerable amount of timber has 
sprung up in the track of this great storm 
since its occurrence. 

In the early history of the settlements, near 
" White Town," in the northern part of Rush 



Creek Townshi]i, and also on Taylor Creek in 
Hardin County, an epidemic known as the 
" milk sickness " begun its ravages about the 
year 1827-28. This disease was fatal to ))oth 
man and beast. It was claimed by some that 
it was in a weed which grew in " deadnings," 
and as the country became better cultivated 
it disappeared. By others it was claimed to 
be a mineral poison found in the water of 
certain springs, and stock or persons drinking 
this water became infected with the disease. 
There were two springs in the locality spoken 
of above, to which stock' having had a free 
access took the " trembles."' These springs 
were afterwards fenced in, and as long as they 
remained thus, there were no "trembles" in 
the neighborhood. It is told, on good 
authority, that the poison in the milk, at one 
time, in this section of the country, was so 
great that a silver five-cent piece left in a 
bucket of milk over night would be turned 
to a deep green. Near tlie residence of Wil- 
liam Roberts, John Dearwester laid out a 
graveyard, know-n as the " Miami Grave- 
yard," in the year 1832, and was himself the 
first person to be buried in the graveyard 
which he had laid out. John Basil, wife 
and one child were the next unfortunates. 
Melcher Crook, his wife and one child, George 
Crook and Anna Crook soon followed. John 
Frye and two children, Lorenzo Taylor, John 
Blair, the wife of George Irving, two of the 
Youngs, four of the White family, one of Joel 
Thomas' children, and many more, whose names 
can not now be recalled, died with this terrible 
disease. Some of those who were affected 
with it never wholly recovered. It should 
be noted that nearly all who took the disease 
at its first appearance in the placesmentioned 
became its victims. This may be accounted 
for on the ground, perhaps, that physicians 
did not then understand the proper treatment. 
About the year 1830 a man named Buck- 
minster kept a hotel on the Sandusky 



'Y 



.t. 



4o0 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



Hoad near tlic jireseiit town of Big Springs. 
It stood on the farm of Ilcnry Rosebrougli, 
anil was jjartl^' liuilt of logs and was partly a 
frame. .John May also kept a hotel near 
where the Sandusky Road crosses the railroad, 
on the farm now owned by D. Anderson. It 
was a stage stand, a postoffice, and a general 
r' sort for travelers. May's successor was 
.lames Partial. A man named Bowers ke])t a 
hotel near " White Town," and there was also 
a tavern kejitonthe farm of Mr. Ozias, on the 
Sandusky Hoad. 

The fii-st saw-mill in Rush Creek Township 
was built on the farm now owned ,by Mr. 
Ozias, by Rodaker in 1830. In the year 1832 
a water saw-mill was built by a man of the 
name of Sutton, about a mile east of the pike 
leading from B,-llefontaine to Rushsylvaiiia, 
and about the same time .Tohn B;isil built a 
saw-mill on the .Miami. About the year 1830, 
" Old Billy " liubart built the first grist-mill 
in the township adjacent to Hodaker's saw- 
mill. .John Basil also built a grist-mill 
near his saw-mill, and constructed his own 
burrs out of bowlders. WIkmi .James R. 
Arlams first laniled on the Miami, ho went to 
this mill, where Samuel White, .lohn Dear- 
wiister, and .John Basil were at work, and in- 
(piired of them if there were any girls in that 
section of the covmtry, and was answered by 
John Basil that there were "lots of them." 
doing to Basil's house, he there found his 
"old affianced " in the person of Mary Myers. 
She accompanied him to her home, and, ten 
days after, they were married. 

The first tannery was by .James Clagg, who 
first settleil on the .Miami. Ho solil his farm 
thc-rc to Enos Pickering and purchased the 
land where Rushsylvania now stands, laid 
out the town in 1.S34, and the same season 
opened and operated a tannery, the first in 
the township. 

The following incident occurnd in the 
northwest jiart of Rush Creek, ut the tavern 



of Mr. Howell, near the town of North Alex- 
andria: Two men pursued :i couple of run- 
away slaves into Hardin County, where they 
arrested them and brought them back. Ar- 
riving at Israel Howell's tavern, they stopped 
for the night. In the morning, one of the 
negroes seized a cane belonging to one of 
his captors, and struck him over the head, 
shivering the cane, a jiiecc of which struck a 
little girl of Mr. Howell's in the eye, destroy- 
ing the eyeball entirely. The negroes both 
broke and run, one of whom escaped. The 
little girl afterward became the wife of Peter 
Frye, an early settler of Rush Creek. 

At an early jieriod in the history of this 
country, there wasan Indiiiu trail leading from 
Lewistown via Brugler Spring-s to upper 
Sanduskv. The first stage road in the town- 
ship was the Bellefontaine and the Detroit 
road. As early as the j'ear 1830, there was a 
sort of blazed road to the Cherokee mills, 
running nearly west, where is now the road 
from Rushsylvania to Huntsvilh;. 

The Sandusky road was opened about the 
year 1824. At that time, John Tinnis made 
a contract to cut out six miles of this road. 
The evening this work was comjdeted, a 
young man named Heath came to a violent 
death in the vain attempt to outrun a falling 
tree. This roa<l was the coach and mail 
route, the mail being for some time carried 
on horseback. As the township was settled 
and im]Droved, other roads were laid out. 
The first ]iike in the township was theZanes- 
field and the Hardin County pike. The 
Rushsylvania and Bellefontaine pike, which 
was made in the year 1874, was the next. 
In 1875 the Bellefontaine and Rushsylvania 
]iike was extended to the Hardin County 
line, on the Bellefontaine and Sandusky road. 
At present, the enterprise for constructing 
|)ikes is at its highest ])itch, and the probabil- 
ities are that ten years hence there will not 
be a single dirt road in Rush Creek Townshi)). 



^r** 



J, 



HISTORY OF LOGA>" COU>TY. 



451 



In 1801', tlie iron bridge across llusli Creek, 
about a quarter of a mile east of liushsyl- 
vania, was erected, costing the townsliip the 
sum of 81,200. 

The C. C. C. & I. Railway, or what was 
then called the Bellefontaine and Indiana 
Railroad, was completed in 1853. AN'liile 
this road was being built through this town- 
ship, one of the workmen was killed in a 
fray among the hands and was buried, and, 
like Moses of old, no man knows to this day 
where he wiis laid. Every one, however, is 
certain that he was not concealed by an un- 
seen hand, and though he is not expected to 
appear again in person, yet many claim to 
have seen his ghost hovering around the 
" B'g Fill," looking grim, giiastly,' and terri- 
ble. 

Huslisylvania was laid out in the year 1834 
by James Clagg, who settled on the farm 
belonging to the heirs of James Qua. He was 
a Virginian by birth, and inherited much of 
his native activity and enterprise. His town 
was nicknamed "Clagg Town," in honor of its 
proprietor. The first hotels were kept by 
Thompson Hughes, James Elani, Robert 
Stephenson and Jacob Niglebarger. Thomp- 
son Hughes kept a store in connection with 
his hotel on the corner where J.Q. A. Bennett's 
drug store now stands, the hotels of James 
Elam and Robert Stephenson being on the 
opposite corners. Niglel)arger also had a 
store in connection with his tavern. Robert 
Stephenson was succeeded in the year 1840 
by Thomas Carson. Benjamin Green had a 
potterv shop. William Gibson preceded S. B. 
Stilwell in the wagon shop. Samuel Stilwell 
was the first blacksmith. Thomas Hughes and 
Jacob Niglebarger first kept the postoffice. 
Dr. Doran succeeded to the office in 18-18, and 
still retains it. He is one of the oldest post- 
masters in the State, and, during his term of 
service, has handled over a million of letters. 
The first doctors were Thomas D. Green, who 



was also a preacher, and Dr. Kingston. Dr. 
Fulton began the jjractice of medicine in 
Rushsylvania in 1810, and Dr. Doran in 1S40. 
Dr. Doran says that lie has rode horsel)ack 
enough in his practice, to go around the 
world twice, and partly the third time. Their 
early field of practice was very extensive, and 
malarial sickness was the principal disease for 
treatment. They sold as high as one hundred 
(■4 oz.) bottles of quinine in one summer. 

" For several years," says one who remem- 
bers the pioneer days, "whisky appeared to be 
a leading commodity of trade. The presence 
of the bottle on the table of the heading and 
prominent people, was not a rare sight, 
nor was it uncommon to see a dozen men 
divested of their coats on a public day, 
apparently anxious for a fight." While there 
are manv citizens in the town wiio dcj)lore 
the evils that now exist, let them console 
themselves with the thought that the town 
has made great improvement in morals an<l 
society. 

The first schoolhouse stood near the railroad 
crossing, not far from where the old one now 
stands. It was A log building, almost one 
entire end being a great wooden chimney; in 
fact nearly all the houses were made of logs. 
The first frame house was built by John 
Basil for Tiionias Hughes. He furnished the 
material, and built it for fifty dollars. The 
weather-boarding was of shaved clapboards. 

In 1857, most of the business portion of 
Rushsylvania was burned to the ground. The 
fire commenced in a grocery across an alley 
from Thomas Carson's tavern, and spread in 
both directions, consuming nearly all the 
business houses. The town has never fully 
recovered from the efifocts of this calamity. 
Some of the old buildings have been replaced 
by new ones far handsomer than the old log 
huts which were burned, and which gave it a 
rather dilapidated appearance in other days. 
But some of the business men left for other 









M 



452 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



locations, and the town thus lost some of 
its most enterprising L-itizciis. Wliilc making 
brick to rebuild his hotel, Thomas Carson, 
with his work hands, on a rainy Saturday 
(June 20, 185( ), went on a fishing excursion to 
Rush Creek Lake. While engaged in this sport 
he, with Martin Longstaff, was drowned. They 
were ujiset from the same boat from which a 
man by the name of Edsal, in a fit to which 
he was subject, fell and was of this drowned 
l)ut a year before. In 1870, a son Edsal, while 
bathing in the Lake, was also drowned. 

The saw and grist mill of Kubart was pur- 
chased by Jacob Pymn and greatly improved. 
In 1802, the Pymn Brothers built the stone 
mill in Rushsylvania. In 18GG Robert Porter 
])ur<;-luised the mill and run it till 1873, when 
it was purchased by the Day Brothers, the 
present owners. It is operated by steam, has 
three run of burrs, and a capacity for making 
seventy-five barrels of flour a day. It is one 
of the important ])ublic industries of the vil- 
lage, and the enterprising and gentlemanly 
proprietors arc well qualified for the business 
in which they are engaged. 

In the fall of 18G(J, James Adams came 
from Iowa, and in the spring of 1867 started 
a woolen factory in the building of Jacob 
Pynin's first grist mill on Rush Creek. Tills 
mill was for one season operated with great 
success, being kept constantly running niijlit 
and day. In the spring of 1808, a heavy 
freshet swept away the dam across Rush 
Creek. It was no sooner rebuilt than it was 
washed away again. Adams was so disheart- 
ened by this that he gave up the idea of ever 
again running the mills, and went back to 
luwa. Tlie mills were purchase'd and operat- 
I'd for three summers by William George. 
In the spring of 1870 they were set on fire 
by an incendiary anil burnt to the ground. 
They have never been rebuilt. This loss was 
a calai'jity not only to the owner of the mills, 
but also to the community. 



Mr. John JlcCullough was the first depot 
master. In the winter of 1809, the present 
depot was finished. Mr. McCullough was 
succeeded in his position of depot master in 
1877 by Mr. Roberts, who is one of the lead- 
ing men of the place. He is a gentleman in 
every respect, and the village is indebted to 
his influence in securing the present telegraph 
office. 

There are at present in Rushsylvania two 
dry-goods stores, kept by William Ca;npbell& 
Sons and J. R. Day; two drug stores by 
George Brockerman and J. Q. A. Bennett; 
one hardware store by William Vance; three 
grocery stores by L. Gregg, Esquire Elder, and 
Rev. Black; one furniture store by the 
Wright Bros.; one jewelry store by J. A. 
Riley; one steam mill by the Day Bros.; one 
saw mill by Lewis Kramer; one bank (cashier 
O. R. Pegg); two livery stables by George 
Brockerman and Clark Slater; three black- 
smith shops, one by Heller & McCullock and 
the other two by J. S. Cross and Robert 
Shaw; one shoe shop by A. Jones; two sad- 
dler shops by F. HiiUiday and A. Richards; 
one meat shop by Ed. Aldrich. There is one 
hotel by Marion Southard. The physicians are 
Drs. Brockerman, Doran, Edwards, Fisher, 
Goodlove and Wallace, and Mrs. Howard. 
There are four churches: one Disciple, one 
Methodist, oni^ Presbyterian and one Reformed 
Presbyterian. 

Rushsylvania has always ranked high in 
spirit and enter|irise. Wlii'ii the news of the 
war of secession first thrilled the blood of 
every patriot, she raised her flag-staff on the 
old schoolhousc grounds, around which gath- 
ered some of the first volunteers, and pledged 
themselves and their lives to their country. 
Bands of music paraded the streets, followed 
by long, enthusiastic processions. Eloquent 
men discussed the leading topics and mo- 
menlcms issues of the hour. The town turned 
out nianv volunteers. 



^' 



V 



HI. STORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



453 



In matters of education Rushsylvania is up 
with the times. As teacher, Rev. W. W. 
Wright stands almost without a rival; his 
energy and talent have made him one of the 
most popidar instructors. There is a fine 
new school building in the village, on a high 
eminence commandinar a view of the town 

o 

and the surrounding country. There are four 
departments in the school, and about 200 
scholars in the special district. The directors 
are : Dr. Goodlove, D. L. Roberts, John 
Taylor, William Vance, Rev. W. W. Wright 
and E. Zimmerman. The following statistics 
are from the last report of the Board of Edu- 
cation : Value of school property, 83,235; 
amount paid teachers per month, males, §50, 
females, §20; number of pupils enrolled, pri- 
mary, males 54, females -IG; high, males 15, 
females 20; average daily attendance, males 
38, females 41. 

The village is surrounded by a high moral 
influence, though like all other places it has its 
vagabonds and idlers. There is not a liquor 
saloon in the place, and, though attempts have 
been made to establish them, they have al- 
ways proved a failure. There are few towns 
of its size where more attention is given to 
public improvement. The sidewalks are of 
a superior kind. 

Harper village was laid out in 1851 by John 
Q. Williams, prior to the completion of the 
railroad. The first building was erected by 
John Laporte, who, also, was the proprietor 
of the first store. The first church was built 
in 1854 by the Methodists. In 1859 the first 
blacksmith shop was started by Miller & 
Rhodes. Dr. James Morehead was the first 
physician, and Stephen D. Slayer was the first 
preacher. The business houses at this time 
are two — the one by R. D. Dickinson, a dry 
goods and grocery merchant, and the other by 
G. W. Hoover, also a dry goods and grocery 
merchant. The village contains a cluirch, a 
postoffice, a blacksmith shop, a schoolhouse 



and a railroad depot. It has about 100 inhab- 
itants. The citizens of Harper are mostly 
religious and almost exclusively temperate. 
No grog-shop is found within the village. It 
is surrounded by one of the most fertile farm- 
ing districts in the county. Large quantities 
of grain, wool, stock and other farm products 
are shipped from this place. 

The Big Springs, three miles north of 
Rushsylvania, was a noted place long before 
Rushsylvania was thought of. Lanson Curtis, 
once a prominent business man of Zanesville, 
made the first improvement at the Spring. 
As we have already stated, there was a tavern 
there on the Sandusky road at a very early day. 
The village of Big Springs was located in 
1852, on the C. C. C. & I. Railway, about 
two and a half miles from Rushsylvania. 
Lots were first sold by Henry Rosebrough. It 
took its name from a noted spring. It now 
contains one grocery and dry goods store, a 
blacksmith shop, a shoe shop, a large saw and 
planing mill. The village contains twelve 
dwellings and about fifty inhabitants. Wal- 
nut Grove was laid out in the year 1854 by J. 
Slim, and was formerly called " Slim Town," 
after its proprietor. It takes its present name 
from a lovely grove of black walnut, trees on 
the edge of the " fallen timber." It is situa- 
ted on the banks of Mill Creek, and contains 
about a half-dozen dwelling-houses, one store, 
one blacksmith shop and one church. It is 
surrounded by a beautiful country, inhabited 
by enterprising people. 

The first church in Rush Creek Township 
was built by the Quakers, and was a log 
structure. The time of its building is not 
certainly known, but it was prior to the year 
1820. It stood in a field now owned by John 
Q. Williams, near the Sandusky road, four 
and a half miles northeast of Bellefontaine. 
An old graveyard to-day marks its site, 
which was laid out by Thomas Stanfield, Sr., 
the first graveyard in the township, and in 



±Il^ 



4.'>4 



MISTOKY OF l.OGAX COUNTY. 



which Hps the reinnins of the first settler. 
In 1827 the socoiul church, built of hewed 
lofjs was erected liy tlie Bajitists, about half 
a mile north of the first one built by the Qua- 
kers and was called the " Kush Creek Baptist 
Church." Connected with this church a pub- 
lic graveyard was established. It was dona- 
ted l)y Solomon Cover, who then resided on 
the farm now owned by Lucian D. Mussel- 
man. 'J'he first person buried there was 
SaiMuel Patrick, in Octob.T, 1831. The first 
minister who preached in the Quak<'r Church 
was Rev. Thomas Antrim, and t lie first Bap- 
tist jireacher was Rev. Haines Parker. Revs. 
George McCullocli, Hiram llukei and a Mr. 
Clark were also pioneer preachers. The fol- 
lowing incident is related by Joel Thomas, 
.Ir., of Doctor Cirayeyes, an Indian Missionary, 
who lived on the reservation at Upper San- 
dusky. The Doctor and his wife, who was a 
half Indian, came on a visit to her father, 
Ebenezer Zaiie, wlio had his cstinp on Mill 
Creek. On Saturday, one of Elienezer's sons 
came to Joel Thomas, Sr., and informed. him 
that Dr. Grayej'es woidd ])reach at camp on 
the morrow. Tlie next morning the Thomas 
boys accompanied jiim to camp, wliere Dr. 
Crayeyes preached in tlie Indian tongue, 
and after services " Aunt Hannah," Ebenezer's 
wife, prepared dinner.. Ebenezer had killed 
a bear and his wife had cooked a portion of it 
for dinner. All stayed and dined on bear 
meat and wild honey, of whicli there was an 
a'.iundance. This shows the real state of 
feeling existing at that time between the red 
and white men. / 

Th ; nundjer of pioneer churches seems to 
have been few. Divine service was mostly 
held in schoolhouses. The first Sabbath 
School was held in the old Uushsylvania 
sehoolhouse. There was great trouble in get- 
ting this organized, as different denominations 
wanted to have the control. The Methodists 
early began their noble pioneer work of re- 



foiming the backwoodsmen, and were in the 
ascendency. They held revivals in every 
sehoolhouse and won many souls to Christ. 
They built the first church in Rushsylvania. 
It is now used as a dwelling liouse. In 1848 
the Reformed Presljyterians built the second 
church in Rushsylvania. Rev. J. B. Johnston 
was tlieir first minister. He was the founder 
of North wood college, and was sueccediHl liy 
Rev. J. R. W. Sloane, who was President of 
Northwood College. In 18C0 he was succeed- 
ed l>y Rev. P. H. Wylie, who was Pastor till 
1870, when he was succeeded by Rev. H. H. 
George, and he by Rev. J. Lynd, who is the 
present Pastor. The church at present has 
about sixty members. The Presbyterians and 
Methodists built a church in 18C7. The 
Methodists in 1870 purchased, and remodeled 
the old Reformed Presbyterian church, that 
denomination having the same year erected a 
new one. The Presbyterians number about 
sixtv. Rev. J. Alexander is their jiresent 
Pastor. The Methodists nund)er al)out the 
same. The Disciples built their cluirch in tlie 
vicinity of the Ansley settlement at a very 
early date, perhaps as early as 1840. In 1808 
they erected a brick church at Rushsylvania. 
With the late Jesse Roberts as their preacher, 
they have increased. He died in 1879, re- 
spected and mourned by all. Tiiere was at a 
very early period an old log church at Equali- 
ty, and also a graveyard. This church was 
burnt to the ground in 1808, and another one 
has been built in its place, belonging to no 
particular denomination. 

The temperance cause has gained many 
workers and adherents in the townshij). Al- 
though there were no saloons for the women 
to visit in the villages at the time of the great 
Crusade, yet many of them eauglil the spirit of 
the movement, and joined thosi; of Bellefim- 
taine in the work of rescuing the unfortunate. 
The wave of Murphyism swept over the town, 
leaving to-day a few happy houses, which, but 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



■i.V) 




ii 



for it, would have been blighted by the great 
curse. 

The first public schools were held in the 
old Quaker Church. Near .this old log church 
stood a log schoolhouse of the pioneer pat- 
tern — greased paper for windows, a large fire- 
j)lace made of wooden poles. The time when 
this was built is not certainly known. But 
prior to the year 1820, Isaac Myers and Jus- 
tice Edwards were the first teachers in the 
township. As early, perhaps, as the year 
1830 there was a log schoolhouse about twen- 
ty feet square in the northwest corner of 
Rush Creek Township, in the vicinity of 
"White Town." Along one end of this rudi' 
structure was one log left out, and the place 
filled with glass panes ten by twelve; who was 
its first teacher is not remembered. Mr. Gregg 
the Presbyterian minister at Bellefontaine, 
used to preach here, and also taught a singing 
school. There was a schoolhouse at Equal- 
ity, built about the year 1830. It has long 
since disappeared, and, like all pioneer school- 
houses, it was a rude structure. Among its 
first teachers were Jesse Roberts. The wages 
paid the early teachers ranged from $8 to §13 
a month. 

Those three schoolhouses have increased to 
fifteen, and every morning of the school period 



sees 600 Rush Creek children flocking to 
school. Wages now range from $'10 to §50 a 
month. Among these fifteen schools is the 
Rushsylvania Union School, which has al- 
ready been noticed. The following sta- 
tistics are from the last report of the Board 
of Education, made August 31, 1879: Whole 
amount paid teachers, §1,8T7'.43; paid for fuel 
etc., i!372.69; total expenditures, $2,250.12; 
balance on hand September 1, 1879, 81,042.11. 
Number of pupils enrolled — males, 309; 
females, 187; total, 396. Average daily at- 
tendance — males, 154; females, 134; total, 
288. Number of schoolhouses in township, 
12; total value of school property, $4,500. 
Dr. Doran, to whom we are indebted for 
many facts of the history of this town- 
ship, has quite an extensive collection of 
Indian relics, which he has gathered, and in 
which he takes considerable interest; he has 
also about 700 pieces of coin of different na- 
tions. Some of these are of very ancient 
date. They are of all sizes and descriptions 
and denominations and nationalities. The 
one bearing the most ancient appearance has 
an inscription in Greek which translated reads, 
" .lesus Christ, the King of Kings." Mrs. 
Doran also has a variety of stuffed birds, ani- 
mals and insects, very tastefully arranged. 



t 



f 



? w_ 



45G 



i±^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



CHAPTER XIV.* 

PLEASANT TOWXSniP— THE EARLY SETTLEMENT— SOCIAL LIFE IN THE BACKWOODS— INDUS- 
TRIES— llELIGIONS-ETC. 



" Man's fame, so often evanescent, 

Links here with thoughts and things that last; 

And all the bright and teeming present 
Thrills with the great and glorious past." 

LOOKING upon the map of Logan County 
we find a large tract of land in form an 
oblong square, its longest diameter east and 
west; its location south of the " Greenville 
treaty line," adjoining the Shelby County 
line. This territory is designated as Town- 
ship 1, Range 8, of the Congressional survey, 
and is bounded north by Bloomfield and 
Washington, south by Miami, east by Har- 
rison and Union, and west by Salem Town- 
ship in Shelby County. The principal water- 
course is the Miami River, which flows in 
nearly a due south course through the town- 
ship, centrally. On the west are two small 
tributaries without names and unimportant. 
The eastern portion of the township is trav- 
ersed by the Buckongehelas, a stream afford- 
ing power for numerous mills. The soil east 
of the Miami is a rich, yellow clay, slightly 
mixed with gravel and well adapted to wheat 
culture, while westward a black loam pre- 
dominates, yielding bountiful crops of corn 
and grass. The farm buildings, and improve- 
ments generally, are of a substantial character, 
and fully equal to the average in this portion 
of Logan Countv. The surface features of 
the township are varied, and presents to the 
eye a panoram.i of surpassing loveliness, 
Coniiu'x from the north you pass through a 
stretch of country perfectly level, and with 
the exception tif an occasional strip of wood- 
luMi], covered with a heavy growth of golden 

•Contrlliiili-<n)>- Dr. J. 11. S« Chcvcrell. 



wheat. Southward, as you near the river, 
the surface becomes rolling with a gentle 
descent from either direction and at intervals 
cut by ravines, down which, during the fall 
and spring, flow streams of no mean dimen- 
sions. 

To stranger ej'es the name of this township, 
Pleasant, seems particularly apjiropriate, for 
surely no more beautiful or pleasing scenery 
exists in the county than is found along the 
vallej' of the Miami at this period, and imag- 
ination can readily paint the scene that met 
the view of the hardy and resolute men who 
first penetrated this region. They found a 
land fertile as heart could wish, fair to look 
upon, and fragrant with the thousand fresh 
odors of the woods in early spring. The 
lonff, cool aisles of the forest led away into 
mazes of vernal green, where the swift deer 
bounded by unmolested, and as yet unscared 
by the sound of the woodman's ax or the 
sharp ring of the rifle. All about them was 
displayed the lavish beauties of primitive na- 
ture. The luxuriant growth of the oak, the 
walnut, maple, beech, chestnut and sycamore, 
with the lesser shrubs, the dogwood, the crab- 
ai)|)lo and the wild plum, and the heavy- 
hanging grape-vines, gave evidence of the 
strength of the virgin soil and the mildness of 
the climate. The forests which covered the 
land fmnishcd an abundance of food for the 
smaller animals, and the deer, as common as 
the cattle of to-day, grazed upon the rich 
grass of the lowlands and browsed upon the 
verdure in the little glades. Othi^r animals 
were abundant. The bear and the elk were 
occasional visitants, while the forest teemed 



-.|. 



^1 



,k 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



457 



with wild hogs, that roamed about in droves 
, and fattened upon the abundant mast. Wild 
tui-kej-s appeared in vast flocks, and in the 
season came the migratory fowls and tarried 
by the streams. The river had its share of 
life, and fairly swarmed with fish. Buc the 
pioneers came not to enjoy a life of lotus- 
eating. They could look forward with 
happy anticipation to the life they were to 
lead in the midst of all this beauty, and to 
the rich reward that would be theirs; but 
they had first to work. The dangers, also, to 
which they were exposed were serious ones. 
Tiie Indians could not be trusted, and the 
many stories of their outrages in the earlier 
eastern settlements riiade the pioneers of this 
section constantlj' apprehensive of trouble. 
The larger wild beasts were much dreaded, 
and the smaller ones a source of ureat an- 
noyance. Added to this was the liability to 
sickness which always exists in a new coun- 
try, and that continual feeling of loneliness 
not easily dispelled. This was a far greater 
trial to the men and women who first dwelt 
in this western country than is generally im- 
agined. The deep-seated, constantly-recur- 
ring feeling of isolation made many stout 
hearts turn back to the abodes of comfort, to 
the companionship and sociability of their 
old homes, but such was not the intention of 
the rugged sons of toil who first peopled the 
Township of Pleasant. 

Early in the month of March, 1809, .lames 
Moore and Robert Dickson, each with two 
yoke of stout oxen attached to heavy covered 
wagons in which were their families and a few 
necessarj- articles of household goods, began 
from the interior of the State of Kentucky, 
the long and tedious journev to Logan 
County, Ohio, a locality represented to be if 
not a veritaljle land of "milk and honey," 
at least, closely allied to it. After numerous 
mishaps by " flood and field, " the cavalcade 
arrived in safety at Cincinnati and was, with 



much vexatious delay, ferried across " La 
Belle Rivere,'' an achievement not unattended 
with danger, in its then swollen condition. 
From this place northward to Urbana, the 
route was, for the most part, but a blazed 
trail, dodging about, first this way and that, 
wherever convenient, and scarcely passable 
at all, at this season of the year, Urbana was 
reached at last, and from here, to the place 
selected for a home, the journey was made 
through an almost trackless wilderness. At 
last the " Mecca " of their pilgrimage was 
reached, and a rude encampment made upon 
the east bank of the Miami river, a short dis- 
ance above the site of the present hamlet of 
Logansville. The land, previously purchased, 
consisted of a fractional section, embracino- 
some 300 acres, including, and extending 
north along the river northward from Logans- 
ville. In the division Mr. Moore became the 
proprietor of the north half of this tract; his 
pioneer log cabin was erected not far from 
the site of the old homestead, was occupied 
by Newton N. Moore. Mr. Dickson's cabin 
stood nearly one-half mile to the southwest. 
Forced to rely entirely upon their own efforts, 
these pioneer houses were, of necessity, little 
more than huts; made entirely of small logs, 
roughly put together, they answered for tem- 
porary shelter, until the arrival of other 
settlers, by whose aid more substantial dwell- 
ings were built. Mr., Moore's- family at this 
time consisted of a wife and four children, 
only one of whom is now living in the town- 
ship, Dennis, whose head is 

" Thickly silvered o'er witli care," 
and round whose pathway naught now re- 
mains, as a reminder of those early days, 
save perhaps, the "silent city of the dead" 
upon the home farm, where rest the remains 
of many whose strong hands have helped to sub- 
due the mighty forest. The family of Mr. Dick- 
son consisted of a wife and three children, 
now all deceased, though many descendants 



\v 



458 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUXTY. 



of the family still reside in the vicinity 
of Logaiisville. Two years pass away, and 
still these two families are the sole white oc- 
cu])aiits of the territory embraced within the 
limits of what is now Pleasant Township; the 
hardships and privations they endured during 
this ]i('riod would have discouraged less de- 
termined ones. The nearest grist-mill was at 
Urbana, at the same place was also a store, 
where the commonest goods were sold at 
enormous prices; tea, *"2 p(>r ])oaiid; salt, 85 
per bushel of lifty jjoinids, and calico, which 
now sells at eight cents, sold readily for §1 per 
yard. During the fall of 1811, Alfred Matji- 
ews ami John Means, each with large families 
arrived in the township, and made settlement, 
the former upon a tract of land some two 
miles oast of Logansville, and the latter about 
on(' and one-half miles to the south of Mr. 
Moore's, on the west hank of the river. Al- 
fred Matiiows, Jr., is the only surviving mem- 
ber of these families now residing In the 
township. These four families constituted 
the entire white population of the township 
until after the close of hostilities with Great 
Britain. 

Among the settlers who arrived immediate- 
ly subsei|uent to the dose of the war were: 
Al'xander t'iper and family, who came from 
Nicholas County, Ky., in the fall of 181S. 
The farm upon which they first settled is 
now owned by Dennis Moore. William D. 
riper is the oidy one of the family living in 
the township. Robert Ellis, also from Kei>- 
tueky, made settlement upon lands, still occu- 
pied lij' the family, to the northwest of Lo- 
gansville. Robert McMullen, jnirchased a 
tract of land adjoining Mr. I'iper's. These 
are believed to be all who became actual resi- 
dents jirior to the year 18:iO. This local itv, 
as is every newly settled country, was infested 
with a class of nomadic people, known as 
S(|uattcrs, whose sojourn was usually' brief, 
yet whose departure was heartily welcome. 



The next settlers were: Peter Hanks, Addison 
Henderson, John Hill, Samuel Geise, Daniel 
McKinnon, and possibly others whose names 
are forgotten, but as the settlement soon be- 
came general we will not follow it further. 

During the war of 1812, the utmost alarm 
and uneasiness prevailed in the scattered set- 
tlements, by reason of which the Government 
ordered a company of soldiers into the vicin- 
ity for protection. Immediately on their arrival 
they proceeded to the erection of a " block- 
house." Its location was upon a high point 
of land, about one mile east of the present vil- 
lanfo of LoMnsvilie. The structure was com- 
posed of two buildings, some twenty feet 
square, connected at the second story and well 
provided with port-holes. It was of little im- 
])ortance, however, as the troops were with- 
drawn soon after its comjiletion. 

As the settlement increased the asperities 
of life were softened, its amenities multiplied. 
Social iiatherings became numerous. The 
log-rolling, harvesting and husking bees for 
the men, and the apple-butter making and 
quilting parties for the wouumi, furnished frc- 
(luent occasions for social intercourse. The 
early settlers took much jileasure and pride 
in rifle shooting, and as they were accustomed 
to the gun as a means, often, of obtaining 
subsistence, and relied u])on it as a weapon of 
defence, they exhibited considerai)lc skill, and 
"shooting matches" were of fre<iuent occur- 
rence. These trials of skill were not governeil, 
as are the "rifle clubs" of the present day, by 
a comjilication of " rules," by which, perhajjs, 
the best shot in the team makes the "poorest 
string," but the best marksman won. The 
event of most importance, however, in the 
sparsely settled ni-w country was a wedding. 
The young people had every inducement to 
marry, and generally did so as soon as able to 
provide for themselves. When a marriage 
was to be celebrated, the settlers within a ra- 
dius of several miles turned out. All went 



n"^ 






HISTORY OF LOGAN COUXTY. 



461 



on horseback, if able, riding in single file 
along the narrow trail — a couple often riding 
upon one Ijorse. After the ceremony came 
the dinner, a substantial backwoods feast of 
bear or deer meat, pork or fowls, with such 
vegetables as could be procured, during the 
discussion of which the greatest hilarity pre- 
vailed. After dinner the dancing begun, and 
was usually kept up during the entire night. 
The pioneer wedding in Pleasant Township 
occurred in 1812. Sarah Leonard and David 
Mathews were the " hajipy pair." An event 
of some importance in the annals of our col- 
ony was the advent, during the early summer 
of 1810, of a youthful stranger into the family 
of James and Catharine Moore. It was a girl, 
thus verifying the oft-repeated statement that 
this sex "arc always first, everywhere." No 
doubt the little lady ruled all the inmates of 
that humble home quite as regally iu her 
dress of calico as does the elegantly attired 
" baby " of the present time with its nurse, 
mother and aunties, not to mention its dear 
"par," and the rest of mankind, dancing at- 
tendance to its real or imagined wants. The 
little Miss Moore grew to womanhood, became 
the wife of John Moore, and eventually located 
in Zane Township, where she died some years 
since. The circumstances attending the first 
visit of the grim monster. Death, to the in- 
fant colony, are touch ingly sad. It was dur- 
ing the summer of 1810, soon after the birth 
before referred to, that William, son of James 
Moore, was taken violently ill with a fever. 
He grew rapidly worse. The nearest phy- 
sician was at Urbana, and thither a messen- 
ger was dispatched to summon him. lie came 
at once, but only arrived in time to witness 
the death of his patient. A rude coffin was 
prepared of plank split frorii a tree near by, 
and tender hands niade ready this rough re- 
ceptacle for all that remained of the bright, 
beautiful boy. A grave was prepared in the 
adjacent forest, and here, amid the dim soli- 



tude, the sunlight casting slanting rays through 
the branches of the trees, with no minister of 
God to pronounce the solemn ritual, no funer-. 
al choir to " chant the last sad requiem," he 
was laid to rest, there to peacefully sleep on 
and on until that last great day when the 
sea, shall give up its dead." 

The greatest inconvenience was caused, 
perhaps, by the absence of grist-mills. The 
nearest was at Urbana. The only road lead- 
ing thereto was a blazed trail, nearly impassible 
with a wagon, hence, it was customary to 
put a bag of grain upon a horse, mount one of 
the younger boys on top, and start the whole 
for Urbana. Arriving at the mill, which was 
a rude affair, with small capacity, it was fre- 
quently the case that a previous arrival would 
occupy the mill for the remainder of the day, 
and a stav until morning was rendered neces- 
sary, but as the folks at home were prepared 
for such emergencies, rarely anj- uneasiness 
was felt, or, as was sometimes the case, the 
boy would get his grist ground just before 
night, and starting for home, be overtaken by 
the darknesT and the wolves. Sometimes it 
became expedient to tie up and spend the 
intervening hours, till daylight, among the 
branches of a friendly tree, but usually an 
extra amount of birch was applied to Dobbin, 
and the family roof-tree gained in safety. In 
about 1819-20, .lames Moore put in operation 
the pioneer grist-mill in Pleasant Township. 
The building was of logs, and stood on the 
west bank of the Miami River. A short time 
subsequent Mr. Moore constructed a frame 
saw-mill adjoining the first. These pioneer 
industries wore of the greatest importance to 
the settlers in the vicinity, not only in pre- 
paring the crude elements for bread, but fur- 
nishing lumber for the floors, doors, etc., of 
the cabins. These mills have been several 
times rebuilt, and are now owned by John 
Loner. In 1825 Mr. Moore built a distillery 
near the mills, thus furnishing a market for 



>y 



4C2 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



much of the corn grown in the neighborhood. 
It was in operation some fifteen years. The 
second grist-mill in the townsliip was built by 
Washington Firestone, on Indian Run. It was 
only in operation a few years. Thompson 
Dickson built a tannery just west of I.ogans- 
ville in 1826, wliich was successfully con- 
ducted for many years. In those early days 
the general hospitality exhibited rendered 
hotels superfluous. The " latch-string " was 
out at every cabin, and the w(>ary traveler was 
always sure of a welcome and the best the 
house afforded; but as the settlement grew 
older, and the desire for wealth became pre- 
dominant, that genial, social welcome ceased, 
and the tavern came into existence. To meet 
this want, John Dickson, in about 1835, 
opened a house of entertainment at Logans- 
ville. It was quite a commodious affair. A 
few years later Joseph Davison became the 
host of a second hostelry, in the same hamlet. 
For many years during the early jiart of 
the settlement the rcwere no roads in the 
township, the travel being along trails, approx- 
imating the direction j-ou wished to go, less 
attention being paid to the points of the 
compass than to the convenience of the 
builder, hence these routes quite often 
brought to mind the adage: "The longest way 
round is the nearest way home." The first 
legally constituted road in the township was 
cut through in about 1830, and ran in a gen- 
eral northwest course from DcGraff to Bloom 
Center, crossing the Miami Kiver at the point 
now spanned by the Moore bridge. This 
road is now a fine graveled turnpike. In 
early times the river wa,s crossed by means of 
a small ferry ))oat, built by James Moore, of 
which it is said, that the chances of getting 
wet wcr(? about equal, whether you rode in a 
boat or waded across. However, during the 
high water in the fall and spring months, this 
boat was of considerable utility. The finest 
bridge in Logan County is the one crossing 



the Miami River immediately west of Logans- 
ville. It is of the high truss model, and 
is constructed entirely of wrought iron. 
Its entire length is 187 feet with two 
spans, supported at the ends and in the 
center by solid ■ masonry. It was built 
by the Cleveland Bridge and Iron Company 
during the winter of 1879-80. The 
luasonry by John M. Watters of Jefferson, 
Ohio. Entire cost $9,376. The work was 
all done under the supervision of S. A. 
Buchanan, Civil Engineer for Logan County, 
and reflects credit upon all connected there- 
with. 

The early mails were carried on horseback, 
and reached 'Logansville once each week, 
during favorable weather. John Dickson kept 
th(> first postoffice. It was established about 
1830. Lewis Young is the jH-esent Postmas- 
ter. The old mail line from Bellefontaine to 
Sidney, via Logansville, was long since aban- 
doned, and now a daily mail is received from 
DeGrafl". 

Messrs. Thompson and William Dickson, 
sons of the original proprietor, in the year 
1827, made a plat of a portion of their real 
estate upon the east side of the Miami, and 
this embryo village they named in honor of 
the celebrated Mingo Chief, whose burning 
speech to the messenger of Lord Dunmorc, in 
1774, has become immortal. Logansville is yet 
in its infancy. It contains-one general store, 
one drugstore, a church, school, two blacksmith 
shops and a Grange hall. The history of the lat- 
ter is as follows: Pleasant Grange, No. 485, 
P. of IL, was organized on .lanuary 29, 1879, 
with thirty charter members. Its meetings 
were held in the hall over Young's store for 
one year, when a purchase of the Presliyterian 
meeting-house was effected. This has been 
refitted, and here the society meets on Satur- 
day evening of each week. The membership 
now numbers sixty. The succession of Mas- 
ters is R. J. Smith and John Hannah. 



T' 



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HISTORY OF LOGAX COUXTY 



463 



The history of the churches dates from a 
period near the close of the war of 1812, and 
is of considerable interest. Early in the sum- 
mer of the year 1S15, an itinerant preacher of 
the New Light or Christian faith, a denomina- 
tion having its origan at a camp meeting held 
at Cane Ridge, Kentucky, near the dawning 
of the present century, came into the settle- 
ment, and announced a meeting at the log 
house of James Moore. At the appointed 
time the entire settlement turned ovit, and so 
much interest was manifested that another 
meeting was announced. This was followed 
at intervals of a few weeks duration, by others 
until about 1824, when the families of tlie 
four original settlers: James Moore, Robert 
Dickson, Alfred Mathews and John Means, 
united in the formation of the first religious 
society in Pleasant Township, and not long 
afterward, a log meeting-house was built in 
Logansville. A few years later a society of 
the Presbyterian denomination was formed 
here, and they united with the Christians in the 
erection of a comfortable frame church, (now 
the Grange hall). In this the original organi- 
zation met for worship until 1870, when the 
present substantial cliurch edifice at Logans- 
ville was erected. This society has now a 
large membership, and in connection a flourish- 
ing Sabbatli School. In point of chronological 
order the Methodist Episcopal Church ante- 
dates the Presbyterian. The date of its for- 
mation was not far from 1828. A hewed log 
meeting-house was erected at Logansville, and 
res'uJar reliffious services organized. For a 
time tlie societ}' gave promise of success, and 
its numbers increased, but eventually the tide 
set adversel3'-, the membership, by death and 
removals, decreased, until at last services were 
discontinued, and the old log chapel went to 
decay. In the northeastern part of the town- 
ship stands a pretty little church, built by the 
Society of United Brethren, a few years since. 
A small society still worships here. 



The school interest has been fostered from 
the earliest settlement in the township, and 
the commodious school buildings of to-day, 
with their cleaiilj- and well kept surroundings, 
attest the continuance of that fostering care. 
Immediately subsequent to the close of the 
war of 1812, a small log schoolhouse was 
erected upon what is now the McMullen farm, 
just past of Logansville, and in this building a 
man named Wilson com men ced a term of school 
the fall following, all the children in the town- 
ship were in attendance upon this school. 

The schoolhouse was of the most prim- 
itive character — unhewn walls, puncheon floor, 
seats and door; greased paper windows, 
and the wide-tiiroated stick chimney. '"And 
yet," one of the dozen sciiolars, the onh^ one 
now living, remarks: "the memory of that 
old homely schoolhouse is far more pleasing- 
to me than to look upon the huge piles of 
brick and stone constituting the school build- 
ings of to-day." Upon the organization of 
the township, a division into sub-districts was 
effected, and a number of frame schoolhouses 
erected. The first of these was erected in 
Logansville, on the site at present occupied 
by the brick schoolhouse. Following are the 
school statistics for Pleasant Township for the 
school year ending August 31, 18T9: 

Whole numher of pupils enrolled 363 

Whole amount paid teachers $1,7-18.23 

Whole number of schoolhoiiseii 7 

Value of schoolhouses and grounds §3,500. 

The writer has been unable to learn any- 
thing in relation to the organization of the 
township, except that the first election was 
held at the hotel of John Dickson's, in Lo- 
gansville. Several persons now live in the 
township who were present at this election, 
but none of them are able to give the date or 
the names of the officers elected. The re- 
cords in the office of the Township Clerk do 
not date back but a few years. 



f 



'eis 



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464 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUKTY. 



CHAPTER XV.* 

ZANE TOWNSniP— EAJILY SETTLE^IF.NT— LIFE IX THE WOODS— PIOXEER IXDUSTRIES- GROWTH 

OF SOCIETY— CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS. 



ZAXE is the oldest township in Logan 
County. The changes of over tUice- 
quarters of a century have passed over the 
scene until, at this day, looking backward 
throiig-h tlie receding years, we can scarcely 
realize the hardships, the trials and the sor- 
rows of those who made tliis wilderness to 
l)lossoni with the flowers of an advancing civ- 
ilization. Nature, over bountiful, seemed to 
lavish her gifts on this section of country. In 
its primeval state there was presented almost 
every feature that could delight the simple 
" sons of the forest," and charm the pioneer. 
Its beautifully undulating surface, the mighty 
forest trees of walnut, inajile, poplar and oak, 
the soft murmur of its rippling creeks and 
babbling brooks, t\w. lime-stone springs well- 
ing from the rocks, cool and refreshing — above 
all, its fertile soil, early attracted the rude 
savage and later called forth the admiration 
and energetic impulses of the frontiersman. 
The Big Darby Creek takes its source just 
beyond the north boundary of Zune Town- 
ship, at a limestone spring on the farm of 
Joseph Outland. It flows through the north- 
eastern portion of this township, receiving, 
near where it loaves, the waters of Mill 
Branch, and a short distance further south, in 
Cham|)algn County, the waters of 151" 
Branch, which latter stream drains the back 
lands of the southern and western portions of 
Zane townshi(). Mill Branch, itself a consid- 
erable stream, takes its rise in a low swamp, 
abounding in springs, on the western bound- 
ary line of the townshij), within a few feet of 
the head waters of the historical Mackachack. 

• Cuntril>iitv(l ],y L. 8. WelU. 



Both streams head in this swamp, which con- 
tains about 100 acres, and is the largest in 
this section. This low land seems to be the 
break in that limestone belt, or water-shod, 
which traverses the township northwest and 
southeast, forming the dividing line between 
the waters of the Scioto and those of th'e Great 
Miami. Formerly older swamps abounded in 
the township, but through the exi-rtions of the 
progressive farmers of this section they have 
been drained, leaving a soil rich and exceed- 
ingly j)roductive. At the present time the 
land is well cleared and under cultivation. A 
fine system of tile under-drainage prevails 
throughout the township, making the tillable 
land especially valuable. No other township 
in the State possesses so many maple sugar 
" camps," forming thereby an industry third 
onU' to wheat and corn. 

Zane Township is situated in the extreme 
southeastern ])art of Logan County, and is 
composed entirely of Virginia Military- land. 
It was one of four original townships, into 
which Logan County was divided, and form- 
erly comprised within its boundaries what is 
now Perry and Bokes Creek. Its present 
boundaries are as follows: On the north b^' 
Perry Township, on the east by Libertj' and 
Allen Townships, in Union County; on the 
south by Hush and Wayne Townshij>s, in 
Champaign County, and on the west by 
Monroe Township. The chief productions 
are wheat, corn and maple sugar. Stock rais- 
in"- also receives considerable attention. It 
contains but one village, that of Middleburg, 
situat(!d in the north central partof tiie town- 
ship, on the highest point of land in this section. 



^^ 



r 



il 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



465 



Zaiie Township received its iir.me from 
Isaac Zaiie, who was bom in 1753, in Virginia, 
and at an early ago was taken prisoner by the 
Wyandots and carried to Detroit. He grew 
to manhood among them, and married a squaw 
of that nation. Soon after the Greenville 
Treaty he bought a tract of land, consisting of 
1,800 acres, where the town of Zauesfield 
now stands, and died there in 1810. 

Perhaps the first entry of land was made by 
Robert Power, March IT, 1800, and consisted 
of a 2,000 acre tract in the eastern part of the 
township. This tract was subsequently divi- 
ded between Lucas Sullivant and General 
Duncan McArthur. 

The first settlements made in either Cham- 
paign or Logan Counties were indirectly the 
result of Wagner's campaign on the Maumee. 
When the army in part disbanded at the 
Maumee Rapids, after the defeat of the In- 
dians and the consummation of the Greenville 
Treaty, the soldiers, many of whom came 
from Virginia and Kentucky, returned to 
their- homes, bearing glorious accounts of the 
magnificence of this locality. Soon a wave 
of emigration set in toward the head waters 
of the Groat Miami and the Mad Rivers, bear- 
ing upon its crest Job Sharp, the first white 
settler in either Logan or Champaign Coun- 
ties, rie was a native of Now Jersey, but 
entered the northwestern territory from Cul- 
]iepper Co., Va., locating near Chillicothe in 

1800. He remained here but a short time, 
and then with his family, consisting of Phelie, 
his wife, his son, Joshua, and daughters, 
Achsah and Sarah, together with his son-in- 
law, Carlisle Haines, a mere lad, he started 
with a four-horse team for the head waters of 
the Mackachack, and arrived in what is now 
Zane Township, and settled on the farm now 
owned by Lucius Cochran, on Christmas day, 

1801, locating on part of the tract surveyed 
by Levi Sullivant in 1797. Of that long 
journey tlirough the then unbroken wildi^r- 



ness, and the hardships endured, none are 
now living who shared them. Suffice it to 
say, that immediately upon his arrival, with 
the help of his family, a rude structure was 
erected, which served to jjrotect them from 
the inclemency of the weather. In the spring 
a small clearing was made, upon which they 
raised a crop. Thus, in the midst of the 
mighty forest ivhich stretched for miles in 
every direction, and in whose shades lurked 
the Indian and his still more savage compan- 
ions, the wolf andpanther, beleaguered by the 
terrible privations of pioneer life, then was 
planted the germ of that civilization which 
to-day flourishes throughout the length and 
breadth of this section. Job Sharp died on 
January 13, 3822. His wife, Phebe, who sur- 
vived him a short time, was a remarkable 
woman, being for many j'ears the only physi- 
cian in this locality, and well versed, it is 
said, in those simple but effective remedies 
that were used in curing diseases which pre- 
vailed in pioneer settlements. She was high- 
ly estcemvd by all the early settlers, and her 
dying request was that she should be buried, 
not in the cemetery, but at the roadside, so 
that her friends might see her grave when 
passing, and thus call to mind her benefi- 
cence. Her request was complied with, and 
to-day a plain stone, with her initials upon it, 
marks her resting-place. Both tlie girls are 
dead, and Joshua has also dejjarted. In 1802, 
Esther, daughter of Job Sharp,- who had mar- 
ried Thomas Antrim in Virginia, and had 
moved with her husband to Chillicotlio, came 
up to the little settlement, alone, on horse- 
back, on a visit to her parents. Thev were 
so overjoyed at seeing her that they insisted 
upon iier remaining and sending for her hus- 
band. This was done, and in 1803 Thomas 
Antrim, the second settler in this localitv, en- 
tered the township, settling upon his father- 
in-law's farm. By trade, he was a black- 
smitl), and proved a valuable adjunct to the 



vl^ 







4GG 



HISTORY OF LOG AX COUNTY. 



little coiiimunity. He was also a Quaker 
preacher, ami thus, side by side with the ad- 
vance of the settlement, grow up and ex- 
panded ■ the Christianizing iiilluences of that 
denomination, its earlj' start showing, in a 
striking manner, the deep religious character 
of the first settlers. Thomas Antrim and his 
wife arc both dead. Their son, Daniel An- 
trim, was the first white child born in either 
Union, Champaign or Clarke Counties. His 
birth took place in 1804, and he died in April, 
1879. 

The same year, 1803, John Sharp, brother 
of Job Sharp, who had remiiined behind his 
brother in ^'irginia, followed after and settled 
in th(,' immediate vicinity. He began to im- 
prove and clear his land, harrass-ed, however, 
by all tiie drawbacks incident to pionec^r life. 
He reared a family of eight sons and three 
daughters. He died at the advanced age of 
!>S, universally beloved and respected. Many 
of his descendants are well-to-do citizens of 
this township. 

Moses Kuans, an old Rcvolutioiiarv soldier, 
at the earnest solicitation of Job Sharp, who 
had known him well in ^'irginia, and had sent 
him accounts of the settlement in Zane 
Township, came up to the Sharp settlement 
in 1803 on horseback. Satisfying himself in 
regard to the fertility of the soil, the excel- 
lent climate, etc., he returned to Virginia 
and j)urchased several military claims. in 
1804, with his family, he started for Zane 
Township, but reaching Cliillieothe at the be- 
ginning of the winter season, he remained 
there until the following year, when, with a 
five-horse team, he started and came through 
to the settlement, locating his claims on the 
land now occupied by his grandchildren. 
His two sons, William and Joseph, served in 
till- war of 1812 — the latteras captain. None 
of Ids family survive him. The year ISOj 
witnesM'd the settletnent of James and Joseph 
Stokes. They wore both born in Culpepper 



County, Virginia. James brought with him 
his wife, a daughter of Moses Euans. They 
settled in Zane Township, and put up the first 
frame house in this township. This frame 
house was a great curiosity to the whites and 
Indians. Joseph was a Lieutenant in the 
W'ar of 1812, and after its close engag- 
ed in the mercantile business. He also 
served as County Commissioner for many 
years. 

Quite an influx of settlers took place the 
following year, 1806. In that j^ear came 
Daniel Garwood with bis sons, Jose, Dan- 
iel and .lonathan, and daughters. Patience 
an(T Sarah; John and Joshua Inskeep and 
their families; Robert Ray and his son, 
Joseph, all from Cul])epper, Virginia; Joshua 
Outland, from the State of North Carolina, 
and Joshua Ballinger, from New Jersey. 
The Garwoods early became prominent citi- 
zens of this secticm; Jose in ])articular, hav- 
ing received more than an ordinary educa- 
tion, was given several positions of trust and 
honor. He served with distinction in tlic war 
of 1812, and was a])]iointed IJriixade Inspector 
under Gen. McArthur, witli whom he was on 
very intimate terms. All the members of the 
family are now dead. 

The Inskeep brothers were related by mar- 
riage to the Garwoods, and came to Ohio in 
1805, settling on Darby Plains, near Milford 
Centre. Preferring the tiplnnds, they moved 
to this locality the following year. No man 
])layed a more prominent ])art in the eiirly 
history of the township than John Inskeep. 
He served as thcfirst Justice of the Peace in 
what is now Zane and Perry Townshi])s, his 
commission bearing date November IC, 1816, 
and the signature of Tiiomas Worthington, 
Governor of Ohio. He was tdectod to the 
Legislature from Champaign County when it 
(•mbraced what is now Logan and Clarke 
Counties, and, in 1816, conjointly with Reu- 
ben Wallace, Member of Legislature, and 



i. 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



4G7 



Daniel McKinnon, Senator, procured the 
separation of the three counties. He was a 
local minister, first in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and subsequently in the Methodist 
Protestant Church, assisting in the establish- 
ment of the first church of the former denomi- 
nation in this vicinity. He died in 1859. His 
son, William Inskeep, now living, was the 
second male white child born in the county, the 
date being January 29, 1807 ; William is 
also a minister in the Methodist Protestant 
Church. 

Joshua Inskeep also became ;in influential 
citizen. Like his brother, he was a minister 
in the Methodist Church. The brick house 
that he built — a most substantial structure, 
now standing on the farm of Alonzo P. West 
— is perhaps the oldest now used as a residence 
in the township. It is said of him that it was 
no uncommon thing for him to entertain on 
Quarterly ^Meeting occasions fifty to seventy- 
five people, such was his hospitality. He is 
dead. Many of his descendants are still resi- 
dents of the township. 

All of Josiah Outland's worldly effects were 
transported from Jackson Countj^ in North 
Carolina — the "Pine Tar" State — to Zane 
Township in a one-horse cart. The trip was 
over the mountains, and it was six weeks 
from the time he started before he reached 
his destination. He settled in the extreme 
northern part of what is now Zane Township, 
and it is from a spring near his house that 
the Big Darby takes its rise. He and his 
wife reared a family of eleven sons and five 
daughters, all of the former settling around 
their father in such proximity that it is said 
they were all able to hear him call his stock 
to be fed. The names of his sons crave 
rise to the following hapjjy stanza, cur- 
rent a quarter of a century ago, and said 
to owe its origin to the reply of an old 
lady at a quilting party, who, in answer 
to the question, ^V'ljut were the names Jf 



Josiah Outland's sons ? replied: There is 

Jeny, Rob and John, 
Bill, Edd and Tom, 
Pete. John and Joe, 
Sam and Ezrio. 

The good old dame corrupted the last name 
slightly — we suppose to preserve the rhyme. 
Josiah Outland lived to be 86 years of age. 
He was a member of the Friends' Church. 

John Warner and John Cowgill came to the 
settlement in 1807; Warner was a native 
of New Jersey, and served in the frontier 
armies for six years, fighting for some time 
under Wayne, being in the hitter's armj'when 
it disbanded ; he immediately passed north 
into Canada, where he married and settled. 
Job Sharp had known Warner, having met 
him in the East, and the two had become fast 
friends, but Sharp had lost sight of him lor 
several years ; accidentally hearing where he 
was located, through an Indian trader, he sent 
him a letter, asking him to come to Znnc 
Township and settle. Wiirner, immediately 
acting upon the suggestion of Sharp, left his 
plow standing in the furrow, and, gathering 
his household effects, crossed to the American 
side. Placing his goods in a dug--out canoe, ho 
" poled " along the American shore until lie 
reached the mouth of the Maumee River, 
passed up the river to the mouth of the 
Auglaize River, poled up that stream until 
his further progress was checked by drift- 
w-ood, when he secured his canoe, and striking 
across the country, accompanied by his wife, 
he reached the hospitable cabin and received 
a hearty welcome from his old friend. 
Job Sharp. The next day. Sharp, in com- 
pany with Warner, took his pack-horses and 
brought Warner's goods to the little settle- 
ment. Warner located on Mill Branch, about 
one mile south of the present village of 
Middleburg ; he and his wife are both 
dead. Cowgill came from the Old I)ominio;i, 
and, when he first entered Ohio, located in 



•1 "V 



il- 



4GS 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



Columhianii County; he came to Zane and 
settled in the southern part of the township. 

Abishai Warner, brother of John Warner, 
joined his brother in Zane Township, in 
1800, after a se])aration of over twenty 
vears ; ho bronght with him liis wife, four 
sons and four daughters ; the names of his 
sons were — Isaac, Samuel, David and Jesse. 
Isaac was a great hunter and trapper, and it is 
said tiiat many times the family were kept 
from sulfering for want of food b}' his skill as 
a marksman ; he was also a scout in the war 
of 1812. The father, Abishai, served as one of 
the first Trustees in the'township. Samuel is 
tiie only one of the family living, and of all 
the pioneers, ho alone remains — a man 77 
vears of age ; he has the use of all his facul- 
ties, and preserves his earh- vigor to a remark- 
able degree ; at present he resides in Porters- 
burg, Union County. 

Jose|)h Cur! came to Ohio from Lynch- 
burg, Va., in 1801, and settled in Columbi- 
ana County; in ISOO, he purciiascd part of 
the farm of Job Sharp, and, accompanied by 
his son, Joseph Stratton Curl, he came to tlic 
settlement, in this townsliip. Deceived by the 
deerlicks in this locality that there was an 
!d)undance of salt, which w;is very scarce alid 
dillicult to procure, he began to bore for the 
same, and it is said that he spent over ^1,000 
— a very large sum of money in those days — 
in his fruitless endeavor. 

Dr. John D. Elbert, of Kentucky, was the 
first physician in tliis townshi]). He came in 
180'.l, and settled on the farm now owned by 
Job Bishop. lie was one of the founders of 
I III- fust .Methodist Episcopal Churi'h, and died 
1 1 his way to visit a patient, December 28, 
ls:;s. The epitaph upon his gravc-stoiio ex- 
ji:i sM's the opinion of those who knew him 
II. It is as follows: " Dr. Elliert wasagood 
i.liysician. an honest man, a sincere Christian 
anil truly tiie friend of tiii) jioor and afflicted, 
lie died in the 07th year of his age." 



Samuel Ballingcr and his sons, John and 
Joshua, came here from the Old Dominion in 
1810. They first located on a farm on the 
edge of what is now Middleburg. Joshua 
mariied Delilah, daughter of John Inskeep, 
the first white female child born in the town- 
ship. She still survives. Walter Marshall, a 
native of the "Blue Grass" State, came the 
same j-ear and located in the southwestern 
part of the townshiji on a tract of land adjoin- 
ing Dr. Elbert's. lie died recently. 

Thomas Segqr was a native of Baltimore, 
Maryland, and located in the southern part 
of Zane in 1811. His house, which had been 
built in a very substantial manner, was fre- 
quently used as a block-house, and here the 
settlers would gather on the rumor of a 
threatened Indian invasion. 

The earliest settlers were noted for their 
hospitality. Whoever came among them, 
though a stranger, they shared with him their 
humble but wholesome food; and, indeed, 
such was their generosity that ofttimes they 
would deny themselves for the purpose of 
ministering to the wants of th(>ir guest. 

Their domestic economy was simple, be- 
cause their wants were few and their demands 
easily satisfied. Their little log cabin was to 
them a home whose memory was long cher- 
ished, even after a better building had 
usurped its place; and at this day the oldest 
inhabitants speak with delight of the manj' 
happy moments spent in the pioneer honie. 
In the earlier days of the settlement, the men 
wore breeches and roundabouts of tanned 
deerskin, with shirts of homespun. The 
women wore kirtlcs of doeskin, while linen 
and linscy-wolscy serveil in place of the 
luimespun garments of the men. It was not 
until IS2:J that Lot Inskeej) opened the first 
store in a small cabin near the old Inskeep 
siwmill, and sold pins, needles, tinware, and 
a little English calico. Previous to this time, 
#i(! only goods sold were by an Indian trader at 






'f 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



4C9 



Zanesfield, named Robindi. The store of Lot 
Inskeep was subsequently moved to Garwood 
Mills byJosephStokes,who succeeded Inskeep. 
Shoe packs and moccasins were the only 
coverings for the feet. The latter were made 
by the Indians from deerskin; the former 
were made from- hogskin, and consisted of a 
piece of skin large enough to cover the foot, 
which was lapped across the front and then 
sewed up fiom the toe to the instep, where 
'an oj^ening was loft to insert the foot. The 
heel was then sewed up, forming quite a 
comfortable covering. AVhen the weather 
was very cold, they were lined with wool and 
were half-soled. Shoes were subsequently 
made by traveling shoemakers, who would 
come into the settlement and manufacture 
any number of them for fifty cents a pair. 
Traveling tinkers used to journey from set- 
tloniont to settlement, and remelting all the 
old pewter disiies and platters that had been 
broken or worn out, would recast them. In 
1S18, the Connecticut (Yankee) clock ped- 
dlers made their appearance for the first time, 
and clocks became an institution in all the 
well-to-do I'amilies. It was some time before 
scissors came into the settlement; and it is 
related of Mrs. Lydia A. Marquis that, in 
making a quilt, she was compelled to cut the 
blocks out with a knife,-as there was not a pair 
of shears in the settlement. For salt thej^ 
were either compelled to travel to Portland, 
now Sandusky City, or to Chillicothe. They 
generally went through with a load of wheat, 
and returned with salt and Other necessary 
commodities. Ri .the fall of ISIO, Abishai 
Warner went to the latter settlement and 
bought a bushel of salt, paying for the same 
$13. Several projects for making salt from 
deerlicks were attemptecl, but in all cases 
signally failed, after a considerable outlay 
of money. In later times, previous to 
the building of the Cincinnati, Sandusky 
and Cleveland Railroad, the wheat was all 



hauled to Portland, a distance of 100 miles, 
the entire trip occupying nine da3's. The 
price of wheat in the settlement in 1843 was 
50c. per bushel, while at Portland it brought 
§1. A load consisted of twenty-five bushels, 
and the teamsters usually went through in 
companies, camping out on the waj-. The 
barter price of wheat was a bushel of salt, no 
matter what was the price of wheat; and salt 
and leather would usually constitute the load 
back. Sugar was also produced for the market, 
and brought from oc. to 6c. per pound, and 
molasses from 50c. to GOc. per gallon. Gin- 
seng found a ready market at 8c. per pound 
for green and 25c. dried, and many a maiden 
fair arrayed herself in stylish English calico 
from the proceeds of what she dug out of the 
ground. Meal was the staple article, and form- 
ed the foundation of the pioneers' supplies. 

In the year 1808, the greatest consternation 
prevailed in the little settlement on account 
of the failure of the corn crop. .Jose Gar- 
wood, in a manuscrij)t written a few days 
before his death, relates that in that year 
Dan Garwood, Moses Euans and George 
Harris, with a five-horse team, went to Chil- 
licothe to get a load for the use of the settle- 
ment; and Jose himself, then quite a !;oy, 
went along to ride the fifth horse as they 
threaded their way on the zigzng road down 
the Darby. He further relates that wheat 
was not planted until 1808. The first crop, 
when made into bread and eaten, made cverjr 
one sick, and the experiment was not tried 
again until the war of 1813. The principal 
meat was venison and other wild game which 
the forest afforded. When a long, cold win- 
ter compelled the game to seek other locali- 
ties, the settlers often suffered for want of 
meat. E inuind Outland relates that his 
father's family lived at one time nearlv two 
months without bread, and at the same period 
meat also became very scarce. One mornino-, 
after being without food of any kind for .some 



470 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



time, his Tnother went to the spring near the 
cabin, and saw two pigeons. With joy, she 
returned to the house, and informing her 
husband, he immediately went down and shot 
them. Tiiese were thankfully eaten. 

The first cook-stove introduced into the 
township created a profound sensation. It 
was purchased by Dr. John Elbert in 1839. 
The second one was purchased by Jose Gar- 
wood. They each cost ^^55, and were paid 
for in dressed hogs at S2 per hundredweight. 
Stransrc as it may seem, this introduction of 
stoves was considered an unwarranted inno- 
vation by the good people, and they were 
treated with distrust and contempt, many 
preferring to bake their "Johnny cake "' on 
the board and " hoe cake " in the ashes, the 
"pone" in the oven over the fire-place, and 
the whoaten loaf in the old-fashioned tin re- 
flector beside the large open fire-place. For 
their supply of kettles, both for house use 
and for making maple sugar, the settlers had 
to go to the Mary Ann Furnace in Licking 
County; and when the old ten-plate stove for 
heating churches, school-houses, and occa- 
sionally the "best room," made its advent, 
fpiite a trade was carried on from that point. 

Farming utensils were also very slow in 
their introduction, and meeting the favor of 
the settlers. The first left-handed plow was 
brought into the township in 1841, and was 
made by .John Coojier of Urbana. Previous 
to this time, the plow in use was the right- 
handed one, consisting of a wooden mold- 
board and shod with an iron point. 

The gr:iin in the early times was tramped 
out with horses or jxmnded out with a Hail. 
The first threshing machine was a crude affair, 
liiit, of course, created a great sensation in 
tile township. Its characteristic feature was 
its huge wings which beat the grain out. The 
mnchiiie was owned by a man named William 
Brown, and was first operated on tiie farm of 
Jose Garwood. 



Stock, as a general thing, ran wild in the 
woods, but at night they had to be carefully 
housed. Hogs were long, lank and dangerous. 
Many having escaped, ran wild in the woods, 
and became very ferocious. Samuel Warner, 
while on his way through the woods, was 
attacked by a drove of these wild hogs, and 
pressed so hard that he took to a tree, where 
he was compelled to remain for a number of 
hours, the hogs in the meantime tearing the 
bark from the bottom of the" tree with their 
huge tusks. After some years it was neces- 
sary to hunt these hogs like other wild game, 
so numerous and dangerous had they become. 
In the bear, however, the hogs had a formida- 
ble enemy, and it is said that a hog that could 
not outrun a bear had no show for an exis- 
tence. Cows would often get lost in the 
woods, and not infrequently, when found, 
would be mired in some lick or spring. On 
account of the wild pasture, the milk would 
often become tainted, thus inducing what was 
known as milk sickness, which did not dis- 
appear un''' ■ nil- pastures became the feed- 
ina: errou d or t'lo cows. Of course it was 
necessary i.. . the cattle, hogs, shee]) and 
horses shouUlhave some mark by which each 
individual could distin-ruish his own animals. 
This was dune in several ways, by slitting, 
cro])ping and cutting the cars, and having 
each peculiar mark registered with the Town- 
shi]) Clerk. 

Wild animals caused the settlers a great 
deal of trouble, and were very numerous in 
early times. IJcars, especially at times, were 
quite bold, as the following incident shows: 
In very early times as a wife of one of the 
settlers was Vmsily engaged with her household 
afl'airs, she was suddenly st^n-tled by the loud 
barking of the house dog, followed by the 
screams of her three-year-old child. 

Husiiiiig into the yard, to her horror she 
bi'held a full-grown bi-ar ])erched on a low 
outbuilding, and thi; faithful dog standing 



i)]^ 



.HISTORY OF LOCtAX COUNTY. 



471 



guard over th3 child, which was only saved 
from a horrible death by its sagacity. The 
mother snatched her child from its perilous 
situation, and called her husband from an ad- 
joining '"clearing," who quickly shot the 
bear. The wolves, both on account of their sa- 
gacity and ferociousness, were a terrible pest, 
necessitating the enactment of a law for their 
extirpation. It was almost impossible for 
the early farmers to raise a flock of sheep, as 
a few of these animals would kill an entire 
flock in a short time. They were very watch- 
ful, and as they traveled mostly at night, it 
was hard to shoot them. Job Garwood and 
Isaac Warner, indnced by the premium of 85 
a scalp, made a specialty of trapping them. 
This was accomplished by either a dead-fall 
or the steel trap. It is related as a fact that 
when a wolf was caught in a steel trap, and 
the trap was fastened to a tree or stake, that 
the wolf would gnaw its leg off to escape. 
Rattlesnakes also infested the country, having 
their dens in the limestone clifl's along the 
creeks. Raccoons were also a great pest, de- 
stroying the corn and other productions of the 
settlers. Thus, a farmer who produced a good 
crop, and saved his stock, could be congratu- 
lated. . The first orchard was set out b\' Job 
Sharp, in 1802. The same year, his wife 
planted, near the house, a sprig of a pear 
which she had brought from Mitchell's, down 
near Urbana, as a riiling whip. Strange as 
it may appear, this little sprig took root, and 
grew into a fine, large tree. Some vandal 
hand drove a spike into the tree many years 
ago, causing it to decay in the interior, but it 
has preserved enough vitality to bear fruit 
even at this late day. In 1810, Johnny Ap- 
jjleseed, a personage familiar in almost every 
settlement at an early day, and whose name 
is yet held in regard and respect in the local- 
ity, planted a nursery on the farm of Joshua 
InsAeep. Many an old orchard in Zane 
Township owes its origin to the foresight of 



this truly remarkable man, and, as long as the 
traditions of this locality will be cherished, 
the name of Jonathan Chapman will linger 
among the people. 

" And if they enquire whence come these trees 
Whei e not a bough ouc'e swayed in the breeze, 
The answer still comes as they travel on — 
These trees were planted by Appleseed John." 

Such is the productive character of some of 
these trees, that one on the farm of John Ins- 
keep has been known to bear as many as sixty 
bushels of apples in one year. 

Death, the inexorable iconoclast, found its 
first victim in Henry Jones, known through- 
out the settlement as Grandfather Jones, in 
March, 1810. His body was interred in the 
Quaker graveyard. The first marriage was 
that of "William Euans and Rachel Stokes, 
which occurred in 1811. 

The Indians loved this locality with all the 
passion of their race, and often, after having 
been driven from its sylvan fastnesses, they 
would wander back in obedience to a law — 
innate, higher than instinct — that of love for 
home and childhood associations. Previous 
to the war of 181'^, the Indians were much 
more numerous than the whites, and were 
warlike. The steady and aggressive push of 
the whites had driven them to desperation, 
which only succumbed at the defeat on the 
Maumee bj^ Mad Anthony Wayne, and sunk 
out of sight upon the death of Tecumseh, in 
the battle of the Thames. The tribes repre- 
sented in this locality were the Shawnees, 
Mingoes, Wyandotts, Dela wares and Potta- 
watamies, of which the latter seemed the most 
offensive, and were distinguished from all the 
other tribes by their complexion being of a 
darker hue. As a necessary consequence, the 
pioneers never felt safe with the Indians within 
striking distance, and when the discouraging 
news of Hull's surrender reached this lo- 
cality; when the alarm was sounded that 
the Indians w.re massacring all alono- the 



r|® 



ii-py 



17 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUXTY. 



border; when Procter's threat, that he would 
march to Chillicothe, became kiuiwn — the ut- 
most terror prevailed, and a nuniher of block- 
houses were built in anticipation of a speedy 
and sudden attack. But this did not occur, and 
the Indians tliat came to the settlement after 
the war of 1812, were generally friendly. 
They entered the .settiement for the purpose 
of trading, and did so while on their way to 
and from the Indian towns at the north to 
tiioir eornlields south on the Darbj' Plains. 
Their articles of barter consisted of skins, 
furs, moccasins, etc., but generally they had 
beautiful worked baskets, made of many 
colored stripes, taken from the box-alder. 
These baskets they filled with cranberries, 
which latter could be bought for fifty cents a 
bushel. They generally received in exchange 
iiieal, potatoes, salt, and, under some circum- 
st-inces, whisky. The squaws, as a rule, did 
all the work, and the perseverance ami inge- 
nuity manifested by them is still retained in 
ih(! stories of pioneer times. Zane Township is 
celebrated for its maple sugar camps, but the 
Indians made sugar in this localitj' long before 
the white man had learned of its value, and, 
even after the country became settled, they 
would return to the camp for this purpose. 
The Sfpuiws, of course, did all the work, and 
their manner of proceeditig was as follows: 
To tiip the tree they struck an underhand 
lick with a S(|u;iw-hatchet, which ax is de- 
scribed as having an eye like an old-fashioned 
wceiling hoe, a long blade, and weighed gen- 
erally from one and a half to two pounds. 
Tliev then would sjilit long, thin strips of 
wood, eight or ten inches long, and drive 
them into the split in the tree, so that the sap 
would run into the elm liark troughs. Tliise 
tniuglis were nuide as follows: Finding a 
tree of the proper dimensions, they would cut 
round the trunk, in length about thn-e feet, 
and peeling it off would trim it with their 
butcher kniv^'S so thin that it became pliable. 



They would then gather or pucker the ends, 
so that, by the bulging of the middle, a 
trough would be formed. They woukl then tie 
up the ends with elm bark string. To keep the 
middle from coming together, when the bark 
began to dry, a cross-stick was placed in the 
inside. These troughs were generally made 
in the Sjiring and placed in a shanty to dry, 
so that thej- would be ready for the ensuing 
year. The shanties were also constructed by 
the women, and consisted of a framework of 
poles upon which was placed a covering of 
elm bark. These shanties were very durable 
and were seen standing many j-eai-s after the 
Indians had left the locality. Samuel War- 
ner related an incident of seven squaws cut- 
ting down a large forest oak, and the only 
implements used were three of these squaw 
hatchets. The work, it is said, took them 
seven days and they never left the work day 
or night, and when the tree was felled, eleven 
coons compensated theiu for their labor and 
saved them from starvation. Altliougli the 
Indians were generally friendly, the following 
incident shows that the settlers had to be ever 
upon the alert: When Samuel Warner was 
ten years of age, he, in company with his 
brother David, was one day sent by his father 
to attend to a charcoal heap, that the latter 
was burning, when a renegade Indian, known 
as Inilian .lohn, and a rej)uted thief and dan- 
gerous man, came suddeidy upon them, and, 
without saying a word, drew from the pocket 
of an old overcout, which he had on, a piece 
of tangled rope, which he immediately began 
to untangle, meanwhile approaching the boys, 
lielieving his suspicious movements boded no 
good, Sam dispatched his brothrr to tiie 
house, which was at quite a distance, for their 
father, while he continued to rake up the dirt 
on the heap, determining to do his best with 
the W'Av iron rake which he was using, while 
ho contrived to move away Irom the Indian, 
who followed around after him, leisurely 



T 



_3\^>- 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



473 



unwinding th(yrope. Suddenly the father came 
breathlessly running, and John slipped the 
rope into his pocket, denying that he had one. 
The father, warning the Indian against another 
such a visit, told him to make off, which he did, 
and was never seen in the settlement again. 
xVfter the war of 1812, the Indians did not 
appear in this locality in great numbers, and 
soon ceased to come only at great intervals, 
finallj' disappearing altogether. The Wyan- 
dotts, who had a reservation at what is now 
Upper Sandusky, were the last to leave, and 
the ruins of their old mission church can yet 
lie seen in that town. 

As has been noticed above, there were nu- 
merous deerlicks in this locality, and to these 
licks deer in great numbers used to repair. 
Joseph Curl had a terrible encounter with a 
wounded buck near one of these licks. Hav- 
ing shot the animal, and supposing also that 
he had killed it, he went up to it for the pur- 
pose of sticking it, when the buck suddenly 
sprang to its feet and charged Curl, trying to 
impale him upon his antlers, which he only 
avoided by dodging around a tree. For a 
time the battle seemed in favor of tiie animal, 
but at last, by a lucky stab, Curl disabled 
him, and finally killed him. In all probabil- 
ity, if the buck had not been badly wounded 
at the start, he would have been more than a 
match for his antagonist. So plentiful wore 
the deer that Samuel Warner relates that he 
has killed as many as three in ten minutes, 
without leaving his tracks, while wild turkeys 
could be shot any time from the door of the 
cabin. 

The pioneers, as a general rule, were men 
of great strength, agility and endurance. 
One of Joseph Curl's sons, Marion, was noted 
for his fleetness and agility. It is stated on 
the best of authorit\r that he has been known 
to jump fifty feet on a level in what is 
known as a hop, skip and jump. In bravery 
he was surpassed by none. He was killed in 



the war, but, like Col. Bowie at the Alamo, it 
was not \intil seven of his assailants had been 
killed that he was compelled to succumb to 
superior numbers. 

The home of the famous Simon Kenton 
was in this township when it included Zanes- 
field, and even after the division he used to 
frecpiently be seen in this locality. He re- 
lated to Samuel Warner that once, when a 
captive among the Indians, ho picked up a 
papoose and threw it into a kettle of boiling 
hominy, and in the excitement that ensued 
made good his escape. 

On the 2nd day of June, 181G, an alarm 
was sounded through the settlement in Zano 
Township that the little son of James Curl, 
aged seven years, had been lost in the woods. 
At this late day the alarm of a lost child will 
produce consternation, but words cannot de- 
pict the e-xcruciating agony that was conveyed 
in those two words when this country was a 
wild(>rness, and the g-reat forest heard only 
the tread of wild beasts — knew no track but 
tiie Indian war trail. Tlii^ child, in company 
with two of his elder brotiiers, had gone into 
the woods for the purpose of hunting wild 
gooseberries. His two brothers, grovving 
tired, returned home, leaving him to follow; 
but he, continuing' his hunt, soon wandered so 
far that he was unable to find the trail back 
to his fathers cabin. Night came on, and 
the little waif took refuge in a tree-top. 
The next day he wandered forth, his only 
food being wild gooseberries and wild onions. 
Toward evening he laid down, and was visited 
by two animals, supposed to have been 
wolves, but they did not molest him. From 
this time on until the eighth day he wandered 
through the woods, subsisting on the wild 
berries that he could find, while the only pro- 
tection that he had against the wild beasts 
was his innocency and little hands. He 
said, in relating his adventure, that one day a 
large black, woolly dog came up to him, and 



474 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



he put his hands on it and petted it. No 
doubt, this dog was a black bear. All the 
settlers, in the meantime, had turned out, but, 
as day after day went by and no trace of him 
was discovered, the parents, in despair, bo<jan 
to think tliat further search was useless, and 
gave liitn up for lost; but the little fellow 
traveled on until he reached the mouth of 
Bokes Creek, which enters into the Sjioto 
River, in Delaware Co., twenty miles from 
his home. Here, with his clothes hanging 
in shreds from his little body, and bleeding 
from innumerable scratches received in the 
woods, he found the cabin of Samuel Tyler. 
He entered the open door of the cabin and 
stood in the miildle ol" the floor before he was 
discovered, and with his ])ale face, emaciated 
form and wild look, produced about as much 
siirprise as a wild animal would under the 
same circumstances. The good housewife 
folded the little waif to \wt heart, and then 
did everything to relieve his wants. At this 
cabin he was found by his brother, who re- 
turned with him to the anxious father and 
mothei;, who were overjoyed at what they 
considered the especial dispensation of Provi- 
dence. 

Mrs. James Marquis relates that she, to- 
gether with a sister and two brothers, was 
once lost in the woods. They had all ffone to 
a slate quarry to procure some slates, and 
through some cause they wandered off, and, 
on account of the woods having been burned 
over, they were unable to find the trail back 
to the cabin. Night coming on, the older 
children built a shelter of bark to protect 
their little sister, who was only two years old. 
The neighborhood having been alarmed, 
search was made, and they were found far in 
the night, three miles from home, in the midst 
of the dense forest. Mrs. Marcjuis was then 
only six years old, and carried her little sister 
all the distance. 

This section has been famed from earliest 



times for its sugar-making, aiTd was a favor- 
ite resort for the Indians for that purpose, 
as before described, and is yet said to be 
the greatest sugar-producing township in the 
State, and the value of the jiroduction is only 
exceeded Ikm-c by that of corn and wheat. 
Some of th(! sugar houses are fitted u]i in a 
most elaborate manner, of which that of 
Talford Blackburn is a fair example. It con- 
sists of a largo building about 20xt)0 feet, -in 
one end of which is a furnace on which is a 
sugar pan twenty feet long and three feet 
wide, on one side of which are nine large ket- 
tles, while on the other side are eight flat 
iron pans, dnto these receptacles the sap is con- 
ducted by an iron pipe, from two large tanks, 
called store troughs, in an adjoining build- 
ing, while the sap, bj' an ingenious arrange- 
ment, is changed from one pan to another, 
according to its varying conditions, until it is 
finally " sugared off." The capacity of such a 
furnace is two hundred barrels jier day, but 
the amount usually handled is from one hun- 
dred to one hundred and fifty barrels. The 
cost of fitting up such a camp, including 
buckets, crocks, hauling barrels, etc., is from 
§800 to §1,000. The larger camps contain 
from 1,000 to 3,000 vessels, and produce per 
annum from 2,000 to 5,000 pounds of sugar 
at an average of about 10 cents per pound 
Thirty thousand dollars worth of sugar was 
forn)erly considered an average yield for the 
township, and twenty-five years ago one camp 
is said to have i)roilueed over 25,000 jiouiids, 
but the sugar interest is now on the decline. 
The fathers of many of the earliest settlers 
in this township were soldiers in the l'(;volu- 
tionary War, and a few of the pioneers them- 
selves acted their part in that great struggle 
and in the Indian wars which, for y<'ars, blazed 
along our frontiers. " Mad " Anthony's over- 
throw of the Indians at the Maumee Hapids, 
and the crushing defeat at the battle of Tip- 
pecanoe, had the effect, however, of checking 



•e" (S- 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



475 



the Indians in their depredations, and it was 
only throug-h the insidious and malicious ma- 
chinations of the British agents, in 1811, that 
they were again prevailed upon to dig up the 
hatchet and take sides against the Americans — • 
a policy reprehended at liome and bitterly 
censured among all civilized nations. They 
joined the British, and the first knowledge of 
that fact came from the lurid glare of the 
burning cabins which blazed a foreboding bea- 
con lio-ht alone: our defenceless borders. The 
news of Hull's disgraceful surrender of the 
fort at Detroit spread consternation and alarm 
among the settlers. A company was at once 
organized, consisting of nearly all the able- 
bodied men in the settlement, and Zanesfield, 
then a part of this township, became a fron- 
tier post. The garrison at that point narrowly 
escaped an attack and surprise by a mere ac- 
cident. A few soldiers, who were out on a 
scouting e.xpodition some miles from the 
post, had gotten up one morning early for the 
purpose of hunting squirrels for their break- 
fast ; after shooting c[uite a number they re- 
turned to their camp, and, later in the day, 
while scouting, came across traces of a large 
band of Indians. The latter, evidently, had 
heard the firing and iiad hastily decamped, 
supposing their movements had been dis- 
covered. The strong log house of Job Sharp 
was used as one point where the families of 
the Sharps, "Warners, Inskeeps, Euans, Stokes, 
Ballingers and Curls gathered on a threatened 
attack ; from the top of the house a lookout 
was kept for the Indians. The house of Wil- 
liam Seger, in the south part of the township, 
was used for the same purpose. Isaac Painter 
remembers going to a block-house, in what is 
now Champaign County, with his mother and 
her children, in company with other families, 
on the occasion of a threatened Indian descent, 
while his father was off serving as a soldier. 
William Inskeep recollects well the day of 
Commodore Perry's victory on Lake Erie. 



It .was a day of unusual clearness and beauty, 
and, as he and his father were cutting corn, 
thev heard the roarina: of what seemed to 
them like distant thunder, and they considered 
this quite phenomenal on account of the 
weather, not a cloud being perceptible in any 
direction. It was afterwards explained to be 
the roar of artiller\- about one hundred miles 
avvaj'. 

As early as 1825, an anti-slavery agitation 
was begun in this locality. Meetings were 
held in schoolhouses, and the matter was 
generally discussed by the citizens. The rea- 
son that the agitation assumed such propor- 
tions was because the slaves, on their way 
north, came up this way, and of necessity the 
people were fre([uently called upon to take 
sides, pro or con, with the runaway slaves. 
The poor negroes, in escaping from their 
pursuers, would, in passing through here, be 
harbored by the Quakers. The nearest station 
of the underground railwaj' was at Picker- 
eltown, in an adjoining township. They gen- 
erally came north throug'h London, Madison 
County, via Marysville, to Canada. Samuel 
Warner relates that he once met a crowd of 
nine heading for the " big woods," as their 
pursuers were close upon them. 

j\Ioney was scarce for many j-ears. but, for- 
tunately, there was but little use for it. 
Counterfeiting, however, was carried on quite 
extensively at one time, and a great deal of 
bogus money was circulated. Several parties 
were arrested, but, after being confined in 
jail for some time, were discharged for want 
of sufficient proof. 

The great earthquake of 1811, the shock of 
which was felt as far west as the Mississippi 
River and as far South as New Orleans, was 
distinctly perceived in this township. Sam- 
uel Warner recollects his father running to 
catch the dishes in the cupboard, as they 
began to go through a variety of antics, and 
the farmers becoming very much alarmed. 



\ 



J^ 



l>^. 



476 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



The winter of 1809 is spoken of as one of 
most uncommon mildness, and the sugar sea- 
son wliich followed was a failure, many not 
opening their camps. 

Two murders occurred in this township 
which occasioned a lyroat deal of excitement. 
The first was the killing of Capt. D. S. Nor- 
viel bv Waller Marshall, Jr., at Israel Pool's, 
in Mi'ddlehurg, on July 18, 18CS. The par- 
ties, having become parties to a suit, repaired 
tliither for tlie purpose of settling their diffi- 
culties. During a scuffle between Marshall 
and another man, Capt. Norviel attempted to 
wrest a knife which Marshall had drawn for 
the purpose of striking his antagonist, and in 
the melee that ensued received a stab in the 
breast from which he died in a few minutes. 
Marshall was subsequently tried and acquitted 
on the ground of self-defense. On the 30th 
of April, 1878, there occurred in this town- 
ship one of the most shocking and deplorable 
tragedies that have ever occurred in the his- 
tory of this county. It was the killing of 
George W. Rockwell, Deputy SherifiF of Lo- 
gan County, by Amos Inskecp. The promi- 
nence of lioth the jiarties, the especial regard 
in which the family of the latter (one of 
the oldest and must respectable in the 
county), together witli the fact that Ins- 
keep himself was a very talented and edu- 
cated man, who had cultivated himself in 
a broad anil lil)eral manner, giving especial 
attention tii the investigation of subjects of a 
scientilic nature, made the alTair one of pe- 
culiar sadness. The circumstances in brief 
were these: A judgmi-nt had been rendered 
in favor of Sln.Tman a;.'ainst Inskee]i, on a 
libel suit, and a posse of ofTicers had repaired 
to the farm of Inskecp for the jiurpose of 
levying on chattels to satisfy the claim. They 
were warned off by Inskeep with throats, 
llockwell, ]>ursuant to his olTicial nvithority, 
was leading some horses from tlie stable when 
Inskeep shot him with a rifle, from the effect 



of which he died in a few hours. Inskeep 
was arrested at Plain City, as he said on his 
way to make a requisition on Gov. Bishop for 
a company of soldiers to protect his property, 
taken to Bellefontaine and indicted for mur- 
iler in the first degree. In December, 1878, 
he was tried, and after thirty days the case 
was given to the jury. After a consultation 
of seventy-two hours they were unable to 
agree, it is said being equally divided as to 
insanity and murder in the second degree, 
and were discharged. By a change of venue 
he was again tried in Se])tcniber, 1ST!), in 
Marysville, Union County, first as to his pres- 
ent insanity, and, notwithstanding the fact 
that as far back as 1858 he had exhibited 
signs of mental derangement anil had been 
adjudged insane by the Probate Court of Lo- 
gan County, he was found by the court sane 
enough to be tried. In November, while 
waiting for trial, he broke jail and returned 
to his farm, a distance of twelve miles, where 
he remained about three months. He was 
rearrested, tried on his indictment, found 
guilty of murder in the second degree, and 
sentenced to the Penitentiary for life, where 
ho is now incarcerated. He was ably de- 
fended by the lion. T. E. Powell, of Dela- 
ware, and Judge P. B. Cole, of Marysville, 
while Judge William West and S. L. Price 
as ably assisted the Prosecuting Attorney. 
The costs of the various suits, aside from the 
judgment for damages in favor of Rockwell's 
widow, amounted to between *1G,000 and 
|;1 7,000. 

T\w first mills were hand affairs, consisting 
of a block of wood about three feet long and 
eighteen inches in diameter, in one end of 
wiiich a iiole was made by successive burn- 
ings, so that it would iiold a quantity of corn, 
which was reduced to hominy or meal by a 
hand i)estle. An improveuKMit on tlie latter 
part was a sweep, not unlike an old-fashioned 
well-sweep, into one of which was inserted 






HISTORY OF LOGA?^ COUNTY. 



479 



an upright piece, to which an iron wedge was 
attached to pound the corn, while the other end 
of the sweep was made last. This was ciperat- 
ed by two persons. The first grist-mill was 
built by Job Sharp, and was the first in Logan 
County. It was erected in 1803, and was the 
rudest kind ol' a corn-cracker. The lower stone 
was a nigger-head, and the upper a limestone, 
which latter, being soft, wore rapidly, and 
did very inferior work. A few years later, 
finding a flat "nigger-head," about two feet 
in diameter, and six or eight inches thick, by 
working several daj-s he succeeded in drilling 
a hole through the same, and in 1807 rebuilt 
the mill by substituting lor the brush and 
pole-covering a building with a clapboard 
roof and [luncheon sides. After this, they 
did some custom work. Previous to this im- 
provement, the capacity of the mill was about 
one bushel of corn in twenty-four hours; now 
they could grind as many as four bushels per 
day, and frequently several bags of corn 
could be found in the mill at one time. This 
mill, which has not been standmg within the 
memory of the oldest inhabitant, is known 
only by tradition. There was no dam, but 
the water-wheel, which was about eight feet 
in diameter, was fed from two races, the re- 
mains of which arc seen at this dav, leadino- 
from two strong springs in different direc- 
tions, and were united, flowing through a pen- 
stock consisting of a poplar log, into the wheel. 
The first flouring-mill in the township was 
that built by John Garwood, at what is now 
East Liberty, in Perry Township, which was 
a part of Zane until 1831. It was used first 
as a corn-mill, and not for grinding wheat 
until 1812. Previous to this the settlers were 
compelled to go for flour to King's Creek, in 
what is now Champaign County. The mill 
gave the village which sprang up around it 
the name of Garwood's Mills. The first flour- 
ing-mill in what is now Zane Township was 
built about 1821:, by Caleb Ballinger, and was 



a one-storj' affair, about 25x30 feet, with one 
run of buhrs. This was purchased in 1831, 
by David and Daniel Eicher, and sub- 
sequently- remodeled. It was entirely rebuilt 
in 1856, and is now one of the best in the 
county. Previous to the war of 1812, the 
only lumber was sawed out by hand, and 
Joshua Antrim, in his history of Champaign 
and Logan Counties, relates that the lumter 
for the double log house now standing on the 
old Sharp farm, and built in 1S07, Wiis sawed 
by a whip-saw. Puncheons split from logs, 
and worked down by hand, were mostly used. 
]Mrs. Mary Reams has a cradle, made by John 
Garwood, in 1807. The boards w(>re split 
from a walnut log, worked down by hand as 
smooth as if sawed, and then dovetailed to- 
gether. Tho first saw-mill was erected about 
1815, b\- Joshua Inskeep, on Mill Branch, and 
soon after, during a freshet, floatinl away. 
Tho second was made fast to a stum]), and 
when the rains descended, and the floods came, 
it stood. This was followed by what was 
known as the Stratton Mill, on the same creek, 
a little above the Inskeep mill. The next 
saw- mill was built by Jose H. Garwood, in 
1831, and is the only site of the throe now 
occupied. The first steam saw-mill was intro- 
duced in this part of Ohio, and was built in 
Middleburg, in the winter of 1833 and 1834, 
by Brattany and Sellers, and was occupied 
about 18G5, by Chesher & Son, as a bucket 
factory. Col. Joel Haines established a 
woolen factory on his farm, about one mile 
sdutheast of Middleburg, in the year 1840. 
He subsequently converted it into a chair 
factory. 

The first distillery in the township was 
started a short distance from Middleburg, in 
1835, by John Hellings, who manufactured 
peach and apple brandy and subsequently 
whisky. Here W. iL Hellings, now one of 
the most ardent supporters of the temperance 
cause, learned the mysterious art of distilling. 



"*^(5 






480 



inSTOUY OF LOGAN COUXTY. 



The first tannery was started in 1808 by 
Daniel Garwood, on iiis farm, about two 
miles soutliL'fist of the present village of Mid- 
dleburff. lie also built the first brick house; 
date of the same, 1818. It is said that sand 
was so scarce that they were compelled to 
mix ashes with the lime to make mortar. 
The first frame house was built by .lames 
Stokes in IS'.'O, and was considered quite a 
curiosity. Such was the hospitality of the 
people of this section that taverns were not a 
necessity among them. It was not until 1833 
that Ashor Lyon opened an inn for tlio trav- 
eling public, in wliat is now a shingle factory 
in the town of Middleburg. 

The Indian trails through this township 
leading from Franklinton, now part of Co- 
luml)us, came up tlie Big Darby to Garwood's 
Mills, now East Liberty, by way of the site 
of Eicher Mill and the Springs on the old 
Sharp fann, which the Indians frequently 
visited, and which was a favorite camping- 
ground with them. In early times there were 
no roads except bridle paths; hence, we find 
the residences on tlie oldest improved farms 
off the road, beside some spring or some 
other natural advantage. This is so striking 
that strangers wo\dd scarcely suppose this 
township iidiabited, so few of the residences 
being seen from the roads. The first road was 
that from Garwood's Mills to L'rliana, and was 
laid out by John Garwood, Jr., as early as 
1815. This was followed by one from Mil- 
ford to Zanesfield. The Zanesfield and Co- 
lumbus pike, extending from the Unibn 
County line to the head of the .Marnuui Val- 
ley, a distance of six and one-third miles, 
was begun August 12, 18G7, and finished in 
1878, and cost, exclusive of bri<lgfs, ^2,050 
per mile. This was followed by one from the 
Champaign County lino to Mt. Moriah Church, 
built in J 874, by subscription, at a cost of 
!Sil,17.")."-J5 per mile, and is a little over two 
and three-fourths miles in length. The New- 



ton pike was built in 1875, and cost $2,500. 
The bridge across Garwood's mill-race cost 
§750. All the pikes are free. 

The first bridge was the one across Big 
Darbv on the 2\cwton Pike, and was built in 
1859, at a cost of about §1,100. It was 
boarded up and covered in the fall of 1879. 

The first postoffice in what is now Zaiie 
Township, was kept by Jose Garwood, at his 
house, and was established about 1825. There 
was a mail route from Marysville to Bcllefon- 
taine, anl over this route George Kelleyman 
carried the mail on horseback, except when the 
roads got bad, wlien he took it through on foot- 
He was succeeded by a boy named James 
Simpson, and he by Bob Gibson, who carried 
a buo-le to give warning to the Postmaster of 
his approach. In 1833 Jose Garwood resigned, 
and th(> postoffice was removed to Middle- 
burg, and kept by Dr. John Elbert, Jr., and 
went by the name of Elbert Postoffice. The 
name was finally changed to West Middle- 
burg. 

The village of Middleburg was laid out, 
and the plat recorded May 24, 1832. It is 
located on Survey 3,155. Columbus street 
runs cast and west through the center, and 
Urbana street north and south, also through 
the center. All thi; lots west of Urbana 
street were on the land of Levi Grubbs, and 
all the lots east of said street on the land of 
Williiim Grubbs. James W. Marnion was 
the County Siuveyor. At this time there 
was a small store kept by Klias D. Gabriel 
and one or two other buildings. Soon after 
the frame store building, now a part of the 
store room of T. J. Ilellings, was erected, and 
was followed by otiier residences and shops, 
until quite a village grew up. Two of its 
early citizens figured prominently in its rise 
and progress. The first was Arthur e'rillield, 
who came here soon after it was laid out. 
lie was a man of uncommon energy and more 
than ordinary talent. He was a minister of 



^ 






our 



HISTORY OF LOGAN" COUNTY. 



481 



the Disciple, Churcii, and his progressive 
spirit is evinced in his starting in April, 1836, 
a newspaper, called The T'eojyle's Palladium^ 
and the Union, Hardin, Allen and Logan 
County Advertiser. The editing and type- 
setting for some time vras wholly done by 
him. T. Chesher has in his possession a copy 
of an issue dated Juh', 1836, in which he 
hoists the name of Martin Van Buren as can- 
didate for President. The terms of tlio paper 
were |!2.00 a year in advance, and $2.50 if 
not paid in six months, and S3.00 if not paid 
for until the end of the year. Various kinds 
of country produce were taken in exchange, 
if delivered at the office. His paper was sub- 
sequently changed to a religious monthh', and 
called the '■'■Heretic Detector," and was finally 
moved to Cincinnati. The second man prom- 
inent in the history of this township and section 
was Edward Allen, who came to the township 
about 1833, and opened a store with an uncle, 
named AVorrell, about one mile northwest of 
the village, where he soon after failed. Ho 
subsequently opened a store in Middleburcr, 
where, by his prudence and energy, and strict 
attention to business, he built up an enormous 
trade, covering a radius of twenty-five miles. 
He dealt largely in hardware, as well as gen- 
eral merchandise, adding to his business that 
of beef and pork packing and shipping. He 
is spoken of as a very exact and honest man. 
Starting with a few hundred dollars, in the 
short space of ten years he had accumulated 
forty or fifty thousand dollars. The tax on 
his strength was too great and his mind gave 
away under it. One morning, in 1851, he was 
found hanging to a tree near a neighl)orinff 
town, but as to whetlier he committed suicide 
or was fouljr dealt with, is a mooted question. 
Many best acquainted with the circvinistances 
arc strong in the latter belief. The location 
of a land office at Lima sent a great amount 
of travel througli the village and several tav- 
erns sprang up with their usual concomitants 



of loafers and whisky, and for a number of 
years Middleburg was noted for the lawless 
character of those who were accustomed to 
congregate here, and death, in one instance 
at least, is attributed to one of their drunken 
carousals. At one time the bar-keepers were 
greatly surprised by the visit of the State In- 
spector, who, on e.xamination, found all the 
casks of liquor adulterated except one, and 
ordered their contents poured into the street. 
A division of the Order Sons of Temperance 
was organized here on June 17, 1848, and a 
lodge of Good Templars in 1855, which dis- 
banded only when the local necessitv of such 
an organization had ceased. For the jjast 
nineteen years the village has been noted for 
its sobriety and the high moral character of 
its citizens, and was wholly without a saloon, 
except in a single instance, and in this case 
the saloon-keeper was prosecuted with so 
nuich vigor, that he was glad to leave. A 
flourishing Grange was maintained here for 
several j'ears, and was only disljanded when 
the general object for whicli the Order had 
been instituted had been attained. There is 
yet alive an active brani'h of the Order in the 
southwest part of the township, known as 
Jericho Grange, No. 277, and was established 
December 19, 1873, with George Creviston, 
Master; Isaac M. Sharp, Steward; .1. "W. 
Stokes, Secretary. The present membership 
is eighteen and the present officers are W. I. 
Bishop, Master; Orville Stokes, Steward; T. J. 
Creviston, Secretary. Maple Grove Grang-e, 
No. 460, was instituted May 27, 1874, near 
Mt. Moriah Church. The first Master was 
David Alexander; Treasurer, Job Bishop; and 
Secretary, Henry Bishop. The present officers 
are Master, John R. Wilson; Treasurer, Job 
Bishop; and Secretary, Henry Bishop. Mid- 
dleburg contained, according to the census of 
1880, a population of 272. It has two general 
stores, one drug store, one carriage factorv, 
two blacksmith shops, two shoo shops, one 




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^ 



482 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



saddler}^ sho]j, one shingle factory, one pottery 
and tile factory. The latter enterprise was 
started about 1850, to meet the great demand 
for sugar crocks, and is carried on at present 
by tlie Marquis Brothers. The town also 
contains a fine township house, built in 1879, 
at a cost of ^1,750, and including the furnish- 
ing §2,250. It is a frame structure, the upper 
part of which is a hall, while the lower part is 
used in part for holding elections and trans- 
acting other township business. There is also 
a very fine hotel in the town, now under the 
efficient management of Col. Joel Haines, un- 
derlying which is a thick vein of limestone of 
which there is a fine quairy near. The town is 
on an eminence, and great difficulty is ex- 
perienced in finding a supply of water. Re- 
cently Nelson Devore sunk a shaft to the 
depth of ninety-six feet, over seventy-five of 
which was through solid limestone before 
striking a good flow. A few years !igo the en- 
terprising citizens of the village placed a hy- 
draulic rain in one of the springs on the old 
Sharp farm, about half a mile distant from the 
town, and now a good supply of water is 
forced through pipes up into the central jiart 
(if till- town, where it i)oins a refreshing 
stream sufficient to supply all the citizens. 

The first church was that of the Friends, 
built about half a mile northeast of the pres- 
ent town of Middleburg, and was built about 
1805. It was a double log structure, with 
puncheon floor. This was occupied until after 
1825, but was finally abandoned. Tiiere the 
first school was taught, and in the graveyard 
adjoining the first bvirial wa.s made. The 
oldest grave-stone now to be found is that of 
Esther, wife of John Garwood, and bears date 
20th day of the 12th month, 1811. It is a 
himplo sandstone slab. Col. Haines, when a 
boy, acted as eexton, and, time after time, 
kindled the charcoal fire on the brick hearth 
that iiicupied the centre of the church. The 
remuneration that he got was 25 cents for 



several months' work. This structure was 
also occupied at times by the Methodists, un- 
til they built a church of their own, about 
(ughteen feet square, at what was known as 
Inskeep"s niill-dain. This hitter church was 
built about the time of the war of 1812. 
This church was on what was known as the 
!Mad liiver Circuit, and had preaching on 
week-day. Meetings were held otice in si.\ 
weeks. This church was used as a place of 
worship until about 1830, when it was used 
for a short time bj' the Protestant Methodists. 
The third church erected was that of the 
Methodist Episcopal, and was known as the 
Mt. iloriah Church, and its building dates 
1829. It was a hewed log structure, built by 
voluntary contributions of labor. The first 
members were Dr. .lohn Elbert and wife, .John 
Inskeep and wife, Thomas Hallingerand wife, . 
Joseph Euans and wife, Benjamin Weatherby 
and wife, Allen Sharp and David Sharp; the 
latter, in all probability, was the first minis- 
ter. This b\ii!(litig was succeeded, in 1S54, 
by a brick structure, which cost §1,225. This 
edifice was liurned in a very mysterious man- 
ner, at midnight, August 24, 1874. How the 
fire originated was never definitely known, 
but was generally supposed to have been set 
on fire. It was rebuilt, however, the follow- 
ing year, at a cost of iSl ,425. and was furnished 
at an outlay of some §300 more. In April, 
18G0, a severe storm unroofed it and blew in 
a gable end, which necessitated an aiulitional 
outlay of *!350. There is adjoining the cluirch 
a graveyard, where sleep the early mem- 
bers of this church. The first interment was 
that of Mary, wife of John Painter, early in 
1828, and in the same year she was followed 
by Samuel Sharp. Mt. Moriah Church now 
has a membership of about thirty. The Pastor 
is Rev. C. T. Wells. A Sunday school has been 
maintained in its connection since 1850, with 
i an average attendance of about twenty <ir 
I twenty-five. G. W. Tallman is the present 



ft 



4 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



4S3 



Superintendent. The church was followed by 
another Methodist Episcopal Church, which 
was built in the village of Middleburg, in 
1834, then but recently laid out. The build- 
ing- committee consisted of Daniel Garwood 
and Thomas Ballinger. The church was built 
of logs, and volunteer labor raised the struc- 
ture. It would have cost, in all j)robability, 
about $300. It was abandoned as a church 
about 1840, and is now used as a dwelling. 
The decline of this church was no doubt owing 
to the defection of a large body from the 
M(>thodist Episcopal Church, who severed 
their connection with the parent church for 
the purpose of estal)lishing the Methodist 
Protestant Church. The Christian Church at 
Middleburg followed next, being erected in 
183.5, and was the first frame church built in 
the township. It was the only church of this 
denomination within fifty miles, and Arthur 
Criffield was the first minister. The cost of 
the structure was about §400. The present 
building, a frame structure, was erected in 
1870, at a cost of $3,200, completely fur- 
nished. It was dedicated by the Rev. N. A. 
Walker. The present membership is about 
seventy-five, and is now without a regular 
pastor. Connected with the church is a Sab- 
Ijatli school, with an attendance of about sixty- 
five. This is under the superintendency of 
William A. Ballinger. The Methodist Pro- 
testant Church was built in the town of Mid- 
dleburg in 1836, at a cost of about 81,200, 
and was a frame structure. The membership 
consisted largeh" of those who had been prom- 
inent in the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
The old church at Inskeep's Mill was used a 
short time by the new organization, when 
they decided to build a structure far eclipsing 
anj'thing of the kind in the vicinity. The prime 
movers were those who had figured prominent- 
ly in the early history of the township — name- 
ly, Capt. Joseph Euans and John and Joshua 
Inskeep. Both Euans and .loshua Inskeep 



had saw-mills, and contributed largely to the 
building. It is said that Joshua Inskeep, who 
was a man of most remarkable pluck, con- 
tributed more than half the funds to build 
it. The building, however, was on a more 
elaborate scale than the times and Condition 
of the congregation demanded, and as a con- 
sequeiice was never finished, but continued to 
be used until a smaller one was built, when 
it was sold, and is now used as a carriage fac- 
tory by Eurcm Carpenter. The present Meth- 
odist Protestant Church was built in 1873. It 
is a substantial frame, surmounted by a bel- 
frj-, containing an excellent bell, and cost, 
when finished, 81,650. It was dedicated by 
Rev. P. T. Johnson, and the first minister was 
Rev. A. C. Hall. It has a membership now 
of about seventy-five, and a Sunday school the 
year round of about sixtj'-five scholars. J. 
W. Young is the Superintendent. 

Union Chapel is situated in the southwest- 
ern part of the township on the line of 5Ion- 
ro3 Township, and was organized September 
1, 1S74, and was dedicated November 32, 
1874, with Rev. J. M. Robinson, Pastor. The 
church was formed by a part of the member- 
ship of the old Salem Church, one mile and a 
half below, in Monroe Township, when the 
latter was abandoned as. a place of worship. 
The original members were: Elizabeth Stuart, 
N. M. Stuart, Catharine Stuart, Jane Sharp, 
J. M. Sharp, Catharine Sharp, T. W. Haines 
and Phebe Haines. The church cost, includ- 
ing tho furnishing of same, 82,200, and both 
the church and Sabbath school are in a flourish- 
ing condition. The membership is about 
sixty, and the Sabbath school about the same 
number. The present Pastor is John S. 
Pumphrey. The Superintendent of the Sab- 
bath school is James S;^amon. 

The first schoolhouse w-as located near 
Joshua Inskeep's. It was a log building of 
the rudest sort, with puncheon floor and huge 
fire-place, with greased pajDer pasted over an 









484 



HISTOKY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



aperture, as a substitute fur glass. Here pre- 
sided, as first teacher, William Seger, who is 
iiientioiied among the earliest settlers. 

"A man severe he was, and stern to view. 

Well harl the bodinpr tremblers learned to trace 
The day's disasters in his moniing face." 

Here nearly all the youth, in what is now 
Z;uie Township, attended school in that day 
and learned to read by means of Webster's 
Speller, the Testament and Columbian Ora- 
tor, or were instructed in the mysteries of 
figures by the aid of Pike and the Western 
Calculator. This, however, was burned, and 
was s\icceeded by a frame in 1820, far in ad- 
vance of its times ; the spaces between the 
studding are said to have been filled -with 
bi'iclc laid in cla^' mortar. Here Edward 
Watt was the firet teacher. 

The first brick school was built on what is 
ihe pike leading from North Lewisburg to 



Middlcburg, and is noted as being the firs' 
house in wiiich a stove was used. Here, also, 
for the first time, the study of geography' was 
introduced in 1838, Hiram Garwood being the 
first jjupil in that branch. The township now 
contains six sub-districts, in five of which 
are substantial frame schoolhouses, while in 
the village there is a fine two-story building, 
erected in 1874, at a cost of about ^2,700. 
The two lower rooms of this building are oc- 
cupied by the schools of the village district, 
while the upper part, built by the township, 
is open to pupils from all the districts. 

The schools of Zane Township are above 
average, and employ female teachers usually 
in the sub-districts, at an average salary of 
about S38 per month, continuing from seven to 
eight months in the year. In the township 
school, a good male teacher is employed, for 
six months in the year, at a salary of about 
$47 per month. 







«u. 



V 



^"I 9 



[v 



_^! ® 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



4So 



CHAPTER XYl* 
HARKISON TOWNSHIP— INDIANS— SETTLEMENT— PIONEER SCHOOLS— CHURCHES— ETC. 



" Their ax-strokes rang 'mid forcsis deep, 

Their cabins rose in every glade ; 
With freedom wild, their pulses heat — 

Those fearless souls, the truly brave. 

Our domains then, a wildcring wild, 
Of savage haunt and tangled wood, 

AVhcre roamed unfettered nature's child. 
And forests grand, in beauty stood." 

—Crotcell. 

I ESS th.an sovciity years ago tlie ter- 
J ritory constitutiii<r Harrison Town- 
ship to-day, teeming with industry, was a 
dense wilderness, unvisited by the cheer- 
ing rays of civilization. Over these cul- 
tivated and fertile fields, dotted with substan- 
tial dwellings, surrounded by the many evi- 
dences of luxury and refinement, roamed 
savage wild beasts and a race of men more 
savage still than they. Here sported the 
titiiid deer, while at nig'ht the wolf made the 
echoes ring with his unearthly howling. In 
the forest tlie Indian sauntered along the rip- 
pling streams in pursuit of the game, which 
was almost his only sustenance. Here the 
rotnaiitic lover " wooed his dusky maid" in 
primitive simplicity. To-day the wilderness 
has given place to cultivated fields; the scat- 
tered huts and wigwams of the Indian, to the 
comfortalile homes of an enlis-htoned and 
prosperous people, blessed with aljundant 
social, religious and educational privileges, 
all rendered possible by the enterprise, toil, 
and privat'.on of those noble pioneers, now 
rapidly passing away. 

The period prior, during-, and immediately 
subsequent to the last war with Great Britain, 
possesses the greatest historic interest. The 
^Contributed by Dr. J. H. Se Chcvercll. 



infant settlement; the roving bands of Indians; 
the coming of the soldiers; the building of the 
block-houses; the hasty gathering of the set- 
tlers to the strongholds; the constant fear of 
invasion, and the final proclamation of peace, 
when the families dispersed, each to its own 
abiding place, all combine to render the epoch 
of all-absorbing interest. Tiic Indians, who 
wandered about at will, wore generally on the 
best of terms with the settlers, and, although, 
when under the influence of "fire-water," 
they fought savagely amongst themselves, 
rarely, if ever, did they molest the families of 
the whites, and, had it not been for the constant 
fear their presence engendered, they would 
not have been disagreeable neighbors. In 
one particular that early period resembled the 
present — whisky was the bane of the Indian, 
as it has ever been the curse of the world. 
Its sale to them was strictly forbidden, under 
heavy fines and penalties, and yet individuals 
were not found wanting who, for the paltry 
pittance the traffic afforded, would jeopardize 
an entire settlement. Urbana was the near- 
est point where this "liquid death" was 
openly vended, and thither the red man "oft' 
went his weaiy way." Mrs. Carnes relates a 
tragic incident which came under her obser- 
vation, and as it so perfectly illustrates the 
evil effect of whisky, we reproduce it here : 
" Near the close of a beautiful day in the early 
summer of 1813, a party of Indians were 
riding along " Hull's trace," which passed 
near her cabin door. From the noise they 
made she knew they had been drinking, and 
fearino- thev would make her a visit, she 
dropped the curtain to the one small window 



^p, 



J^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



in till' lexl welling; as they drew 

iioHrer ll.i- eiifs increased; her woman's curi- 
osity i^uininn; the ascendancy she drew the 
riii t.iin partially aside and peeped out. Two 
o! the jiarty were engaged in deadly conflict, 
and almost at the instant her eyes rested upon 
them one, the smaller of the two, rolled from 
his horse, dead, the hatchet of his antagonist 
buried in his brain. The part^' made but a 
momcntarj- pause, and rode away, leaving the 
body of their dead comrade where it fell." 
Howe's " Historical Collections " contains the 
following: "At the breaking out of the war 
many hundreds of friendly Indians were col- 
lected and stationed at Zanes' and McPhcr- 
son's block-houses, under the protection of 
the government, who, for a time, kept a guard 
of soldiers over them. It was at first feared 
that they would take up arms against the 
Americans, but subsequent events dissipating 
these apprehensions, they were allowed their 
fri'e(;om." 

Harrison, which is known upon the records 
of J.,ogan County as Tuwnsiii|)s 'Z and 3 
south, Kanges 14 and 15 east, is situated near 
the centre of the county. It is bounded 
north by McArthur, south 1)\' Union and Lib- 
ertj', west by Washington ant! Pleasant, and 
east by Lake, of whichit formed a ])art until 
the year 1832. The lands are of the class 
dciiuiiiinated Congress, and coni])risc thirty 
sections. The surface of the township is 
generally rolling, and intor8|)ersed with low- 
lands or prairii.'S. The higher portions of the 
township are a day or limestone soil, best 
adapted, perhaps, to the growing of wheat, 
while in the bottom lands, a black loam of 
•/•'■at fi,'rtili(y, predominates. Along the 
• ■astern township line are numerous lime- 
stone fpiarries, from which large quantities of 
biiililing stone arc taken annually. When 
tins township was first settled the lowlands 
"iTc ])arlially covered with water during 
much of tho year, and were shunned, being 



considered worthless, but by a judicious sys- 
tem of draininsr, they have been rendered 
arable and now j)roiluce large crops of corn 
with comparatively litde labor. Harrison 
Township compares favorably in agricultural 
productions with the best in Logan County. 
The uplands were originally covered with a 
dense growth of white oak timber, in fact, no 
other variety was found in the township, hut 
a little of the original forest now remains. 
The only water-course in the township is the 
Buckongehelas Creek and its principal trilm- 
tarj'. Blue .lacket. The former rises in the 
extreme northern portion of Lake Township. 
It enters Harrison on Section 1, and after 
many devious turnings flows from the town- 
ship near the southwest corner. Blue Jacket 
Creek rises in the southeast corner of the 
township, and flowing in a general northwest- 
ly direction, discharges its waters into the 
Buckongehelas near the -west township line 
on Section 28. These streams were formerly 
quite important water-powers. Their names 
are derived from two Indian chiefs, whose 
tribes inhabited.this reg.on. Buckongehelas 
was a village chief of the Delawares and a 
distinguished warrior of his time. 

Situated upon a small tributary of Blue 
Jacket Creek, in Sections 10 and 11, is a 
lovely little body of water of an area of per- 
haps 100 acres, known as " Silver Lake." As 
it is becoming quite a pleasure resort, the fol- 
lowing items of its history may not be unin- 
teresting: A short time previous to the war 
1812, an individual, a reputecl counterfeiter, 
named George Blaylock enacted a small ^ixr 
cabin in the dense wood surrouiuling the out- 
let of this lake, and liere, in utter seclusion, 
he passed many years of his life. From him 
the name "Blaylock Lake" was derived. 
I After a term of years the name was changed 
to "Spencer Lake," in hoiK>r of Alexander 
O. Spencer, who ■was the origituil purchaser 
of a great ])ortion of the lands in this jiart of 



r 



.HISTORY OF LOGAX COU^"TY. 



487 



the township. The next owner of the lands 
surrounding this body of water was Wdliam 
a Denison, who made a third, and, it is hoped, 
final change in tlTe name. Silver Lake seems 
an appropriate designation. It is chieflj^ val- 
uable by reason of the many thousand tons 
of ice annually gathered from its bosom. 

The pioneer settler in Harrison Township 
was James McPherson, a native of Carlisle, 
Cuml)erland Co., Penn., who, with a family 
consisting of a wife and four children, arrived 
during the fall of 1811. He camped near the 
site of the present Infirmary building of Lo- 
gan County, and setting ininiediatcly to work, 
he soon completed a comfortable log cabin 
near by, and here, solitary and alone, this 
family passed their first winter in the wilder- 
ness. The subsequent summer, incident to 
the war with England, a commodious block- 
house was erected a few rods west of Mc- 
Pherson's cabin by a company of Hangers 
under command of Capt. HinUson. This was 
called the "McPherson block-house." A few 
months later a like structure was completed 
by Capt. James Manary's company, from 
Ross County. The site of this building veas 
upon an elevation, perhaps one-half mile 
southeast of McPherson's. Here, in these 
two strongholds, the settlers from the sur- 
rounding country souglit shelter at intervals 
until the cessation of hostilities. 

James McPherson's purchase consisted 
of GOO acres of land, embracing and contio-- 
uous to what is now the Infirmary Farm, 
and in his home, erected near his first log 
cabin, he spent the remaining years of his 
life. His was an eventful life. Captured by 
the Indians at Loughry's defeat, near the 
mouth of the Big Miami River, he was kept 
a prisoner until after Wayne's treaty in 1795. 
Returning to civilization, he located in Penn- 
sylvania, where he remained until his re- 
moval to Logan County. Subsequently to the 
close of the war he was appointed Indian 



Affent, and remained in charjje of the Shawuees 
and Senecas at Lewistown until 1830. He was 
afterward appointed Associate Judge of Logan 
County, in which capacity he continued for 
several years. The next settler in Harrison 
was, without doubt, George Blaylock, a native 
of Georgia, who began his lonely, hermit-like 
existence here, in tlie early spring of 1812. 
It was generally believed that this singular 
person was a member of an extensive gang of 
counterfeiters and thieves, who infested this 
country at thai time, from the Lakes to the 
Gulf of Mexico, but as nothing could be 
found against him by way of positive proof, 
ho went his way unmolosted,.shunned by, and 
shunning society. He eventually removed to 
a small hunter's cabin on the borders of an 
inland lake, now a portion of the Lewistown 
reservior, and there died, " unhonored and un- 
Am«//." Many, incidents illustrating his pe- 
culiarities are related, Ijut as their publication 
can serve no good purpose, they are omitted. 
At about the same date, or at least early in 
the War of 1812, James Reed settled on a 
farm in the southwest corner of Section 6. 
Two sons-in-law, named Durham and Lewis, 
located in the vicinity. Robert Caseboalt, a 
local preacher of the Methodist E|)iscopal 
faith, came next, and to him belongs the honor 
of organizing the first religious society in the 
township. A man named Stansbury lived for 
a time near Manary's block-house, and after- 
ward settled on the border of the lake. An- 
other family named Tucker occupied a little 
cabin on Section 5. The unsettled condition 
of affairs for several years subsequent to the 
close of the war prevented immigration into 
Harrison, and it was not until as late as 1820 
that settlement began in earnest. Among the 
later settlers are, George Heath, Michael 
Carnes, Thomas Sutherland, Stephen Hoyt, 
Samuel Carter, Michael Smith, John Houtz, 
James M. Kaufinian, John Horn, the Schulers, 
and possibly others now forgotten. The tide 



Td-V' 



jil 



4S8 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



of iinmiiTiitioii from tliisperiod flowed steadily 
oinvanl, rude log cabins dotted the hillsides, 
trails were cut out, improved and became 
roads. The small " clearings" gradually in- 
creased in size, and needed industries came to 
the front. 

On Buckongehelas Creek, on lands now- 
owned by George Horn, a small log grist-mill 
was built, so many years since that no one re- 
members much of it, and no vestige now 
remains. A small log distillery was built in 
the same recion, and at about the same time. 
It was not a success. In about 1830 a colony 
of Germans, of whom George ^^'alpers was 
the leading spirit, erected a distillery and a 
small grist-mill on Blue Jacket Creek. After 
several years of active operation these manu- 
factories were allowed to go into decay. John 
Iloutz, in 1821, erecteil a saw-mi'l on Blue 
Jacket Creek — the first frame mill in the 
township. The only manufactories now in 
the township are the grist and saw-mills owned 
by Frederick Kaylor. They were built by 
Dani<-1 .Shawvcr. Perhaps no township in 
Logan County excels Harrison in its high- 
ways. The first was an im])rovcment of 
"IIulTs Trace," which ran in a northwest di- 
rection through the township, passing the 
bioi'k-houses. At this time a system of grav- 
eled turnjiikcs pass through the towi.ship at 
convenient distances. It has also two lines 
of niiiroads. The first of these is the Cincin- 
nati, Sandusky & Cleveland Kailroad, which 
passes across the nortlie.asl corner of the 
township. The Cleveland, ('oluml)us, Cin- 
cinnati & Indianapolis liailroad passes through 
the southwest part of the township, a short 
distance north of Silver Lake. Gretna Sta- 
tion, on this road, is what its name indicates, 
and tlie nearest approach to a village with 
which liie township has ever been threatened. 
A-ide Ironi thi' necessary railroad buiidings, 
this JKunlet contains nothing except a gro'/ery 
and a postollice. The hitter was established 



in the spring of 1879, with Adam Hover, 
Postmaster. The pioneer mercantile estab- 
lishment was under the manasrement of James 
McPherson, who kept a small stock of goods 
at the block-house, under Government pat- 
ronage. He continued in business until the 
departure of the Indians for the West, since 
when nothing of the kind has had an exist- 
ence until a recent date. 

It is a fact worthy of remark that in all 
pioneer settlements, so soon as the cabin was 
made comfortable, the small tract of forest 
cleared away, and the first crop of corn plant- 
ed, a log building would be rolled up, the 
children gathered together and a school estab- 
lished. Our pioneer colony was no exception 
to the rule. Soon after the close of the war 
a log cabin was put up at or near the site of 
the present schoolhouse, in sub-District num- 
ber three. It was a primitive building in- 
deed, puncheon floor and door, and clap- 
board roof. The entire rear end of the build- 
ing was occii]iied by the fire-place, and even 
then it was necessary to build the ehimnej' 
out-of-doors. The light was admitted by 
means of a window in each side of the house, 
made by cutting out the half of two logs 
nearlv the entire length of the building. 
Sticks were placed in the opening, over which 
oiled or greased i)apcr was fastened. Along 
each window was a rough board, rcsiing on 
wooden pins driven into the logs. This was 
the desk at whii'h the larger scholars sat 
while writing. The seats were s])lit slabs 
supported by wooden legs. In this manner 
the schoolhouses were built for a number of 
years in the early settlement. The first term 
taught in this building was by Isaac IMyers, an 
cxcelh'nt teacher by the way, who h-.d butone 
fault and that was an ungovernable apjielite for 
whiskv; as often as once each month he would 
quit school anil go on a " regnlar spree," as 
our informant puts it. Aft( r a innnbcr of 
(':ivs spent in hrastlv intoxi<-aficin ho would 



^. 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUXT\. 



4S0 



resume school again 



The following are some 
of the pupils of this school: Margaret, Maria, 
and Anna Smith, James and John Hill, Henry 
McPherson, Peter Powell, Alexander Long, 
Silas ^loorehouse, James Reed and James 
Roberdi. A second term was taught in this 
house by a man named Scott. The south 
part of the township was without a school- 
house until about 1830, when a hewed log- 
house was l)uilt on John Roger's land. In 
this Sebastian Keller taught a term of 
school during the winter of 1830-31. Fol- 
lowing is the report of the Board of Educa- 
tion for the year ending August 31, ISi'J: 
whole number of scholars, 329; whole amount 
paid teachers, Slj-iTG; numlx^r of school- 
houses, 7; value with grounds, §3,000. 

Early in the formation of the permanent 
settlement, subs(-quent to the close of the war. 
Rev. Robert Casebolt, held meetings at the 
cabins of the settlers, and as early as ISio 
a small class was formed at the pioneer school- 
house. Of this pioneer organization the writ- 
er has been unable to gain any definite data. 
In about 1830 a class was formed at the house 
of il. O. A^'ood, Esq. It was composed in 
part of M. O. Wood and wife, Thomas Powell 
and famih-, Joseph Peach and wife, and Joseph 
Gordon and wife. This class was attached to 
Bellefontaine Circuit, and in time acquired a 
numerous membership, but deaths and re- 
movals ensued until at last the class was dis- 
solved, the remaining members going to other 
churches. A small class meets at the Houtz 
schoolhouse, at this time, and this is the only 
organization of the Methodist Episcopal faith 
in the township. The only church edifice 
now within the limits of Harrison is that 
known as the "Flat Branch" Christian Church. 
This was erected during the summer of 1805, 
upon lands donated for the pin-pose by .James 
McPherson and Henry Buckwalter. It is a 
substantial wooden structure, and cost -S1,000. 
The society was formed the same summer by 



Rev. C. T. Emmons, now at West Liberty. 
The constituent members were John, William, 
Anderson and John W. Neer and wives, 
Henry Seymour and wife, and Henry Buck- 
waiter and wife. Meetings were held, a short 
time prior to the completion of the church, 
in the schoolhouse on Section one. The pres- 
ent membershij) numbers twenty. The Pas- 
tors who have presided over this church are 
C. T. Emmons, Jesse T. Hunt and Joseph D. 
Marsh. A Sunday S.-hool.was held in connec- 
tion with this church for a few years. Another 
Christian Society (the Meimoniles) meets in 
this edifice. The organization of this society 
was effected in 1875, and it now numbers 
thirty members. The pul[iit is supplied by 
local talent. 

Near the County Infirmary building is an 
old grave-yard, which would seem to desiMve 
mention at our hands. Here are buried a 
goodly number of " native Americans," who 
died while under guard at the block-houses, 
and, also, within the same enclosure, sleep 
many whose once strong hands have helped to 
rescue these broad acres from the primeval 
forest. The first white interment here was a 
child of Mrs. Bennett, buried in ISlV*. The 
first white adult, whose remains wi>re con- 
signed to this lonely woodland burial place, 
was Joseph Smith — date 1830. The fune- 
ral services were conducted at the house 
of the deceased by Rev. — Lane, of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church, at East Middlcburg. 
At this time there are numerous public and 
private cemeteries in the township. 

The Infirmary farm, containing IGO acres 
of land, and which is situated in sections 7 
and 13, is fully described in another poition 
of this work. 

Being strictly an agricultural people, it is 
but natural that anything calculated to benefit 
the farmer should be generously patronized. 
Eaily in the winter of 1873-4 many prominent 
citizens of the township became interested 



t 



f 



490 



in^ORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



in the matter, and a charter was soon pro- 
I curetl autliorizing the organization of Harri- 
son Grunge, No. 378, Patrons of Husbandry, 
witli a constituent membership of twenty- 
nine. The society met for a time in the 
schoolhouse in sub-district No. 5. The fine 
hall, now occu])ied by this society, was 
erected during the summer of 1877. It is sit- 
uated on the Sidney turnpike, about one mile 
west of Bellefontaine, is two stories in height 
and cost §1,000. Present membership is 
eighty-five; regular meetings are held on 
Thursday evening of each week. The suc- 
cession of Masters is as follows: J. M. Porter, 



J. R. Norton, George E. Emer\', John F. Kay- 
lor and John S. Grary. 

The early records of Harrison Township 
having been destroyed, the writer is unable to 
give anj' data in reference to the organization, 
save that the township as at present bounded, 
was cut off from Lake Township in the year 
1832. The township officers for 18S0 are: 
Conrad Moots, Absalom P. Conard and 
Thomas G. Ewing, Trustees; Henry W. Cord- 
rey. Clerk; Thomas J. Turner, Treasurer; W. 
D. McPherson, Assessor: D. S. Moots and J. 
S. Horn, Constables, and Thomas J. Turner 
and \V. D. McPherson, Justices of the I'uace. 



JV-- 
V. 



.m. 




7]-j> r- 



-"« a 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



491 



CHAPTER XVII. 

MONROE TOWNSHIP— DESCRIPTIVE AND TOPOGRAPHICAL— PIONEER HISTORY— EiRLY INDUS- 
TRIES — SCHOOLS — CHURCHES — VILLAGES, ETC. 



ri^MIAT portion of Logan County treated 
I of in this chapter is rich in historical 
lore, and teems -with that romance which 
lingers in mournful memories around the 
fated red man. Long before the Anglo-Sa.xon 
camo with his education, refinement and civ- 
ilization, tradition tells us, and it is borne out 
by historical record, that this valley was oc- 
cupied by another race of people, and the 
surrounding hills echoed with the busy hum 
of human life. How long they inhabited 
this region we are unable to say; what ab- 
original sage led them to this " land of prom- 
ise " is unknown to us. The Romans pre- 
served in consecrated temples lasting memo- 
rials of the founder of their empire, and the 
enlightened Greeks, availing themselves of 
the art of sculj)turc, perpetuated in marble 
the sages and heroes of their race; but here, 
no rude jivraniid of stone or " mis-shapen 
tomb," with traditional narratives transmitted 
by hereditary piety from age to age, inform- 
ing the unlettered savages of the gratitude 
they owed to the hero of their tribe, or the 
law-giver of their nation is found, to tell the 
exact period of time when they made this val- 
ley the last home of their own choosing. We 
know that a remnant of the once fierce and 
warlike tribe of Shawanoese were found here 
by the whites. Deprived of their hunting 
grounds elsewhere, they had been pressed 
backward, step b}' step, and .had commenced 
their sad and mournful journey towards the 
setting sun. But here they were not allowed 
to remain in security and r<'pose. Dark 
clouds were ffatherino- over them ominous of 
the comincr storm. White men were thirst- 



ing for their lands, and again they were forced 
to give way before his superior intelligence. 
Their council-fires paled in the growing dawn 
of the nineteenth century', and then went out 
forever in the Mad River Valley. Retreating 
before the advancing tide of immigration, they 
have passed away, and are swallowed up in 
the distant West. 

We find much in the Indian to loathe and 
condemn, and much, too, to admire and honor. 
Barbarians as they were, and savage by na- 
ture, yet it is universally true, that when they 
were treated honorably, as by William Penn, 
they never betrayed the confidence reposed 
in them. While admitting their savage cruel- 
ties, we should acknowledge the provocations 
were great, and that more civilized beings 
were often just as relentless as the Indians 
themselves. 

In a preceding chapter of this work; the 
Indian history is given in detail, and the 
towns and villages, known as the " Macka- 
chack Towns," which were once situated in 
this township, are fully and completely writ- 
ten, rendering anything that might be said in 
this chapter but a repetition of what has al- 
ready been given. It is there noted how 
Simon Kenton was captured by the warlike 
Shawanoese, and made to run the gauntlet in 
front of the towns of Mackachack, and many 
incidents related of this celebrated borderer. 
With this general reference to the subject, 
we will pass to the topography of this town- 
ship. 

Monroe Township lies in the extreme south 
part of the county, and in the east tier of 
townships but one. It is bounded on the 






J^ 



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■192 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



north b\' JeftV-rson Townsliip, on the east by 
Zane Township, on the south by ChamiJaiocn 
County, on the \TCSt by Liberty Tovvnsl)ip, 
and is nearly five miles square. It was legally 
organizetl, March 5, 1822. On that day we 
find from the Commissioners' records that they 
ordered anew township to be surveyed, which 
was called Monroe. It was taken ofl" of the 
south end of Jeiferson, and the first election 
was ordered to be held at the house of Conrad 
Moots, on the first Monday in April, of the 
same year, for township officers. The svu'face 
of Monroe Township is nioio uneven than any 
otiier townslii]) in the county, perhaps, except 
Jefl'erson, much of it being broken and hilly, 
with few bottoms or vallej-s, and these small 
in extent. The hilly land is mostly lime- 
stone, with a claj' soil, and produces excellent 
frrazing, as well as fine crops of grain. The 
bottoms have a liKick loamy soil, and are highly 
productive. The principal production of 
the township is grain, though a number of 
farmers paj' considerable attention to stock, 
with good results. The timber is such as 
abounds in this section of tlie State, viz.: dif- 
ferent varieties of oak, hickory, elm, walnut, 
sugar-maple, etc. Sugar-maple is quite plenty, 
aTul a number of sugar orchards, or " camps," 
receive (kie attention each year, and produce 
large quantities of sugar and molasses. Tiio 
principal stream is Mad River, which enters 
on the north line near the center of the town- 
ship, and flowing in nearly a southwesterly 
direction passes out of the west line, a little 
south of the center. Mackachack Creek has 
its source in the townshiji, and also flows in a 
southwesterly course. It lias numerous small 
tributaries, which head in the township, and 
with the main stream drain the land well, 
without the aid of artificial means. 

Monroe Township is without any large 
towns or villages, but one small village being 
within its limits. No railroads cross its soil, 
nor any manufactories, other than mills, with 



their noisy niachiner3', are found here to dis- 
turb the quiet of its peaceful inhabitants. It 
is thoroughlj' an agricultural townsliip. The 
population of Monroe, by the census of 1840, 
was 1,203; in 1S.50, it was 1.330; in 1800, it 
was 1,111; in 1870, it was 1,372, and in 1880 
it was l,30i. Schools and churches abound 
and the citizens rank high as moral, educated 
and refined people. 

Close in the wake of the retreating savages 
came the white people, and soon the pioneer's 
hut dotted the landscape where but recently 
the " wigwam blaze had beamed on the tender 
and helpless, and the council-fire had glared 
on the wise and daring."' The sound of the 
woodman's ax took the place of the Itulian's 
rifle, and his voice lifted in praise to God was 
heard where erst had echoed the savage's 
war-whoop. To whom the credit shmiid be 
given as the first settler of Monroe Township, 
is not known at the present da3'. Mr. Antrim, 
in his history of Champaign and Logan (\iun- 
ties, mentions the following names as among 
the early settlers, and gives thcydates apjiend- 
ed as the time of their settlement. How nearly 
correct it is, in every jiarticular, we are unable 
to say, and probably there is no one now liv- 
ing who can vouch for its perfect correctness. 
It is as follows: Robert Frakes, from Ken- 
tucky, in 1810; Nathan Gillilaiid, Irom Vir- 
ginia, in 1810; Samuel McColloch,* in 1803; 
Rev. George McColloch (liis son), in 1803; 
Thomas Athy, in ISO!) (was a drumtner in the 
war of 1812); Zebedee Raiidel, from New 
York, in 1810; George Moots, from Pennsyl- 
vania, in 1800; Conrad Moots, from same 
place, in 1800; Charles Moots from s.nme 
place, in 1809; George Green, from Kentucky, 
in 1810; 'Williain AVilliams, Henry AVillianis 
and Oliadiali ^VrlliaIlls, from A'iigiiiia, in 1814; 
.lacob .fohnsoii, from Kentucky, in 1811 (he 
had four sons who wore preachers); Jacob, 

•.Snnniel Mcrolkich wius n rcpre.«ciilntlvc In Ihc Legisla- 
ture' when Lognn was a pari of C'liaini>algii County. 



^1 



rW 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



493 



John and William Paxton, brothers, came 
about 1814; Err Randel came in 1810; Nich- 
olas Pickerel, first Sheriff of Logan County, 
came in 1813; Henry Pickerel came in 1813. 

The above varies somewhat from the in- 
formation we have gathered in regard to the 
early settlement, but, nevertheless, may be 
substantially true. We will not presume to 
dispute any of the facts contained in it, but 
will give our information as we received it, 
leaving the reader to accept that which seems 
most likely to be correct. Many of the facts 
^pertaining to the early settlement of the town- 
ship were received from " Uncle Jack " 
Enoch, a perfect walking encyclopoedia, and 
who has been familiar with the country since 
1813, and knows whereof he speaks. .. — - 

Charles, Conrad and George Moots were 
brothers, but did not all come to Monroe 
Township at the same time. Charles came 
first — sometime previous to the war of 1812 — 
and with his wagon and team was in Hull's 
surrender at Detroit. He lived about a mile 
above where Donn Piatt now lives. Conrad 
came about 1813, and settled on a place which 
had been occupied by a squatter named Kace. 
George came in the spring of 1815, and was 
the last one of the three brothers to settle in 
the township. They wore Germans and came 
from Chillicothe here, but Mr. Antrim says 
they were original!}^ from Peinisylvania. They 
all died years ago, but George has two 
daughters living in the town of West Liberty, 
who are unmarried. Another daughter lives 
in Mingo, and another on the old homestead. 
A man named Soots, with two married sons 
and one that was single, came previous to 
1812, and located on the place where Mr. 
Bradley now lives. Where they came from 
is not known, and after remaining a few years, 
they removed West. 

The fall of 1811 witnessed the arrival of 
Robert Smith. He came from the " Old Do- 
minion," and was a man of some prominence; 



at one time served as an Associate Judge of 
Logan County. A son, Robert, Jr., still lives 
in the township. The elder Smith built the 
first mill ever built on Mackachack Creek, 
about 1813. It was a small log structure, 
and used principally for grinding corn, but 
had a "hand bolt," and sometimes essayed 
wheat, though, as a flouriisg-mill, it was but a 
poor success. Zebedee Randel and his son. 
Err Randel, were among the very early set- 
tlers, but the elder Randel is long dead. Err 
Randel still lives just across the creek from 
where they originally settled. Benjamin 
Long came about 1814, and has a son still liv- 
ing in the township. Robert Frakes lived on 
the creek a little above Long. He was from 
Kentuckv, and came previous to 1812. In 
1830 he removed to Michigan and from there 
went to Missouri, where he died j'cars ago. 
Nathan Gilliland was from Virginia and set- 
tled where Mr. Short now lives. He was a 
brother-in-law to Burnside, who was an early 
settler. He died of consumption, at Urbana, 
in 1825. He came to the township as early 
as 1813. 

The Williams brothers and Jacol) .Tohnson 
were also from Virginia. Obadiah Williams 
settled just above Gilliland, where he died 
many 3'ears ago. Johnson was here as early 
as 1012, and is long since dead. Daniel Pur- 
dy was a squatter, and came previous to 
1812, and has been dead many years. George 
Green and his father, whose first name is for- 
gotten, were from Kentucky, and came prev- 
ious to 1812. Both are dead. The Paxtons 
were believed to have come from North Car- 
olina about 1814. There are descendants of 
them still living in the county, though the 
original pioneers are dead. Obadiah Howell 
was here previous to the w-ar of 1812. He 
had a son named Israel, and both died in this 
township years ago. Charles Fielder was also 
here before the war of 1812; he lived at the 
crossing of Mad River, at what was called the 



Vl^ 



M^ — «^ 



^k 



494 



HISTORY OF LOGA>^ COUNTY. 



"State Bridge." He was a blacksmith by 
traJe, and af.erward followed it as a livelihood, 
and kept the first shop in tlic township. The 
old gentleman has been dead many years. He 
had a son named James — an only child, who 
died but a few years ago. Samuel Mc-Colloch 
settled about a mile from Fielder; he 'was an 
officer in the war of 1813, and had one arm oif 
above the elbow. He died soon after the close 
of the war. His son George now lives in 
Jeft'crson Township, and is said to be the old- 
est man living in this county. Solomon, a 
brother to Samuel, lived just above him, on 
the river. A man named Tittsworth was an 
old settler in the east part of the township, 
but of him little is known. Samuel Scott 
came from A'irginia about 1815, and settled in 
the southeast part of the township. Both he 
and his wife died on the place of original settle- 
ment. A man named Stotts, and another by 
the name of Cruiiian, were among the earliest 
settlers. The former settled where the widow 
Ncal now lives, and the latter on the place 
now occu]iicd by Estiuire John Kelley. • They 
are long since dead, and verv few now living 
remeudjer them, or are aware that.they ever 
lived in the township. William McDonald 
settled on Mad UiviT as early as 1812; he 
was from Kentucky, and has two sons still 
living on the old homestead. Henry Robin- 
son came about 1811; ho was an excellent 
man, and was an early Justice of the Peace. 
Both he and his wife died many years ago. 
J()Sf])h and Bc-iijamin Cox settled about 1813 
-14; Joseph moved West at an early day, 
and Benjamin went to Fort Findlay, in Han- 
cock County, about 1818. Nicholas Robinson 
settled where John Hunt now lives about 
1S14; ho had a brother nanied James, who 
livcil up near Frakes'. They were sipiattei-s, 
! and are all long since dead. 

This comprises a list of the early settlers, 
so far as could l>e obtained. Many others 
came in about the time I^ngan County was or- 



ganized, but our space will not allow such ex- 
tended mention of the mere settlement, and 
other objects of interest claim our attention. 
The_ country was to be improved by the pio- 
neers and early settlers, the forests felled, 
cabins built to guard them against the inclem- 
encies of the weather and the encroachments 
of the wild beasts, and the erection of mills 
and the cutting out of roads. All this must 
be done by the settlers, in order that they 
might liv(> in comfort, if not in luxury. A 
short sketch of how the pioneer lived follows 
appropriately the settlement of the township. 
Says a writer on the ])ionecr history of th(> 
country: " The construction of log cabins and 
the manner of living in them, are worthy of 
remembrance, for they have so nearly gone 
out of date, that it will not be a great many 
years before the people will scarcely know 
what they were. They were generally con- 
structed of round logs, one story high, pov- 
crcd with clap-boards, which were not nailed 
down, but kept to their ])laccs by weight- 
poles, laid lengthways across every row of 
boards. In fact, many very comfortable 
dwellings were built and lived in, without so 
much as a single iron nail being used in their 
construction. As there were no saw-mills in 
the country at its very early settlement, the 
floors of the cabins were made of what was 
called puncheons. They were made by split- 
ting largo logs into slabs three or four inches 
thick, and by nicely hewing. them on the u])- 
per side, and neatly fitting the joints; they 
made a vcrj- ])ernianent floor. The open 
spaces in the walls, between the logs, were 
filled up, and made smooth by 'chinking' and 
daubing with clay inside and outsiile. The 
firi'place was at one end of the building, gen- 
(Tiilly outside, an oj)ening being cut through 
the log wall for that purpose. TIk; flue was 
built lip above the comb of the roof, with 
what was called 'cat and clay.' The fire-places 
were large, sufficient to take in back-logs from 



-717 



r 



Iv 



^ 




^ ^^v^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



497 



twelve to eighteen inches thick, and four to 
six feet long. These buildings varied in size 
from fourteen by eighteen feet, up to eighteen 
feet wide by twenty-four feet long. A room 
of that size, and built in that way, was used 
for kitchen, dining-room, parlor and bed-room. 
The bed, and sometimes three or four of them, 
were placed in the back end of the room, 
and here the whole family slept. And when 
they had visitors, whicii was very frequently 
in those daj's, they were accommodated in the 
same way. Where the family was large, how- 
ever, the boys had generally to sleep up in 
the loft on the floor, which was laid with claji- 
boards like the roof. In order to get up to 
the loft, a ladder was placed close up in one 
corner of the house, usually in the end near 
the fire-place." 

This description applies only to the very 
first settlers. They very soon began to add 
to these cabins such improvements as seemed 
necessary for comfort and convenience, but 
many well-to-do farmers still held on to the 
first comfortable log-cabin for many years. 
And even to the present time, we occasion- 
ally find some gray-haired sire, or wrinkled 
dame, who sigh, as they recall what they term 
the gxjod old times. 

In comparing the early days, the pioneer 
cabins, farms, the manners and customs, the 
pleasures and enjoyments, with those of the 
present time, the question will obtrude itself 
upon the mind, as to which is the best calcu- 
lated to promote real comfort, health and en- 
joyment — the old-fashioned cabin, customs 
and manners of those times, or the very dif- 
ferent ones of the princely palace-residences, 
with their retinue of servants, and the fash- 
ionable customs of the present time. 

The ladies — the icoDien, as they were termed 
ii! the pioneer days — bore as important apart 
in these early struggles as did the men them- 
selves. They spun and wove cloth and made 
their own clothes as well as those of the men, 



and bore their full share of every hardship. 
The modern housewife, with her sewing ma- 
chiue and her washing machine, cook stove 
and other conveniences, knows little of her 
grandmother's trials and troubles. The music 
of the spinning-wheel and the weaving-loom 
in the cabin, has given way to the piano 
and organ of the splendidly Au'nished parlor. 
But as we advance in civilization and refine- 
ment, we come to enjoy these innovations on 
the " pioneer luxin-ies," and wonder how our 
ancestors got along at all — how, with fat 
pork, or wild deer meat, and " corn-dodger," 
and this often in limited quantities, they kept 
from starving to death. Our fastidious noses 
are elevated to an angle of many degrees, as 
we sit at our well-laden boards, and allow 
memory to wander back and dwell for a mo- 
ment on the frugal fare of our pioneer ances- 
tors. 

This chapter would scarcely he thought 
complete without some mention of the Piatts. 
Gen. A. S. Piatt, the soldier and politician, 
and Donn Piatt, the editor and poet, are resi- 
dents of this township. Both are mentioned 
in other portions of this work — the General 
in the war history of the county, and the lat- 
ter in the history of the jiress. They are 
scholars, and both arc men of fine literary 
tastes and abilities, with wealth to fully satisfy 
their inclinations in this direction. Donn 
Piatt is known throughout the county as a 
neW'Spaper man of high attainments. Muiy 
poetical gems contributed to the press by him 
have received a wide popularity, both at liome 
and abroad. He has a beautiful j)lace on 
the Mackachack of almost baronial splendor, 
where he passes his time at ease and in the 
gratification of his literary tastes. His brother. 
Gen. Piatt, lives near him, the owner of a fine 
property and an elegant home. The follow- 
ing of Gen. Piatt is from Antrim's History of 
Logan County: " Abram Sanders Piatt is 
more generally known to tlie military and 



>t-U 



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498 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



political than the poetical world. The two 
pursuits, so wide apart as they are, seldom 
center in one individual. Did Mr. Piatt se- 
riously follow either, this would not prob- 
ably be the fact in this instance. But, the 
happy possessor of broad acres — and beauti- 
ful acres they are — in the Mackachack Valley, 
Logan County, Ohio, he dallies with tne 
muses and worries the politicians more for 
amusement than aught else. His leisure 
moments are given to the care of an inter- 
esting I'auiily, and the cultivation of bis farm. 
No one of any refinement could long dwell 
in the Jliickachack Valley and not feel more 
or h^ss of the poetry that seems to live in its 
very atmosphere. So rare a combination of 
plain and hill, wood and meadow, adorned 
by the deep, clear, glittering stream tiiat 
gives name to the valley, seldom greets the 
eye. Tliere the hawthorn and hazel gather 
in clum])s upon the sloping hillsides, or u])on 
fields, while, like great hosts, tlie many-tinted 
forests of burr-oak, maple and hickory close 
in on every side the view. Nor is the Mack- 
achack without its logenils and historical 
associations. Men yet live, rough old l)ack- 
woodsmcn, with heads whitened by the 
snows of eighty winters, who will point out 
the precise spot where a poor Indian woman, 
seen lurking around the smoking ruins of the 
Mackachack towns, only then destroved bv 
the white invaders, was shot by a rifleman, 
who mistook her for a warrior. Near the 
Piatt homestead may be seen the spot where 
Simon Kenton was forced by his cruel ene- 
mies to run the gauntlet, where, between lake 
and river, lay a vast unbroken wilderness. 
It was near this that he and Girty, the rene- 
gade, recognized each other, and the hard 
heart of the murderer was touched at the sight 
of his old connade and friend, and he saved 
his life at a tinie when this bold act endan- 
gered his own. The family to which Mr. 
Piatt belongs is one of the pioneer families 



of the Mad River Valley, and has prominent 
associations with the literature and politics 
of the West. Mr. Piatt's poems have been 
published chiefly in the Cincinnati (Jomnier- 
cial and in ihe Mackachack Press." His 
poem " The Dainty Bee," was very popular, 
and copied extensively in the press of the 
country. 

The first mill in Monroe Township, and 
said to be the first ever built on the Macka- 
chack, was put up in a very early day Ijy one 
of the pioneers of the township, Uobert Smith. 
It was a small log building, and received its 
power from the Mackachack Creek. Jt was 
intended merely as a corn-cracker, but a 
hand-bolt was afterwards added, for the pur- 
pose of grinding wheat, when there was any 
to be ground. The large mill of Gen. Piatt 
was built originally about 18-tO, and is still 
in operation. A distillery was connected 
with it at one time, but was discontinued 
many years ago. The grist-mill, and a saw- 
mill in coiniection, are still running, and do- 
ing good work. Other mills, saw and grist, 
have been built at different times, and the 
township is now well sui)])lied with these con- 
veniences. 

The Mad and Mackachack Pi vers, fed by 
the springs and drainage of the hills that 
make up the major portion of Monroe, are 
still valuable for milling purposes; every here 
and there are mills whii-h Icok out of all jjro- 
portlon when com]iared with the size of the 
streams. But the character of the streams 
ap])ropriately expressed in the name of one — 
the Mad — makes up in power what they lack 
in size. The power of the Mackachack is 
very strikingly shown where it crosses the 
farm of .Mr. Long. Heie, in 185:5, where was 
only a '' dead-furrow," is now a wide gully, 
si.xty feet wide, where the stream sometimes 
rushes along with fury enough to drown a 
horse. 

The early efforts to advance the cause of 



t 



HISTORY OF LOGA^' COU>'TY. 



499 



religion are not so clearly related by the older 
settlers. Wherever a little colony was formed 
in the early day there was a center from 
w! ich went forth a religious influence. The 
people were God-fearing, and brought from 
their earlier homes the influence of a Christian 
education. Many of them were members of 
the different churches, and though deprived 
for a time of the advantages of older settle- 
ments, they did not allow their surroundings 
fo interrupt their worship. For some years 
they kept the flame of truth alive by prayer 
meetings held in the different cabins about, 
and soon after the earnest pioneer preacher 
came and dispensed the word of life. Among 
the latter was Daniel Long, known in those 
days as a " New Light." Among the earliest 
organizations, perhaps, was the ilt. Pisgah 
Methodist Church. A class of ten or fifteen 
members was organized about 1830. Some 
six years later they erected a frame building, 
which served their purpose until about 1865, 
when the church died out. The principal 
cause of this result was the change in the 
neighborhood, the old families selling out and 
the Ormish taking their place. The old 
building stands unused, in the wood near the 
Ludlow road, a decayed monument of the 
joast. 

In the southwest part of the township is a 
little log chapel belonging to the Catholic 
Church. lb had its origin somewhat as fol- 
lows: When the Catholics first came to Cin- 
cinnati, the property- holders refused to sell 
them land, but Benjamin M. Piatt, who was 
a large property-holder then, was less hostile, 
and notified Bishop Fenwick, that he could 
have a building site not far from his residence. 
The intercourse thus opened up between the 
clergy and the Piatt family, resulted after a 
while in the conversion of Mrs. Piatt from the 
Methodist to the Catholic faith. When the 
Piatt family came to Logan County, Mrs. 
Piatt persuaded her husband to donate five 



acres to the church. One daj-, in his absence, 
Mrs. Piatt directed that the logs that had been 
cut and prepared for a workshop, should be 
taken and put into a chapel. This was done, 
and Mr. Piatt found his workshop had been 
converted into a chapel, to his no small dis- 
gust. This was done about 18.30, and it still 
stands, serving its purpose as well as ever. 
The wife of Col. Donn Piatt proposes in 1881 
to erect a handsome stone chapel in its place. 
There are about 150 members, to whom the 
Bellefontaine clergy minister once a month. 
Near the center of the township is the Mack- 
aehack Baptist Church. The first building 
was erected as a union aflair for all or any 
denomination, on land donated by Benjamin 
Long. In 18GS, however, a new frame build- 
ing was erected bj' a Baptist society that had 
sprung up in the meanwhile. Rev. George 
Lj-on was instrumental in its erection, and 
took possession of the house, with al)out 
twenty members. There are now ninety-eigiit 
members, with Milton Squib as pastor. 

The early community abt)ut Pickercltown 
was largely made up of Quakers, and, as is 
natural with this sect, they held meetings at 
once, for years occujiying a pole-log school- 
house in the valley. About 1820 they put a 
better log building on the site of their pres- 
ent building, and in 1826 were regularly or- 
ganized as the Westland M(>eting. In 1SG6 
the old building was replaced by a neat frame 
building, where services are regularly held at 
this'time. There are about ninety members. 
The only other church in the township is that 
of the Protestant Methodist. About 1820 a 
Methodist Episcopal Church was organized 
here, and for years had a thriving society, but 
it gradually passed awa\', until the Protestant 
Methodists entirely supplanted them, using 
their old building until 1874, when they put 
up a new building at the other side of town. 
They have about twenty members, and Rev. 
F. B. Graham is the Pastor. 



^t. 



500 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUJ!TY. 



The earliest attempt at schools in the town- 
ship was by way of subscription efforts, and the 
teachers were the heroes of the iiour. Th^y 
wielded a power that none dared to dispute, 
and carried ihcir instruction into the affairs of 
the family with the same arbitrariness that 
they exercised in the school-room. Among 
the earliest schoolhouses was the one men- 
tioned above, in the valley near Pickereltown. 
Here old ■ John Paxton taught, one of the 
gentlest and kindliest old men in the county. 
Ho used to get the little ones between his 
knees and instill into the young mind whole- 
some lessons of good while he taught the a, 
b, c's. John Garrison is another teacher of 
the olden times. He taught in a cabin that 
had but one window and a crooked log, 
through which a small boy could crawl. One 
Christmas the boys turned him out, but linally 
compromised on a quantity of apples. These 
were dumped in the middle of the floor for 
the boys to scramble for. Another of the 
early schoolhouses stood about a mile west of 
Mr. Long's. Here George Crosscup taught, 
and when locked out by the bo3's treated 
them with whisky, getting all the boys drunk, 
even to the smallest. But the establishment 
of the district schools in the winter of 1834—5 
changed all this, and now Monroe rejoices in 
as good schools as anj' of her sister townships. 
The present status, gleaned from the records, 
is as follows : Balance on hand, September 1, 
1^:8, i2o').0(j; State tax, Si9J2; local tax, 
$1,864.20; amount paid teachers during year, 
$1,502; balance on hand, September 1, 1879, 



-^2,260.01; number of school districts, 0; total 
value of school property, §3,200; average 
enrollment — boys, ISO ; girls, 84 ; average 
attendance — boys, 96; girls, 52. 

Pickereltown is a little hamlet in the north- 
east part of the township. It was never 
regularly laid out, but about 1830, it was talked 
of, and was divided into lots, taking a name 
finally from the oldest of those interested in 
the property. The lands of Henry Pickerel, 
Nathaniel Pope, Samuel Collyer and \Yilliam 
Pearson came together where the roads cross 
in the middle of the village. No plat was 
ever made of the town, but by common con- 
sent quite a cluster of houses have gathered 
at this point. In 1S25 Mr. Pickerel started 
a tan-yard here, and later George AVilliams 
put up a wagon-shop, which was followed by a 
hatters shop by Jesse Hyatt. The lirst store 
was started by Thomas Wilson, in 1841 or 1842. 
The first name of the place was Frogtown, from 
the fact that, notwithstanding its general high 
altitude, several ponds contributed to the dis- 
comfort of the new village. It later took its 
present name, an appropriate one, to follow 
the suffsrestive one first sriven. Mr. Williams 
had some ambition to hand his name down to 
posterity, in connection with the hamlet, but 
it did not get popular indorsement, and the 
project failed. A ])ostonice was established 
July 22, 1851, and that, with a small store, is 
the ))rincipal business outside of the black- 
smith shop, wagon shoj) and shoe sho|). It is 
beautifully situated on a high ridge of land, 
overlooking a fine prospect of valley land. 






Vry 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



501 



CHAPTER XVIII.* 

BLOOJIFIELD TOWNSHIP— INCIDENTS— SETTLKMENT— PIONEER HARDSHIPS— CHURCHES, ETC.— 

THE LOST CHILD. 



" Gather wc from tlie shadowy past 
The struggling beams that linger yet, 

Ere o'er those flickering lights arc cast 
The shroud that none can penetrate." 

PlaU R. Spencer. 

ri~M"IE early scttlor.s of this township, in 
1 common with all pioneers of the county, 
endurod privations and hardships of which 
those of to-day can have but a faint concep- 
tion. Under the most favorable circum- 
stances their food was alwaj's coarse, often 
unsavory, and, if accident befell the sources 
from which they were supplied, scantiness as 
well as coarseness minelcd with their meals. 
The two principal articles of food upon the 
tables of the early settlers, were bread and 
meat. If the bread chanced to be made of 
wheat flour, and the meat consisted of the 
flesh of domestic animals, then was the fare 
considered choice. If the bread was made of 
corn meal, and the meat was but the flesh of 
the deer, the bear, or the raccoon, there was 
no complaining, for in those days they were 
less concerned about the quality of the food 
than they were about the quantitij. Coffee 
W'as scarcely known, except by the name; and 
tea, if drank at all, was drunk about as fre- 
quently as it was by the Whigs of Boston im- 
mediately after that article was cast into the 
harbor from tlie British ships. In respect to 
clothing, as well as other necessaries for which 
the settlers had to depend in whole or in part 
upon the market, they were about as well pro- 
vided for as they were in respect to tea and 
colTee. There were no stores in the vicinity, 
so that whatever was required beyond what 
^Contributed by Dr. .1. H. Se Clieverell. 



their own hands could sup]ily, was entirely 
dispensed with, or sujijjlied in a meager man- 
ner. The consequence was that the wardrobe 
of the ladies comported but miserably with 
their patient and untiring industry. Still all 
toiled patiently on, looking hopefully forward 
to a future, when the wild surroundiiig.s, tiio 
rude log cabins, and the privations of pioiieer 
life should be replaced by the cultivated fields, 
the substantial homes, the church and the 
school. That this dream has been fully real- 
ized is apparent to even the .chance visitant. 
Bloomlield is composed of parts of Congres- 
sional Townships numbers 2 and 7 south, 
ranges 7 and 8 east. Its location, the ex- 
treme west of the county. Its boun(hiries : 
north by Stokes; south by Pleasant; east 
by Washington, and west by .lackson and 
Shelby, in Shelby county. The Big Jliami 
River passes southward along the eastern line 
of the township, and into this flow a number 
of small streams of no iiM])ortance, save as 
affording drainage to the soil. In the north 
we find the Muehinippi Creek, next the Four 
Mile and Brandvwine, and in the c.\tr,^me 
south Rutn Creek, names wiiich sound Ovld in 
the extreme, in a townshij) iidiabitcd by ])eo- 
ple among whom intem])erancc is unknown. 
The surface is tindulatirig, alternate slight 
elevations, gentle slopes, and low level plains 
go to make up a whole which presents many 
attractive features. The soil is a clay, slight- 
ly mixed with gravel on the higher lands, and 
a black loaiu interveining, strong and fertile. 
Corn and grass are the principal crops, though 
the present season large quantities of wheat 
have been harvested with satisfactory results 



Vj^ 



nr" 



■<Js 



4 



502 



IIISTOKY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



The timbor originally covering the surface of 
the laiul consisted largely of oak, beach and 
ash. with occasional Ij' maple, walnut and 
wild-cherry. Deer and the smaller kinds of 
game was plenty, while the wolves, with 
which the woods fairly swarmed, were an in- 
tolerable annoyance, not only dcstroj-ing the 
lesser domesiic animals whenever opportunity 
afforded, liut attacking travelers when caught 
abroad after dark. Mr. Dillon relates an in- 
cident in which he was personalh' interested. 
In the year 1833 he had occasion to visit the 
Government land office at AVapakonatta. It 
was a long journey, yet bj' the aid of a fleet 
horse he hoped to accomplish it and return 
the same day; the trip out was made without 
incident, and in good time. At the office the 
press of business detained him until nearly 
night, and he was advised to remain until 
morning as a storui was coming on, and 
the road is a difficult one to follow oven by 
daylight. (It was an old army trail, winding 
about amongst the trees, neaily impassable 
for teams.) However, the desire to reaoh 
home proved greater than the arauments of 
his friends, and after tightening the saddle- 
girth and making evorytiiing as secure as 
possible, lie started on tlie return trip. 
For a few miles he traveled at a ra])id 
pace, but at last the darkness overtook him, 
and, as jjrodicted, a furious storm ensued, the 
trace was lost, and after some lime vainly 
spent in trying to regain it, he dismounted 
to wait for the cessation of the storm and the 
rising of the nii>on. The situation was not a 
cheerful one — lost in the dense woods, miles 
from a human habitation, and surrounded by 
wild beasts. However, the solitude of the 
surroundings was soon relieved by the hoarse 
crii'S of wolves. The sounds came rajiidly 
nearer. Cutting a stout club, he awaited the 
coming of th(! unwelcome visitors. It was 
not many minutes ere they were tij)on him. 
Phinting himself firiuly against a huge tree, 



he struck out at the nearest pair of fiery eyes. 
A yell, and a sudden retreat of the owner of 
the eyes, gave proof of the correctness of 
his aim. This was repeated whenever a wolf 
came within reach, and in this somewhat live- 
ly manner did Mr. Dillon while away the 
hours, which otherwise would have been 
weary ones, until the rising of the moon, 
when, remounting his horse, the path was 
found and the homeward journey resumed, 
the wolves thi; while closely following lii - 
hind, fdling th(> dim echoes of the woods with 
their hair-lifting nielod}'(?). They kept close 
upon the heels of his horse to his very cabin 
door, which was reached as the first faint 
streaks of light liegan to show above the tops 
of the trees in the east. 

The settlement of the township was begun 
in the southwest corner, on Rum Creek. 
Along this stream were some small Indian im- 
provemc^nts, and upon these two farmers, 
named Keith and Stewart, removed with their 
families, not far from tlu? year 1830. As none 
of the pioneers, who first located in the town- 
ship, now live here, the write*- has depended 
upon those who came no.\t for the data from 
which this history is written. Mr. James Dil- 
lon and Henry Hone are entitled to our 
thanks for many items of interest. Mr. Dil- 
lon built his log cabin upon the farm he still 
occupies during the fallof 1833. At this date 
the following families were living in the town- 
ship : William Rogers and William Campbell 
had small im|irovements in the northeast part. 
Mr. Campbell lived on the farm now ownetl 
by the Huber heirs, his log cabin was near the 
river, where he kept a rude fi-rry. In the south- 
east coiner of the township, along Rum Creek, 
lived Isaac Stockwell, Benjamin Nichols and 
William Smith. To the westward lived Rich- 
ard and Isaac Dillon, Tlomas Tong, Edward 
Timmons, Jacob and William Keith, David 
anil William Ashbrook, William and John 
Schuler, William Moore and Caleb Wright. 



-f 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



503 



These were all the settlers in the township in 
the year 1833. William Dillon and family, 
consisting of a wife and five children, arrived 
in ISoJr, and made a beginning on the farm 
now owned by M. Smith. The entire north- 
western portion of the township was at this time 
an unbroken forest. Henry Hone purchased 
lands in the township in December, 1835 ; 
cleared a small piece and built a log cabin dur- 
ing the sunimor of 183G, ancrin March, 183i', 
moved his faniilj' into it. Mr; Hone still lives 
on this property. The forest has, however, 
disappeared, and by well-directed efl'orls, 
broad fields, rich in their wealth of waving 
grain, have taken its place. The additional 
settlers who arrived prior to 183(i wore: Ed- 
ward Wren, whoso lands adjoined Hone's on 
the northwest. Immediately south of Cimp- 
bell's, on the river, lived William Donaldson 
and Joseph Danielson. John Price occupied 
the James Spelhnan farm; John Woodfield 
and Philip Hoy lived near. John Ellis, 
George Wolf, the Archers and the Dowiiings, 
had located near the Rum Creek settlement. 
William McKinnon subsequently purchased 
the Campbell farm. Mr. Hone states that 
when he reached the Miami River, he found 
it very high, and no other means of crossing 
than the trunk of a fallen tree; the prospect of 
reaching the other shore was not p-.irticularly 
flattering. On the liank were a few huts, in 
which lived a immber of half-breed Indians, 
who came out, but manifested no interest 
until, on inquiry, they learned that Mr. Hone 
had a small quantity of spirits in the wagon; 
this being produced, they assisted readily in 
effecting a crossing. The goods were un- 
loaded and carried over, the horses swam 
across, and tieing a bed-cord to the end of 
the wagon-tongue, it was pulled through, the 
goods reloaded, and the journey resumed. 
No charge was made, except a few drinks of 
of the "whisk," as they termed it. At this 
time there were no roads, each settler cutting 






his own, and being governed by the condition 
of the land, it mav be imagined that little at- 
tention was paid to the joints of the compass. 
The first dulv authorized road was from Belle- 
fontaine to Muchinippi, passing through the 
northern part of the township. Now well- 
graded and graveled pikes traverse the 
township in all directions. The citizens of 
Bloomfield have depended upon the surround- 
ing country for mills and other needed in- 
dustries until a recent date. The steam 
flouring-mill, at Bloom Center, was built 
by A. Connelly, in 1878. It has two run 
of stone and is furnished with all the 
modern appliances. A tile manufactory, 
at the same point, owned by Bayer & 
Brother, completes the list of manufac- 
tories. As early as 1840, Jonah McFarling, 
began merchandising, in a little log hut, 
standing about one mile to the westward of 
the present hamlet, known as Bloom Center. 
The stock in trade was mainly w^hisky, tobac- 
co and tea. A few j-ears subsequcMit, he 
erected a small frame building, near the site 
of the log cabin, and putting in a respecta- 
ble stock, soon acquired a largo patronage. 
Since this period, the township lias not 
been without a store of some kind. Quito 
a settlement sprung up at this point. The 
location of a postofKce was secured over which 
.John Freeman presided. The location was 
inconvenient, and yet nothing was done 
toward a better until the fall of 1858, when 
Andrew Halboth purchased lands and erected 
the buildings he now oocujiios as a store and 
dwelling. Others built near, and Bloom 
Center became a certainty. At this time it 
embraces a general store, drug store, two 
blacksmith shops, fl(iuring mill, tile manufac- 
tory, two churches, a school, and three physi- 
cians. The present Postmaster is Dr. William 
McK. Houseman, a rising young physician of 
the place. Bloom Center Lodge, No; G31, 
I. O. O. F., which is located here, began work 



til 



5M 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



under Dispensation in the summer of 1875, 
with S. P. Wood, A. Halljolli, G. M. Shafer, 
W. II. Watkiiis, J. G. Smith and C. W. Davis, 
as charter members, who became the iirst 
oIBcers. The present membership is small. 
Two societies of the order known as Patrons 
of Husbandry, or Grang-ers, have had an ex- 
istence in tiie township, but of these the 
writer has no date. 

So soon as the little colony on Rum Creek 
liad ])rovided themselves with comfortable 
iiabitalions, their attention was directed to the 
formation of a school, the. result of which was 
the erection of a log buildiii"; of ([uite rcs]>ect- 
able ])roportions, and a teacher being found, 
school duly convened. Two or three years 
later a second schoolhouse was built in the 
township. This stood on lands now owned 
by .James Spellman. Eber Hodge tauglit a 
nundjor of terms in this building. At last the 
territory was divided into school districts, and 
a better class of buildings erecti'd. The re- 
port of the Hoard of Education for the school 
year (>nding August 31, ISi 0, gives the fol- 
lowing data: 

Wliole number of cliilih-pn .309 

Whdlc niiiDunt piiij tuacliers ?11,0!I0.38 

Whole number of schuolliou.sps 6 

Value, with grounds ?1, 500.00 

]n the little log schoolhouse iirst mentioned, 
late in the fall of the year ls:j2, a misiionary of 
that faith who are, as a rule, the advanci; guard 
of Christianity in all new countries — Meth- 
odism — held the first religious service in the 
township. The families of David and Wil- 
liam Ashbrook, "William Keith and .Mrs. Tim- 
nions soon after unit<-d in the formation of a 
class. In about IfSIil! a hewed log uieeting- 
ho\ise was built, and this was occupied until 
the completion of the present frame building 
in Isr.O. The Methodist E|)iscopal Church at 
IJIdom Center was formed earlj* in the settle- 
ment. The memliers composing tin- tirst class 
•were Michael Kawdon and wife, William 



Rawdon and wife, George Wolf and wife, 

Peter Schule and wife, and Hendricks 

and wife. This society met in schoolhouses 
for several j^ears, eventually erecting the 
frame church building just west of Bloom 
Centre, now unused. The society, we learn, 
have in contomjilation the erection of a larger 
house of worship at an early day. 

Early in the year 1854, Kev. Adam St\ini]), 
of the German Reformed Church, besan a series 
of meetings at the dwellings of the settlers 
west of Bloom Center, and about one year 
subsequent the following persons united in 
the formation of a church of this denomi- 
nation: Peter Bruner and family, Henry 
Smith and wife, Abraham Griffey and wife, 
John Wagoner and wife, Solomon Gar- 
ling, and wife and J. M. Smith and wife; 
two years later they united in the erection of 
the church edifice at Bloom Centre. This 
has been recently refitted. The niend)ership 
of this society now numbers forty. A Sabbath 
School was organized some years since in con- 
nection with this church. Thishasnowagooill^' 
attendance. Some years subsequent to James 
Dillon's arrival in Bloomfield Township, a 
hewed log schoolhouse was built on the south- 
west corner of his farm, and in this, a few 
years later, the settlers of the different Bap- 
tist and Christian denominations, residing in 
the vicinity, inaugurated a series of union 
meetings. These were continued for a num- 
ber of years with a gradually increasing 
mendicrship. In about 1854, all united in 
the erection of a meeting-house in the north- 
east part of the township on the Muchinippi. 
For a time the society flourished and the 
membershi|> gradually increased, but of late, 
from various causes, the interest has abated, 
and at this time the society has but a small 
mendiership and no regular Pastor, local 
talent occui)ying the puljiit. 

The writer has been unable to secure any 
data of the organization of the township or 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



505 



its early history, the records having been de- 
stroyed. The growth, though slow, has been 
a hoaltliy one. 

Tlie following account of one of those 
thrillingly sad incidents so common in all 
pioneer settlements, is from .Joshua Antrim's 
history of Champaign and Logan Counties: 
"About two miles directly west of Lewis- 
town, on the farm now own e d by the heirs 
of Manassas Huber, in Bloomfield Township, 
lived Harrison and Christiana Hopkins. 
Their son, aged about five years, was lost on 
November 13, 1838. 

'• Heaven to all men hides the book of fate, 
And blindness to the future has kindly given." 

* * * * Everything passed off pleasantly 
till about two o'clock, when Mrs. Hopkins 
started with her little son to visit a neighbor, 
a Mr. Rogers, living about a half mile dis- 
taiit. S!ie had to pass by a new house, being 
built by Charles Cherry, an vmcle to the boy. 
Arriving there, thej' stopped for a few minutes, 
aiid as the boy wished to remain here, the 
mother jjassed on. Soon the boy became tired 
of playing about the house and started to re- 
join his mother. As only a dim path led 
through the intervening timber, Mrs. Che r/ 
cautioned the little fellow to be careful, and 
not gat lest. A little way into the woods, and 
he sang out: "1 can go it nowj I have found 



the path." These were the last words he was 
ever heard to say. * * * ]\i,s. Hopkins 
soon after returned, and enquired for the 
boy, and learned, to her surprise and terror, 
that he had followed her. Immediate search 
was made by the frantic mother and father, 
and Mr. Cherry, going first to Mr. Rogers' and 
to another neighbor living but a short distance 
from him, but no tidings could be had of him. 
They could see the tracks of his bare feet in 
the path near the house. * * * Soon the 
alarm spread far and near, atid people collect- 
ed from all parts of the country to hunt for 
the child. There were at times over a thous- 
and people engaged in the search, which was 
continued for three weeks. Every foot of 
ground for three miles around was scanned. 
Even the Maimi river was dragged for miles, 
but in vain — not a trace of him — not even a 
shred of his clothing could be found anv- 
where, and to-day his fate remains a profound 
and melancholy nij'stery. The opinion gen- 
erally prevails, however, that the child was 
stolen by the Indians. Mr. Cherry states that 
an Indian, who, for many years, had been in 
the vicinity, engaged in trapping, disaj)peared 
about this time and never returned. He was 
afterwards found, and accused of the abduc- 
tion of the child, iuit he resolutely denied all 
knowledge of the matter. 



^^^^^ 




it 



iti^ 



500 



HISTORY OF LOG AX COUNTY. 



CHAPTER XIX.* 

BOKES CREEK TOWNSHIP— DESCUIPTIVE— THE WHITES— SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES— VILLAGES— 

ETC. 



FIFTY years ago Bokes Creek Township 
was almost unknown. The present fer- 
tile fields were one dense forest, where 
roamed the deer, the hear, the wolf and other 
savage animals, undisturbed save by their 
savage enemy — the American aborigines. 
Bcliefontaine was already a growing village, 
with stores, churches and schools; almost 
every other township in Logan County had 
been settled, and legally organized before a 
white man reared his luunble cabin upon 
Bokes Creek soil. Probably no settlement 
would tlien have been made, but for the open- 
ing eifected by the great wind-storm of 18"25, 
which assisted materially in preparing the 
way for the pioneer by leveling the timber 
for a broad space through the entire town- 
shi]). In this belt of "fallen timber" the 
first white man in Bokes Creek made his 
claim. The lowlands of the township were," 
from October until .Tune, most of the time 
covered by water, from one to throe feet 
deep. These deep marshes almost wholly de- 
fied the hand of cultivation. Across the 
northern part of the township, from the ■'.vest 
side and passing out at the northeast corner, 
nearly describing a circle, courses Rush Creek 
on its way to the Scioto River. From its en- 
trance into the township to where it leaves, it 
is most all the way a marshy stream, with 
mud banks and beds, and sides overgrown 
with rank weeds and shrid)S. 

Mill Creek flows through the southwest cor- 
ner on its course from Rush Creek Townshij) 
into Perry Township. Bokes Creek rise's in 
this township from two sources. Tin- I'ortli- 
♦ c.nirlbmctl by J. 11. Wyllc 



ern and principal stream rises in the western 
part, on the farm of Martin McAdams, and 
runs in a southeasterly direction into Union 
Couiitj'. The second rises on the farm of C. 
Bell, in the southwestern part of the town- 
ship, and curving south and west, it joins the 
northern branch in Union County. This 
stream is one of the tributaries of the Scioto 
River, and, like Rush Creek, is a sluggish 
stream. In some places it is almost impossi- 
ble to find the laain current. Attemjits have 
been made to secure its drainage at public 
e.xpense,butsofarsvich efforts have resulted in 
failure, and it still remains the same marshy, 
sluggish stream it was forty-five years ago. 
There are several important drains, howev r, 
in the eastern part of the township, whiih 
have been constructed by the enterprise of 
the farmers, and have been very beneficial 
to the localities through which they pass. 
Their average width is about fifteen feet and 
their do])ih from four to ten feet. The 
streams ami their tributaries constitute the 
princijial diainagc of the township. Much 
has been done, and to great advantage, in 
artilliial ilraiiiiigc, but much more can \w 
done in this line of improvement with equally 
good results to the land. The country is low 
and marshy. There are few hills in the 
whole township, and it might almost be called 
a ]ilain. The soil is black and rich, sidtable 
for all kinds of grain, and the township, with 
the proper draining, might be made one of 
the finest farming districts in the county. 
There is little of the yellow clay soil. The 
black soil is from three to eiglit leet in dej.lh. 
The timber is of every variety and size to 



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41 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



507 



be I'ounil in this section of the countr\-, oak, 
wahiut, sugar-maple, beech, elm ami lynn, 
being the principal kinds. The greater part 
of the hmd lies north of tiio Greenville 
Treaty line, which runs through the township 
some two or three miles from the line between 
Bokes Creek and Perry townships. Xorth of 
this line the roads are principally laid out 
parallel with the Treaty line road, while those 
south of the line were run according to the 
convenience and fancy of the early settlers. 

About the year 1S34, the territory now 
known as Bokes Creek Township, was struck 
off from Rush Creek, and called Perry, to- 
gether with the present township of that 
name. Hardin County bounded it on the 
north, Union on the east, Zane Township on 
the south, and Jefferson and Rush Creek Town- 
ships on the west. Early in the year 1837, 
Carlisle Lewiston carried the surve3'or's chain 
between Perry and Bokes Creek, and the same 
year Bokes Creek was legallj- organized with 
iis present boundaries, which are the same as 
above given except on the south, where 
it is now bounded by Perry Townshij). It 
receives its name from Bokes Creek, a stream 
that has already been described. As to how 
this creek received its name reports differ. 
Some persons claim that there was a white 
man lost near it of tlie name of Bogy. 
Others say that an Indian was lost in the 
channel, and his friends, after searching in 
vain for him, gave the name Bogy to the 
creek, from the Indian word hogue, meaning 
lost. We are inclined to believe the latter, 
as it is the opinion of the oldest settler of 
the township. At any rate, the creek was 
once called Bogy, and was changed to Bokes 
to suit the euphony of the English language. 
An old Yankee named Emberson, a few years 
after the township was organized, made an 
effort to have it called Salem Township. 
John Hill also contended that it should have 
its first name, and got the better of his Yan- 



kee opponent, and Bokes Creek, as a corrup- 
tion of Bogy, clings to the township. On 
these black lands are matured the finest har- 
vests of the husbandman's toil. In the 
thriving villages are busy mechanics and en- 
terprising men of business. In the once 
thick and heavy timbered forests are seen the 
smoke of saw-mills — a territory now in- 
liabited by 1,013 busy people, where only fifty 
j'ears ago was seen here and there a savage 
encampment. Almost every industry of 
common life is here carried on. 

There is but one village in Bokes 
Creek (Tp.), and it is situated in the southeast 
corner. It has a population of 385. Part of 
the town of Ridgeway lies in this township, 
I which is often called West Ridgeway, with a 
population of perhaps 120. At present, 
whether Ridgeway belongs to Logan or to 
Hardin County is a disputed point, and is 
pending before the courts. Logan County 
claims the territory for about a (juarter of a 
mile further north than the generallj' desig- 
nated line. This suit was begun in 1878. 
Both sides have offered to compromise the 
matter, but unfortunately for the residents in 
the disputed territory, when one side is in the 
notion the other wants to go the whole hog, 
or none at all. Should such a compromise be 
made, Ridgeway would be brought into 
Logan County and would be the leading vil- 
lage of Bokes Creek Township. This com- 
promise would spoil the shajie of the town- 
chip, making it in the form of a trapezoid. 
At present, however, Hardin County is un- 
willing to make this compromise, the proposal 
having last been made by the attorneys for 
the Logan County side. 

As has been already stated, Bokes Creek 
swung loose from Rush Creek Township about 
the year 1834, and from Perry in 1837, and 
became a separate and duly organized town- 
ship the same year. At that time she had 
twenty-seven voters and about 120 inhabitants. 



"ib 



"E PV 



4 



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508 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



The first Trustees of the township were, 
John ]Jell, James K. Curl and William Cline; 
tiie first Justice of the Peace was Joseph 
Roberts; the first Coustable, Henry Bell; II. C. 
Hathaway was tlio first Treasurer elected. He 
refused to serve, however, but as there was 
no money for liim to take care of, he was hon- 
ored by the title of that office till the next 
ohiction. Moses Emerson was the first Clerk, 
it was said that Constable Henry Beil having 
at one time levied on some property, was 
afraid to approach the premises, having heard 
that the old woman had a "corn-cutter" 
sharpened for the purpose of cutting him into 
sausage meat, if he dared to sell a single ar- 
ticle of the goods he had levied upon. 

Two miles south of Ridjipway, on the Ridge- 
way and Walnut Grove Turnpike, lives, in 
pioneer fashion, the " oldest inhabitant,'' and 
who claims to be the first settler in "old 
lin'rey." John Hill anil his father, Jeremiah 
llill,tMmc from Greene Co., Ohio, in 1827, and 
settled in the " AViiidfall," on the farm now 
owned by Lewis Dickinson. He has been a 
resident of this township for fifty-three years, 
anil has watched with great interest its won- 
derful development. The great tornado had 
for him, two years before, laid low the trees, 
thus aiding him in opening a farm. Mr. 
Hill paid five dollars an acre for his land. 
This, as will be observed, was more than twice 
as miieh as some of the other settlers jjaid for 
their land, and may be accounted for by the 
fact that the fallen timber presented facilities 
for clearing land which the thick forest did 
not, there being no trees to nil. ihnrn. Soon 
after Hill's settlement, Mr. Bell came, who is 
claimed by some to have been the first emi- 
grant to Bokes Creek. Then the ColTelds 
and Cline families, and Wm. Callalian came, 
nil of whom settled on the banks of Rush 
Creek, in 1830. Owing to the neglect of Mr. 
Hill to secure a good title to his land lie was 
compelled to leave, after he had settled and 



improved it. He afterward removed to where 
he now lives, on the baidvs of Rush Creek. A 
short distance from Mr. Hill's house was an 
Indian council house, about 30 feet long, 
made of poles and covered with bark. The 
remains are still there, and the husbandman 
has never plowed below the depth of the ashes 
in its vicinity. There was what was known as 
the "Iniiian Spring," on the corner of Mr. 
Hill's farm, on the banks of Rush Creek. It 
was about eighteen inches square, and was 
walled with poles about six inches in diame- 
ter, split and sunk into the ground, one above 
the other. 

After the Indians left the country the sjiring 
very mysteriously disappeared, and not a sin- 
gle trace of it can now be found. Perhaps as 
late as the year 1830 there was a settlement 
on the east side of the township, made by the 
Skidmores. E. C. Hathaway came to, the 
township in 1831, from Bristol County, Mass. 
He settled on the farm where he now lives, on 
Bokes Creek, abimt a mile and a half north 
of West Mansfield. He purchased the farm 
he now owns for ^'2 an acre. Jacob Keller 
settled in 1830 near where the town of West 
Mansfield now stands. Scranton, Gardner, 
Lewis, Bates, Fre<l. Keller, Robert and David 
Ray, and James Hatcher, all settled here be- 
tween the years 183(1 and 1840. The terri- 
tory north of the treaty line, and near the 
centre of the township, was not settled till 
after the year 1840. F<>lix Thornton settled 
herein the year 1S4'^: William Lnffel in 1844; 
Archibald Wilson in 1844; also the sunie year 
Henry Willinn\s, William Furrow and Ja(^ob 
Green .settled in 1845. The last mentioned 
settlers i)aid *4 an acre for their land. Be- 
tween the years 1835 and 184.") the following 
persons settled on Rush Cri.ek, in this town- 
ship: Samuel Higgins, Andrew Wilson, E. 
Stiles, M'illinm Richards, John Ramsey, J. 
Lyizgood, Wm. Wetcraft and John Wilk- 
low. The last mentioned purchased land at 



V 



IIISTOnY OF LOGAJC COUNTY. 



509 



$1.25 an acre. "\Ve, no doubt, have omitted 
a few names, but the above are all we have 
been able to obtain by close and thorough in- 
quiry. There is not a single pioneer, per- 
haps, who would not live over again his early 
days, and vainly sighs — 

"0, give me hack my cabin home, 
Within the forest wild." 

Those were days when men were not 
wrapped up in a cloak of self, but they were 
neighbors in the full sense of the word. 
The young men would go from five to ten 
miles on horseback to a corn-husking or a 
dance. People very often went to East 
Liberty and Zanesfield to get their small 
stock of supplies, and to get their corn ground; 
for in those daj-s they lived on corn bread, 
hominv, wild honej-, an<l vcMiison. Skins 
were u^ed as legal tender; coon skins sold 
for from fifty cents to one dollar, or were traded 
among the settlers according to their esti- 
mated values. Hunting secured the first em- 
ployment. They "treed" coons day and 
night. Some would "tree" coons and mark 
the trees in the forenoon, and cut the trees 
down in the afternoon. They would catch as 
high as ten sometimes in one day. Very often 
they would obtain great quantities of wild 
honey from trees cut down for coons. They 
killed as high as four deer a day, and their 
hides sold for from five to ten dollars. The 
principal stock raised was the hog. "W'm. Calla- 
han sold fifty head of hogs at an average of 
125 pounds each, at seventy-five cents a hun- 
dred, being weighed with steelyards. Maple 
sugar was extensively produced, and like 
hides, was regarded as a legal tender. Farm- 
ing was slowly begun. The pioneers first 
cleared small patches for corn to feed their 
stock. Hunting, was, however, more profit- 
able, and the land was at first slowly im- 
proved . 

The first birth in the township was that of 



Jeremiah Hill, a brother of John Hill, and 
took place in 1837. The first marriage in the 
township was about the year 1840, when 
Isaac Uiine and Miss Elizabeth Hill were 
united in holj' wedlock by Rev. Steven Hol- 
land, one of the pioneer preachers. The sec- 
ond marriage was that of Christopher Cline 
and Lida Bushaw. The father of Lida Bu- 
shaw was a Frenchman, and was taken pris- 
oner by. the Americans at Perry's victory on 
Lake Erie. He was a sailor on a British ship, 
and when the Americans jumped on board 
his vessel, and demanded his sword and pis- 
tols, Bushaw stuck the point of his swurd 
downward in the deck, broke it in three 
pieces, and threw his pistols overboard. He 
finally espoused the American cause, and died 
at Chillicothe. Lida came to this county 
with relatives. The first death in the town- 
ship was a little girl of the name of Stilts. 
Her grave was dug by John Hill, on the cor- 
ner of his own farm. There were afterwards 
ten persons buried at this spot, and it was the 
first graveyard in Bokes Creek Township. It 
is now abandoned, the present btirying- 
ground being at the Good Hope schoolhouse. 
The first grave in the Bokes Creek graveyard, 
on the farm of E. C. Hathaway, was made in 
181:6, when a son of Mr. Hathaway was killed 
by a melancholy accident. He was riding on 
a wagon loaded with a saw log, and was 
thrown ofl', when the log, which also fell from 
the wagon, rolled over him, killing him al- 
most instantly. Two more deaths bj' acci- 
dent occurred soon after the one just re- 
corded, and two more unfortunate boys were 
laid there. One of these youths was kicked 
by a horse, which caused his death, and the 
other fell into a kettle of boiling sugar-water- 
The Indians were always on friendly terms 
with the whites. John Hill says he has 
engaged in many a hunt with them; has been 
to their camps, where ho has seen as many as 
forty red deer skins, stretched around on the 



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510 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



trees and the sides of the camp. On one 
Saturday evening, he and several more 
hunters j)assed an Indian camp, where they 
were met by Indian dogs. Their master 
hallooed "sic, sic, sic," which so scared the 
hunters that they cocked their rifles, but tlie 
dogs understand "sic" in a different way to 
what the pale face's dogs did, and they were 
inniipdiati'ly quelled. Mr. flill and his band 
a])proaohed the camp, where an Indian met 
him, and said, "You no hunt on Sunday?"' 
to wiiich Mr. Hill rei)lied, "Xo." The Indian 
then answered, "Me no hunt dn Sunday 
either." He saw there an Indian squaw 
kneading bread on a bear skin, "shortening" 
it with bear oil. Often when deer were 
shot ihcy would fall into the water and 
strangle before the hunter could get to them, 
the water in the swamps being so deep. "Old 
Archy " Wilson used to say, he had told the 
Lord if he would get him away from Bokcs 
Creek he would never ask anything of him 
again. The early settlers were so honest 
tiiat they would go clear to Rushsylvania to 
])ut in their two days work on the roads. John 
Hill went as far as I'ushsj'lvania to find hands 
to help him raise his first cabin. Such were 
the privations tlie early ])i()neers endured to 
open to future sjenciations the unexplored 
and unknown lands of the West. 

In the southwest part of the township, 
there is an extensive colored settlement, 
called tiie Flat Woods. The first colored man 
who settled here was Christopher Williams, 
who came from Fayette County, Ohio, in 
185i. Others have since settled there, both 
before and since the war. Tney purchased 
their lands from Jerry Dawson, General Tay- 
lor's Agent in Kentucky. They erected a 
achoolhouse about the year 18G4. Among the 
first teachers was Solomon Day. A Bajjtist 
moeting-hf>nse was erecteil about the same 
time; this was a log building. There is now a 
frame church, built the year 1819, used by 



both Baptists and Methodists. This settle- 
ment is noted for its camp-meetings and 
revivals. 

There were no taverns previous to the year 
1848. There was little need for any, as there 
"were then few early travelers, and no coach 
or mail routes. The first saw-mill was 
operated perhaps as early as the year 1830, 
by Alexander Ramsey, on the banks of Rush 
Creek, near where Squire Callahan now lives. 
He also ran a "corn cracker" in connection 
with his saw-mill. These mills were run by 
water, and had overshot wheels. About the 
year 18-10, Andy Murdoch had a saw-mill 
near where hi" now lives. There was also a 
saw-mill at a very early day, where West 
Mansfield now stands, perhaps as early as 184j. 

There were few early stores within the pres- 
ent bounds of the township. Alexander 
Ramsey kept a small stock of goods, consist- 
ing of two or three good cart-loails; at any 
rate, the stock, large or small, almost broke 
the proprietor up. As we have already stated, 
trading was done chiefly at West Liberty or 
Zanesficld, and as the settlements grew older, 
and roads were opened, much of it was done 
at Rushsylvania. 

The first blazed road in the township led 
from the "fallen timl)er "' to West Libirrty. 
A Mian by the name of Sunipters went ahead, 
winding around hills and swamps, and blew 
a horn to direct others who followed him 
blazing the trees and clearing away logs and 
brush. The road was cleared wide enough 
for a man to ride along on horsel>ack, and if 
he carried his grist Iti a bag to mill with ends 
projected too far from the side of the horse, woe 
to that bag when its ends were dashed against 
a tree on each side of the road. In such cases, 
the man was left growling on the grouinl be- 
hind the horse. The Painter Creek roail was 
also opened in thi' same manner. In the year 
1838, John Bell and Ibnry liell, his son, suc- 
ceeded in obtaininsr a grant for the first State 



^i" 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



511 



road. This was run from West Libertj' to the 
Sandusky road. The trees were cut in the 
month of June by the settlers; the water was 
then so high over tlie ground that the logs 
were easily floated out. On this road was 
built the first pike in the township in 1877, 
and is a double track. In 1840, the .ferusa- 
lem and Beliefontaine road was laid out; for 
some time before it was a blazed road. The 
trees were cut and cleared by the settlers. 
The same year the B;)kes Creek and East 
Liberty road, crossing the Jerusalem and 
Beliefontaine road at \yest Mansfield, was 
cleared. It had been twice before laid out, 
and in two different directions, one running to 
the Skidmorc settlement and the other to the 
Bates settlement. It now runs from Mt. Vic- 
tory to East Liberty. As the dilferent por- 
tions of the township were settled, other roads 
were blazed and the trees cut out. The Belie- 
fontaine and Jerusalem road was piked in the 
year 1877. There is now in construction a 
pike leading from the Hardin County line to 
East Liberty. In this section the pike enter- 
prise is raging, as it is all over the county. 

In 1848, Levi Southard laid out the town 
of West Mansfield, and began the sale of lots. 
He was an enterprising farmer, and enlisted 
as a soldier in the late war, and died in the 
hospital in 1801. Mr. Southard, at the time 
he laid out the town, had a son one year old 
whom ho called Mansfield; ho naiiie<l the 
town West Mansfield, whether to honor his 
son, or the town, is not known. The town, 
however, is no disgrace to the young gentle- 
man, neither is he a disgrace to the town, but 
he is a jolly, sociable little man, known 
to all by the name of Mansfield Southard. 
The hereafter will decide whether Mansfield 
Southard perpetuates the fame of the town 
of West Mansfield, or the town of West 
Mansfield perpetuates the name of Mansfield 
Southard. The village, however, often re- 
ceives the appellation of "Fip Town." This 






name was given to it in its early days, when 
a company of surveyors called at its only store 
for a lunch of crackers and cheese, which de- 
mand the storekeeper could not supply. 
" Well," said one of them, " we will call this 
place Fip Town," and to-day Fip Town is 
known where the title of West Mansfield 
would be understood as referring to some far- 
off place. The first house was built by Bliss 
Danforth, near where Susan Keller now lives. 
It was of round log., eighteen by twenty, 
one story, and covered with clapboards. This 
house was built tlie same year the village was 
laid out; two others were soon afterwards 
built by Ellis and Henry Baldwin. The 
first tavern was kept by John Cousins; this 
was a frame building thirty by twenty, and 
one and a half stories high, and stood where 
George Harshfield's house now stands. The 
first store was kept by Samuel Danforth and 
AYilliam Keller; this store was a log building 
about si.xteen by eighteen feet. Notions of 
all kinds and groceries were here sold. The 
first shoe shop was kept by James Wilgus. 
The first blacksmith shops were operated bv 
Mark Austin and John Cousins. The first 
postofEce was kept by .lohn Robinson. 
At present it is kept by J. T. Robinson, and 
the mail is brought every day by hack from 
Beliefontaine. 

A paper contributed by Dr. Skidmore gives 
the historj' and standing of the Odd Fellows' 
lodge as follows: "White Lodge, No. 57<j, I. 
O. O. F., was instituted June ^3, 1874. The 
names of charter members were W. S. Akev, J. 
R. Baldwin, Edwin Bates, A. C. Bayliss, David 
Logan, C L. Hathaway, Ebenexer, Hathaway, 
W. E. Powers, J. S. Rea, James Rheulen. 
First officers installed were Edwin Bates, N. 
G.; Eben Hathaway, V.G.; J. S. Rea, Rec. 
Sec; A. C. Bayliss, Per Sec; W. S. Akey, 
Treas ; R. S. N. G., David Logan; L. S. N. 
G., R. W. Southard; R. S. V. G., D. H. Har- 
riman; L. S. V. G., J. Dickinson; Warden, 



t 



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:t 



512 



HISTORY OF LOGA^^ COUNTY. 



W. E. Powers; Conductor, J. K. Baldwin; R. 
S. S., David Kea; L. S. S., P. Smith; O. 
G,; James Rlieuleu. The names of the pres- 
ent officers are C. C. McGee, N. G.; T. B. 
Ilirriinan, V. G.; E. D. Vance, Hec. Sec; U. 
L. .Mann, Per Sec; G. H. Dowcll, Treas.; 
Warden, L. E. Laving ; Conductor, Ira 
Gwv-nn; R. S. N. G., William Reams; R. S. 
V. G., George Bates; O. G., T. B. Wilgus; 
J. G., Walter Painter." 

The first religious denomination was the 
Wcsleyan llethodist, wliich, in 1843, held 
divine service in the old schoolhouse on the 
farm now owned by Robert Southard. They 
had few adherents, and did not hold out 
longer than three years. TluMr preachers 
were Cooley and Glading. The United Breth- 
ren, as earlj' as 1845, held divine services in 
the old schoolhouse. They built the first 
church in West Mansfield in 1852. It was 
a frame })uildirig, about thirty by forty feet, 
and occupied the same site on which now 
stands their new church. They then had 
about thirty members, and their first preacher 
was Rev. F. Hendricks. In 1877, they built 
their present house of worship, which is a 
comfortable building, al)Out forty by thirty 
feet. Tiioir nicmbershij) has not increased 
any of late years. TlK.-ir present pastor is 
Rev. J. MulhoUand. The Methodist Epis- 
copal denomination organized a church in 
18G0, when they built the house in which 
they now worship. This is a commodious 
buihling, sixty by forty feet. Tiieir member- 
ship is about forty persons, ami their first 
minister was Rev. E. McIIugh; their j)rcsent 
pastor is Rev. C. J. Wells. 

The present schoolhouse is a two-story frame 
buihling, forty by twenty-eight feet, and was 
built in 1873. There an; two hotels in the 
village, kept by Henry Hathaway and V. 
Southard, respectively; two dry^goods stores, 
J. T. Robinson, and Marsh, Skidmore & Co.; 
one drug store, by Carson Bros.; one notion 



store, by Newton Reans; one hardware store, 
by Harriman Bros.; one wagon shop, by 
Painter & Son; two blacksmith shops; one 
shoe sho]), l)y Wm. Ballinger; one harness 
shop, by Rufus Ileisler; one saw-mill, by Wm. 
Bushong & Ham McDonald. 

In tiie year 1871, Loring & Co. erected a 
steam mill at the south end of town. This 
was afterwards purchased by the firm of Wil- 
gus & Robinson, who, in 1876 sold it to J. 
N. Wilgus & Son, the present owners. It is 
a large two-story building, and has two run 
of burrs. The tov/n was incorporated in 1879, 
and the following officers elected: Wra. Bal- 
linger, Mayor; Dr. Skidmore, Clerk; Dr. 
Maris, Treasurer; Ham McDonald, Marshal; 
and J. T. Robinson, F. Carson, J. N. Wil- 
gus, Coancilmen. The first physician was 1).-. 
Roberts, who came to the township in 
1853, and left in the j'ear 1850. Thi; ne.xt 
was Dr. Reames, who came to "\^''est Mans- 
field in 1854; Dr. Skidmore also came in 
1844; Dr. Sevan came in 1800; Dr. Maris, in 
1877, and Dr. AVhitaker in 1879. The jires- 
ent physicians are Drs. Reames, Skiihnorc, 
Maris, and Whitaker. 

Considering its lack of advantages, such as 
railroads, West Mansfield outstrips every 
rival. Situated as it is, in a long neglected 
corner of the county and township, ten miles 
from a railroad, inde])en(l(Mit of its far-away 
competitors, who called it in derision, "Fip 
Town," it has held its own in a manner that 
deserves commendation. 

A short sketch may be here given of Ridge- 
way, as a part of the village lies in Bokes 
Creek Township, and there is a faint proba- 
bility of its being, at some future time, a 
village of f.ogan County and Bokes Creek 
Township, instead of astride the line as it is 
now. In May, 1X52, the town was laid out 
by Samuel ^IcCidloch and a man of the name 
of Bog.-, and on the 20th duy of the same 
month there was a sale of lots, at which 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



515 



about eighty lots were disposed of. The 
town was named Ridgeway in honor of a raan 
by that name who lived in Liverpool, England, 
and owned 2,000 acres of land, and the spot 
upon which the town was laid off was in this 
tract. The highest lots sold for $100; the 
lowest at from fifteen to twenty dollars. 
Dr. Wooley erected the 6rst building, which 
was a one-story frame house. The second 
was erected by Robert Stephenson who kept 
the first hotel in the village. He still keeps 
tavern in the same building, which is a two- 
story frame house. The first dry goods store 
was kept l)y W. P. Hughes. Benjamin Gin 
kept the first postoffice. Michael Printz the 
first blacksmith shop. The Methodists built 
the first church, which was a little frame 
building 22x26 feet. Henry Snell was the 
first preacher. The schoolhouse was a frame 
building 22x2G feet. The town was incor- 
porated in 18G0. Tiio following is a list of 
the business men, furnished by Lee Pash: 

Stephenson & Co. — Flouring Mills. 

Koplaud & Kilmer — Saw-mill, and lumber dealers. 

T. .J. Cottrell, IMerchaut — Dry goods and groceries. 

.J. W. Culbortson, " " " 

K. McKlhany, " " " 

H. Variugton, " " •< 

.1. Lalio, 

J. Liine, " Grocery. 

L. Pash, Merchant — Hardware, stoves and tinware. 

John Davis, •' " 

R. .1. William, Merchant — Harness. 

A. D. Bailfy, " — Drug store. 

J. Printz — Blacksmith shop. 

L. Siephenson, " 

Jl.Ornisly, 

C. liourch — Pump factory. 

Robert Stephenson — Hotel. 

John Ewing — Kesiaurant. 

C. B. Crowe— M. D. 

R. Edwards— M. D. 

J- Sieg — Justice of the Peace, 

W. M. Newill— iMayor. 

J. Endsley— Clerk. 

Town Councilmen— E. B. Crowe, H. L. Pash, J. M. 

Thomas, R. J. Williams, W. M. Riley, John Williams. 

There was a lodge of the I. O. O. F. organ- 
ized June 29 , 1880, by Peter Kautzman. 
There are two fine village churches, belong- 
ing to the Presbyterians and Methodists. 



The sehool building is a two-story brick. 
They have, however, bargained for a fine new 
school building, to be finished at the cost of 
C5,000. The village is on the C, C, C. & I. 
Railway, about thirteen miles from Kenton 
and sixteen miles from Bellefontaine. 

The first divine services in Bokes Creek 
Township were held by the Methodists at the 
cabin of John Hill, which was used as a 
preaching place for seven years. There was 
a society formed of that denomination in that 
section of the township. Andy ^Yilson was 
their class leader. Rev. Steven Holland was 
one of the first preachers. Doctor Green also 
frequently preached at Mr. Hill's house. 
About the year 1840 a man by the name of 
Allen held the first revival in the Rush Creek 
settlement. At the close of the revival he 
went to Grassy Point where he eloped with 
another man's wife. After tliis circumstance 
he was called the " corn-stalk preacher" by 
settlers. But what signification the name 
has in connection with the erring evangelist 
we cannot say. Services were held for some 
tiuK! in the old brick schoolhouse. There is 
still a small society of about a dozen mem- 
bers in this locality. Tliey now use tho old 
White Swan schoolhouse as a jjlace of wor- 
ship. In 1847 there was a society of Metho- 
dists organized in Bokes Creek. The first 
meetings were held in Thomas Simpson's 
house. The same year there was an old 
fashioned schoolhouse built, si.xteen by 
eighteen feet in which they organized. \'\'ni. 
Furrow was appointed class leader which 
office he has held for thirty years. William 
Knapp and William Wareham were the first 
Pastors. Here they worshiped for ten 
years, and during the time had one of the 
most spirited revivals ever known in the back- 
woods. The number of membership was in- 
creased from about ten to sixty-two. In 185S 
a new frame church was built on the banks 
of Bokes Creek, forty- five by thirty-five feet. 



516 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



Tlie membership was then sixty ; the present 
is about thirty, and R->v. John Graham is the 
Pastor. In the northeast corner of tiie 
township is an organization of Quakers, con- 
sisting- of about forty members. Tills society 
was begun about 18G0. They first held their 
meetings in a private house which they pur- 
chased and changed into a church. About 
twelve j-ears ago they Ijuilt the house they 
now occupy ; it is a small, plain little church, 
built in old Quaker style, and in it they meet 
every Sabliath. 

Rev. Mr. Moore occasionally preaches for 
the Disciples in the township. There is, how- 
ever, no organization of that denomination. 
Mr. Moore is an earnest, eloquent and effective 
minister. The first sabbath school was held 
in Solomon Smith's house, in the Rush Creek 
Settlement. It was superintended by James 
Doby, wlio was also a common school teacher. 
Sabbath school was also held in the old brick 
schoolliouse in the same locality. There are 
now five or six different sabbath schools in 
Bokes Creek Township. 

The first abolition speeches were made by 
Chase, Boweher and Emerson. The two for- 
mer were Methodist Episcopal preachers, and 
were afterwards silenced. Moses Emerson 
and Jacob Keller were the first two abolition 
voters in the townshi]). The cause liere at 
first met few friends and many strong enemies. 
There never was, however, any violence or in- 
sult heaped on the early agitators. There 
were many threats made of mobbing them, 
but cool judgment always kept sway. There 
was a Know Nothing society organized by 
Doctor Doran in the year 185G. This society 
was secret, and held its meetings at private 
houses, in Bokes Creek Township. Its Presi- 
dent was J. W. Green; Vice-President, C. H. 
Thornton; Treasurer, Thomas Simpson; Sec- 
retary, Christie Williams; Chaplain, William 
Furrow. The members of this society claim 
that they bad a grand object in view, and that 



they, having gained this object, quiet" y dis- 
banded. We know that their motto was 
" Americans ought to rule America," but what 
the great object was they achieved is to this 
day a nij'stcry. 

At the beginning of the war the anti-slav- 
ery spirit and loyalty to tiie Union cause 
were at their highest pitch. In 1S02 the 
s^-mpathizers of the Rebellion obtained a sjiot 
in the north end of West Mansfield to hold a 
mass meeting. On tiie appointed daj' there 
was a large, enthusiastic delegation of all the 
Tories and disloyal roughs Newton could col- 
lect and form into a line. As they ap- 
proached the village of West Mansfield one 
of their marshals rode ahead and inquinnl (,f 
some boys where the grounds were to which 
he was to conduct his procession. The boys 
told him on the west side of the town. He 
accordingly led his procession in that direc- 
tion tlirough the town, until he discovered his 
mistake. When he had turned his line and 
was leadine: it round the corner where J. T. 
Robinson's store now stands, he found the 
street blockaded by boys. Ho rode up to one 
of them, cocked liis pistol and told him to give 
the road. He was then informed by men on 
the opposite side that he liad better not shoot 
for there were plenty more to return his fire. 
After they had arrived at the grounds the 
boys fired old logs and brush around the stage, 
which smoked them so badly that the speak- 
ers grew hoarse and dizzy, and the hearers 
were so affected (by the smoke) that the teara 
streamed down tiieir cheeks. On their way 
homeward, in ]iassing through tiic town, they 
were met by Union boys who blockaded the 
road and kept them at a stand-still for more 
than two hours, swearing and threatening, 
with loaded rilles, revolvers and shot-guns 
cocked, ready for a fight. Finally they were 
told if they woiikl go jieaceably out of town 
they could go home. These conditions they 
were too glad to comply with, and their 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



5] 7 



marshals' horses were led to the edge of the 
viUage by the citizens, followed bj' the pro- 
cession. 

The first school teacher in the township 
was, perhaps, John Doby, who taught school 
in Solomon Smith's house, as early as 1843. 
In 1S-4G Mr. Hill hewed the logs for the first 
schoolhouse, which was 20 x 18 feet, and stood 
on the farm now owned by Trig McAdams. 
It had a pole chimney six feet wide. Perry 
Hughes taught the first school in this house. 
About ten years after this house was built, 
there was a brick schoolhouse erected about 
tiiree hundred yards from where the first 
stood. hi 1810 the tlood Hope schoolhouse 
was built, and the old brick and log school- 
house of other days have disaj)peared. In 
1847 a round log schoolhouse was built on 
Bokes Creek. The first teacher in the house 
was a lady by the name of MeAdow; the 
first male teacher was M. Chase. They re- 
ceived $15 and $25 for their services. In 
1856 there was a frame schoolhouse 2-4 x IS 
feet, built on a corner of the farm of William 
Safi^el. This was the schoolhouse for twenty 
years and in it were held some spirited liter- 
ary societies, a pastime for which this section 
of the township, had a taste. In 187G there 
was another building erected on the farm of 
James Crane. As this was built in the Cen- 
tennial year, the school is called by the same 
name, " The Centennial." 

About the year 1850, there was a log school- 
house built in the northeast corner of the 
tdwnship. A few years after on the same site 
there was a frame house built, but was burnt 
to the ground a few months after. School 
was afterwards held in an old log house, now 
belonging to Ross M'illiams. In the year 
1870, the house was built which is now stand- 
ing. Its size is twenty-two by twenty-eight 
feet. The burning of the schoolhouse above 
mentioned, was supposed to be the work of a 
man in the fallen timber, whose object was to 



bring the school within the reach of his family. 
There was accordingly a schoolhouse built oii 
the corner of the farm now owned by Robert 
Early, but has been abandoned, there being a 
schoolhouse built in that settlement about the 
year 1876, called the "Quaking Ash School." 
The following is the last school report, made to 
the County Auditor: Amount paid to teachers, 
§2,056, amount paid for fuel, etc., §2,- 
307.36; number of sub-districts, 9; num- 
ber of schoolhouses in township, 10; total 
value of school property, $3,000; number of 
teachers to supply the schools, 11; number of 
different teachers employed during the j'ear 
— males, 13; females, 8; total, 21. Average 
wages paid teachers per month^ — males, $31; 
females, $20. Number of pupils enrolled — 
males, 199; females, 103; total, 362. 

We are indebted to Doctor Whitaker for 
the following history of the West Mansfield 
Schools: '* When the village first began to 
assume the appearance of a town there was 
no school. The children then went to the 
nearest country schools, which were in exist- 
ence long before anj' town was known here. 
The Chase Schoolhouse, three-fourths of a 
mile north of the town, being the nearest. 
Thp, Skidmore School, two miles south of 
town, in Perry Township, was the school of 
pioneer times, a sort of parent to the other 
bchools which sprung up around it. The first 
schoolhouse in the village was the house now 
occupied by Mrs. Robinson, and the first and 
only term taught in it was b\' Alonzo Harvcv. 
This, was, perhaps, twenty-five years ago. Sub- 
sequently a schoolhouse was built at the north 
end of town (size twenty-four by twenty-six), 
and the first teacher was Rounce Hathaway, 
a thorough-going, rough-and-ready old gentle- 
man, who chewed a " fip's worth " of " dog- 
log" tobacco every day; the motion of his 
jaws being almost incessant. He made the 
big boys toe the mark and explode the 
vowels like pop-guns. Other teachers were 



518 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



.^Vlonzo Harvey, Louis Harvey, and others 
whose names are not now recalled. The 
schools were generally full, for this part of 
the country increased fully -as rapidly in popu- 
lation as in improvements. At a later day 
the schools was taught by Louis Votaw, Wm. 
Eeid, Emanuel AVhitaker, James Skidmoro, 
and others equally as meritorious, whose 
names are not remembered. 

In 1873, in consequence of the rapid 
growth in numbers, the old schoolhouse, it was 
decided, was too small for the proper instruc- 
tion of the pupils, and a new two-story build- 
ing was erected, seated with the improved 
patent seats and desks, and costing about 
$1,400. The first two terms were taught by 
E. Whitaker, Principal, and Miss Ella Elliott 
(now Mrs. W. Southard), as teacher of the 
Grammar Dcjiartment. These rooms were al- 
most over-filled from tlie first, and a deep in- 
terest was manifested by the pupils in their 
studies. Punctuality, order and gOod les- 
sons were the requirements of the teachers, 
and were faithfully lived up to by the pupils. 
Since then William .1. "Watkins and Alice 
Inskeep; Coleman Inskei-p, Lewis Votaw, 
Knowlton Keller, R. S. Plotner, Lydia Maris, 
\\'illiam 51. Carson, Laura Carson, John Ham- 
ilton, Joseph H. Wylie, Ella Votaw, Harvey 
G. Sutton and Maggie Embry, have severally 
tausrht, most of wliom were professional 
teachers, and have had good success. Mr. 



Sutton has taught the past two terms as prin- 
cipal and gives good satisfacton. The school 
is at the present time in a flourishing condi- 
tion, and it has been decided by the Board to 
build another room for the benefit of the in- 
creasing nundjcr of pupils. At the commence- 
ment of the last school year the school was 
separated from the control of the Townshij) 
Uoard and cslablishcd into a village school, 
under the law establishing and maintaining 
village school districts. The jjresent mem- 
bers of the Board are James T. Robinson, 
J. R. Skidmore, Nathaniel Grant, Jerry 
Benedict, Samuel Forrey and P. M. Keller. 
Prices paid teachers are §50 a month in the 
higher department, and if'io and ij20 in the 
intermediate and primary departments. 

The people are intelligent, enterprising, 
thrifty, and generally religious. There has 
not been a murder committed in the township 
since its settlement. Considering the late 
period of its settlement, and numerous dis- 
advantages and drawbacks, the improvement 
and development of Bokes Creek Township 
has been more rapid than any other township 
in Logan County. It has surmounted evury 
obstacle, and rose above every difficulty, till 
to-day finds the forests that were so dense 
fifty years ago that the settler could find 
no bare spot on which to erect a cabin, 
turned intogreen fields and pnubictive farms. 




-l^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUXTY. 



519 



UXIOS TOWXSHIP- 



CH AFTER XX. 

-PHYSICAL FEATURES — EARLY SETTLEMENT— INCIDENTS OF PROMINENT 
PIONEERS— CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS. 



IN the southern tier of townships in Logan 
Count}', just west of the middle part, lies 
Union Township. It is a. rectangular body, 
about four and a half by five miles square, 
and is bounded on the north by Harrison, on 
the east by Liberty, on the south by the 
county line, and west by Jliami. Stony Creek 
sjiters about midway from the north and south 
ends of the township from Liberty, and passes 
across in a general northwesterly direction, 
with its branches running north and south 
from the main streams. This affords the only 
natural drainage, save as the numerous lakes 
in this township subserve the same purpose. 
The surface of the township is high, rolling 
ground, abounding in those finely-fashioned 
hollows that look like dimples in the face of 
nature, and in many of these some of the 
little lakes for which I^ogan County is noted 
have found place. The principal ones are the 
Twin Lakes, located on th<! farms of .John and 
William Carter, in the northeastern part of 
the township, which cover some four acres. 
" Ojiossum I,ake " is a small sheet of water on 
the farm of David McCracken. A larger lake, 
though without a name, is on the property of 
John Branden, and covers about eight acres. 
Another, on an adjoining- farm, covers some 
six acres. The water of these lakes is pure, 
and reaches a depth of some forty feet. In an 
earlier day, these lakes aiforded an excellent 
opportunity for hunters, that was well im- 
proved, but of late years, with the clearing up 
of the land, game has taken to the more se- 
cluded ponds, and even fishermen find here 
small inducement to come frequently. Stony 
Creek is a small stream as it jjusses through 



the township, and affords but little induce- 
ment for the location of mills upon its banks. 
A grist-mill in the northwestern part of the 
township depends wholly u]ion it for power, 
and, by utilizing all the means at command to 
increase that power, it generally proves suf- 
ficient, though an occasional drought will stop 
business for awhile. The timljor of all this 
region is largely oak, beech and maple, the 
latter, however, not appearing in such qvian- 
titics as in the eastern part of the State. The 
soil is principally clay, underlaid with lime- 
stone gravel. There are some lowlands that 
are of the loam order, but this lies in small 
tracts. The valley of Stony Creek is not very 
broad, and the low banks of the river allows a 
general overflow on every occasion of freshets, 
making the contiguous territory not so desira- 
ble a tilling land. On the higher grounds 
the clay predominates, which is remiirkably 
])roductive as found in this county. It is ad- 
mirably adapted to corn and wheat, which are 
everywhere grown in great abumlance. A 
belt of open land along the creek is known as 
the prairie. ' This is a characteristic of Stony 
Creek throughout its course. The first set- 
tlers found the margin of the stream denuded 
of timber and occupied by a marsh that grew 
a crop of wild grass of wonderful luxuriance, 
and called this the prairie. 

There is no town or postoffice in Union 
Township. The old Wall map, one of the 
earliest publications of the kind in the coun- 
ty, designates a cross-roads as Noodletoozy. 
This incongruous title had its origin, it is said, 
in the whim of a Pennsylvanian who moved 
into the place. It appears that he came from 



'y 



-s 1 0* 



520 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



a place in his native State that bore the same 
name. Its characteristic, he said, was that 
easily portable commodities seemed to be 
considered common property, and were used 
without regard to the question of ownership. 
"Whether he conceived that this was a fit 
place to inaugurate that system, or thought 
that the West took naturally to the freo-and 
easy-system, has not been explained. The 
name has been rejected by common consent 
long ago, and Union Township recognizes no 
center of attraction, save its voting precinct. 
The earl}' history of the township is closely 
allied to that of Miami, from which it was 
formed in 1S20. Among the first settlers 
were Robert Moore, Samuel and James Mc- 
llvain, William Carter, .John and Thomas 
Makenson, John and Benjamin Schooler 
Robert Porter, William and Archibald Moore, 
David Askrin, IJoliert Newell and his four 
sotis, Samuel, William, Hugh and John, 
William and Josejih McBeth, Robert Crocket, 
David Kirkwood, William Gray, John and 
James Wall, and Martin Shields. At a later 
date Hiram White, James Stnckhouse, Adam 
Rhodes, Jonathan Norton, Henry Gulp, and 
others, joined the community gathered witiiin 
the limits of Union Township. 

The McHvain family was a very early one, 
and settled here not far from ISIO, Samuel- 
settling on what is known to most of the old 
settlers as the Old Dunn farm, which has since 
been divided. He was universally respected, 
and is remembered as one of tin; staunch men 
ol his time. William Carter was a native of 
New York, emigrating from the vicinity of 
Rcichester, to Fort -Meigs, now rerrysb\irg, 
Wood County, ()., about ISIO or ISll. Then- 
Were about 1)7 families residing at the foot of 
till" ra])idsi)f the Maumoe when the war of ISl'i 
broke out, ami anu)ng them was tlie familvnf 
William Carter. The first intimation the set- 
tlers hail of Hull's surrender at Detroit, was 
by the a|)pearanco of a jiarty of British and 



Indians at the foot of the rapi ds, a few di:y 
after it took place. The Intlians plundered 
the settlers on both sides of the river, and de- 
jiarted for Detroit in canoes. The families at 
once fled to a place of greater security, leaving 
all they had that could not be taken witii them 
in their hasty flight. Carter came to what is 
now Union Township, and took up his abode 
on the old Dunn place. The land was not in 
the market then, and he took up a squatter's 
claim, which was nil ho owned until his death. 
He was killed in early numluiod bj- an accident 
in raising a log cabin. Of a large family, 
Samuel is the only one who is remembered by 
the present generation as one of the pioneers 
in this land, and perhaps Union Township may 
present as strong a claim to him as her citizen 
as any other townshij), though not living there 
all his life. He eidisted at the ago of lO in a 
spy company under Capt. llingston and served 
through the war of 1812. Soon after return- 
ing home he was married, and as he left his 
father's cabin his father told him he would beg 
for a living as long as he lived. His only reply 
was to assure him that he would never beg 
from his father at any rate. He was a positive 
character, plain spoken and courting no friend- 
ships based on anything but an honest represen- 
tation of facts. When married he borrowed 
a hat and a handki'rchief; owned an ax and 
was in debt two doUai-s. His wife, it is said, 
had to cut a piece of linen out of the loom to 
make him a second shirt, that the first might 
be washed; liut before he died, through his in- 
domitable energy and perseverance lu> ac- 
cumulated a fine ])ro])erty, which his sons are 
enjoying to-ilaj'. His lirsl start was to rent 
two fields for cidtivation. While earing for 
this work, his landlord came about directing 
him, as he felt in an od'ensive manner, when lie 
threw up his lease and declared that he woidd 
never plant another grain until he plantecl 
it on his own land. He made good his word, 
and struggled up to a fine competency. Ho 



'W 



£t 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



521 



was a member of the first jury in Logan 
county, and heard the first preaching of his 
life in his own cabin. 

A vivid picture of the old time is found in 
his address to the Pioneer Association, and we 
give it in his own \*ords. He said when his 
father came to this country, there were three 
Indians to one white man. " The cabins had 
but one room, in which they lived, ate and slept. 
Furniture was scarce. When he was married 
and moved into his cabin, he made a cupboard 
by putting together some rough clapboards 
with wooden pins- -for there were no nails 
then nearer than Urbana — which was their 
'dfesser.' The first table they ever had was 
made with an ax, hewine: out rouffh boards 
and piiming them together. The first thing- 
he ever put salt into was a gum. In their 
room was a spinning-wheel, beds, bins for 
grain, etc. In 1818 he built a log house, with- 
out door or window; he sawed a hole to go in 
and out at, and, as there was no floor below 
they slept upon the loft, and cooked outside; 
the stock took shelter beneatii. In the 
day he worked hard cutting hay, and at 
night worked at his house, and when they 
got a mud chimney completed, so thev could 
have a fire in the house, it was the happiest 
moment of their lives. He wore homespun 
then, and all he had was a pair of tow-linen 
pants and a shirt, but no drawers or boots, 
and considered he was very well prepared for 
winter. Like a great manj', he bought land, 
and had to work hard to clear and pay for it. 
This was slow work without money or mar- 
kets; but he kept on, and after a while popu- 
lation increased a little, but they could not 
sell anything. A bushel of wheat could not be 
sold for twenty-five cents. They had no mon- 
ey, and the only way they could pay for their 
land was to raise hogs, cattle etc., which 
broiight but little profit. He had raised many 
a fine steer for ten dollars, which would now 
be worth sixt\- dollars. They had no other 



means of gettiug money except by hunting 
for furs, and could not buy tea and colfee, etc., 
but they had plenty of venison and raccoon, 
and many a good meal he had made of it. 
He thought society was better then than now; 
they had not so much to do, and time was 
not so precious as now. Now we had not- 
time to visit, but then people went several 
miles, and when they had got a good fiddler 
and a puncheon floor, would dance all night, and 
go home with the girls in the morning. After 
awhile he began to advance in the world and 
prosper; he bought a new cotton shirt, and 
thought he was coming out. In a short time 
he bought another, and then he had a change. 
But since then there had been a great 
change."* 

The Moores were early settlors in Union. 
Robert came from Union Township, in Penn- 
sylvania, to Cincinnati in 1798, and from 
thence to Clarke County in 180(\ and to tlu; 
farm now owned by H. A. Haling, in 1807. 
His son Samuel was a cabini^t-maker, and plied 
his trade- in tlie new country, supplying th(i 
community with coffins and furniture at very 
satisfactory prices, if we compare them with 
the present. It is said that he made a wind- 
mill that was the wonder and admiration of 
his time, and they would probably prove no 
less a wonderment at this day. 

The community here was very slow in its 
growth. Speculators had bought up the land 
in this vicinity and were holding it at an ad- 
vanced price, so that settlers went furthcT on 
and got cheaper lands. Here the nearest 
point for milling was at King's Creek, and 
mail and store sujiplies could be secured only 
at Urbana. When they first began to sow 
wheat, the blackbirds came in swarms and 
picked up the grain as fast as it could be sown, 
in spite of every exertion to keep them away. 
At length, when a crop was grown, it proved 
to be "sick wheat," i. e., it grew so rank that 

* Antrim's History. 



•f i® r~ 



— r- — *" 



'-U 



k. 



522 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



it caused sic-kiicss when it was used, so that it 
had to be tlirowii away. The first mills were 
on Stoiiv Creek, and were known as Tiioni- 
^ n's and ]31aylock's mills. In giving her 
I arly recollections in ^\i]trim's History, Mrs. 
Sarah M. Moore says: " In those days we 
had what was termed Overseers of the Poor, 
and Fence-viewers, who were duly elected at 
the annual township election. The duties in- 
cunil)ent on the Overseer of the Poor was to 
order them out of the township if they were 
deemed villainous or vagabonds. Otherwise, 
in case of destitution, the children were 
bound out to servitude until capable of taking 
care of themselves. The duties of Fence- 
viewers was to examine the condition of 
fences. There were no picket or board fences 
in those days in our place, but split rails 
were fashionable, with a slip gap, or pair of 
bars at best. According to law, a fence 
must be in a condition to turn stock of any 
kind, or else the owner could recover no 
damages for the breach, or the spoiling of 
his crops by stock that was running at large. 
The wild woods and prairies were our past- 
ures in those days. A laughable occurrence 
hapi)ened at the spring election one year. 
Tlie men, wisiiing to have a little fun, elected 
Adam llhudes, a remarka))ly tall man, and 
llirani White, a small man, as Fence-viewers. 
Adam was to chin the fence, and Hiram to 
look after the pig-holes." Hogs formed an 
important feature in frontier life, and wore to 
be I'liund evcrywher.-. An incident in rela- 
tion to the old-fashioned way of "raising" 
them is told by Mrs. Mooro lus follows: 
'•Two neighbors got into a dispute altout the 
owiuership of a certain hog, which they both 
eluimed. One, being more shrewd and less 
Bcrupuliius aliout honesty or truth than tlic 
(illu'r, got a man to swear before a Justice of 
the IV-ace that he knew the hog to be his, 
becausi- he know that he raised it. It was 
afterward asciTtained that the way he raised 



It was that he stooped over a low fence and 
lifted it off its feet by the bristles. Hogs 
had bristles in those days. A lean shoat 
could well be compared to a fish, the bristles 
answering to the fins on the back, while the 
sides were as flat, with mutton hams to match. 
Stealing or killing hogs in the woods was a 
very common occurrence. Very frequently 
hogs would come running home with torn 
and bloody cars, and one or two missing. 
The jjoor Indian had to bear the blame often 
when the deed was done by some white 
sinner. This subject oeeu]>ied so large a 
space in the ])ublic mind that Robert Moore 
suggested tliat the new county should be 
called Bristle County. It was a common 
thing for cattle to come uj) with one missing, 
and upon search being made it would be found 
swani]>ed in the mud somewhere. Neighbors 
would assist each other, and with hand-spikes 
and ropes, pry up and drag out. Sometimes 
the poor creature could stand after it would 
get on solid footing, and sometimes it 
would have to be lifted to its feet for days 
and weeks. Each owner of stock hail to have 
his own peculiar mark, which was done by 
slitting and ero|)ping, and cutting the oars, 
and then having their mark recorded in the 
public records of the county. 

" Men used to have a cruel and silly jirac- 
tice of what they called docking their horses. 
The manner in which it was done was to 
part the hair about six or eight inches from 
the jioint of the tail, then take a sharp ax 
and set the pole on the horse's rump, turn 
the tail up over the edge of the a.\ and then, 
with maul, or heavy mallet, strike it hard. 
It took four men to do it — one to hold the 
head, one to hold the tail, one to hold the ax, 
and the fourth was the executioner. Another 
jiractice, which was still more ridiculous, was 
nicking, which was done by cutting the 
tendons on the under part of the tail, and 
turning it up and fastening it in that jjosition 



vl«- 



r 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



523 



until the wound would heal up. Young men 
thought they made a grand display when 
thej^ rode by with a nick-tailed horse. 

" But we had some noble boys among us in 
early times — young men who could cut and 
split 200 or 300 rails in a day, pile and burn 
brush at night, or shell their sack of corn 
and ride with it on horseback to mill. The 
girls could milk the cows, churn the butter, 
make the cheese, pull the flax, spin, weave 
and bleach it, and then make it up for the 
boys. They could help shear the sheep, then 
card and spin the wool, color it and weave it, 
and then make dresses of it. Such was fron- 
tier life fifty or sixty years ago. 

"About the year 1810 or 1811, there was felt 
a shock of earthquake, which caused a dis- 
tinct vibration of some three inches of skeins 
of yarn that were suspended from the joist 
of our log cabin. Well do I remember how 
frightened I was when my father told us what 
it was. 

" Of game there was plenty. Deer were 
often seen in herds, six, eight or ten together. 
How beautiful thej^ were, leaping- over hills 
or across the prairies, with their white flags 
waving. But the poor creatures were hunted 
and slaughtered without mercy by both white 
and Indian hunters. The sly and sneaking 
wolf, too, was often seen skulking through 
the brush, and woe betide the poor sheep that 
was unhoused at night. These depredators 
were often caught in traps, as their scalps 
brought the round price of S4. Occasionally 
a bear was killed. A little son of William 
Moore, living on McKee's Creek, near where 
the Bellefontaine and West Liberty turn- 
pike crosses it, was sent after the cows one 
evening. Ho always carried his trusty rifle 
on such occasions, and in passing through the 
woods he espied a huge black bear standing 
with its paws on a log close by, ajsparently 
■watching him. Without waiting to think of 
the consequences should he miss his aim, he 



blazed away, and down came bruin, the ball 
entering his forehead. Bill at once ran home 
to tell his father, who could scarcely believe 
the story. ' But, father, just come and see,' 
said Billy. He went, and there, sure enough, 
was the bear, a very large animal, weighing 
nearly 400 pounds, lying dead beside the log. 

" It would be almost impossible to give the 
young folks of to-day an adequate idea of 
the immense flocks of blackbirds that used 
to collect about our cornfiehLs. They would 
be seen coming in flocks, by the thou- 
sand, and alighting on the corn, about 
the time it was in good ortler for roast- 
ing, tearing open the husk and feasting 
on the soft corn. Then there was work for 
the boys, with the horse rattler, old tin pails, 
or anything to scare off the birds. But, not- 
withstanding this, they destroyed some fields 
almost entirely. Pigeons, though more 
plentiful than blackbirds, were not so mis- 
chievous. At certain times of the year, in 
favorable seasons, they might be seen flying 
in such flocks overhead as to almost darken 
the air, and in continuous lines for miles in 
length. One season the pigeon-roost was at 
a place called Beaver Dam, in Union Town- 
ship, where they collected in such vast num- 
bers as to break down the timber. Large 
limbs would be broken off trees, and saplings 
bent to the ground. 

" Rattlesnakes were also plenty. Well do 
I remember the time when t(uite a large one 
got into our house, and was found coiled up 
at the foot of the bed where my lirothers 
were slee])ing. Feeling something at their 
feet, they called father, who, grasping a large 
iron poker, dexterously pitched it into the fire. 
Shortly after, the dog was making a great 
ado outside the house. FatJicr went out, and 
there was another snake, no doubt mate to 
the one in the house, which he also killed. 

" A very important thing in frontier com- 
munities, after corn was grown and harvested, 



f 



^U 



,t, 



524 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUXTY. 



was to know liow to make it available for 
family use. In making liominy, the first 
thing was to prepare the mortar to pound it 
in. This was done by sawing off a log about 
two feet in diameter and tlirec feet long, then 
chopping it in from one end, leaving a rim for 
the bottom; then dressing it off smooth in the 
shape of a goblet, setting it up on the bottom 
and piling chijM or bark on the top, and burn- 
ing it out, on the inside, taking care to leave a 
rim at the outer edge. When this was done, 
it was dressed out smooth and clean. Then 
shell about half a bushel of corn, pour boiling 
water on it, in some vessel, and let it stand a 
spell; then pour the water off and turn it in 
the hominy block. The pestle for pounding 
it was made by taking a stout stick, about 
like a handspike, shaving it smooth, splitting 
one end and inserting an iron wedge, such as 
is used in splitting rails, taking care to have 
an ir<in ring on the stick to keep it from 
sjilitting with tin; wedge while pounding the 
corn. The chaff, or husk, would part from 
the grain, and leave it ch^an and cracked, fit 
for cooking. Then put on liie kettle and 
boil it. 

" We used to have spinning bees. A nein-h- 
bor would send flax enough around the 
neighborhood to sj)in twelve cuts for each one, 
and send an invitation for us to attend on 
a certain day and bring our dozen of thread, 
and partake of a good dinner and a good 
time in general. The men would have loo-- 
nillings, house-raisings an<l corn huskings. 
We would have our wool-])iekings and quilt- 
ings. We could and did ride on horse-back 
for miles, to meeting or to marki-t, or visitinij, 
and thought it only a pleasant recreation.'" 

Pigeon Town, an Indian village, was hicatcd 
on what is known as the old Dunn farm. 
Here the natives remained for years after the 
whites had settled all about them. After it 
pa.ssed into the hands of the whites, numerous 
relics were turned out by the ploughshare. 



Mrs. !Moore sajs : "Indians were plenty 
about here in the early time, and often came 
into the settlement to trade their split baskets 
(which were ver^' pretty, being colored black 
and red, and strijied with the natural color of 
ash wood), dressed deerskins and moccasins, 
for flour, a little corn-meal, or a piece of meat. 
They were very friendly with the whites, 
generally, if they were well treated. 

"Meanwhile, the heralds of the cross were 
notable. Father Joseph Ste])henson, than 
whom few could boast a finer physical organi- 
zation — tall, erect and well proportioned — he 
stood forth a giant for the cause of religion 
and morality, and, as the Good Master, 'went 
about doing good;" and, like the Apostles, 
'preached from house to house.' Camp-meet- 
ings were quite common. One year there was 
one held on the place of Lodman E. Spry, at 
wdiich there was a large crowd of Shawnee 
and Delaware Indians, some all the way from 
Saiidusk}'. Their encampment was back of 
the jjreachcrs stand. They seemed to enjoy 
the meeting as well as the whites, and wtn-e 
(|\iite as orderly. Some of them were beauti- 
ful singers, and would get very happy at the 
night meetings.'" Some of the earliest efforts 
were made by the Methodists at Messick's 
cabin, and for some time this was the only 
local preaching. About IS;}.') a little frame 
chapel was erected on the corner of the lot 
owned by Mr. Beers, which s\il11ccd until 1S03, 
when the Lake Branch Church erected a 
frame Vmilding, at a cost of some SI, 400, a 
mile east of that point. The movers in this 
enterprise were AlexandcT Doke, Thomas 
Moore, E. C. Doke, \\'iliiani and .fohn Carter, 
and J. L. Seegar. The organization is now 
in a flourishiTig condition, and holds regular 
services. In the southeastern ]iarl of the 
township is the Walnut Grove Ormish Church. 
The Ormish sect is a division of the Gernnin 
Mennonite denomination, and have a fellow- 
siiip of about 100,000 in the United States. 



f 



-,^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



525 



A settlement of these people began to gather 
here about 1840*. They soon got strong enough 
to erect a church in Liberty Township, ^yhich 
served until 1875, when the present building 
was erected on land given by D. D. Yoder. 
This structure is a line frame, neatly painted, 
with blinds, and is beautifully situated in a 
grove of walnut trees. It cost §1,753 in cash, 
besides such contributions as could be secured 
by " froHoks." There are about 150 mem- 
bers, with Dan. F. Yoder as deacon, David 
Plank and Samuel Headings as local preach- 
ers, and John Weary as Bishop. For some 
time this church used the building erected by 
the Presbyterians, near the centre of the town- 
ship. The latter organization has long since 
abandoned its organization. The church 
building is now occupied by the Christian 
church, who, for a while, shared it with the 
Oiinish. 

The Dunkards, or German Baptists, have 
had an organization in the northwestern ])art 
of the township for some thirty or forty yeai's. 
For j'ears they met from house to house, un- 
til, about 1857, they determined to build a 
place of worship. This stands near the farm 
of Raphael Moore, in the western middle part 
of the township. Their local preachers are 
Jacob Franz, Michael Swonger, Abednego 
Miller and Henry Garber. They have about 
150 members. 

In the matter of schools. Union Townshiia 
was quite as forward as her sister townships, 
but the sparse settlement obliged the pionciers 
for some time to forego this establishment. 
There were the usual subscription schools, and 
among the early teachers in these institutions 
was Peter Knox. He was unusually well 
educated for that time, and was, besides, a 
strict disciplinarian. His custom was to give 
the children tasks to commit to memory when 
he dismissed them on Friday night, and Mon- 
day was devoted to hearing tlunn recited. An- 
other feature of this part of the exercises of 



the school was the fact that the delinquents in 
these tasks received an admonishment with a 
rod that never failed to work good results in 
the matter of committing tasks. The school- 
house stood on Peter Detrick's place, the first 
one of its kind in the township, and was a 
rude log affair. Three logs were sawed out 
of the side for light, and greased paper pasted 
over it to keep out the weather. Here the 
children of the pioneers, provided with the 
Introduction to the English IJeader, a Testa- 
ment, unruled pa])er, several lead pencils, in- 
digo ink and quills, went through with their 
" reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic." The lead 
pencils were of home manufacture. The bullet 
lead, of which there was an abundance in 
every frontier cabin, was beaten into long, 
slender pieces and hammered to a point. 
\Ylth these the writing paper was ruled, and 
sundry hieroglyphics and inscriptions placed 
before an admiring crowd of young folks, 
nnich to the disfigurement of the schoolhouses 
and to the dissatisfaction of the graver part 
of the communit}'. George Dunn was another 
of the early teachers. lie was not so well 
versed in educational matters. His certificate 
showed him to be qualified to instruct in 
"reading, writing and arithmetic to the rule 
of three." He was a slow-going sort of a 
man and greatly given to sleep. It is said 
that he frequently fell asleep in school, a fact 
of which the pupils eagerly took advantage to 
go out of the house to play. On awaking and 
findina: himself deserted, he would summon 
them back again, only to relapse again. The 
rule of the rod in those days was supreme. 
Educatit)n was of no value unless cultivated 
and fixed l)y the rod. The principle seemed 
to be that it was better that ten inno- 
cent should suffer than one guilty one es- 
cape, and it often occurred, that for some 
misdemeanor perpetrated by an unknown 
pupil, all were made to suffer in a common 
cause. In the winter of 1834-5 the ''district 



^is- 



^p 






52G 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



school " system was established, Union Town- 
ship being divided into eight districts. With 
this change came a change of methods, 
until we have the present system. There are 
now but four districts, all provided with neat 
brick buildings, save one, which has a noat 
frame structui-e. All are provided with im- 
proved school furniture. Among the teach- 
ers of Union Township is John Carter, who 
has taught each year for thirty-five consecu- 



tive years, and boarded at the same table — 
his own — all the time, a record which would 
bo difficult to duplicate. The Auditor's re- 
cords make the following showing for Union: 
IJalance on hand Sept. 1, 1878, *l,4-4->.4G; 
State tax, ^405.00; local ta.\, 8;!)3.G2; total 
amount paid teachers this year, $1,105 ; 
value of school property, §2,000; average 
wages to gentlemen, S41 per month; ladies 
$33; average enrollment — boys, 86; girls, 78. 




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HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



527 



CHAPTER XXI.* 

WASHIXGTOX TOWNSHIP— IXTRODUCTIOX— THE LEWISTOWN RESERVATION— SETTLEMENT— 

SCHOOLS— CHURCHES, ETC. 

Where late the Indian wigwams stood, 



Deep in the unbounded range of wood; 

Where scarce the sun 
Could penetrate the twilight sliade, 
Now domes of science stand displayed. 

***** * * 
Here dove-eyed peace, triumphant reigns. 
And, o'er the cultivated plains, 
In converse sweet gay nymphs and swains 
Delighted, rove. 

Pierce. • 

Tt is less than half a century since the Red 
man held undisputed and peaceful possession 
of the territory now comprised in Washington 
Townsliij). Forests, whose dense foliage so 
completely enshrouded the earth that scarce 
a ray of sunlight reached its virgin soil, 
covered the lands. Where now stands the 
thriving hamlet with its busy industries, its 
church and its school, was until a compara- 
tively recent date, but a meager collection 
of wretched Indian habitations. The sur- 
roundings, a wild wilderness, dense, gloomy 
and silent, save perhaps at night, when the 
fierce, piercing cry of the wolf, or the grim 
hoot of the owl made the solitude still less 
attractive. By the keen ax and the strong 
anus of the sturdy woodsman, a wonderful 
transformation has beeYi wrought. Small tracts 
of woodland only now remain; smooth, well 
fenced and highly cultivated fields appear ; 
finely graded and graveled thoroughfares, 
thrifty patches of orcharding; substantial, and 
in some instances, elegant dwellings, and 
well kept schoolhouses are fouiid everywhere. 
The slow, meek-eyed ox and the cumbrous 

♦Contributed by Dr. J. H. Se Cheverell. 



wagon of the pioneer time have well nigh 
departed from the face of the earth, and in 
their place we find the trim, fast-stepping 
horse, with his gold or silver-mounted trap- 
pings, and the stylish carriage, so delicately 
constructed that an hour's drive among the 
stumps and roots of a pioneer road would 
leave the occupant in much the same predica- 
ment as the deacon in his "one-horse shay." 
When it 

" All at once, and nothing first, 
Just as bubbles do wlien tliey burst," 

resolved itself into its constituent elements. 
But, however pleasant this theme may be, 
space admonishes us that matters of greater 
imjiort should occupy ovir jjage. 

The lands now constituting the Township of 
Washington consist of fractions of Ranges 
8, 9, 1*4 and 15, in Townships 2, 3, C, 7 and 8, 
in the original Congressional division. The 
boundaries are, in general terms, as follows: 
north by the Lewistown Reservoir; south by 
Pleasant Township; east by the Townships of 
Richland, McAi-thur and Harrison, and west 
by Pleasant, Bloomfield and Stokes. In size 
Washington is of an average width of two 
miles, east and west, by about six miles 
north and south. The "Greenville treaty 
line," which is fully described elsewhere in 
this work, passes through the township in a 
northeasterly direction, cutting off about one- 
third of the south part. North of this line 
was the Indian Reservation, hence the only 
lands in the tovroship subject to purchase or 
settlement prior to the removal of the Indians 
were to the southward, and the plose proximity 



V 



!^ 



528 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



of -.he reservation prevented a rapid influx of 
settlers until after the year 183"2. 

The streams arc: the Miami River, issuing 
from and forming the outlet of the Reservoir. 
From near the east township line the river 
flows southwest until reaching the nortliwest 
corner of Bloomfield Township, when it turns 
south, forming the boundary line between 
that township and the one under considera- 
tion. This water-course is now of little ini- 
jiortance. Cherokee Man's Run flows from 
the east into the Miami river. Numerous 
small streams flow into the Miami from dif- 
fci-ent portions of the township. The largest 
of these is Inky Creek, in the extreme south- 
ern portion of tho township. None of tliese 
streams arc of any value, save as furnishing 
an outlet for the superfluous moisture in the 
soil. "The Lewistown R(>servoir" has its 
bulkhead in this township. Originally a large 
natural ])ond, called " Indian Lake," existed 
in tliis and the adjoining townships of Stokes 
and Richland. The necessity of a reservoir 
to sujiply water-])Owcr to a branch of the 
.Miami canal j)resented itself several years 
])rovious to its improvement. In 1850 a re- 
solution to establish a Reservoir was report- 
ed upon favoralily by the Board of Canal 
(Commissioners, and an act passed authorizing 
the same. The " Indian Lake" and surround- 
ing lands were condemneil, and the owners 
remunerated. Nine years later an amenda- 
tory act was ])assed, and the State entered 
into a contract for the enlargement of the 
reservoir. Subsequently, however, the State 
was released from the ctHitract on payment of 
*I)(),tlOO. The reservoir now covers an area 
of i:?,OfiO acres, abcMit 3,000 of which arc in 
Washington Township. So says Thonuis 
Axtell, Government Su])erintcndcnt of the 
works. ' 

The soil of Washington Township is of 
two kinds, that in the eastern portion being 
largely clay, with occasional gravel, and in 



the west a black loam is found to be almost 
the only variety. Wheat, corn and grass are 
the prevailing crops, and no better yields are 
produced in this portion of the State. The 
native varieties of timber did not difl'cr ma- 
terially from those of the surrounding town- 
ships, being chiefly oak, beech, hard and soft 
maple, walnut, hickory, etc. Game of all 
kinds, but especially the deer and w'ild tur- 
key, was abundant in the early settlement of 
the township. Wolves were numerous, and 
so destructive to sheep, that it was only by 
the most careful attention they were kejit at 
all. Strong pens were built of logs, and in 
these the sheep were confined at night. It is 
said the howls of the wolves, as they tramjicd 
around these enclosiires, were somcthinir ter- 
rible, and it was a long time before one could 
accustom themselves to sleep uiuler the in- 
fliction. Occasionally a bear woidd pay a 
visit to the settlement; this was, however, by 
no means frequent, and usually a hunt ensued 
in which Bruin lost his life. 

Prior to the year 1838 the territory now 
known as Washington Township was attach- 
ed to Bloomfield. The Miami River flowing 
between the townships, was usually swollen 
by the fall and spring rains, and being with- 
out bridges, the attendance upon elections 
was not accomplished without considerable 
danger to the dwellers on the eastern shore. 

At last it was decided to make an iirt)rt to 
secure a separate organization, and accord- 
inglv a ])ctitioii was pres(>ntcd to the ]$oard 
of County Commissioners at their annual ses- 
sion in December, asking that the " territory 
to the east of the Miami River, be erected a 
separate township," to be named in honor of 
the " Father of our Country." The ])rayer of 
the petitioners was granted, ami early in Jan- 
>iary following (1S30), an election for town- 
ship oflici'rs was held, which residted in 
the selection of the following: Jonathan 
Plumb, John H. Rcnick and Daniel Downs, 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



I 



620 



Trustees; John Hogge, Clerk; Isaac Plumlj, 
Treasurer; Michael H. Kaylor and William 
W. Rairden, Justices of the Peace. It was 
several years afterward before the population 
in the new township grew sufficiently numer- 
ous to warrant a division into road and school- 
districts. The township roster for the year 
1880 contains the following : John Trout, 
Amos Cherry and Sahithiel Prater, Trustees; 
John Ansley, Clerk; E. L. Ward, Treasurer; 
Lewis Martin, Assessor; W. T. G. Snyder 
and A. J. Monroe, Justices of the Peace. 

The Indian Peservation previously men- 
tioned extended from the " Greenville treaty 
line" northward; its eastern boundary, the 
present township line; its western the Jliaini 
River, and thence northward; embracing an 
area of 40,300 acres. This reservation was 
granted at a treaty held at Maunn>e Rapids, on 
September 29, 1817, and was for the benefit 
of the Seneca and Shawnee tribes, who, in 
accordance with its provisions, soon estab- 
lished their residence thereon. They con- 
tinued upon the territory imtil the negotia- 
tion of another treaty for their removal, on 
April G, 1832, soon after which they took 
their departure westward. James B. Gard- 
ner, of Bellefontaine, was Commissioner at 
this time, and John Mcllvain, successor to 
.lames McPherson, Agent. The transfer was 
made without difBculty, and the " exodus " 
produced general rejoicing amongst the set- 
tlers in the vicinity. The following, from 
Howe's Historical Collections, so fully illustra- 
tes the honesty of the average Aborigine, that 
it is reproduced in this connection: "James 
McPherson, the former sub-agent, kept goods 
for sale for which they (the Indians), often 
got in debt. Many were slow in making pay- 
ment, and one in particular was so tardy that 
Major McPherson urged him with consider- 
aljlo vehemence to jiay up. The Indian in- 
quired if he would take hides for the debt, 
and being answered in the affirmative, he 



promised to bring- them in aliout foiu' davs. 
Starting into th(j forest, he shot several of the 
government cattle, a vast number of which 
were scattered through the woods, and de- 
livered their hides punctually according to 
promise." 

James McPherson was the proprietor of an 
extensive tract of land in the eastern part of 
Washington Township, given him by the In- 
dians and, this is believed to have been the 
first lands owned by a white man in the 
township. During the residence of the In- 
dians in the township, as early as 1820, a man 
named Stewart lived in a little log cabin on 
the river, where John Moore now lives, and an- 
other, Bi'iijamin Ray, lived on land now owned 
by Thomas Rathburn. These were among the 
very first whit« families who lived in the town- 
ship. They were doubtless squatters, and their 
stay brief, as no one knows anything of their 
subsequent history. In the summer of 1832, 
immediately following the departure of the In- 
dians, a few white families came into the 
township and began settlement. The names 
of these, who were the first permanent set- 
tlers in the township, are as follows: Henry 
Ilanford, a native of New York, purchased 
COO acres of land in and around Lewistown; 
a daughter, Mrs. B. F. McKinnon, at present 
occupies a portion of this trat^t. Michael 
Carnes, a Virginian, owned a large tract of 
land on the eastern boundary line, adjoining 
the Greenville treaty line. His widow now 
lives in Harrison Township. William and 
Alexander Kirkpatrick'purchased an extensive 
body of land along the Miami River. Wil- 
liam S. Lowry, settled a large tract in the 
north part of the territory. Abraham Cherry 
bea:an settlement on a farm in Sections 14 
and 23, now occupied by a son, Amos. James 
Renick purchased land adjoining Lowry. 
Joseph Kave, Isaac Cooper and John Hogge, 
settled al)out Lewistown. ISIrs. Plum came 
from Virginia, with five children, and located 



it^ 



530 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



on 460 acres of land southwest of Lewistown ; 
hut one son, Isaac, now residos in the town- 
shi]), though numerous descendants live in tjio 
vicinity'. James B. McKinnon and family 
settled south of the "treaty line," on land 
he still occupies. Among early settlers were 
Alexander Trout, Joseph and David Dearduff, 
.lames Craig, John Williams, Samuel Fire- 
stone, Daniel Downs, Isaac demons, John 
and George Mefford, John Price, Daniel Mar- 
tin, John Parish, George Strickland, Dennis 
Moore, John F. Amos, John Bronson, Philip 
Siiade and George Weaver. 

From this period the arrivals in this section 
increased with hopeful rajiidlty — the era of 
jieace and prosperity had surely arrived. 
Progress was slowly, surely made; the log ^ 
houses became more numerous and the clear- 
ings increased rajiidly in area. Frame build- 
ings began to a])])ear; the pioneers, assured 
of safety, laid better plans for the future, re- 
sorted to new industries, enlarged their posses- 
sions, and improved the means of cultivation. 
More commodious structures took the place 
of the old ones; the large double cabin of 
lie wed logs took the place of the smaller hut; 
log and frame barns were constructed. Ne.\t, 
society began to lorm itself; the sclioolhouse 
and Jlie chuji^'li :i[jMai^H|^Mid though rude, 
y uncomfortalile with- 
^^ ng stridi; onward. Still 

there reni^pFna vast work to jierform, for as 
yetonlyH beginnidfr had been made in the 
Western wood^^W"' brunt of the struggle, 
hiiwever, was'phVt, and a way opened into the 
wilderness. 

In this, as in all pioneer settlements, great 
inconvenience was experiencefl for the want 
ji)f means by which to convert the grain into 
II ('Hidition suitable for breail-making. Fore- 
most in the jrppliances for that purpose was 
the "stump mortar;" following this was the 
hand-mill, a slow and tedious process of pre- 
paring one's " daily bread," still it was an 




improvement on its predecessor. Next came 
the grist-mill propelled by horse-jiower, or jier- 
ha])s by the waters of some convenient creek, 
rude and far from perfect as compared to the 
mills of to-day, yet its advent was far in ad- 
vance of anything preceding it. The pio- 
neer mill in Washington was built in 1835, by 
E. G. Hanford, upon a small stream some three- 
fourths of a mile east of Lewistown. This 
pioneer indnstrj' was a great convenience, 
and ,was witUdy patronized for some years, 
but has now gone to decay. Subsecpiently a 
steam saw-mill was erected by Hanford, 
Stamats and Conlev, on the east line of the 
village, and to this, one run of stone for 
grinding corn was added. The ])resent steam 
saw-mill in Lewistown was completed during 
the fall of 1873, and is now owned by .lohn 
Rood and H. Clay. During the year 1803 
AA'^ashington Township was blessed (?) with a 
distillery. Jacob Westenhaver was the pro- 
prietor of this questionable addition to the 
prosperity of the community. It subse- 
quently became the property of John and 
Jacob Hall, who failed to make the returns 
required by law, and the establishment was 
confiscated by the Government. This, with 
a taimer}', not a vestige? of which now re- 
mains, concludes the industries of the town- 
ship. The hamlet of Lewistown is said to 
have been named in lionor of "Captain" 
John Lewis, " a somewhat noted chief of the 
Shawnee tribe, who was living within the 
recollection of the earliest settlers," in a log 
house standing on the site of the present 
residence of Dr. B. F. McKinnon; in fact, a 
portion of this log house is now incorporated 
in Dr. McKinnon's dwelling. Tliis I^ewis is 
spoken of as being fully as la/v and filthy as 
the average Aborigiin>; a white wonniii, named 
Polly Keyser, lived with him to "do his 
drudgery." 

Quite a collection of log and bark huts 
stood along the bank of the small stream 



^'. 



A 



fllSTORY OF LOGAX COUXTY. 



Ooo 



skirtiIl^• the eastern portion of Lcwistown, 
and possibly this suggested the idea of mak- 
ing a plat of the ground; at least the fact re- 
mains that in 1833 Harvej- Hanford caused a 
survej^ and plat to be made embracing twen- 
ty-five acres of land in the vicinity, and soon 
after Elijah Bruuk erected the first building 
by civilized hands on the town plat. . It was 
constructed of hewed logs, and became the 
home of the builder. The first frame house 
in the " village " was built by a man nam(>d 
Conly, who was the pioneer shoemaker in the 
place. A few j-ears subsequent to the mak- 
ing of thi> plat Mr. Hanford erected a build- 
ing, and in this opened a stock of goods. \ 
postoffici! was next established, and he be- 
came Postmaster. The mails were carried oh 
horseback, arriving and departing once each 
week, and as much oftener as the state of the 
streams and roads would admit. A semi- 
weekly hack-line now runs from Bellefon- 
taine to Anna Station, via Lewistown. J. 
Springer is the present postmaster. The 
pioneer " tavern " was under the manage- 
ment of .John Pell, who began to " take in " 
tlie traveling imblio as early as 1840. The 
hotel building was of logs and frame, and 
stood on lands now owned by George W. 
Berry. Th(> first discij)lc of yEsculapius to 
find an abiding-place upon the historic soil 

of Lewistown was Morehead. He did 

not remain long, and was succeeded h\ a Dr. 
Lewis, who, it is alleged, became connected 
v/ith a gang of counterfeiters — at least he 
eventually "took himself off"' by suicide. 
Dr. Pollock came ne.\t, and he, in turn, gave 
place to B. F. MoKinnon, the only physician 
now in the township, and who is said to be a 
practitioner of more than average ability. 
Lewistown now contains one dry goods 
and two grocery stores, two blacksmith, 
one harness and one shoe-shop, a liotel, 
church and school. Situated immediately 
west of Lewistown is an ancient burial place, 



probably occupied for the ]iurpose of inter- 
ment long before the white man gained a 
footing in this vicinity. The remains of 
Lewis McCauley were the first civilized inter- 
ment. 

The first schoolhousc north of the Green- 
ville treaty line was located in Lewistown. 
It was of unhewn logs and rough in its con- 
struction, yet it is presumed the birchen rod 
cut as deeply, and the "young idea" learned 
as eifectually "to shoot," within its bark- 
covered walls as in the more pretentious 
school buildings of the jirosent day. This 
building was erected in 1333, and was occupied 
until 1840, when it gave place to a comfort- 
able frame schoolhousc. This is now the dv.'ell- 
ing of .lacob Grouse. The Lewistown special 
school district was formed in 1874, and the 
following directors elected: Jacob Harncr, B. 
S. 13. Stamats and Amos Cherry. A neat 
school building with two rooms was erected 
during the summer of 1874, and the school 
organized with jjrimary and grammar depart- 
ments. The writer has been unable to learn 
the date of the erection of the first school- 
house in the southern portion of the town- 
ship. Following are the school statistics for 
Washington Township, including the special 
district, for the year ending August 31, 1879: 

Wliole niuiilicr of scliolars 308 

Aniomit piiiil te.acliors §1,674 

Niinibcr of .''cluio' houses 7 

Value, with grounds 52,000 

Early in the settlement of the township 
religious services were held in the cabip.s of 
the pioneers and iater in the schoolhousos. 
Thus was an interest in the cause of Christ 
awakened, and the formation of a church soon 
followed. .lames B. McKinnon, Esq., fur- . 
nishes the following data : The first church 
formed in what is now "Washington Township 
was of the Methodist Protestant faith; the 
period, during the latter part of the year 183tj ; 
the place, a little log-cabin standing on the 



^^ 



4 



534 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



farm then belonging: to Gabriel H. Banes; 
Rev. John B. Lucas in cliarge of what was 
then Siiringfield Circuit, conducted the meet- 
ings here, assisted })y Rev. David Moore and 
Lewis Hicklen. Among the iirst members 
were : G. H. Banes and wife, Josiah Mc- 
Kinnon and wife, Mrs. Mary Harrison, Mrs. 
Catherine Smith and daughter, Mrs. Jonathan 
Plumb and .Mrs. Shade. In March, 1S37, J. 
B. McKiiinon and wife located nc^ar and be- 
crame iiifnd)ers, and in June of the same year 
William Black and wife, late of Pennsyl- 
vania, united with the Church. Services were 
held in the log house about referred to, for 
perhajjs one vear. when by reason of the sale 
of the projierty, the place of worship was 
changed to the dwelling house of G. H. 
Banes, and after a time to the schoolhouse on 
James B. McKiinion's farm; next at the liouse 
of Jonathan Plumb and afterward at the 
schoolhouse in Lewistown. During the sum- 
mer of ISoo the society erected the meeting- 
house at this village they still occupy. This 
is a wood structure and cost some IsTOO; Jona- 
tlian Pbunb, James B. and Daniel ^^'". Mc- 
Kinnon were the i)uilding committee. Of the 
constituent members of this church, !)ut one 
now remains, Mrs. Catherine Smith, who now 
lives in Lewistown. Since the completion of 
the church edifice a Sunday Sidior)l has been 
in continuous operation, and has now a total 
enrollment of eighty scholars. The member- 
ship of the church now numbers eighty (June> 
1880). l!ev. B. F. Tucker is the jiresent Pas- 
tor. For many years subsequent to the for- 
mation of this society, no' effort was made by 
any other deiKuninaliou to form a cinirch in 
the townshi]). 

During the wint<'r of fS."ri-;5, a si'ries of 
mei'tings were held in tin- Kaylor school- 
house, on Si'ctiiin ;(."). by Kev. William S. 
Paul, i>f till- Methodist Episcopal Church, and 
early in the last mendoned yi-ai- a small 
clobs was iVirmed. This consisted of : Mor- 



ton C. Wood and wife, Harvey Sutherland 
and wife, John Nichols and wife, William 
Rairden and wife, Andrew Coulter and wife, 
John Denny, and Francis Bridgeman. Ser- 
vices continued to l)e held at the schoolhouse 
for two or three years, when the membership 
having become too numerous for the limited 
accommodations, the neat church edifice, 
situated on section thirty, was constructed; 
this is appropriately named " Pleasant Grove." 
The membership of this society is now (1880) 
100. (A)ntemporaneous with the formation 
of the Church was the Sabbath School, which 
is still in active and etfective operation. Fol- 
lowing are the ministers of Ph>asant Grove 
Ciiurch from its organization : Revs., William 
S. Paul, II. D. Oldliel.l, M. Longfellow, P. A. 
Drown, A. J. Stubbs, W. S. Ray, A. Berry. .1. 
A. Wright, Charles Farnsworth, and S. 11. 
Alderman, who at present presi<les. 

The Evangelical Church was organized l)y 
Rev. Rhinehold about the year 18o3, at the 
schoolhouse in Section 11. The constituent 
members were as follows: George Fuson and 
wife, Moses Sager and wife, Harvey Ray and 
wife, .Fames Wicks and wife, and Thomas 
Conner and wife. The schoolhouse was 
occupied as a place of worship until the y<'ar 
18G5, when the present Church edifice of this 
society was erected. It is a commoilious 
frame building, and cost Sl,400. The jiresent 
membership of this society is seventy-two. 
Rev. William Bates is the ])n'sent Paslor. 
In connection with the Church is a nourishing 
Sabbath School. Ministers of other denomi- 
nations have held occasional service in the 
township at intervals, but no church organiza- 
tions have ever existed, except those spoken 
of. Some j'ears since the society known as the 
Patrons of Husbandry effected an organization 
at Lewistown, but it ilid not attain much ])ro- 
minence, and has now ]iasscd into obscurity. 

Din-ing till' war of the Iirbclliun W'lish- 
ington Township was patriotic, brave and 



^! 



>> 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



535 



earnest. The people faltered not as the long- 
years passed wearily by, but the gaps in the 
ranks, made by disease, or torn open by shot 
and shell, were filled and refilled until the 
bloody and dreadful struggle was over, and 
let this be placed to her credit: Every male 
citizen of the township, between the ages of 
eighteen and forty-five years, either became a 



soldier himself or furnished a substitute; of 
these many never returned, their lives went 
out for the flag, and beneath the skies of the 
Sunny South, where the orange and mag- 
nolia shed a ceaseless perfume, the spot 
perhaps unknown, they " sleep the sleep that 
knows no waking." 



CHAPTER XXII. 

PERRY TOWNSHIP— TOPOGRAPHY AND DESCRIPTION— SETTLEMENT— EARLY IMPROVEMENTS— 

RELIGIOUS— EDUC.i.TIONAL—TOWNS, ETC. 



IN the beginning of the century tliat is 
now reeling off the last quarter of its 
course, this beautiful stretch of country was 
an unbroken wilderness — the home of the 
Red Man and his kintlred. Beside the purling 
streams and around the flowing springs he 
built his wigwam, and tlirough the dense for- 
ests he tracked his game and tjursued his fly- 
ing prey. Behold the change! Less than 
four-score years have passed, and the wild 
whoop of the savage has died away in the 
distant West. C'hurciies and schoolhouses 
have taken the place of lii^ v/igwam, and 
where his camp-fires blazed now stand the 
palatial homes of his pale- faced successors. 
And the dense woods — the giant trees of the 
forest — they have disappeared Ijelore the en- 
terprise of the white man. He has trans- 
formed the forest into smiling' fields, and his 
domestic animals are found where once 
roamed the bear, the panther, the wolf and 
deer. Wonderful, indeed, has been the 
change! 

This division of Logan County lies in the 
eastern ran^e of townships, and was formerly 
a part of Zane Township, as really was the 
whole of Logan Countv. When set oS" from 
Zane, it emiiraced Bokos Creek Township 
within its limits, and so remained until 183", 



when Bokes Creek was set oil', bringing Perry 
Township (so named in honor of Commodore 
Perry) down to its present dimensions and 
boundaries, whieli are as follows: In shape 
an oblong square, being si.x miles from north 
to south and four miles from east to west; 
bounded on the north l)y Bokes Creek Town- 
ship, on the east by Union County, on the 
south by Zane Township, and on the west by 
Jefferson Township. It was Virginia military 
land, and the original surveys were made 
without regard to the cardinal points of the 
compass, but according to the convenience 
and the pleasure of the early settlers. 

Geograjjhically, Perry Township is located 
mostly in the valley of tiie Nile, otherwise of 
Otter and Mill Creeks. No more beautiful or 
fertile lands, we venture to say, border the 
Nile th.an are to be found in this section. 
About two-thirds of the township is a fine 
valley, and as rich land, to use the expression 
of one of its owners, "as ever a crow flew 
over." The central and eastern parts lie in 
this valley, and the land is a generally level 
surface, and of a rich deep soil. A portion 
of it was rather flat and marshy until arti- 
ficial drainage redui^ed it to a state of fertil- 
ity unsurpassed in any section of the county. 
The western portion iif the township is rolling. 



\ 



536 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



ami in jilaces a little hilh'. On the clay 
hills tiio lanil is somewhat poor in quality, but 
makes fine grazing and pasturage. Tho roll- 
ing lan<ls to the west and northwest, in which 
the limestone exists, produces wheat, oats and 
grass in abundance. Along the western 
range of hills are found some fine ledges of 
limestone, which have been utilized by the 
opening of quarries, several of which are ex- 
tensively used, and furnish an excellent build- 
ing stone. Further west, as well as in the 
east part gravel beds are found of a good 
quality for building roads. The timber con- 
sists of the usual varieties common in this part 
of the country, viz: oak, hickory, beech, elm, 
ash, maple, walnut and poplar. The last two 
named were originally very plenty, and were 
used extensively in early times for rails. We 
were informed by a prominent citizen that 
there had been enough walnut and poplar 
timber made into rails, and otherwise wasted, 
to buy half the land in thD township at the 
])rice at which ])oplar and walnut lumber now 
sells. There are but few streams coursing 
through Perry Township, and these are rather 
small and insignificant. The most iuijiortant 
of them, however, are Otter and Mill (Greeks. 
The latter has its source in Rush Creek Town- 
ship, enters Perry near the northwest corner, 
Hows in a southwesterly direction and unites 
with Otter Creek near the east line. Otter 
Creek comes in at tho southwest corner. Hows 
northeast and forms a junction with .Mill Creek, 
and passes from the township near the center 
of the east line. Darbey, or Darley, Creek, 
is a small stream forming a half circle through 
tho extreme southern part of the t<)wn;-hi|). 
Long Run has its source in tho western part 
and flows near east to its junction with O^tcr 
Crock. Flat Branch is another sm dl and 
sluggish Etream in the southern part of the 
township. A largo numhrr of fine spiing.; 
and flowing wells*, to which wo iihall nguin 
allude, abound in many placon. 



The authentic history of Perry Township 
l)egins with the coming of .Tohn Garwood, Sr., 
who is acknowledged the first white settler 
in this portion .of the Otter Creek Valley. 
Tradition places his settlement in the year 
1802, a tradition that is scarcely borne out by 
historical facts. Without entering into a 
discussion of the point, we will say that it is 
probable, from the most authentic informa- 
tion to be had, that he settled in the town- 
ship of Perry not before 1803-4. John 
Garwood, the progenitor of all the Garwoods 
of this section of the county, came originally 
from -the Old Dominion, and settled on the 
pri^sent site of the village of east Libertj-. 
His pioneer cabin stood about 300 yards west 
of McCally's mill. He had several sons who 
came a few years after him; they were 
Daniel, I^ovi, Thomas, .John, Isaiah and 
Lot. He also had several daughters. Hope, 
the eldest, married George Harris; Susanna 
married Joseph Ray; Margaret married 
.Joshua Inskeep ; Hester marricMl John 
Inskeep, a brother to Joshua; and D.^borah 
married Joseph Stokes. All of these are 
dead and gone. So far as is known there 
is not one of this fiimily, even to tho third 
generati(m, from the old pioneer, John Gar- 
wood, Sr;, now living. Thomas and John 
Garwood, Jr., went to Illinois many years 
ago, and died there. I.,evi Garwood was one 
of the first associate judges of the county, 
and another of the boys was one of the first 
justices of the jieacc after the formation of 
the county. 

Al)out the year 1805-6, three brothers, 
Joshua, Job ami John Inskeep, came to tho 
present township of J'erry. They, too, were 
from Virginia. John Inskeep was the first 
representative in the legislature of Champaign 
County (then cmbnicing Log:in), v.hen Chilli- 
cotho was tho capital of the State. They are 
all dead ; but a number of desccndanto perpet- 
uate thc-ir name in tho counly. Thomas 



^ CL 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



537 



James came to the township in 1810 and 
settled ou what is now known as the Robert 
Green place. He was of Welsh descent; 
was born in Virginia, but not liking the in- 
stitution of slavery, when arriving at the 
years of maturity he went to Pennsylvania. 
He remained there until his removal to Ohio. 
He first settled in Columbiana Count\', where 
he remained but a short time and then removed 
to Cincinnati. He resided in Cincinnati two 
years and then came to Perry township, as 
stated above, in 1810. He died in May, 1S3G. 
His children were Isaac, Hannah, Thomas, 
Sarah, I'hoebe and Levi. All ure dead 
except Phoebe (Mrs. Smith) and Hannah, 
who live together about a mile north of East 
Liberty. Hannah, a maiden lady over eighty 
years of age, possesses an excellent memory, 
and remembers with great accuracy many 
facts pertaining to the pioneer times. Four 
sons of Thomas James, Jr., are still living, 
three in the neighborhood, viz : Dr. S. N., 
N. N. and Frank E., and W. L. James, in 
Union County. Three sisters of these are also 
living. 

Another pioneer family of this township 
was the Skidmore family. Wm. Skidmore 
came also from the Old Dominion, and settled 
in Columbiana Co., where he remained for a 
time, and came here abovit 1825-6. Joseph 
Skidmore, his eldest son, is still living and is 
eighty-two years of age. Daniel, Joshua, 
Isaac and William (the last two were twins) 
were also his sons. Of these Daniel and 
Isaac are living. He had five daughters — 
Saida and Ruth married David Ray (but 
not both at once); Parmelia married Jacob 
Humphreys, and Mary married Levi Lane. 
The last two are living. The Skidmores 
were an excellent family of people. They 
are spoken of as "good farmers, honest, good 
men, and good Baptists." In 1808, Samuel 
Ballingor came from New Jersey, and settled 
about two mlle.s south of the village of East 



Libert}-, in tlu; southern part of the township. 
Of a large family all are now gone, and no 
nearer descendants than grandchildren are 
living here. .John Bishop was a Virginian, 
and was an early settler, but has been so long 
dead that little is remembered of him. 

An interesting character, whose history is 
intimately connected with the pioneers of 
Perry Township, was Anthony Banks, a 
colored man. He is believed to have come 
from Virginia, but whether lie had ever been 
a slave or not is not known. He was 
very energetic and industrious, and event- 
ually grew rich. He cut cord-wood in the 
vicinity of Sandusky, and bought his wife, 
who was originally a slave, and by her he 
raised a large family of stalwart sonri and 
daughters, whose general appearance betok- 
ened a long life, but all of whom (except one) 
died early, and many of them with consump- 
tion. One daughter went to Canada and 
married a white man — a Canadian French- 
man — and died soon after, leaving- one child. 
The husband, who is said to have lieen at- 
tracted to her personal charms by the prop- 
erty she was to inherit, came on here with 
the child after her death, and remained some 
time with her family. Only one son, Wash- 
ington Banks, of all this family, survives. 
He lives in the east part of the township on 
a farm left him by his father. Old Anthony, 
it is said, owned the first silver-mounted har- 
ness, and the first buggy with silver-tipped 
hubs, ever seen in Peiry Township, and his 
daughters wore the first silk dresses that were 
worn in the settlement. Many fabulous stories 
are told of Old Anthony's wealth. When 
he bought his fine buggy and harness, he was 
said to have had a half bushel measure full 
of silver and gold coin left, all of which he 
offered to a man named Bill Carter if he 
would marry one of his daughters. Bill de- 
clined the honor. There is no doubt but 
Banks was" very wealthy, but as is usually the 



^1 



538 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



case, tlie earth had scarcely closed over the 
old man before his children commenced 
the distribution of it with reckless hands, and 
it disappeared more rapidly than it had been 
accumulated. In the last sickness of Jlrs. 
Banks, Dr. James attended lier. When he 
saw tliat her hours were numbered, he told 
her in the eveninsj-, as he felt it his duty to 
do, that she could not live until the next 
morning. " Bless de Lord," said she, " I'll 
soon be free. I has never been free. Mr. 
Banks bought me, and J has been his slave 
just as I was de slave of de white people. 
Bless de Lord, I is almost free now," and 
thus she died. 

Further contributions to the township set- 
tlement, from Old Virginia, were Christopher 
Smith, Isaac Hatcher, Herbert Baird, and 
Lewis Sullivan. Mr. Smith came about 
1800-7, and has been dead many years. 
Hatcher came soon after Smith, and settled 
in the northwest part of the township. He 
went to Champaign County, where he after- 
wards died. A grandson still ]ierpetuates his 
name in this township. Mr. Baird was a local 
jircacher of the Methodist Church, and settled 
one mile west of the village of l-^ast Liberty. 
Ho died about 1830-1; liis widow survived 
him a number of years. Sullivan came about 
182-.> and settled a mile w<'st of Baird's. He 
had settled previously in .lelVerson Township, 
but sold out there and moved over into Perry. 
He removed to Illinois about 1858, and none 
of his descendants arc here now. 

The Old Keystone State furnished the fol- 
lowing families, most of whom located near 
each other, tlnis forming a kind of Pennsyl- 
vania settlement: Ki<-liard lluni])hreys, Wil- 
liam Fisher, Simpkin Ibirrinuin, Stei)hen and 
Nehemiah Green, and Samuel Supler. 
Ilumiihreys was a Welshman by birth, but 
had been living for sonu; time in Peiinsvl- 
vania before emigrating to Ohio, which he did 
at a very early day. He died about 1830. 



Fisher came between 1820 and 1825, and set- 
tled on Mill Creek, about four miles north of 
East Liberty. Both he and his wife died in 
this township, but descendants are still living 
here. Harriman came about the same time 
Fisher did, and settled on an adjoining farm. 
A daughter married Wm. Fisher and is still 
living. Stephen Harriman, a son, still jier- 
petuates the name. Stephen Green settled 
on an adjoining farm to Harriman. He moved 
to one of the Western States about 1835, 
where he died. Nehemiah Green came very 
early, and settled on a farm half a mile west 
of Liberty. He died more than forty 
years ago. Samuel Supler settled on an adjoin- 
ing farm to Harriman and Green. He died 
on the place of liis original settlement, since 
the beginning of the present year, (1880) at 
the advanced age of eighty-four years — the 
oldest man, at the time of his death, in the 
township. He has two daughters still living; 
two sons went into the army during the late 
war, but never returned. 

The following early settlers came from 
New Jersey : Edward Harding, Josiah Aus- 
tin, Henry Reymer and Thomas Freer. Hard- 
ing came about 1825, is still living and is 
about 82 j-ears of age. He settletl two miles 
southwest of the village of Liberty, where he 
still lives. He has a son, Geo. W. Harding, 
and two daughters living in the township. 
Mr. Austin settled one mile south of Liberty. 
He was an old man when he came to the 
township, and is long since gathered to his 
fathers. He had four sons and four daugh- 
ters, all of whom are dead, except two daugh- 
tere, Mrs. Garwood and Mrs. Shepherd, both 
widows. Reymer came about 1818; ho set- 
tled in the southwest jjart of the township, 
where he died many years ago. A son still 
lives on the old homestead. Freer settled an 
adjoining farm to Reymer, and came about the 
same time. He is long since dead, and has 
no descendants living here nearer than 



V 



A 



^^ 



HISTORY OF LOGA>! COUXTY. 



539 



grandchildren. Joseph Randall came in the 
fall of 1832, and was from Virginia. He is 
still living, and a resident of East Liberty. 

.John McCally is a Pennsylvania dutchman, 
of Scottish origin and descent, and settled in 
the township in the spring of 1833; he is here 
yet, and says he wants to staj"^ just as long as 
jiossible, as he don't know what kind of a 
])lace he may get into when he leaves. He is 
a good man, and a regular walking encyclo- 
pedia. He and Dr. James are responsible for 
much of the information on which the history 
of this township is based, and if anything is 
found to be incorrect, we tumble it off on 
them. We never make any mistakes, not 
cven'in — politics. Settlers were Hocking in 
now with such rapiditj*, that it was not easy 
to keep track of them, much less to give their 
settlement in chronological oriler. The rich 
lands lying in the valley of Otter and Mill 
Creeks attracted emigrants hither, and when 
the flow once set in, the country was rapidly 
settled up. 

The great want of a mill was felt in an 
early period of the settlement in the valley. 
This want John Garwood, Sr., determined to 
supply, and but a few years after he had set- 
tled in the township, he set about building a 
mill on Otter Creek. This first mill was 
located some 300 or 400 j'ards from the pres- 
ent one, and is supposed to have been built 
at least seventy years ago, or about the year 
1810. It was, some years afterward, removed 
to the present site, under the management of 
Thomas James, Dr. James' father, who was a 
millright by trade. This mill was patronized 
by the people for many miles around. "Gar- 
wood's Mill " was a noted place, and was well 
known at a great distance. It was a kind of 
center of a considerable extent of country, 
and from it all the early roads and trails di- 
verged. It is now owned by John McCally, 
and has been improved and remodeled, until 
it is a little like the fellow's gun — not even 



the old lock, stock or barrel is left. It is still 
known, however, as the " old Garwood Mill." 
It is now a large two-story frame building, 
with two run of burrs, and a capacity for 
grinding 150 bushels of grain in twenty-four 
hours. Its power is from Otter Creek, and nu- 
merous flowing wells along the "race," which 
contribute greatly to the volume of water. 

William B. Moore had a mill at one time 
near the junction of Otter and Mill Creeks, 
but it finally went down — the creek. During 
a time of high water it was washed away, and 
was never rebuilt. It was an enterprise of 
a rather brief career. A distillery was es- 
tablished at Garwood's Mill, and operated 
during the years of 1832 and 1833 by Thomas 
James and William Smith. They sold it to a 
man named Brooks, who operated it for a 
year or two and then ceased the business. It 
has never since been resumed in the town- 
ship, a fact which redounds to the credit of 
its citizens. 

\^'hen the whites first came to Perry Town- 
ship there were plenty of Indians in the sur- 
rounding country. Althouch the '0 were no 
villages in the township, or in the territory 
now embraced in the township, they frequent- 
ly came from their towns and villages and 
encamped at the numerous springs in this sec- 
tion, sometimes for a month or two, while 
hunting. Miss Hannah James remembers 
numerous visits of this kind, and their com- 
ing to her father's house when in the neigh- 
borhood. They were on friendly terms with 
the white people and never committed any 
depredations. They were of the Delaware 
and Shawnee tribes, and came mostly from 
the Lewistown Reservation. After the close 
of the war they were removed to reservations 
farther west, and 

'* Lo ! the poor Indinn, whose mitiitored mind 

Sees God in the clouds, and liears his wliispcrs in 
the wind," 



540 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



became a tiling of the piist. The red man is 
n-oiie; his iiunting-grounds are smiling fields, 
and few now living in the township remem- 
ber ever to have seen an Indian. 

As the war-whoop of the savage died away 
the voice of the preacher was heard as " one 
crying in the wilderness." The first ministers 
lielonged to the society of Friends, who used 
merely to " speak in meeting." .John Gar- 
wood, Sr., was one of tliese, and was in the 
habit of jireaching, or "speaking." Rev. 
Herbert Baird, already mentioned among the 
early settlers, was perhaps the first Methodist 
])reacher. He was a local preacher, but 
some time before his death he attached him- 
self to Conference and was placed in charge 
of a Circuit, and thus became a regular itin- 
erant. Elders Samuel Bradford and David 
Dudley were among the first Baptist preach- 
ers. Tiie first church organized and the first 
house of worship built was by the Methodists 
at East Liberty. The present site of the 
town of North Greenfield was a camp-meet- 
ing ground long before there was a town laid 
out on it. A Methodist Church was finally 
built on this old canip-gro\nid, and is still used 
as such, it being now in the village of Green- 
fi 'Id. Before the era of churches the peo- 
ple's cabins were used as substitues, and 
when a jireacher came into the neighborhood 
the people were notified, and collected at 
some one of the larger cal)ins and listened to 
tile Word, proclaimed in the siin])le language 
of the time. The "(^)uaker Church," as it is 
called, is situated a mile or two west of North 
Greenfield. The first church was built about 
IS.iO, and a few years afterwards burned 
down. The present edifice was built about 
the eoinmi'ncement of the late war. It is a 
frame building of mo(lern architecture, and 
presents a neat ap|)earanci>. Mary Elliott is 
the principal minister, and has been since the 
first organization of a church in this neiffh- 
borhood. A cemetery has been laid out ad- 



jacent to the church, and forms a pretty little 
burying-ground. There is also a cemetery at 
the Supler schoolhouse, but a short distance 
from the church. 

The Union Baptist Church, located in the 
Skidmore neighborhood, was built about 1858- 
60. Among the first preachers was Elder 
Dudley, already mentioned as a pioneer Bap- 
tist preacher. He dedicated it when it was 
completed. It has a large membership and 
an interesting Sabliath School. Rev. Mr. 
Lash is at present the Pastor. 

The United Brethern built a church a mile 
or two north of East Liberty about the year 
1850. But it has not been used as a temple 
of worship for fifteen or twenty years. It is 
now owned by E. Akej", who uses it as a grain 
and wool warehouse. The first resident ]>hy- 
sician in the township was Dr. .1. W. Hamil- 
ton, who came in 18;5U. He was an able phj-si- 
cian, and had an extensive practice until he 
retired from active professional life. While 
in practice he had ten students, who read 
under his tutorage, all of whom became jiliy- 
sicians of considerable note, and some of them 
quite famous. These students were his three 
brothers, William R., Edward and John L. 
Hamilton, Alonzo Garwood, William Sulli- 
van, Sr., Johnson, Amen Davis, W. J. 

Sullivan, Josiah Whitaker and S. N. James. 
The three Hamiltons went to Peoria, Illinois; 
Edward died there, and John L. is publish- 
ing a medical magazine in Peoria at the 
present time. He was a delegate from the 
United States a few j'cars ago to the Medical 
Association of Europe. Dr. Garwood lives 
in Michigan, and has served two terms in the 
State Senate. Whitaker died of consuni])- 
tion. William Sullivan livos in Allen County. 
William .1. Sullivan in T.rbana. Johnson is 
dead, and Dr. James still lives near East 
Liberty, but has retired from ])ractice, and 
spends his time in leisure and in entertaining 
his friends. Christo])her Smith was an early 



^^ 



jjs 



^k> 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUXTY. 



541 



Jvistice of the Peace, anJ held the office and 
dealt out justice to the oflfeiiders of the law 
when this was Champaign County. John 
Garwood was also an early Justice, the next, 
perhaps, after Smith. The first death in the 
neighborhood was that of John Bishop's wife, 
but the date is not remembered. She was 
buried at what is now known as the Inskeep 
burying ground. The first birth and the first 
marriage are events that have passed out of 
remembrance long since. 

When the settlement of Perry Township 
commenced tliere were no roads, but paths 
and Indian trails through the forest. The 
first road cut out led from Garwood's mill to 
Big Spring, where it intersected the Zanes- 
lield and Sandusky road. The next road was 
from GarvFOod's mill to the Skidmore settle- 
ment, Garwood's mill being the most im- 
portant jilaco in the county for miles; the 
roads all centered there, or diverged from 
that point. Tlie Bellefontaine and Marys- 
ville road was the first turnpike built through 
the township. The Zanesfield and Middle- 
burg pike was built previous to the one 
above mentioned; only a half mile of it, how- 
ever, is in Perry Township. There is now 
about fifteen miles of turnpike in the town- 
.ship, and others under contract. No section 
of the county is better supplied with first- 
class roads than Perry. A railroad is the only 
additional thoroughfare it really needs. Such 
a line of travel would be of incalculable 
value to the township. The hopes of the peo- 
ple have several times been raised to the 
highest pitch in expectation of getting a 
railroad, but so far they have failed to be 
realized. The Bellefontaine, Delaware & 
Mount Vernon Railroad, a project agitated 
years ago, has been graded through the town- 
ship, and sufficient funds have been sub- 
scribed to complete it. The people of Perry 
stand ready at any time to do their part. 

The first mercantile venture was made hv 



Lot Inskeep, who opened a store about 182G on 
the road loadino- from Garwood's mill to Bis; 
Spring, only a short distance from the mill. 
C. H. Austin succeeded him, and did business 
at the same place for a year or two, when, 
upon the laying out of East Liberty, the store 
was moved into the town. The first tavern 
was kept in the village of East Liberty, and 
the first postoffice was established at Gar- 
wood's Mill, and went by the name of tlie 
mill until the laying out of the village, when 
it was changed to East Liberty. Isaiah Gar- 
wood was the Postmaster, and the mail was 
brought on horseback once a week, passing 
this office on its way from Columbus to Belle- 
fontaine. 

Education received due attention from the 
early settlers of this section of country. One 
of the first teachers remembered was Mathias 
Williams. He taught just over the line in 
Zane township, but his school had quite as 
many supporters from Perry as from Zane. 
The schoolhouse built at this point is in Znno 
township, but the district is partly in Perrv, 
and the graveyard at the schoolhouse, lies on 
the line between the two townships. A man 
named David Reed taught in East Liberty 
about 1815-16. John Garwood was the next 
teacher. Simpkin Harriman was also an early 
teacher. The houses in which these early, 
schools were taught were the proverbial " log 
schoolhouses," with mud-daubed cracks, pun- 
cheon floor, stick chimney, etc. The pioneer 
schoolhouse is another "relic of barbarism" 
that has passed away. In its stead we now 
find the handsome and commodious frame or 
brick schoolhouse, filled with patent desks 
and modern furniture, and perfectly ventilat- 
ed and heated. Perry, with its half dozen 
modern schoolhouses, compares favorably in 
educational facilities with any township in 
Logan County. Competent teachers are em- 
ployed, and the schools, which are taught for 
the usual term each year, are in a flourishing 



^ e) - 

^ 



4^ 



.W 



542 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



condition. The population of Poiry from 
1,S4() to 1880, Inclusive, is as follows: 1840, 
1,014; 18.50, 1,337; 1800, 1,110; 1870, d^; 
1880, 1,008.* 

East Liberty was laid out in March, 1834, 
by .loini IJowyer, and is located on survey 
4089, conveyed by John Garwood to John 
Bowyer. The plat is signed by James W. 
Marmon, County Surveyor. Since lajdng out 
the place an addition has been made to it by 
McClain and Robinson. Josiah Austin, Sr., 
built the first residence, and John McCallyput 
up the second dwcllinj^ house. The first store 
was kept by King & Hilchens, and succeeded 
the one kept on the road a short distance 
fnim Garwood's Mill, already alluded to. 
Thev opened goods in October, 1834. The 
next store was kept by White & Allen, who 
wore in business about 1830. The first black- 
smith was James Seaman. John Ewing was 
the first shoemaker. John McCally opened a 
tannery in 1833, and continued it for ten 
years, when he sold it to Job H. Sharp. The 
latter gentleman continued it until the busi- 
ness of tanning became one of the lost arts. 
Samuel Cook was an early saddler. The first 
postotfice was called Garwoo<rs Mill, as al- 
ready stated. After the town was laid out 
the olfice was moved, and the name changed 
to the one it now bears. In place of the 
weekly horseback mail, a daily mail by hack 
j)asses to and from Bellcfuntaine. F. E. 
James is the present Postmaster. The first 
tavern was kept by S. B. Taylor in the hoviso 
now occupied by Mrs. llninphreys as a resi- 
dence. The next was kept by Joseph Sea- 
man. The *' Liberty House " is now in charge 
of E. S. Stover, an eflicient landlord. I^r. 
Hamilton was the first doctor in the village, 
OS well as the first in the township. By the 
present census, the village has a population 
of 225. 

The first schools in East Liberty were taught 

• The populnllon of EnsI Liberty iji giyen seporatdy. 



by John Garwood, David Reed and Simon 
Leaman. A log house was built for school 
purpos(!s near where the present one now 
stands. It was used for several years, when 
a larger one was l)uilt, and it in its turn gave 
place to the j>resent one. Still another might be 
built with credit to the town. It is a one 
story frame, and presents a rather dilapidated 
appearance. 

The Mi'lhodist Church was th<' first organ- 
ized in the village, and was formed before the 
village was laid out; Rev. George M'^alker was 
one of the first ])roachers. A log church was 
built in 183.5, and was used until replaced by 
the present frame, which was erected about 
the year 1850. It cost some §800 in money; 
much of the work aiul material b'cing donated. 
It is forty by fifty feet in dimension, and has 
but a small membership. R"v. Mr. Wells is 
Pastor. A flourishing Sibbath School is nuiiii- 
tained, of which II. Ballinger, Jr., is Super- 
intendent. 

The present Bajitist Cliunli was l)uilt in 
1802. A log church had been built a nund)i'r 
of years before, near the center of the village; 
the present edifice is a substantial frame, Rev. 
Mr. Whitaker is the pastor. The Sal)l)ath 
School is a uniim school with the United 
Presbyterian Church. The church building 
of this denomination stands just across the 
street from the Baptist Church, and was 
built in 1875; it is a modern frame, and cost 
about *2,200; Rev. Luther Smith is the pastor. 
The Union Sabbath School maintained at this 
church, in conni!Ction with the Baptists, is 
large and flourishing, and is under the super- 
intendence of Moses Emerson. 

The business of East Liberty sums uj) about 
as follows: Two general stores, one grocery 
store, one drug store, one blacksmith shoj), one 
wagon shop, one cabinet and furniture shop, 
two shoe shops, one harness sho]), one mill, 
I one postofTice, three churches, oni' schoolhouse, 
one hotel, one Masonic lodgi-, ami two doctors. 



^Jp- 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COrXTY. 



543 



East Liberty Lodge, No. 247, A. F. & A. 
M., was chartered October 18, 1854, by L. V. 
Bierce, Grand Master, and J. D. Caldwell, 
Grand Secretary. The charter members were 
Isaac B. Dutton, .las. W. Ballinger, Z. M. 
Hiatte, Isaac Johnson, T. F. McAdam. Job 
Wickersham, Job H. Sharp, Jno. Mel.ain, 
Daniel McLain, Phineas .lanuary, Joshua B. 
Sharp, C. B. Sharp, and H. A. Reynolds. 
The first officers were Isaac B. Dutton, Mas- 
ter; Jas. W. BiUinger, Senior Warden, and 
Z. M. Hiatte, Junior Warden. There are 
sixty-one members, with the following offi- 
cers: J. D. Inskeep, Master; J. W. Haines, 
Senior Warden; W. S. Southard, Junior War- 
den; John McCally, Treasurer; R. R. Smith, 
Secretary; J. W. Harding, Senior Deacon; 
A. G. Heath, Junior Deacon, and Isaac Rog- 
ers, Tiler. 

One of the finest features of East Liberty 
is its flowing wells, which are objects of more 
than common interest. A plentiful supply 
of pure water is above earthly price. The 
lofty columns of Persepolis are mouldering 
into dust, but its cisterns and aqueducts re- 
main to challenge our admiration. Although 
the glory of East Liberty is on the wane, its 
flowing wells are not surpassed by the spark- 



ling fountains of Tadmor in the wilderness. 
The flowing wells in and around East Liberty 
abound in the most plentiful profusion. Water 
is obtained at a depth of from twenty to sixty 
feet. It often rushes up with a force that 
will carry it into the second story of houses, 
through pipes, in the same manner of city 
water-works. The " race " of McCally's mill 
is fed by several of these wells, one of which 
flows up through a three-inch pipe a continual 
stream. Some of these wells are strongly 
magnetic, while others are tinctured with 
iron. All that is wanting to make East Lib- 
erty a famous resort and watering place, is a 
railroad, a little capital, and a moderate sup- 
ply of energy and enterprise. 

North Greenfield is located on survey No. 
4,210, of military land. It was surveyed vid 
laid out by S. A, Harbison, County Surveyor, 
for the proprietor, Henry Van Yheris, June 
24, 1847, and the plat recorded November 
12, 1848. The place consists of a collection of 
perhaps a dozen houses, one store, two or three 
shops, a church and a postoffice. The town 
was originally called " Mudsock," from the 
immense quantity of mud which used to ap- 
pear there in the winter season. 



STOKES TOWNSHIP— THE 



"Let others praise their climes of sun or snow, 

Thou art the land of green, miijestic groves. 
Where fresh seas shine, and endless rivers flow." 

ALMOST the first statement made to the 
searcher after historical data, on inter- 
viewing one of the " last lingering representa- 
tives " of the backwoods pioneer, is, " It was all 
woods around here when I came." This sen- 



*Contributed by Dr. J. H. Se Cheverell. 



CHAPTER XXIII.* 

LEWISTOWN RESERVOIR— PIONEER SETTLEMENT— THE WARWICK 
COLONY, ETC. 

tence is big with import, and conveys a world 
of meaning; still, after listening to the same 
thing weeks, months and years in succession, 
it obviously loses somewhat of its novelty, be- 
comes monotonous, so to speak; hence, one 
can imagine the feeling of peaceful, calm con- 
tent felt by the writer when for the first 
time his ej'es rested upon the dense forest, 
still covering a large portion of the territory, 



>^ k- 



19 
1^ 



4i 



^ 



544 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



now known as Stokes Township. Although 
tlio setlloiiicnt of lliis territory was begun 
soon Hiter the Indian '•exodus," wc find that 
in 1800 tiio population did not reach 600, and 
tliree or four years later, when it became nec- 
es.sary to draft men to (ill the ranks of our 
depleted army, it decreased very materially 
from even that small figure. While there arc 
many substantial frame residences scattered 
about in different portions of the township, 
yet the primitive log cabin, with its clap 
board roof and massive out-door chimney, is 
not by any means an infrequent sight. 

Stokes is described upon the records of the 
county as parts of Townships G and 7 south, 
in Ranges 7 and 8 east. Its location is in the 
extreme northwestern part of the county and 
it^ boundaries as follows: North by Auglaize 
and Hardin Counties, south by the Townships 
of Bloomfield and Washington, east by Wash- 
ington and Richland, and west by Shelby and 
Auglaize Counties. The territory under con- 
sideration is -well watered. The Little 
-Miami River empties into tlie reservoir from 
the nortiieast, and tlie two branches of the 
Muchinippi Creek, wliich (low across the 
southwest portion of tlie township, are the 
principal streams. The larger of the two 
branches of the last mentioned stream for- 
merly afforded water-power of considerable 
importance. The Lewistown reservoir covers 
several thousand acres of land in the eastern 
part of the township. In the centre of this 
there existed originally a small body of water 
called Indian Lake. This was surrounded on 
all sides by low, marshy lands. When the 
construction of the reservoir was authorized, 
a levee was built sufficiently high to prevent 
overflow, enclosing an area of 1)5,000 acres, a 
I portion of which was sparseU" timbered. To- 
day one cannot well imagine anything more 
ilismal and desolate than this spot, this vast 
subiiicrgi'd plain, thickly studded with the 
bare and darkly decaying trees, whose leaf- 



less branches spread abroad as if to warn the 
unwarv of the dreadful miasma lurking be- 
low. Quinine ought certainly to be at a pre- 
mium in the localitv surrounding this "cess- 
pool of pestilence." The surface of the 
township is a generally low, level plain, and for 
the most part requires draining to fit it for 
the purposes of agriculture, yet when this is 
done the soil becomes very productive. Corn 
and grass are the principal crops, though the 
past year man^- acres of wheat was grown. 
The inhabitants are strictly an agricultural 
people, and imbued with the characteristic 
enterprise of Logan County farmers, it is 
only a question of time when Stokes shall 
take equal rank with the average townships of 
the county. 

While searching for data relating to the 
legal formation of the township, the writer 
learned the following : During the years 
1807 or 1808, a descrepaiicy amounting to 
some 81)00 was found to exist between the 
books of the Clerk and Treasurer. The Town- 
ship Trustees, after nuicli vain effort to reach 
a balance, ordered that hoth IxjoLt lie burned. 
This was accordinglj- done. Comment is jier- 
hajis unnecessary. Tradition says: Stokes 
Townshij) was originally a jiart of Washing- 
ton and IJloonifield, and that it was, by order 
of the Boardof County Commissioners, erect- 
ed a separate township during the winter of 
1839. The first election was held at the 
house of .Tohn Hover on the first Monday in 
April following. Samuel Hickenbottom was 
elected Clerk; William Fcnton, Treasurer; 
Jacob Horner, Assessor; John Fenton, Justice 
of the rcace; and Daniel Hull, Consfalile. 
Elections were held at the Van Horn school- 
house for several years. At this time the 
Houtchens' schoolhouse, near the centre of 
the township, serves as a voting place. 

The Lewistown Indian reservation extend- 
ed into the southern portion of Stokes. In 
the southwest part, upon the east bank of 



^- 



4 



j^ 

_!:' ^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



545 



jNIuchinippi Creek, stood the "council house" 
of tlie reservation; numerous paths extended 
into the forest in divers directions, by wliich 
the "braves" were wont to find their way to 
this rude congress. The building was of logs, 
in size some twenty by forty feet, without 
chimney, floor or windows. It stood upon 
land now owned by the Wright heirs. 
Through this section passed, at an early 
period, the thoroughfare now known as th<! 
Bellefontaine turnpike, and along this, no 
doubt, the first settlement was made. So far 
as the writer has been able to learn, a man 
named Newman was the first white settler in 
the township. Ho built a small log cabin 
near a spring on the farm now owned by 
Samuel Hill. This spring was possessed of 
such peculiar properties that, it is said, the 
cattle which drank from it were seized with 
what was termed the "trembles;" this, how- 
ever, soon passed off. The spring is now un- 
used. Newman did not tarry long in the 
wilderness, but was succeeded by a man 
named Hall. Among others who came to 
this locality were George Harncr, Joseph 
Wright, Peter Jiruner, Martin Pcnse and 
Shockley Marsh. 

Soon alter the ilep:trturo of the Indians, a 
settlement was made iu the nortlicastorn part 
of the township. William Fentoii, afterward 
a prominent nrui in the township, was among 
the first. He came from Ross Comity, and 
wrought from the dense woods the farm now 
owned by George Walters. The log cabin he 
formerly occupied is still statiding, and is the 
last of the original dwellings now extant. 
Blorgan Toland occupied the farm wliere 
David Richie now lives. James Fenton 
owned lands adjacent. He planted the first 
• orchard in this part of the towiiwiiip. bring- 
ing the trees from Cham])aign County. 
Many of these trees are still alive. John 
B. Stamatz arrived in October, 18:35, and 
made a settlement upon 200 acres of land. 



still occupied bv his widow and family. 
John Hover settled where George Morris 
now lives. Pie was a famous hunter, and occu- 
pied a hunter's cabin, on the margin of 
Indian Lake, long before there was a white 
settler in the township. William Knott and 
Jacob Curts settled near Mr. Hover's. George 
Ometz, Henry Schoonover and Thomas Powell 
found houses in the west part of the township. 
William V^an Horn located on a tract of 3G0 
acres, about one mile northeast of the Center, 
in November, 1838. Of this family, then con- 
sisting of ten children, five now reside in the 
townshij): .Tacob, Job, John, Eli and Wil- 
liam. Andrew N. Gullett settleil on lands 
now owned by Job Van Horn. He eventually 
removed to Huntsville, and engaged in mer- 
chandising. Job Van Horn, Sen., settled 
on land now owned by Robert Houtehens. 
Among others who are entitled to mention, as 
early settlers, are: John Hondershot, George 
Henninger, Alexander West, Solomon Shaul, 
William Bodkins, .lohn Taylor, Daniel Hull, 
Abraham Gardner, and George Taylor. These 
are all who became ])ermanent s(>ttlers prior 
to 1840. From this date forward the settle- 
ment increased more rapidly; log cabins 
became numerous; openings in the forest 
enlarged; roads were cut throug-h, and 
the wilderness homes rendered as con- 
venient as possible. Still, many things 
were lacking. The want of lumber was 
severely felt, and it was to meet this that 
Benjamin Driesbach, in about 1845, began the 
erection of a saw-mill. Its clumsy machinery 
was propelled by the waters of the Muchi- 
nippi Creek, and after a time a run of stone 
was added. These industries were in operation 
until 18tj8, in June of which year the waters 
of the creek rose to an unheard-of height, 
doing considerable damage to buildings along 
the stream, and sweeping away entirely the 
dam and both mills, even to the foundation. 
David Ghormley put in operation the second 



1 546 



HISTOPvY OF LOGAN COIN TV. 



inills in the township. These were located on 
ii small spring run, called "Hog Swamp 
Bran(-li." Numerous portable steam saw- 
mills have been in operation in the township. 
.S;oki's did not reach the dignity of a store 
anil post-otSce until 1850. The former was 
under the ownership of Frank Downs, and 
JIos(!s Smith was the first postmaster. The 
store and post-ofEce were in the southwest 
part of the township. Ale.Kander McCoy was 
the pioneer merchant in the center settlement. 
The ])OstolKee was finally discontinued for 
want of patronage. Job Van Horn is the 
proprietor of tlie only store in the township 
at tlie present time. Situated about one and 
one-iuilf miles north xA' the center, it is sur- 
rounded by a few dwellings. Here, also, is a 
shingle manufactory, wagon, blacksmith and 
shoe-shop. 

The earliest death remembered was that of 
Jacob Curts, which occurred in August, 1836. 
The body was interred on the George Taylor 
farm. Sarah Hrndershot and John Fenton 
were tiie principal parties to the first marriage 
contract solemnized in the township. The 
date of this interesting occasion was in the 
early spring of 1S38. 

During tiio spring of the year 1839 the set- 
tlers within a radius of perhaps five miles 
gathered near where is now the Van Horn 
burying-ground, and in due time erected a 
small log buildinjr for a schoolhouse. During 
the summer it was furnished with a huge fire- 
place across the rear. A wide-throated stick 
chimney furnished ample outlet for the escape 
of the heat, if it did smoke furiously at times. 
Puncheon ilf)or, seats and a door were pre- 
pared, and two small real f/fasn windows were 
added. Early the subsequent winter, or as 
soon as the boys could be spared from the 
lal)ois of the farm, Wilbur Earl was duly in- 
stallf.'d pedagogue. This j-chool was coaduct- 
ed upon the principle of "main strength and 
stupidity." One of the pupils, now nearly 



sixty years of age, remembers with painful 
distinctness the one great feature of Mr. 
Earl's sj'stem, viz.: the free use, upon the 
slightest occasion, of the "birchen rod." She 
says, "If any children were ' spoiled ' that 
winter, it was not because they were ' spared ' 
the rod." Ezekiel Davis taught the second 
term in this house. The report of the Briard 
of Educati(m for the school year ending Au- 
gust 31, 1879, shows: 

Whole number of cliililren enrolled 382 

Wlinle nniount pnid teiu'liers ^Ij-W^.l^ 

Whole number of school houses 8 

Value of the same, with grounds ?2,0'J3.00 

It is a fact worth reiiicinlicring that in 
nearly every ])ioneer sf^ttlcment, the advent 
of the school and church follow each other in 
rapid succession. Stokes Township is no ex- 
ception to the rule, liowever mucli it may dif- 
fer in other particulars. Soon after William 
Fenton had begun his life in the wilderness, 
a preacher of the Methodist Episcopal faith, 
named Davison, who was engaged in mis- 
sionary work, held a meeting there, at which 
all the settlement was in attendance. Soon 
after the Fentons, Bodkins, and perhaps 
others, now forgotten, united in the fornnition 
of a small class. Meetings were continued 
here for several years. In about 18-16 Rev. 
G. G. Pogue, who was then stationed at 
Cherokee, began a series of meetings at the 
house of David Ghorndey, and here was 
formed the jjioneer Presbyterian Church in 
the township. Tlie constituent members of 
this organization were in part, David Ghorm- 
ley and family, C. I. Bruoks and wif(>, Aaron 
Coflet and wife, and E. Durkee and wife. 
After the formatiim i>( the ( 'hurch, si-rvices 
were transferred to the Van Horn school- 
house. In 1849 a small church edifice was. 
built, and the ministir settled here. The 
nn'inbersliip gradually increased until the 
sickly season, incident to tin- biilMino- of the 
Lewistown Reservoir, ensued. The rapid 



A 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



547 



increase of ague, chill and other fevers created 
a panic in the settlement, which eventually- 
resulted in the removal of the minister in 
charge, and the greater part of the member- 
ship. At this time nothing remains of this 
once flourishing organization e.xcept the 
church edifice, now crumbling to decay. The 
United Brethren Church was formed in 1850, 
at a saries of meetings held in a schoolhouse 
on James Coleman's farm, by a mission 
])reacher named Nichols. Archibald Car- 
lisle, wife and daughter, and Charles Boyer 
and wife, constituted the fir:;t class. After 
about one yi-ar Rev. Mr. Lay came for ashoi't 
time. In 1852 lli'v. Tlioma:; Downing as- 
sumed charge of this class, and under his 
ministry many names wore added to the 
Church. On the breaking out of the rebellion 
the membership numbered seventy-five. Un- 
ion and disunion sentiment ran high, a di- 
vision of the Church ensued, and the organi- 
zation virtually ceased. A few years since a 
re-organization was effected, and services are 
now held at the Center schoolhouse. Rev. 
George Woods is the minister in charge. 
The Methodist Protestant Church was formed 
during the latter part of the winter of 1S78-'J, 
at a series of meetings held at the Van Horn 
schoolhouse, by Rov. B. F. Tucker. The first 
members were Eli Van Horn and wife, G. 
M. Clover, wife and daughter, George Wal- 
ters and family, and Lloyd Thomas and wife. 
Services an; still held in the schoolhouse. 
Tii(> membership is eighteen; present Pastor, 
C. Ph'.mnii'r. A Sabbath School is held in 
connection with this church durina" the sum- 



mer months, on which there is an attendance 
of twenty nine. Eli Van Horn is the Super- 
intendent. 

Some thirty years since, while the curse of 
human slavery hung like a pall over tli's 
goodlv land of ours, and ere yet the mutter- 
ings of war were indistin!>uishablo, John M. 
Warwick, of Amherst County, Virginia, an 
owner of slaves, conceived the humane idea 
of giving his colored ])eople their freedom, 
and establishing them upon lands he should 
buy for them. Dr. David Patterson was em- 
})loved to carry this project into effect. Com- 
ing to Logan County lie jiurchased a large 
tract of land along the niirlh and west sides of 
Indian Lake, a great pro])ortion of which is 
now covered by the waters of the Reservoir. 
During the years 1851-52 the colony, number- 
ing nearly throe hundred, arrived and began 
settlement. Log cabins were built and tiie 
colony supplied with provisions and whatever 
was necessary for their support for one year. 
The selection was either by intent or other- 
wise an unfortunate one. The poisonous 
malaria of the swamp produced general sick- 
ness, from which fully one-sixth of the whole 
number died. The remainder, as Mingo 
Banks (one of the nund)or who now lives in 
Huntsville) expressed it, " Begin to move out 
purty lively," disposing of their interest as 
best they might. Many of them still live in 
Logan County, but one only had the hardi- 
hood to remain in Stokes Township. This is 
Richard Thomas, who resides near the 
Reservoir. 




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54S 



HISTORY OF LOCtAX COUNTY. 



CHAPTER XXIV.* 
LI nruTY Towxsii I r — mn )r.K.vPHY — pioneer schools — pre.^ciiers - geological— west 

LIBERTY. 



LIHERTY TOWNSHIP was sliood from 
Union in 1831. Mad River enters it 
near tho southeast corner ami traverses the 
s-jutliern jiortion, skirting along the eastern 
and .southern ])ortion of West Lil)erty, down 
into Champaign County. McKee's Creek 
starts in at the northeast corner, taking a zig- 
zag course, entering Union on the farm of A. 
R. Harner. 

In thist.)Wnslii|) may be found several niini- 



Kelley, Thomas XewaU's wife and lieirs, tiie 
Culbortsons, \\idow Pickering. II. M. Wiilte 
was probably the firs" sheriff of Logan County. 
In the year 1R31 it was almost imiiossiblc to 
get money. People jiaid in wood and jirom- 
ises. What the farmers of tliis townsliiji 
could not dispose of in the West Liberty 
market, was taken by overland route to San- 
dusky. From east of Sydney to Upper San- 
duskv, and all around that country, the Lewis- 



ature lakes — the largest, covering ten acres, on ] town Indians and white people depended upon 

the farm of M. Eddy. The streams, including I the market uf AVest Liberty for their flour 

Mad River, running through this township, : and whisky. !n those days tho jiractice of 

are McKee's Creek — named from Col. McKee, ; medicine had not attained the scientific per- 

a militarv man, and a British Indian Agent — fcction of tho present d.TV, and when a man 



and Muddy Run. The timber consists of 
burr oak, hickory and white oak. Among the 
first officers of this township were Peter Stipp, 



was taken down with lung fever ho was almost 
certain to die. The usual jiractice was to 
"bleed." The first saw-mill in the township 



Judge Wm. McBcth, David Williams and I was built by John Enoch on the property now 
Charles Hildehrand. Wm. Henry is probably owned by E. S. Jordan. The first distillery 
the first man who assessed the township, there | was erected by Thomas Baird on Muddy Rum, 
i)eiiig at that jii'riod but one assessor for the on the property now owned liy BartleyGorilari. 
County. .Mr. Ilenrv is now dead. Among Our information shows that the first school- 



thc first settlers were Thomas Baird and two 
sons, the Newall family — Sjniuel Newall 
coming from Ki'-ntucky in about L'^OS, — the 
Shichls, Henry Fulton, James A\'alds atid 
three sons, the Hayes family, Samuel Blair,\ 
Col. John Walds, Abiier Snoddy, William 
(Irav and family, William McBelh and family, 
\achal Blaylock, John Dunn, the Grindles, 
William Burkhardt, Gorton Broughton, a 
cooper by trade, now residing in Bellefon- 
taine; William Creviston, John Creviston, 
Judge .^helby. Hoiiry Socrist, Sr., Lynx Wiler, 
Jolin K. Taylor, tiie Ilowells, Nathanicd 

• Cnnlrllnilcrl liy II. W. Hamilton. 



liouse erected in this township was an old log 
afl'air, built on tho west side of the township on 
the corner of the S unuel Blair, McBcth ami 
Yoder farms. A nuiii named McElree was 
the fir-st teacher. Preaching was done in 
those days liy circmit riders. The jieople 
worshiped at AN'est Liberty when o|)|)ortui;ity 
presented itself. Those were tho days when 
education was not given that importance that 
it is now; they had not time for the careful 
imjirovomont of the mind. Tiie mystery 
that overhimg the endless woods was con- 
tinually a temptation to the pioneer to o.x- 
jiiore the furthest regions concealed beneath 



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T' 



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HISTORY OF LOGAN COUXTY. 



5") I 



their sliado. Where we now live in content- 
ment and ha|ipiness, there lay in those days 
the hunter's jjaradise, with every excitement 
necessary to savage life — from contact with 
wild beasts to warfare with the rod man, with 
nothing to guide them through tiio dense for- 
ests except blazed trees and the stars. These 
men of the woods, seated around their cozy 
fires in their rude log huts, recited and listen- 
ed to many exciting stories that went ting- 

• ling to the ears of the listener; stories of their 
long trails, severe trials, adventures and con- 
flicts, all had a tendency to give a heavy 

. tin p;e of romance to the pioneer life. This 
life had its advantages, together with its dis- 
advantages, and the ])crils thereof had to be 
braved in order that the former migiit be en- 
joyed. A homestead could be easily gotten, 
Init it wouhl have to be obtained at the risks 
incident to a howling wilderness. Brawp.y arms 
and a muscular frame had to contend with trees 
tluit had swayed to the winds for centuries, 
and masterly w^irfare made they on the forests. 
The soil might be fertile, but it was covered 
over with dense forests, intersected with Indian 
warpaths. Lilo in tlie wilderness, evidently, 
was one of rugged iiidepend(;nee, free from 
wholesome restraints, also established customs 
Mild laws. Such a life could furnish no se- 
curity to person or property beyond the exer- 
cise of mere brute force in self-defense. It 
could not surround itself with those pleasant 
influences of civilization which call into plaj' 
the finer qualities of human nature. Here, 
he was; siuTounded by the grand old forms of 
nature, the pioneer I'elt isolated — cut off 
from all human associations. In the midst of 
savage, barbaric sights and sounds, he was 
living beneath perpetvial shade. His situa- 
tion then, would have weakened the stoutest 
heart of this day. Trees of mammoth pro- 
portions interposed their huge trunks between 
him and the world. They lifted on high 
tlieir umbrageous tops and shut out the heav- 



ens. But the solitude of the forest may not 
have been repulsive; it may iiavc been — and 
to many undoubtedly was- — ov(M'powering. Its 
terrors were jjrobaljly softened by many pe- 
culiar beauties. There nust have bean some 
witchery in its swinging shadows. There 
was the sunshine that filtered down gently 
through the innumerable leaves and danced to 
the music of the wind. 

Geological!}' speaking, Liberty Township is 
made up mostly of lower strata of the Devonian 
age. There are numerous basins of tertiary 
formation, such as peat swamps, ancient lakes, 
overgrown by aquatic vegetation. In some 
of tlie latter, have been found fossil remains 
of extinct animal forms, such as elk and other 
ancient animals. Several ancient forest beds 
occur in the township; one upon the property 
of J. M. Glover, deceased; this lies buried 
below the surface some six or eight feet; the 
bed is covered with fallen tiinlier, mostly 
cedar, and although in all probability lying 
buried for thousands of years, the timber 
seems nearly perfect, retaining the smell of 
cedar even yet. 

The northern portion of the township is 
covered with drift, a;id has no special geo- 
logical interest. 

The soil is almost entirely derived from 
drift, gravel and clays, and is rich and gener- 
ous. The chief source of wealth of the 
township is its agriculture, for wliieh there 
apjiearstobe a special adaptation in the Mail 
River' Valley. Beds of clay exist in the 
neighborhood of West Liberty, and these 
are being utilized to good advantage in the 
manufacture of brick. The farms are hand- 
some, and the improvements for the niost 
part are commensurate with the progress of 
the age. The products of the township find 
a liberal market at West Liberty, and the 
crops are generally large, whilst the stock 
and cattle are shipped in large quantities to 
the eastern markets. 



A. 



^ 



552 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUXTY. 



WEST LIBERTY. 

As we take up our pen to write the history 
of West Liberty, we are conscious of the 
fact that we are situated in a locality where 
have been enacted some thrilling life-dramas 
— scenes which, if they could be properly 
written, might help to enrich our literature 
and o-lve us a deeper insight into the character 
of man. These reminiscences — 

"That tell 
Of days and years long since gone by." 

siiould not be permitted to rulapse into obliv- 
ion, but should be treasured up as important 
factors in the history of our country. 

West Liberty is the second town in com- 
mercial importance in Logan County. It is 
located in the charming .Mad River Valley 
on the C, S. & C. Railroad — the first in Ohio, 
eight miles south of the county seat, Belle- 
fontaine. It is accessible from all points of 
the compass, by unrivalled free turnpikes, and 
its trade embraces a large scope of territory 
all around it. It was laid out in the j'ear 
ISIT, on section 27, Town. .5, Range l."5, the 
j)lat and survey being made by Aaron L. 
Hunt, surveyor of Champaign County. It 
was incorporated by an Act of Legislature, 
dated February 21, 1834. 

The following is a copy of said article: 

" An act to incorporate the town of West 
Liberty in the County of Logan.*' 

"Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the General 
Assembly of the State of Ohio, That so much 
of the township of Union, in the county of Lo- 
gan, as is comprised and embraced within the 
bounds of the town plat of the town of West 
Liberty in said county, as is now on record in 
the proper office in said county, is hereby 
erected into a town corporate, to be known 
by the name of the town of West Lib- 
erty. 

"Sec. 3. That the white male persons 
about the age of 21 years, who have been resi- 



dents in said town, at least one year preced- 
ing the day of election, and who in other re- 
spects possess the qualiiications of electors 
for members ot the General Assembly, shall 
meet at some suitable place in said town on 
the first Saturday of A]>ril next, and on the 
first Saturday of Ajiiil aninmlly tliereafter, at 
such place as the President, Recorder and 
Trustees, or a majority of them, may direct, 
between the hours of 1 and .") o'clock P. M., 
and then and there elect, by ballot a Presi- 
dent, Recorder and five Trustees, who shall 
be either freeholders or householders, having 
the qualifications of electors, who shall be a 
body corporate and politic, with perpetual 
succession, to be known by the natne of the 
President, Recorder and Trustees of the town 
of West Liberty; and wlio shall hold their 
offices until the next annual election, and until 
their successors are duly electeil ai;d quali- 
fied. 

" Sec. .3. That at all the elections urider 
the provisions of this Act, after the President 
and Trustees, or any two of them, shall be 

iud-'-es, and the Recorder, Clerk, or such ]ier- 

... 
son as the judges may apponit, when trom 

any cause the Recorder is unable to serve as 
Clerk; at the close of the polls, the ballttt 
shall be counted by the judges, and the re- 
sult publicly declared, and a fair record made 
thereof by the Clerk, who shall notify the 
iiersons elected thereof within five days alter 
the election; and the person so notified, shall 
take the proper oath or affirmation of office, 
and to support the Constitution of the United 
States and the State of Ohio. 

" Sec. 4-. If any persons elected under the 
provisions of this Act neglect or refuse to take 
oath as presentoil, those who have been 
qualified shall appoint to fill the vacancy, 
who will serve until the next arunnil elec- 
tion. 

"Sec. 5. That the Pre-idcnt, Recorder 
and Trustees shall be capable to acquire real 



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^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUXTY. 



653 



estate or personal property; that they may sue 
or be suetl. 

Sec. 7. Relates to corporation seal. 

"Sec. 8. Gives the President, Recorder 
and Trustees power to appoint a Marshal, 
Collector, Treasurer, Assessor of Property, 
Surveyor of Streets and Alleys, and all such 
other subordinate offices as they may deem 
necessary, to hold office one year. 

"Sec. 9. Gives the President, Recorder 
and Trustees power to fill vacancies in their 
own number. 

" Sec. 10. Saj-s that ' Any four of the 
Council shall be a quorum to pa.ss laws, &c. 
They may require owners of lots to pave or 
gravel the sidewalks in front thereof.' 

" Sec. 11. Relates to the keeping of the 
record of ordinances, and publishing the 
same. 

"Sec. 12. Empowers Council to require 
every male person above twenty-one and 
under si.xty, who have resided three months 
in the village, to work on the streets one day 
ill each year. 

"Sec. 13. Relates to return by Assessor 
of taxable property. 

" Sec. 14. The President shall be a con- 
servator of the peace; have power of Justice 
of the Peace. 

"Sec. 15. Relates to the powers of the 
Marshal. 

"Sec. 16. Relates to fines to be prose- 
cuted at the suit of the Treasurer before the 
President, and recovered by action of debt. 

" Sec. 17. Provides for the collection of 
taxes. 

" Sec. 18. Relates to sale of real estate 
for taxes. 

" Sec. 19. Provides that the amount of re- 
ceipts and expenditures shall be publish- 
ed. 

"Sec. 20. This Act shall take effect and 
be in force from and after the 1st day of 
April, next. 



"Sec. 21. Speaks of future legislation. 

[Signed] " Joun H. Keith, 

" Speaker House Representatives. 
" David T. Disney, 
" Speaker of the Senate." 

February 20, 1S:U. 

John M. Smith was the first Mayor of West 
Liberty after the organization of a municipal 
government. 

On the 19th of March, 18.35, an Amenda- 
tory Act was passed, which says: " Said cor- 
poration (West Liberty) shall have use of 
County Jail; persons so imjuisoned shall be 
under the charge of the jailor of the county." 
y John Enoch, now deceased, father of the 
venerable John Enoch, Sr., who resides near 
here, was the original proprietor of West 
Liberty. 

In the year 1815 Mr. Enoch erected the 
first dwelling in this place. During the same 
year he built a grist-mill near the Mad River, 
and it still stands, a substantial monument of 
pioneer industry. This mill is in operation to 
this day, and is owned and operated by Sam- 
uel Armstrong, a thorough gentleman and an 
accomplished miller. In the pioneer time, 
the people of Logan and Champaign Counties 
were compelled to travel through dense thick- 
ets of hazel, plum and thorn to this mill to 
get their grinding done. Here it was that 
the John Enoch, Sr., now alive, who is prom- 
inently identified with the pioneer history of 
Logan and Champaign Counties, was taught 
the modus operandi of trading with the 
Indians to gain their confidence. Jlr. Enoch 
was always instructed by iiis father, that 
when weighing a sack of meal for the Indians 
he must never take from the meal, but al- 
ways keep dropping in until the scales went 
down — then the red man could not say, 
" White man cheat poor Indian." Mr. Enoch, 
Sr., received his instruction in the premises, 
\from Col. McPherson. 

The first store in West Liberty was kept 



\ 



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■—^ 



554 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



Ijy Ilinim M. White, long since "gathered to 
his fathers." White also kept the postofficc 
and tavern, the latter having been patronized 
several times by Senator Blaine. The first 
postolfice was kept by Samuel Newall. The 
i)resont com|)(^tent ineuinbent is Mr. C. E. 
Darlinton. 

The first regularly organized church in 
West liberty was the Mc.'thodist. In the 
year 1830 this societ_v built a church, which 
is still standing, being occupied as a residence 
bv E. Meyers. 

We learn that the following gentlemen sub- 
scribed the amounts ])!acod opposite their 
respective names, to aid in the erection of 
this temple of worship: 

Riddle & liutan, *:^0, in lathing; Dr. 
John Ordway, $15 ; John Williams, $5, in 
smithing ; John Strange, $10 ; Amos Jack- 
son, $5, in lime and sand ; Stephen Jackson, 
$5, in work ; John Poisdell, $5, in lum- 
ber ; J. 13. Coidilin, SIO, in plastering; 
11. E. Koberts, $.3, in tailoring ; John Strange, 
^5, in hauling ; Isaac Uatcher, ^'Z, in plaster- 
ing ; John C. Garwood, §1, in lime; Tru- 
man Wolfe, S"i, in shoes ; total, §90. in 
those days the little congregation worshiped 
in their church with as much earnest Chris- 
tian fervor as characterizes the larger body 
now. Then, with the same deep spirit of 
Christian interest as now, the zealous man 
of God fed the starving souls with the bread 
that comes from Heaven, directing and warn- 
ing the unwary, lest tliej-, by falling into the 
bottomless pit, plunge themselves into the 
direst and most irretrievable ruin ; soothing 
the troubled conscience ; guanling against 
the insidious approach of doubts and fears, 
extracting the seeds of vice and endless mis- 
ery and sowing the seeds of virtue and hap- 
piness. The regions of immortality aloiu' 
will disclose the full amount of success which 
has crowned the efTorts of these pioneer 
preachers, for in their hands they held the in- 



fallible dictates of eternal truth — the unerring 
guide imparted by II(>aveii — within whose 
sacred folds are contained those (>xalted and 
inspiring truths through which, alone, we can 
be made wise unto salvation, wherein are e.t- 
hibited, in all their rich simplicity and over- 
whelming grandeur, those illustrious doc- 
trines which revelation can alone discover. 

The first church organized in this part of 
the country, and for some j'ears after, was the 
Christian Church, organized in the year 1814, 
by I'ev. Richard Clark, at Bethel, or as it was 
generally known, the Muddy Rim Church, 
which was located about one-half mile west 
of West Liberty, adjoining the farm now 
owned by Dr. John Ordway. This was a 
large log meetiug-house, which stood on part 1 
of -what is now known as the Muddy Run 
graveyard. At that early day large camp 
meetings were held in the grove near by, at- 1 
tended by all the people, old and young, 
traveling on foot or horseback. As there 
was no other means of conveyance, it was 
quite connnon for the husband to pla<'e his 
wife and children on a trusty horse while he 
walked by their side, often for twenty miles, to 
attend these meetings, which an^ spoken of 
by the old settlers (a few of whom are still 
living) as seasons of great social and relig- 
ious profit, and many were converted mider 
the faithful and zealous preaching of the 
gospel, and were generally directed to unite 
with any branch of the Church they desired, 
the object being not so much to Ijuild u]) a 
separate organization as to have men and 
women converted. 

The following statement is found in the 
old church book: "We, the members of 
the Christian Church, at Betlu 1, have here- 
unto subscribed our names, taking the wor I 
of God for our (hn trine, discipline and gov- 
ernment, promising subjection to each oth.er 
in the Lord, according thereunto, in the year 
one thousand eight hundred an 1 fourteen. 



r 






A 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUXTY. 



Names — Richard Clark, James Mcllvain, 
Thomas Baird, John Wall, Robert Crockett, 
William Newell, Betsey Newell, Alexander 
Black, Patty Crockett, Moses Mcllvain, Flora 
IMcllvain, Nellie Baird, Nancy Clark, Netty 
Wall, Peggy Mcllvain, Sr., Peggy Mcllvain, 
Jr., Jane Clark, Polly Wall, Jane Black, Polly 
Cartmill, Jane McNay, Nancy ]\IcNay, John 
Williams, Jane Williams, Jane Lecpcr, Ma- 
linda Wall, Patsey Crockett, Samuel Coving- 
ton, Mary Covington, James Wall, Rhoda 
Shields, Thomas Clark, Robert Clark, James 
Steel, Moses Jlcllvain, Jr., John G. Mcllvain, 
William Hopkins, JSlizabeth Hopkins, Betsey 
Baird, Abner Snoddy, Sally Snoddy, William 
Boyd, Ann Boyd, Peter Stijip, Elizabeth Stipp, 
Polly liCeper, Priscilla King, Hannah Snoddy, 
Aaron Rhodes, Elizabeth Rhodes, Polly 
Rhodes, Sarah Robertson, George F. Dunn, 
William Miles, Jeremiah Fuson, Jane Fuson, 
Catharine Snoddy, Betsey Vickers, Betsey 
Rhodes, Samuel Collins, Pattic Baird, Celia 
Baird, Robert Mcllvain, Benjamin Wall, 
Mary Kelley, Sarah Kelley, Jane Petty, Isaac 
Davis, Susanna Moore, Ann Mcllvain, Mar- 
garet Henuing, George Petty, Eleonora 
Baird, Garland Crockett, John L. Mcllvain, 
Jacob Snoddy, Josiah Hopkins, James Stack- 
house, Polly Stackhoufee, Cartmill Crockett, 
Houston Crockett, Asenith Crockett, Louisa 
Crockett, and many others. The large ma- 
jority of these cami; from near Cane Ridge, 
Kentucky, and some from North Carolina. 
Among the first preachers were Richard 
Clark, Caleb Worley, James Hayes, Ma,tthew 
Marvin, David Purviance, Levi Purviance, 
D. F. Ladley, Mahlon Baker, Hallett Barber, 
Richard Siuionton, Hiram Simonton, Isaac 
N. Wa;lters, Samuel Fuson, James Fuson, Jer- 
emiah Fuson and Joseph Thomas, generally 
known as the " White Pilgrim," on account of 
his peculiarity in wearing none but white 
clothing summer and winter. Elder Thomas, 
although eccentric and peculiar in this re- 



spect, was a great preacher, a man of deep 
convictions and large piety, and devotion to 
the work of the ministr3^ He traveled on 
foot and horseback through Ohio, Virginia, 
North Carolina, Kentucky, preaching every- 
where, and thousands were converted under 
his preaching, always refusing pay for his 
services. In 1835, he took a long journey 
on horseback through tiio Eastern States, 
continuing everywhere to proclaim the gos- 
pel. On his return homeward, he was taken 
sick at Johnsonburg, New Jersey, and died 
in the prime of life and usefulness, aged forty- 
four years, and was buried in the cemetery 
at that place. Rev. John Ellis, a Christian 
preacher, afterwards visited the cemetery and 
there composed the following beautiful lines : 

I came to the spot where the White Pilgrim liiy. 

And jjoiisively stood by liis tomb. 
When III iL low whisper 'l lieard something say, 

How sweetly I sleep here iilone. 
Oh sweetly! Oh sweetly 1 sleep: 
1 rest from my toils in this sweet lonely vale. 

While the ani^els their vigil keep. 

The tempest may howl andthclcnid thtinder roll. 

Anil j;alherini; storms may arise; 
Yet ealm are my feelin.szs. (it rest is my soul, 

The tears are all wiped from my eyes. 

Thecanseof my blaster eompell'd me to roam, 

I bade my eonipanion farewell ; 
I left my sweet ehildren, who forme now mourn, 

In far distant regions to dwell. 

I wandered an exile and stranger below. 

To jiublish salvation abroad; 
The trump of the gospel endeavored to blow. 

Inviting poor sinners to Ciod. 

Go tell my eompanion and children most dear 

To wteji not ror.Iose])h though gone; 
The same hand that led me through scenes dark and drear, 

lias kindly assisted me home. 

I called at the house of the motirner below: 

I entered the mansion of grief; 
The tears of deep sorrow most freely did flow, 

I tried, but could give no relief. 

There sat the lone widow, dejected and sad, 

By afllietion and sorrow opjiress'd. 
And there were her children in mourning array'd. 

And sighs were escaping their breast. 

As I spoke to this mourner concerning her grief, 

Tasked her the cause of her woe. 
Or why there was nothing eould give her relief. 

Or so'othe her deep sorrow below 'i" 

She looked on her ehildren. then looked upon mo— 

That look I shall never forget; 
More eloquent far than the seraph's can be ; 

It speaks of the triitls she met. 

The hand of affliction falls heavily now, 

lam left with my children to mourn; 
The friend of my youth is silent and low 

In yonder cold gravt-yard alone. 



^A^ 



55G 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



Bat why slimild I mourn or feel to complain, 

Ortlii'nk that my portiim is Imrd? 
If mot with iil)liutinii. 'lis suivly his pain; 
Uc hus uutered thu joys of his Lord. 

The poem was put to music by J. W. Cheney. 
In the year 1844: the church dividotl, part of 
the luonibcrs organizing a church, and build- 
ing a house of worship where the Glady Creek 
Cliurch now stands, in Champagne Co., (the 
old house having burned down). The balance 
of the members organized a church in West 
Liberty, and builta house of worship the same 
year. The following are the names uniting 
with the West Liberty Christian Churcii: 
Arcliibald Prater, Sally Prater, Alexander 
Black, Jane Black, John Johnson, Caroline 
Johnson, Sarah Jlcllvain, Susan Clark, Ben- 
jamin Ginn, Jane Gimi, Mary Attn Crockett, 
Henry J. Robertson, Jeremiah Fuson, Jane 
Fuson, Ellen Martin, Daniel \'. Martin, Eliza- 
beth Baird, S. Cope, Mary Martin, Hannah 
Martin, Sarah Jane Martin, Archibald Hop- 
kins, Robert Hopkins, Angeline Miller, Sarah 
Hopkins, Elizabeth Johnson, R. Wade, J. 
Stevenstjii, Joseph Craft, Louisa Crockett, 
Lydia Stillwell. The following are the names 
of the Pastors of the church: Jeremiah Fuson, 
Hiram Siinotiton, Prof. William II. Dohertv, 
Henry Z. Rush, C. T. Kminons, J. W. Weeks, 
Daniel GrilBn, S, W. Hutchinson, J. T. Lynn, 
W. A. AVarner, M'iiliain J. Lawrence; B. F. 
Chrismaii being tiie present Pastor. The 
Church at Glady Creek, three miles west, and 
the West Lil>erty Church, form one pastorale, 
Rev. B. F. Chrisman being Pastor of both 
churche?, preaching at each place every al- 
ternate Sabl)ath, the total number having 
belonged and still belonging to said church 
being about 700. Ni-ariy all who went into 
the organization at Bethel or Muddy Run 
Church have died. All of the ministers who 
then preached to the church have died, 
Hiriini Siinonton being the last, who died in 
July, ISSO. 

The Methodist Society erected the first 



temple in West Liberty in 1830. The ground 
was purchased of Thomas P. Miller, and 
thereon they built a church conimensin-ate with 
their means and the enterprise of that day. 
It stands to-day on Baird street and is occu- 
pied by E. Myers as a residence. The first 
preacher was the Rev. Mr. Findla^', and the 
heroic little congregation of thirty souls 
wielded a power for good. Among the 
original members there were Dr. John Ord- 
way, Thomas P. Miller, Rev. John B. Ma- 
gruder, John Williams, James McDonalil, 
Maria Hawkins. At that time, and since, this 
was a two- weeks circuit, and the residence 
of the then active, now venerable Doctor 
Ordwa}', was the chief resort for the ministers. 
The Doctor ami his good wife always had the 
latch-string hanging out, and at their cheer- 
ful firesiiU^ and generous tabh^ these ministers 
were always delighted to assemble. The 
Doctor has all through these long years closely 
allied himself with the Methodist Church, and 
has been, and is now — although his hair is 
whitened with the frosts of age — one of the 
strongest pillars. His example through life 
is one which our young men would do well to 
etnulate, if they hope to gain a crown similar 
to that laid up (ot him. When he is called 
up hgher his work will be left as a monu- 
ment of his unselfish. Christian devotion to 
the church and his God, and thereon will be 
inscribed: "He has not lived in vain." 

In 1849 this congregation built a more 
stately house of worshi]), which thoy have oc- 
cupied ever since. The membership numbers 
about 140. The present minister is the Rev. 
Atkinson Perry, a godly man, full of love for 
his work, and interest in the salvation of many 
souls. He is a practical inati in every sense, an 
able, argumentative expounder of the gospel, 
and is highly esteemed for his many gooil qual- 
ities, social iind religious. The Methodist Sun- 
day school has a membership of about 150, ex- 
clusive of teachers, and is in good working 



^£- 




HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



-^ 



order, with a Mr. John M. Hunter, a stirring Su- 
perintendent, at the helm, assisted by an able 
corps of teachers. 

The circumstances which led to the organi- 
zation of the Presbyterian Ciiureh of West 
Liberty are many, though not different in 
their nature from those wliich liave attended 
similar organizations in other places. 

The first organized body of professing 
Christians was that known as the Christian 
Church. Their numbers were considerable, 
embracing a large portion of the inhabitants 
of West Liberty. The same class of people 
were found in considerable numbers in vari- 
ous parts of the surrounding country. The 
next organized religious society was that of 
the Methodist — being organized in 1830. 

Up to this time but little was done by the 
Presbyterians to establish themselves as a 
church here. 

The Kev. Joseph Stevenson, who came into 
Logan county from Pennsylvania at an early 
day, seems to have been the first Presbyter- 
ian minister who located himself in the coun- 
ty. Mr. Stevenson organized the First Pres- 
byterian Cluirch in Bellefontaine in 1829, 
which he served as Pastor faithfully and ef- 
ficiently until the time of his death, which oc- 
curred in February, 1865. In the absence of 
any organized Presbyterian Church — except 
a feeble one at Cherokee, now the Huntsville 
church, which seems at some time 'previous 
to have been organized by an itinerant min- 
ister — Mr. Stevenson labored in various des- 
titute places in this and adjoining counties, 
and that with no inconsiderable degree of suc- 
cess. West Liberty was made a point to which 
he directed a part of his labors. For a length 
of time he continued his labors at stated in- 
tervals — preaching in the house of a friend in 
the immediate vicinity of this village. 

In time, the avenue opened for the organi- 
zation of a church in Bellefontaine, of which 
we have spoken, and also at Stony Creek, 



now Spring Hills, and the work of ^Ir. 
Stevenson became concentrated upon these 
two places, in connection with the Cherokee 
Church. After this Mr. Stevenson gave but 
little of his time to West Liberty. 

During the years 1830-31, tiie Rev. Mr. 
Garland, a minister from New England, 
labored in this place the one-half of his time, 
during six months or a year. The prospects 
for a church at that time, liowever, were not 
very flattering. 

A minister named Peregrine, of Welsh 
descent, also labored in West Liberty a por- 
tion of his time, for six months, or a year, 
during the years 183G-37, but witliout much 
marked success. 

This, as late as the autumn of 1840, ajjpears 
to have been the amount of labor performed 
on the part of the Presbyterians here, except 
as a sermon was occasionally preached by a 
passing minister. 

One fact should here be noted. Previous 
to the fall of 1840, Presbyterian families had 
resided in this place, but some had removed, 
owing, in part at least, to the fact that there 
was no Presbyterian church here, and with a 
desire of locating themselves in a place where 
they could enjoy the means of grace in 
a church of their own connection. Some 
individuals — members of the Presbyterian 
Church — feelnig it a duty to be in connection 
with some branch of the visible Church of 
Christ, had united with the Methodists; others, 
however, few in number, remained anxiously 
waiting and desiring the time when a Presby- 
terian church should be organized in the town, 
and it is a fact eminently worthy of note (with 
few exceptions), they were pious and devoted 
females. 

There is another circumstance worth remem- 
bering, as having been linked with the organi- 
zation of asociety in West Liberty. Foryears 
there had been much solicitude on the part 
of some of the friends of Christ in neighboring 



J'^ 



u3S 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



cliurclios, for the organization of a church 
in tiiis puice, and to the influence of those, in 
on small denree, must be attributed the putting 
in train some of those causes which preceded, 
and eventually led to, the establishing of this 
ihurcli. Tliis is only the means, for man is at 
best but tlio instrument in the hand of God 
in accomplishing His work. 'Tis God alone 
who can turn tlie hearts of sinful man, and 
build up His kingdom and establish it in tiie 
world. 

In the autumn of 1840 Robert H. IloUy- 
day, a licentiate then under the care of the 
Presbytery of Chill icothe, through tlie influ- 
ence of Rev. Joseph Stevenson, came into this 
region, and labored the one-half of his time 
for the coming winter in the first churcri in 
Bellcfontainc, then under the pastoral charge 
of Mr. Stevenson; part of his remaining time 
was spent in West Liberty, where he preached 
once each alternate Sabbath. 

During this time many encouraging indica- 
tions of success were discovered. Afler the 
1st of May, 1811, the labors of Mr. Hollyday 
were divided between West Liberty and 
Stony Creek — one-lialf to each place. 

About this time it was considered desirable 
that some special ell'ort should be made to 
open the way, if possible, for the organization 
of a church here. 

The second Salibath of Juno following was 
appointed as the time for holding a commun- 
ion season — a series of meetings to precede 
that service. As it was necessary to have the 
services of an ordained minister, the services 
of (he Rev. H. R. Price, of Buck Crock, were 
secured. Tiirougii the blessed influences of the ■ 
grace of God u]ion the labors of his servants 
upon that occasion, the meeting proved to be 
I no of much interest. Throughout these 
meetings much solemnity and deep feeling 
were manifest. 

The cominimion was held tlirougb the ses- 
■', 111 of the Stoi \ ' ! -h, the Elders 



of that church receiving the members, and 
aiding in the distribution of the elements of 
the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. 

The following persons were received as 
members of the Stony Creek Church until a 
church should be organized here, viz.: Har- 
riet Reynolds, John M. Glover, Isabella Glov- 
er, Clarissa Stewart, Nancy Jane Kn-kwood, 
Caroline Kirkwood, Laura Bi;ebe, Eve Eliza 
Runkle, Sarah Chajmian, Sarah Miller, .lane 
Hildebrand, Dorothy Secrest, Rachel Elliott, 
John W. Ingram, Caroline Ingram, Jane 
McClay, Jlaria White, Samuel Taylor and 
Aaron Mitchell. 

The way seemed now to be open for the 
organization of a church. AVith a view to 
this, a meeting for prayer and consultation 
was held, and it was agreed by the membns 
present innnediately to send up a rcrjuest to 
the Presbyter}' of Sidney to be regularly or- 
ganized into a ch.urch, to be known and d('s- 
ignated as "The First Presbyterian Church 
of West Liberty." The request being laid 
before the Presbytery, at their meeting in 
Sidney, on the last of June, was taken into 
consideration by the Presbytery, and the re- 
quest was granted. 

The Presljytery appointed Rev. Josejih 
Stevenson and Rev. John A. Meeks a com- 
mittee to organize the church if the way be 
clear. Friday before the first Sabbath of 
September, 18-11, was api)ointed as the time 
for the organization to take place. 

To members who were to compose this in- 
fant church, this was a time of deep inter- 
est, and one, the arrival of which had long 
been desired. 

On the da}' ajipointed, the committee of 
the Presbytery were on the grounds. In ad- 
dition to those persons who were received at 
the communion in June, the following jjcr- 
sons re))orted themselves and gave evidence 
of their nvmbcrship in the church, viz.: 
Isabella McBeth, William Kiikwood, Mis. 






4<^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



5'>'J 



Kirkwood, Marquis Wood, !Mary Ann Wood, 
Jane ilorris, Margaret Andrews and Henry 
Scprcst. 

Tliese persons — twenty-seven in all — -were 
by the Presbytery, through its committee, 
organized into a church, to be called the 
"West Liberty Presbyterian Church." 

John M. Glover and Marquis Wood were 
unanimously elected Ruling Elders, and were 
regularly ordained and set apart to this office 
and installed over this church. 

Thus was accomplished what many of the 
friends of Christ in noiii'hboring churches de- 
sired to see, and for which the few members 
of the Presbyterian Church in this place had 
long wished and prayed. 

Thus, as will be seen, the church was or- 
ganized under very favorable circumstances. 
Twenty- seven Christian men and women 
united with a purpose to pray and labor for the 
extension of Christ's kingdom, was no incon- 
siderable force. The result of the orn;aniza- 
tion soon began to show itself in the increased 
zeal of the memljers, and in the conversion 
of sinners, plainly indicating that the T^ord 
owned, and would bless the labors of His 
peojjle. All this was regarded as earnests of 
future rich and abundant blessings. Of the 
twenty-seven persons constituting the church 
at its organization, eleven have died; thirteen 
have been dismissed, leaving- three of the 
original members still remaining. 

From the very organization of this church 
here. Rev. Robert H. Hollyday preached 
every alternate Sunday up to the 18th day of 
November, 1841, when he was regularly or- 
dained and installed as pastor, for one-half of 
his time. 

Being without a house of worship of their 
own, through the Christian courtesy of the 
brethren of the Methodist Church, the con- 
gregation met in the little brick Methodist 
Church (now owned as a residence by E. My- 
ers). After the lapse of a few months, it was 



deemed best to procure a place of meeting 
of their own, "when Thomas P. iNlilicr tendered 
the use of the old stone distillery, situated 
in the southern extremity of the town oppo- 
site the flouring mills, and the lower room of 
this structure was fitted up and opened for 
preaching in January, 1842. Ajiril Z7, 1842, 
Mr. Hollyday resigned his pastoral charge, and 
to this, it is said, is to be attributed the small 
increase in 1842 — but three persons were 
added to the membership. From April, 1842, 
to April, 1843, the church had no pastor, dur- 
ing which time, one member was lost by re- 
moval to the bounds of other churches. 

In April, 1843, Rev. Milton A. ITacket, was 
called to the pastoral charge, and on July G 
of that year he was ordained and installed 
pastor for two-thirds of his lime. 1 )uring that 
year twenty-three persons were added to the 
church. In 1844 twelve persons were added 
to the church. 

On November 12, 1844, the Presbytery of 
Sidney met in West Liberty and dissolved the 
pastoral relation of Rev. Mr. Hackett and the 
church; this was another reverse. Mr. Hack- 
ett was held in high estimation by the con- 
gregation, lie served one year and eight 
months. 

In 1845 the congregation resolved to, and 
did, erect a temple of worship, and opened it 
in November, 1845. This year the church 
had no regular Pastor, but seven new mem- 
bers were added. • 

In 184G Rev. James H. Gill, a licentiate of 
Uie Presbytery of Maine, visited the church and 
was afterward called to the pastorate of the 
church, and on the 14th of June followinn- he 
was ordained and installed pastor for one- 
lialf of his time. Nine members were added 
this year. In 1847 eight members were added. 
In 184S eleven persons were added. In 1849 
ten new members were added. In 1850 
twelve new additions were made to the church. 
In 1851 the church membershipwas increased 



s 



^! 



'1 



3 U- 



560 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



by twenty accessions. 1852 notes thirteen 
additions. 

On tlie 24tli day of July, 1S53, the Presby- 
tery dissolved the pastoral relation of Mr. 
Gill at his own request, he having served 
seven and a half years. By this time the 
conn;regation had grown in numbers and in- 
creased in inflnence. 

From .July, 1853, to the spring of 185-1, the 
congregation was without a regular pastor. In 
April, 1854, liev. "William Perkins was en- 
gaged as stated supply, and continued his 
work until October, 1854. In 1853 fifteen 
were added, and in 1854 teu were taken in. 
The church suffered greatly during this period 
from emigration. 

From October, 1854, to May, 1855, the 
ch\irch was again destitute of a regular min- 
ister, at which time the Rev. L. I. Drake, a 
licentiate of the Presbj'tery of Cincinnati, 
visited the church, at the repeated invitations 
of the church session, and in May, 1855, he 
came, and, having sjient one Sabliath, consent- 
ed to return and hold a series of meetings. 
The session invitcnl to be present during these 
meetings Rev. H. R. Price, of the Buck 
Creek church. During these meetings Rev. 
Mr. Price and Mr. Drake preached alternately, 
Mr. Price administering the sacrament on 
Sabbath, and Mr. Drake y)reaching in the 
Methodist Episcopal Church on that day, by 
invitation, the pul])it being vacant. 

On Monday following, •.hnic 18, 1855, at a 
meeting of the congregation moderated by 
Rev. H. R. Price, a unanimous call was made 
for the pastoral laiiors of Mr. Drake, and on 
the second Sabbatli of July following he en- 
tered upon his ])astoral work. On the 30th 
day of November, 1855, the Prcsbyterj' of 
Sidney met in tliis church, and, according to 
jirevious arrangement, ordained and installed 
Mr. Drake over this congregation. 

The church has made ra]>i<l progress under 
the zealous labors of Mr. Drake, who is the 



present Pastor, having ministered to his peoj)le 
over a period of twenty-five years. 

It will be observed from this resume of the 
history of this cinucli, that tlio whole number 
received into the communion of the church 
since its organization in September, 1841, is 
445 ; this in the face of the difficulties which 
grew out of the unsettled state of many wlio 
became members, ])aitaking of the spirit 
which induced many to seek homes in the 
West. Mr. Drake has served his peoj)le faith- 
fully and al)ly, and for his reward he says : 
"I siiall count it my highest reward if, whcMi 
from flower-strewn graves and quiet resting 
places, all who have mingled in these holy 
labors shall rise and stand before the Great 
White Throne, I shall b(» jiermitted to enter 
the Pearly Gates and thread the golden streets 
of the New Jerusalem." 

The first religious exercises conducted by 
a Lutheran minister in West Liberty were 
held about the year 1847. At the request of 
a few families who were members of that 
church. Rev. J. G. Harris, of Bellefontaine, 
preached for them occasionally, at the same 
time doing missionary work, jjreparatory to 
the organization of a Society. Many of 
these services were held in ))rivate houses, 
but the faithful few clung so zealously to the 
church of their fathers that they wore willing 
to bear witli almost any inconveni(Mice rather 
than be dej)rived of theii- own prciichiMg. 
The results of the work of .Mr. Harris were 
such as to give the little band some assur- 
ance that, by clinging together, they might 
be able in the near future to effect an organ- 
ization. Sir. Harris having been called 
away from Bellefontaine, Rev. J. Brickley, 
his successor there, contiiuicd the work which 
was begun, giving as nuich time to the Wi'st 
Liberty people as lie could s))are from his 
work at home. Mr. Brickley was much be- 
loved by the church, but his death occurred 
just at the period when it might have been 



^-^ 



r 



-4v?- 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUNTY. 



581 



practicable for him to give the Society tlie as- 
surance of permanency. 

His successor at Eellefontaine, Rev. J. 
W. Goodlin, preached occasionally for them 
until some time during the year 18.56, when, 
chiefly through the efforts and zeal of Mrs. 
E. M. Fisher and Mrs. Dr. Leonard, they 
succeeded in getting Rev. N. B. Little to 
preach for them with a view of becoming 
their regular pastor. The first permanent 
organization was effected by Mr. Little on 
the 11th day of April, 1857. Forty-eight 
members Mere duly received and celebrated 
the Lord's Supper on that occasion. It was 
a day of rejoicing and thanksgiving — a day 
for which many of thtm had often prayed 
and had an.xiously awaited. The following 
constituted the first Church Council: Elders, 
.Jacob Ziegler and Stephen Packer; Deacons, 
Peter Bowman and Charles Moots. Of the 
forty-eight who organized the church only six 
are now members. Nearly all the rest have 
passed away and are now, we trust, members 
of the church triumphant. 

Through the kindness of the officers of the 
"Christian " Churcii, the first regular services 
were held in their building. Shortly after 
the organization, however, regular services 
were held by the "• Christians " in their own 
house, and the Lutherans were compelled to 
find a place of worship elsewhere. A hall on 
Main street, owned by Mrs. Roberts, was 
rented, and here they first organized a Sab- 
bath school, with M.J. Royer as superintend- 
ent. The ne.xt removal was to an upper room 
on Baird street. These were dark days for 
the clmrch, yet many precious meetings were 
enjoyed under circumstances which jacked 
almost all the comforts antl conveniences 
which now seem necessary for church worship. 
Prayer meetings were held at the houses of dif- 
ferent members, and the hopes of those faithful 
hearts were constantly strengthened by these 
delightful seasons of consecration and prayer. 



The greatest trouble of all was in regard 
to a church building. Late in the fall of 1857 
a meeting was called for the purpose of dis- 
cussing what steps should be taken in regard 
to the future. It was either disband, buy or 
build. The latter was decided upon, and a 
building committee consisting of the follow- 
iTig persons were appointed: Thomas Piper, 
Charles Moots, David Ziegler, M. J. Royer, 
P. Bowman, .Jr., and Jacob Ziealer. It was a 
great undertaking, for there were not a dozen 
male members in the church, and most of 
these were in very limited circumstances. Yet, 
with stout hearts and unwavering faith, they 
went to work, and the following summer was 
laid the corner-stone of what is now by far 
the finest church edifice in West Liberty. 

Few churches are built under circumstances 
as trying as this one was, but all worked and 
gave cheerfully and liberally, and the result of 
their labors is a striking testimony of their 
devotion and self-sacrifice. Then, too,- most 
of the work was carried on without the aid of 
a regular Pastor. Rev. N. B. Little left the 
charge during the year 1858. The church 
enjoyed a very reasonable degree of prosper- 
ity under his administration. Many new 
members were added from time to time, and 
the organization and project fjr building were 
both effected through his efforts. 

Owing to the great money panic and fail- 
ure of crops throughout the State and coun- 
try, the new church building was not dedi- 
cated to divine service until the 18th day of 
March, 1860. The dedication sermon was 
preached by Rev. F. W. Conrad, of Dayton, 
Ohio, by whom also the services were con- 
ducted, assisted by Dr. Sprecher, president 
of Wittemberg College. A call was then 
extended Rev. C. A. Gelwicks, who im- 
mediately assumed the duties of pastor. Mr. 
Gelwicks remained in charge for two years 
when he left to labor elsewhere and the 
church was again without regular preaching. 



5G2 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUXTY. 



Jn the summer of 1803, Rev. A. R. How- 
bert, wlio resided at Bellefontaiiie, took 
cliiirge of the congregation and continued to 
serve them for the period of thirteen j'ears. 

Two otlier churches known as Peank's 
Church and Jerusalem Church, were also 
served by hiui and these two with West 
Liberty were then made to constitute one 
charge. A good degree of prosperity attended 
the efl'orts of ilr. Ilowbcrt and the Church 
was only beginning to enjoy relief from the 
burden and expense of building," when a storm 
blew off part of thereof and threw one end over 
into the church, making ruins of that wiiich, lit- 
tle by little, had risen through the \intiring 
efforts and sacrifices of faithful hearts. This 
occurred on the 20ili day of April, 1865. 

The following note by the secretary appears 
on the church records: "Duringthe prevalence 
of a violent slcwm, a whirlwind struck the 
northwest corner of our church building and, 
tearing away nearly half the roof, crushed in the 
g:ible end of the building, wliiih carried every- 
thin!j with it into the basement, smashing pul- 
l)it, platform, furniture, all the front pews, with 
half the ceiling, and nearly half the floor, also 
cracking the corners and whole west end of 
the brick wall. The damage estimated is 
from two to three thousand dollars. As the 
cniinrrcgiition is very weak, and only now 
cleaririir up the old debt on the church by 
carrying stock in the building association, 
the misfortune seems an exceedingly heavy 
one for us to sustain, but we hope, through the 
•mercies of a Providence that has never failed 
us in time of need, to rebuild at once." 

A congregational meeting was called, and a 
committee, consisting of Rev. A. R. Ilowbert, 
Samuel Taylor (of Presbyterian Church), and 
Dr. L. M. Jones (of Methodist E])iscopal 
Chnn-h), was ajipointed to solicit subscrij)- 
tions for repairing the church. The jieople of 
"West Liberty and friends of the church re- 
sponded liberally, and on Sabbath morning. 



December 19, 1S7r>, Rev. M. AV. llamma, 
assisted by Prof. J. II. AY. Stuckenberg, 
re-dedicated the church to the worship of 
God. 

In the summer of 1870, the Church Council, 
acting upon the advice of their Pastor, Rev. 
A. R. Howbert, signed a petition written by 
him to the other churches, and to the Synod, 
asking that this church be released, and be 
permitted to constitute a separate charge, 
with power to select and call a pastor. The 
petition was granted, Mr. Howbert with- 
drawing from the ]iastoral duties of the 
West Liberty Church. Mr. Howbert did 
good work in behalf of this congregation. 
He was with it, and stood by it in some of its 
darkest days, and labored with untiring zeal, 
to repair the building, after it hail been 
crushed by the storm. 

On the first day of June, 1877, Rev. J. M. 
Cromer entered upon the duties of Pastor. 
His labors as such extended over the period 
of one year, and as a result uumy of the 
young from the families of the church and 
others were added to its membership. 

On the first Sabbath of June, 1878, Rev. E. 
K. Bell, of the AVittenberg Theological Sem- 
inary, ]ireachcd as a sujiply and coiuinuiid as 
such uiilii June 1, 1870, when he was unani- 
mously elected Pastor. During the past year 
thirteen persons have united with the church, 
increasing the jiresent membershij) to ninety, 
which is the highest it has ever attained. A 
new organ was ]iurchascd as wcdl as chan- 
deliers and pulpit lamps, and at the close of 
the year the Pastor's salary was all paid as 
well as every other local indebtedness of the 
church. AA'ith a spirit of consecration perva- 
dinsr the members and the same s])irit of self- 
sacrifice which has always characterized this 
church, there seems to be no good reason why 
its future should not be a bright and pros])er- 
ous one. The jjresent church council consists 
of the following persons: E. K. Bell (Pastor), 



HISTORY OF LOa.VN COUNTY. 



5G3 



PresiJ(;ut; D. M. Ziegier, M. J. Rover, Cxtus 
Ziogler and Robert Parks, E^tlers; A. B. Sipg, 
J. A. Boyer, Paul S. Davis and Ira Kirkwood, 
Deacons; John Sutpliin, ]\I. J. Rover and 
Charles F. Fox, Trustees; A. B. Sieg, Secre- 
tary; and D. M. Ziegier, Treasurer. 

The first school was taught here prior to 
the laj'ing out of the town, by John Askins 
and Doctor Herrin. The education of the 
children in the early history of our pioneers 
was not looked upon with the same degree of 
importance as now. Then, the highest am- 
Ijition of the scholar was to learn how to 
read, write, and cipher — three very important 
factors in education. The student, however, 
was 

" — Never taught to stray, 
Far as the solar walk or milky way." 

The desires of his mind then scarcely arose 
above the irrational creation. His an.xieties 
were limited to the mere knowledge of ordi- 
nary moiital acquirements, and to provide 
against the ravages of cold and Inuiger was the 
very acme of his hopes and aspirations. He 
was not taught then, as now, that it is educa- 
tion that brings up the pearl from its hidden 
depths in the wild, chaotic ocean of untutored 
thought, and reveals to the' daylight and to 
the wrapt gaze of the admirer, its beauties. 
He was not taught then, as now, that it bursts 
open its rockj^ encaseincnt and lets forth the 
imprisoned brilliancy of the mental diamond 
upon the world. The pioneer scholar did 
not know that it was education that would 
draw forth latent energies, which would lie 
^dormant forever without its arousing and 
stimulating power; that it raises up the noble 
purposes of the soul to a higher standard of 
elevation, and trains every sprouting and ex- 
panding branch of thought with vigilant care, 
and in an apjjropriate direction, as the skill- 
ful gardener trains the tendrils of the vine. 
The truth of these assertions stand out in 



bold relief, and with forcible impressiveness, 
when the clear, strong light of contiast is 
thrown upon the experiences of the pioneers 
hereabouts and that of the present advanced 
era of civilization. In those days of mental 
darkness, no scenes, glowing with rich hues 
and beauties, which alone rnako immortality 
desirable to the rational, ever loomed ujj be- 
fore the pioneer mind. No endless perspec- 
tive of ceaselessl}' increasing knowledge ever 
burst upon his mind with overpowering 
glory. No burning thoughts of poesy ever 
flamed up from the altar of his intellect — 
the disadvantages in procuring an education 
prevented the development of the hidden 
powers of his mind. And such are the bone- 
fits of the present over the past — such are 
the results of colleges and academies — to the 
pioneer unknown. To illustrate: Of one mer- 
chant in this town, in the days that are past, 
it is sai'.l, so deficient was his education, that 
in sending East for a new stock of merchan- 
dise, he would mark a circle on a sheet of pa- 
per to represent cheese, and a circle with a dot 
in the center to represent grindstones, fo!d it 
lip and then have some friend address it for 
him. This was Hiram N. ^Miiti;. It finally 
came to pass that a certain man moved to 
town who could read and write, and he opened 
a store, with this advantage over his com- 
petitor — being qualified by an education (?) 
to order what he wanted. This is said to be 
an extract from one of his orders, verbatim et 
literatim, et punctuatim: 

" Siend tu boalts uv musslyn An 3 sax nv 
Kaughphy Bi jhon Cumminzizoks teem, u)id 
oblege yewrs." 

West Liberty has a school history of its 
own. and each successive step in the growth 
of the community found its counterpart in 
the progress of the schools. As from the 
rude log- cabins that constituted the homes of 
the brave men wi:o came early to Ohio to 
plant the seeds of her after greatness, came 






IV 



^! 



5C4 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



the cominodious dwellings that adorn West 
Liberty, as the Qiicon of the Valley, so the 
old sehoojhouse of frontier j'ears, when the 
big boys of the "deestrict" thought it fine 
fun to bar the master out on a cold Christmas 
morning, has gradually given step to the de- 
veloped system of to-day. Few of the rising 
generation will ever realize much of the crude 
state of matters in that long ago, but the old 
veteran of half a century, or more, can recall 
the times of which we write. The old log 
building, with its amjile fire-place, windows of 
greased paper, and split slab benches, the 
deep engraven names and marks of the busy 
jack-knife, the old Webster's Elementary and 
the famous copies the master wrote at the 
head of the hon)e-made writing book, the well 
seasoned switches in the log crannies, and 
whereby hangs many a tale, all, if they yet 
remained, could tell much of the school-days 
of our forefathers. , 

The school-master of then, fully competent 
to teach the '• three R's," and carry his pupi.s 
to the Rule of Three, was by no means an 
unimportant factor <jf early society. He was 
the oracle of the " district," and, 

".\11 (Icclaroil liow niucli lie knew; 

'Tw.is ccrtuin lie could write and ciplicr (oo; 

Lands lie could measure, terms and tides presage. 

And e'en the story ran lliat he could gauge; 

In arguini;, too, the parson owned liis skill; 

For c'cn lliougli vanquished, he could argue still; 

AVUile words of learned length and thundering 

sound. 
Amazed the gazing rustics round. 
And still thy gazed, ond still the wonder grew. 
That one small head could carry all he knew." 

"But pas.sed is all his fame," and so, as 
with the onward niarchof time, the old school- 
house disappeared from off the green, up in its 
stead rose the building of another era. This 
house is still standing on Biiird street, near 
the bridge, and is occupied as a dwelling by 
E. M3crs. In those early days.it was also 



used as a church. Some years afterward the 
house west of the Presiiyterian CInircli, on 
Columbus street, was erected for educational 
purposes, and for a time, school was here held. 
But the rapid growth of the village de- 
manded more ainjile accomtuodations, and so 
in the year IS-IS, the main part of the present 
Union School buihliiig was erected on the hill 
amid the trees of native oak. Tiie first teacher 
here' was the liev. Luther Svnith, who, as a 
venerable patriarch, with the white locks of 
more than three-score-years-and-ten, still lives 
to relate incidents of his life as a teacher. 
Mr. Smith taught a good school and his repu- 
tation as a scholar drew many to seek instruc- 
tion at his hands. He was followed by (^oates 
Kinney, who figured consjiicuously as superin- 
tendent of instruction, while publishing a 
paper here during the years 18.50 and 1851. 
Rev. .John Fulton, now a noted divine of 
New York City, but during tiie war. famous 
for his arrest at New Orleans, liy Brn Butler, 
for omitting to praj- for the President of the 
United States, was also connected with the 
schools for a time. Then there was another 
individual of whom svmdry stories have come 
down to these later 3'ears. We will not 
mention his name, but he much resembled the 
celebrated Ichabod Crane, of Sleepy Hollow. 
It is said that his appearance was somewhat 
striking. He was a large man, and invariably 
arrayed his person in lavender pants, coat of 
peculiar cut, yellow gloves and white cravat. 
When his white hat was raise<l from his clas- 
sic forehead it revealed the barren waste of 
a school boy's ideal desert running clear back. 
From a delicate border land stretihing all 
around his cranium a fringe radiated upward 
and toward a common center. His ap|)earance 
was more youthful than his years, and, like Ich- 
abod, he had his experiences, but, it is to be 
hoped, without so tragic an ending. His con- 
nection with the school was not of great 
duration. R. E. Pettit, now Probate Judge 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



.k 



of Log-ail Count}', served a long experience 
as teaclier in various positions. Mr. Pettit 
and Miss Isabella Hildebrand vpere identified 
with the schools longer than any other two 
persons. In fact there are few native adults 
in the place who were not for some time under 
their instruction. Miss Hildebrand was one 
of the teachers for over twenty years. G. W. 
Walker, now the able superintendent at Lima, 
Ohio, was employed for several years, and 
many are the stories told of his devotion to 
his wori< and the hold he had upon the pupils 
and people. The other superintendents are 
many, of whom the following may be men- 
tioned : (i)uiHcy Gvvynu Hamilton, M. K. 

Turner, ■ Gardner, I. W. Legg, J. M. 

Drake, Duncan McDonald, F. N. Mattoon 
and A. J. Surface. 

In the summer of 1877, Prof. P. W. Search 
was employed by the Board' of Education as 
Superintendent. From the beginning of his 
administration there dawned a new era in 
the history of the West Liberty Schools. A 
thorough course of study was laid down and 
the schools reorganized and classified from 
top to bottom. Since then the pujjils have 
been enthused with new life; the people, 
well pleased with the moral and intellectual 
improvement of the children; the teachers, 
reinvigorated, and the entire scene about the 
schoolhouse changed into one of thrift and 
eisergy. In the High School excellent in- 
struction is given in Arithmetic, Bookkeep- 
ing, Algebra, Geometry, Grammar, Rhetoric 
and Composition, Latin, (three years course). 
General History', English Literature, Physiol- 
ogy, Zoology, Philosophy, Botany, Astron- 
omy, Physical Geography, Chemistry and Con- 
stitution of the United States. The High 
School is well attended, the scholars are won- 
derfully imbued with the spirit and enthu- 
siasm of the teachers, and their advancement 
IS rapid and substantial. A good laboratory 
has been furnished by Prof. Search, which is 



well stocked with a telescope and all the 
modern piiilosophical and chemical apparatus. 
For over three, years a first-class literary so- 
ciety has been in existence in the school — 
the Philomathean. The meetings are held 
every Friday night and the influence of this 
effective rhetorical drill is being felt through- 
out, the entire community. Up to the pres- 
ent time there are ten graduates of the 
school: Class of 1875, Mary Kavanagh; 1S70, 
Minnie Sinith, ALamie Drake, Carrie Davis, 
Annie Maxwell and Ben Harrop; 1880, 
Mamie Cornell, Estie E. Drake, Ora E. 
Brown and William Jordan. 

The entire course of study covers a period 
of twelve j-ears, represented by as many dif- 
ferent grades. The annual enrollment is 
nearly 300. The various departments are un- 
der instructors as follows: high school. Miss 
Emma C. Sayre; grammar. Miss Mary Kav- 
anagh; intermediate. Miss Madge Fitz:;eral(l; 
secondar}-. Miss Lou Boyer; Primary, Mrs. 
M. L. Fishbough. Prof. Search is now serving 
his fourth year. At the close of last year he 
was re-elected Superintendent for a term of 
three years, at a salary of !S1,200, the highest 
paid in the county. Of tlie success of his ad- 
ministration we will add nothing more. The 
mere fact of his retention so much longer 
than his predecessors and tiio vit;orous cIToits 
made by the citizens to hold him permanently, 
speaks in language stronger than words. 

This recapitulation would not be complete 
without a few words in praise of the worthy 
President of the Board of Education, Dr. B. 
B. Leonard. For many years he lias been 
connected with the Board and faithfully has 
he performed his duty as member and officer. 
To him much credit is due for the present 
rank of the West Liberty Schools among the 
educatitn 1 institutions of the State. 

In 1828 the following persons resided in 
this town, and for the most part on Detroit 
street, near the center of the place: Dr. John 






6 



5G0 



HISTORY OF LOGAN "COUXTY. 



I it 



Oixlway, iiliysioian, (single); U. M. White, 
hotel- kcopiT ami mercbant; John Vaughn, 
fjirnier and Baptist preacher; William 
\^aiiglian, tailor and Baptist preacher; John 
"Wiiliains, blacksmith and local M(?thodist 
jireacher; Benjamin Ginn, tailor (single man); 
Robert Crockett (apprentice Avith Vaughn), 
tanner (single); William Kenton; William 
Moore, wheelwright and painter; Thomas 
Hubbard, carpenter; Abner Tharp, wagon- 
maker; Simon Robinson, miller; Tillman 
Longfellow (apprentice to John Vaughn) tan- 
ner, (single), and Mrs. Polly McCulloch and 
family. 

The residue of the town was at that time 
in a complete state of nature, grown up 
in brush and wild-plum thickets, and where 
the depot now is, the thicket was so impen- 
etrable that a man could scarcely ride through 
it. Here, circled with ail that exalts and em- 
bellishes civilized life, " the rank thistle then 
nodded in the wind, and the fox dug his hole 
unscared." Not many years before, the same 
sun that rolled over the he.ads of the twelve 
solitarj' families then in West Libert}', shone 
upon the Indian hunti'r as he pursued the 
])anting deer, gazing u[)on the same moon 
tiiat now sheds its soft lustre over this beau- 
tifid little village. On the site where this 
place now stands, the; wigwams once shelter- 
ed the tender ami helpless, ami the council- 
lire gleamed on the wise and daring. Here 
thev once worshiped, and from many a hard 
bo-oni went up a pure prayer to the Great 
Sjiirit. The tide of population that has since 
rolled in lias swept all these scenes away. 
The buildings in West Liberty, at that time, 
were very inferior, mosllj cabins, but they 
were in keeping wi h the progressive spirit of 
that age. 

Win. Jenkins kept th<' first livery stable of 
any note, in 1853. The building is the same 
now occupied by Ed. Jackson for the same 
]>'! .lohn Enoch erected the first dwell 



ing house in 1815. The first hotel was built 
by Hiram M. White, on the corner of Bair.l 
and Detroit streets — a portion of the building 
running north on Detroit street — which of 
late years was owned by Dr. B. B. Leonard and 
Os. Miller, but which was destroyed by fire 
on the lath of May, 1880. 

The next hotel was erected by Benjamin F. 
Ginn, in 1833. It was a frame buililing and 
is still standing, being located opposite the 
Lutheran Church, on Detroit street. It was 
called the Buckeye House. John Newland 
was tlie first landlord. Josejdi Frazell took 
the house in 1837. Mr. Ginn took the house 
in 1838, running it successfully for six years; 
since which time it has been used as a private 
house. Mr. Ginn is still doing a successful 
business keeping hotel. In 1853, Mr. Ginn 
sold the Buckeye Huuse to Henry Van Ortrich. 
The property is now owned by Harvey Shugh. 

Among t>ther olil laiulmarks now standing 
is the house now occupied by MiSS Sadie 
McDonald and Mrs. Hanger as a residence, 
it having been built in 18^1, by John Moore, 
a blacksmith. Moore afterward moved to 
Marion, Grant Co., Indiana, where he died. 
The house now used by John R. Crockett as a 
tannery, is one of the marks of pioneer en- 
terprise. It was put up in the fall of 1828, 
bv Mr. Houston Crockett, tiow deceased, for 
a dwelling. The GiralTe Buililing, now owm-d 
l)V George F. Bailey, Esq., and known as 
the Liberty House, was erected by Ira Rey- 
nolds, in 183<'. It isagO()d, substantial build- 
ing, and will stand the storms of ages. 

" Grand View " Cemetery, at West Liberty, 
although it has never been the theme of the 
poet's iiKspiration, or the orator's eloquence, 
V(!t it is a si>ot of which the citizens of the 
town are justly ])roud. From this towering 
hill-top is iiresenled a scene in the far-famed 
valley of Mad River, wherein the most gor- 
geous fancy can revel, and all that can entrance 
and bind down the most vivid iraagination 



HISTORY OF LOGA^" COTOfTY. 



5S9 



The appearance of " Grand View " is elegant 
and neat, displaying all kinds of architectural 
taste. There is seen the rough hewn stone 
and the light peering cone of the chaste obe- 
lisk — the lowly turf of retiring- poverty, and 
the gaudy monument of boasted affluence — 
on this, perhaps, a mother mourns, in a few ■ 
simple words, the bereavement of an only 
child; on that, exaggerated eulogy belies and 
ridicules the pretended virtues it would per- 
petuate — on this, beauty is blasted in its 
blushing ripeness — on that, wisdom sinks in 
the drooping of age. The striking beauty 
and variety of surrounding art rather fasci- 
nates than saddens the heart. One naturally, 
in looking on the marble that, in time, will 
decay, shudders at the analogy of his own 
form to its lingering corroding, and saunters 
in mournful contemplation and attractive de- 
laying in this last common tenement of flesh 
— the sad chronicler of time's victories. But I 
the design of genius-^the skill of art — the ' 
rock and the chisel, put awaj' the supersti- 
tions and raelanchoh' incidental to a cemetery. I 
Why shun the tomb? Why dress the last 
effort of life in the terror of despair? Woidd 
NMj live forever? Is life happiness? In life 
we hate, slander and even commit murder. 
In death are we guilty of them? Does the 
inanimate corpse need food, drink or raiment? 
No! It feels- — smiles — weeps rie'er more. 
Insult, defame it, it has no anger. It resents 
not. Turn your eye now on the world. Is 
happiness there? There, time mildews the 
whitest blossom of hope, youth droops for at- 
tainment — old age laments the moment of 
attaining. The atmosphere of the world is 
misery — its sun may shine, but darkness will 
follow. Life has no perpetual spring, it must 
have winter. Tacitus writes of the Thrasi, 
that they "wept at the birth of their children, 
and rejoiced at their death." The venerable 
Grecian historian wrote wisely in these words: 
'■ Whom the gods love, die j-oung." Wa 



would not mock the dead, nor ridicule the 
virtue of pensive and religious meditations. 
We would divest the tomb of its horrors, its 
superstitious fears and childish ignorance. 
If we weep, then let us weep for the worthy 
—if we fear, let us fear rationally and re- 
flectively — if we admire, let our admu-ation 
be impartial. 

" Grand View " contains twentj- acres, and 
is on an elevation of over one hundred feet 
above the level of our little eitj'. The land 
was purchased of J. M. Glover, Esq., Decem- 
ber 15, 1871, under an act of the Legislature 
of Ohio, passed May 7, 18C9, and took effect 
July 1, 1869, paying therefor 81,750. The 
next step was an election of a Board of 
Trustees, which oecured April 1, lS7'i, re- 
sulting in the choice of Enos Baldwin for 
three years, R. N. Jordan for two years, and 
R. E. Runkle for one j-ear. After taking the 
oath of office, this Board met at the Logan 
County Bank, April 16 following, for organ- 
ization, at which meeting R. N. Jordan was 
chosen President, R. E. Runkle, Treasurer, 
and R. E. Pettit, Clerk. May i. 187-^ the 
Board contracted with J. X. ilcMullen, and 
Reed & Steelman to build a fence around the 
grounds, at seventy-five cents per jianel. 
At this meeting the Board employed .1. Dun- 
can McLaughlin to survey and plat the 
grounds, at five dollars per day. The ceme- 
tery was dedicated .lune 2, 1873, Dr. Leonard 
delivering an eloquent oration upon this 
occasion. After the ceremonies, a number of 
lots were sold. Mr. Runkle having died in 
February, 1874, Dr. D. H. Garwood was elected 
to fill his unexpired term, (of two years), at 
the following spring election, and at the same 
election, R. X. Jordan was chosen for three 
years. April 6, 1815, Enos Baldwin was 
elected for three years, and his official term 
expiring in the spring of 1878, O. S. Miller 
was elected to succeed him, for three years. 
The Board now consists of R. X. Jordan, D. 



±hL^ 



570 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



H. Garwood and O. S. Miller. A building 
for the occupancy of the Superintendent of 
the Cemetery, has been erected at a cost of 
|l84-S.43, the contract having been awardcil to 
E. S. Jordan, July SC, 1877. 

Tliat which is capable of producing much 
good, is also likely to effect much evil, when 
perverted from its laudable purpose. Of this 
nature is the press in a comiiiunity. It is a 
powerful engine to operate on public opinion, 
and has a great influence over the morals and 
the motives of society. The reason for this 
is, because it is e.xpected to be consistent with 
truth and reason, and it should not sul)ject it- 
self to a suspicion of falseliood or sophistry; it 
is looked upon as the leading public instructor, 
and, as a natural consequence, obtains a de- 
gree of respect like that which an attentive 
pupil entertains for his teacher. It is easj- to 
observe with what degree a respectable, honor- 
able newspaper in a comminiity influences 
the minds of its readers. The newspaper oc- 
cupies nearly the same relation to its readers 
as the teacher does to the pupil, aud is largely 
responsible for the principles it inculcates. 
When an editor prostitutes his talents for 
mercenary purposes, his conduct is as base as 
would be the behavior of a scholar whose 
venality should induce him to sacrifice his 
trust at the shrine of Mammon. 

Th<? time has l)een when the orator was the 
])Ower omnipotent in the land. At the com- 
mand of his elotpience nations congregated. 
Brought within the circle of his magnetic in- 
fluence, he laid his hand upon their heart- 
strings and woke at will responsive echoes, 
thrilled them with the passions that burned 
in his ow^n breast, vibrated them with the 
power of his jiurposes, till the multitude 
swayeil to and fro, like the mountain waves 
of the storm-tossed ocean, bore them upward 
on the majeslv of the thoughts that filled his 
wrapt mini! with living words, burning with 
the anlor uf liis own impassioned soul, 



warmed them to enthusiasm, moved them to 
madness, fired tlicin to frenzy, inspired them 
with a lofty ambition, uucon(|uerable courage, 
indomitable fortitude; moulded their destiny, 
fashioned their future, sent his impress on the 
widening circles of succeeding generations. 

But the revolution of ages has .hanged all 
this. The press is now the greatt-t ])ower in 
modern civilization, and with its instruction 
or inriiiniatioii, should be wrcatlied morality 
and the social virtues, and they should be 
twined around as the ivy embraces the oak or 
clings to the venerable ruin; or if we pursue 
the metaphor, may it not be said, as the ivy 
takes root and adheres to the wasting walls 
of the (leciying structures of religion, so 
ought morality to be planU^l, and have its 
root in religion itself, that never decays, and 
from which alone it can derive an indigenous 
permanency. 

West Lilicrty, judging from the list of 
journals which have passed into oblivion — no, 
not oblivion, for these pages will resurrect 
a memory of their past history — is proverbial- 
ly a newspai)er town. Notwithstanding their 
untimely and unfortunate decease, 

"Yet 'tis n. joy— tliniigli liallowoii liy tonrs, 
To look biicic thro' tin- visia of liy-goiic years." 

In 1840 a printer boy of 18, one R. B. 
Warden, was induced, through the counsel of 
his friends and his own hoj)es, to come to 
West Liberty and esta!)lish a Democratic 
camj)aign pajjcr. Having enjoyed the luxury, 
of those days, of a canal-boat passage from 
Cincinnati to Dayton, on arriving at the lat- 
ter point, he deeiiled to economize, and, after 
two (lavs pedestrianizing, he reached West 
Liberty. He soon established his ])ai)er. The 
office was in the White building, once situ- 
ated on the northwest corner of Baird and 
Detroit streets, but destroyed by the great 
fire of May 13, ISHO, from which was issued, 
rather irregularly, the Deinix-rdtlc Chih. It 
was ])rinted on an old Ramage press; so small 



^ 



y- 



ik^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



571 



was its bed and platen, that it required four 
impressions for the printing of his little sheet. 
The proprietor generally speaking, was pro- 
prietor, general business manager, typogra- 
pher, although he was pretty regularly as- 
sisted by Donn Piatt, who edited the Club, 
and who could " do up " press-work, and 
by A. S. Piatt, who adjusted the mov- 
able alphabet in good style. William Hub- 
bard, once the editor of the Logan Gazette, 
printed at Bellefontaine, was also a com- 
positor in the Club office. Messrs. Piatt and 
Warden did the press- work and rolling alter- 
nately. 

The Club, though unpretentious, acquired 
(piite a fame, though not a very desirable one 
with the Whig party. It is said to have been 
replete with everything that would excite the 
ire of that part}-. Even Tom Corwiii, Ohio's 
noblest and best orator, and greatest statesman, 
once condescended to pay it an unfarvorable 
notice; it gave the "Wagon Boy" a scouring 
once, and Corwin returned the compliment. 
He w^s in his prime then, and in a speech de- 
livered at Urbana, during the existence of the 
Club, he stigmatized it as a " Dirty Demo- 
cratic sheet, published in a saw-mill way up 
in the benighted regions of Logan County." 
As a financial success the Club was a fail- 
ure, and its career was brief, having expired 
for want of support immediately after the 
campaign of that year. 

The gentlemen connected with this little 
paper afterward became famous in historv, 
each having occupied prominent public posi- 
tions, and distinguished themselves in their 
respective callings. .ludge Warden was elect- 
ed to the Supreme Judgeship, which place he 
filled with eminent ability. Mr. Hubbard in 
the editorial chair was able and accomplished, 
lioth as a political writer and a poet; and 
Col. Doini Piatt is in the front ranks in his 
profession, and enjoys the reputation of be- 
ing one of the most brilliant of American edi- 



tors. To hold good rank among self-made 
men, who have illustrated the journalism, lit- 
erature and the material progress of our 
country, is an honor of which any man may 
justly be proud. This is the only aristocracy 
allowable under our Democratic institutions. 
Col. Piatt is of Logan County birth, and she 
should be, and is, proud to own his talent. 
He is a polished gentleman, liberal and hu- 
mane almost to a fault. He is essentially a 
hard-working journalist, and a hard-working 
friend of the workingman. He believes in, and 
defends the toiling millions, and they un- 
doubtedly repose confidence in him, judging 
from the immense circulation of his sharp, 
witty journal, the Washington, D. C, Ciip- 
ital. His style as a writer is vigorous and 
humorous. He has distinguished critical 
ability, power of analysis, and unusual com- 
prehension of human nature. He reads char- 
acter like a book, and readily discovers the 
good and bad elements. His prejudices are 
strong, and his preferences are equally well 
nuirked. He is a good friend, a strong op- 
ponent and a sturdy foe, particularly of the 
politician of to-day, many of whom quail be- 
neath the power of his pen; for where infamy 
exists, it exposes, and where virtue presides, 
it lauds. 

The next paper printed here was the West 
Liberty Banner, a literary journal of much 
excellence. It was first issued Sept. 28, 1850, 
and was published by Kinney & Barringer — 
Coates Kinney. On the 20th of ^larch, 1851, 
Kinney withdrew, leaving the Banner in the 
able hands of the popular, genial, good- 
hearted Barringer, who published it to the 
end of the second volume, at which time " he 
threw up the sponge." Mr. Barringer is now 
residing in Bellefontaine, conducting a job- 
office; he is an honest, whole-souled, consci- 
entious man; is a close geological student, 
and is a logical and pungent writer. In 1856 
the Banner office was taken by Syd. Shaffer 



V 



572 



HISTOEY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



and W. H. Gribble, who conducted it for a 
short time. The "West Liberty BtuJiiet set 
sail on Saturday, the 15th day of Septem- 
ber, ISCO, with J. W. Houx as its editor, pub- 
lisher and proprietor; the first number having 
been pviblished, as the editor says, " after 
much toil, exertion, and vexation of spirit." 
It was independent in tone, flying at the mast- 
head the time-honored adage: "The greatest 
good to the greatest number." The Jiufhjvl 
was a lively, interesting paper, refusing to be 
cajoled or intimidated by either parties or par- 
tisans. During the existence of the liudiiet 
the Ma<;-<t-rlti:ck Press was born, and the 
rival papers had the field for a wliile. The 
yVtAf having the greatest power of endurance, 
the JiiKhjtt succumbed to the pressure, and 
died heroically. 

The Muc-a-rhcvk Prcis was both a literary 
and a j)olitical paper of much merit. W. II. 
Gribble was the publislier — Col. Don Piatt 
being astride tlie editorial tripod. The Press 
became widely known through the influence 
of the pen of its able editor, and it hung fire 
for probably five years, Ijeing discontinued on 
account of Col. Piatt and his associates going 
to the war. Mr. Gribble subse(|uently re- 
moved the office to Uellefontaiiie, transforming 
it into the Jiellefoiitainc Press. 

Then followed The Weekl;/ Enterprise, 
a twelve-column paper, published entirely at 
home (no patent) by B. S. Leonard and H. 
S. Taylor — both gentlemen occupying the ed- 
itorial chair — both wielding impulsive pens. 
Tlie motto of the paper was, '■^Qm Prosiiiit 
Oinniljiis." Wriglit .Smith was the business 
manager. 

Now comes .1. II. Fluhart and W. P. Mar- 
ion, still later, and scatter among the peo- 
ple The West J/iherty Independent, a ])at- 
ent outside ])aper, twenty-i'ight columns. 
Mr. Fluhart at the same tiim- was conducting 
the Jiellefontaine Press. The Indejtendent 
flourished like a rose for awhile, then wilted 



and died. Succeeding the Independent 
was ThcWest X,ihirt.j/ /Vc.s.s, editeil and i)ub- 
lished first by W. P. Marion and Charles Da- 
vis, then edited by J. H. Ayres and published 
by Joe K. Scott, and subse(|uently Scott as- 
sumed the responsibility and hove out into 
the turbulence of a journalist's life, but the 
effort necessarj- was too great for him, and he 
gladlj', after a very brief ex])erience, stepped 
down and out, iind right glad was he of the 
opportunity. 

On or about May 1, ISTC, W. H. Gribble 
determined tiiat the ni'wsi)apcr fame of 
W(>st Liliertv should not become extinct, and 
issued tlic first nuMil)ci- of \\\rWeekbf N^ews. 
It was (juite a newsy sheet, being jjublisheil 
in L'rbana by Gribble, and localixed here for 
the most part by J. Clarence Ilildebrand, a j 
young man of talent and jiromise. On the 
31st of December, 18T7, it died for want of 
support. 

In th(> year 1878 matters changed. A 
new era si'emed to have dawned vipon the 
journalistic history of the town. It was 
found, when reducing the jiroblems of thcs(> 
failures down to philosophic facts, that many 
obstacles had been in tlu; way which migiit 
have been overcome. These it is impolitic 
for tiie writer to name. On the 16th day of 
.January, 1878, The West Lihcrti/ iinzette 
made its apjiearance, with II. W. Hamilton as 
its editor and proprietor, and it has se- 
cured the united support of the business men ; 
of West Liberty, as also in Urbana ami 
Hellefontaine ever since, and is flourishing 
like "a green bay tree," being abo\it to enter 
\ip(in its fiunth year. On the :50th day of j 
.January, I'^T''^, Mr. D. C. Haiiey joined Mr. 
Hamilton as ])ublisher, and they jointly took 
up the cudgels and fought their way through 
to a successful issue. On tlie 18th day of 
.June, 18T'.l, Mr. Haiiey retired from the firm, 
and Prof. I'. W. Search came in, comph'ting 
such arrangements as continued Mr. Hamilton 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



573 



as editor and subsequently as a full part- 
ner. The Gazette is read far and wide; 
is Republican in politics ; is bold and fear- 
less, capable of coping with any of its com- 
peers. 

This is the history of West Liberty news- 
papers in a nutshell; the regret is that the 
many excellent pajiers that have died here in 
the past, are not still alive to greet hundreds 
of patrons, but they are dead beyond a res- 
urri^cting ])o\ver. 

West Liberty is entitled to the honorable 
sobriquet of the •' Garden Spot " of the county 
of Logan. It is located amid surroundings 
sublimely grand. Here the sun seems to 
pour around greater glories of the day — here 
the moon seems to hang with more beauty in 
her silver crescent at the evening hour — here 
the stars that bestud God's dianicMid throne — 
(the hosts of heaven, whose everlasting march 
is one enduring triumpli, the divine memo- 
rials on the amethystine arch of nature graven 
by God,) appear to shine with a brighter 
lustre than elsewhere. Was ever a pen 
gifted with an eloquence that would describe 
it? Inspired poets write of Italian skies and 
Italian sunsets, but if they are grander than 
the scenes around West Liberty they must 
be supernal indeed. Turn which way you 
will, a panorama of unparalleled gorgeous- 
ness, splendor, magnificence, greets the eye. 
In the days of many of our pioni'ers this 
fertile valley around West Liberty was the 
heritage of the savage, and the haunt of wild 
beasts. Strong hearts were they which sub- 
dued the one and exterminated the other; 
strong men were they who lifted uji the axe 
against the thick trees of the forest — strong- 
hearted women were those who shared their 
destiny, and reared their children by the cabin 
hearthstone, shrinking from no toil, fainting 
before no danger. As a result, what have wo? 
A lovely town skirting a pretty hill, in the very 
midst of a superb landscape enveloped with 



a drapery of bewitching beauty, which she 
displays with such grace that the eye is never 
satisfied with looking at her, nor is the heart 
ever pained by communing with her. It was 
at one time the most important town in Lo- 
gan County, there beingalarge competitidn in 
trade, but the county seat eventually became 
the loadstone with strong magnetizing power, 
and a majority of the moneyed men of the 
town left and took up a permanent residence 
in Bellefontaine. But it jiartiallv survived 
this loss, and with recujjerative energy such 
men -as Samuel Taylor, William R. Fisher, 
\)t. H. F. Kurfurst, George F. Bailey, (). S. 
Miller, Dr. I). H. Garwood, Theodore" F. .Mil- 
ler, J. W. Woodward, F. N. Draper, William 
Fishbough, H. J. Miller, A. B. Sieg, .lames 
I), and W. T. Stanton, Dr. .fohn Ordway, 
Enos Baldwin and Benjamin Elliott, and a 
host of others, determined that the town 
should live and prosper, and their eft'orts have 
not been in vain. Improvements were made 
both in private dwellings and business houses, 
and the march of industry and increased trade 
moved steadily on to a further condition of 
happiness. 

On the 13th day of May, 1880, the town 
was visited with a holocaust which, within 
the space of two hours, laid the principal 
business portion thereof in ashes, sweeping 
into oblivion thirty-one business rooms and 
eight places of residence, involving a loss of 
^■K)0,000, and rendering homeless, houseless, 
and penniless, a number of persons. 

To give the fullest statement of facts con- 
cerning this terrible conflagration the writer 
hereof presents the following details, written 
by himself, and printed in the West Liberty 
Ga::ette extra, on the next morning alter the 
fire, and also in the Weekly Gazette of May 
9, 1880, to- wit : 

" At about 3 o'clock yesterday afternoon 
the cry of 'fire! fire!' rang through our 
streets, supplemented with the thrilling cry 



-f. 



4= 



:t 



A 



674 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COTTNTY. 



that the entire business portion of West 
Liberty was a |)(>rfec't mass of flames. The 
report proved, in a very few moments, to be 
too true. The very thought itself thoroughly 
electrified the entire populace, and everybody 
left his or her home and fled ])reeipitately to 
the scene of disaster, full of interest and 
symj)athy for the unfortunates, and of a desire 
to render all possible aid. 

"The fire originated in a stable in the rear 
of Dr. H. F. Kurfurst's block, at 3 o'clock, on 
the lot of Mrs. Lynian Cook. It was un- 
questionably the work of foul incendiarism. 
The incendiaries are, at this writing, unknown. 
The report, as first circulated, involved Mrs. 
Cook's youngest son, .Juilge, but later investi- 
gation does not fully justify the rumor, as re- 
liable parties saw this boy down the race at 
the time the fire began. Still later reports 
complicate Lynian Cook, but further infor- 
mation proves the fallacy of this rumor, as 
this boy is known to have been on IJaldwin's 
prairie when the fire started. A tramp was 
noticed traveling out the Mae-a-cheek road at a 
rapid rate, at about 3.30 o'clock, and he should 
have been arrested, but in the excitement tlie 
fellow was lost sight of. His connection with 
the origin of the fire cannot be established. 
Some parties say that they saw some boys 
playing cards in the stable of Mrs. Cook; and 
thus do rumors fly, some unfounded and others 
reasonable enough to warrant some severe 
criticism, yet nothing definite can possibly be 
ascertained. 

"The flames leaped with mad fury from the 
barn to Dr. Kurfurst's ice house, then to the 
building where the iloclor had large (piantities 
of goods stored away, consisting of oils, 
chemicals, etc., most of all which caught and 
fed the flames with ferocious fury. The pro- 
gress of the furious flames was rapid, and 
they swept everything bcfon^ tlieni relent- 
lessly, com|)letely licking up the entire square 
from the Bailey block to the corner of Baird 



and Main streets, brushing out of existence in 
a moment, as it were, eight or* nine bxisiness 
iiouses, with their contents. Ai)])arently not 
satisfied with tlie ruin ali-i'ady xvnmgiit, tln' 
holocaust vaulted across .Main street, and in 
its mad caretr it laid in ashes the entire 
block, commencing with Mrs. HiLlelirand's 
business block and residence, and ending 
with the demolition of every building in that 
square and a small summer kitclien of G. W. 
Gorton's. In the meantime help was tele- 
graphed for to Bellefontaine and Urbana. In 
fifty minutes from the time the dispatches 
were sent the steamers were at the dcjiot, and 
as soon as it was possible, the engines with 
reels, were upon the scene of action. 

"Each town sent in a large relayof men, who, 
with willing hearts and rrady hands, went to 
work earnestly to help save all the propi^rty 
possible. Every man, woman, and child, as- 
sisted in transferring goods from the stores 
and residences, and jiiling them hurriedly 
out in the street, in a great indistinguish- 
able mass. The pco])le were panic-stricken. 
Strong-hearted men shed tears of sorrow for 
the unfortunates — women screamed, and chil- 
dren added no little mite to the terrible 
clamor. Such a wail of woe was never known 
here before. Truly, could West Liberty have 
been called, for the time being, a young Chica- 
<ro. The great pang sulVered here touched 
the hearts of every town around us that could 
come here to shew their sym))athetic kinship. 
There were not wanting many evidences of 
the grandeur of human nature amid the very 
ashes of what was but a few moments before 
beautiful and jirosperous. The fire depart- 
ments of Bellefontaine and I'rbana flew to 
our rescue, as if on the wings of winil. Each 
as quickly as possible, turned heavy streams of 
water upon the fierce flames, subduing them 
at several points, thereby preventing a total 
annihilation of our town, tirandly, heroical- 
ly, did they work! 



it^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAX COUXTY. 



57") 



"The gratitude of our people recognizes no 
confines. Long, earnestly, unremittingly, did 
these grand men struggle to prevent a furth- 
er catastrophe than that already accomplished, 
and their labors were blessed with brilliant 
aciiii'veinents. In this connection, let us 
give the Bellefontaine folks, who are known 
to have uttered complaints al)Oiit having a 
"paid fire department" put upon tlieni, a word 
of advice. The necessity of its organization 
has never been so wonderfully apparent until 
this fire occurred. For Heaven's sake, gen- 
tlemen, SUSTAIN your "Fire Department," and 
DO IT WKLi,, for they are a noble hand of 
workers. Of th(( Urbana Fire Department 
as well, too much cannot be said eulogistic 
of the magnificent work done by them with 
one hose reel. At about six o'clock the fire 
was conquered. The buildings in close prox- 
imity to the property destroyed, as described 
above, were saved by the su])erluiman efforts 
of the firemen, and the herculean endeavors 
of men upon the Gazetti' building, Ijelonsj-ing 
to George F. Bailej', Esip 

"Great crowds of excited people poured in 
here from all points of the compass, to view 
the disaster, and some, we are sorry to say, 
for the purpose o'f thieving. Any man who 
would steal upon such an occasion and in the 
midst of such a calamity, ought to be hanged 
by the neck to the nearest post or tree until 
he is dead. No man guilty of such a deed at 
such a time should Ije given any mercy. 
Every honorable strann-er put his or iier shoul- 
der to the wheel, and worked valiantlf. The 
crowd jirobably numbered over ^,000 who 
witnessed the conflagration. 

"The scene presented to the eye of the ob- 
server on the morning after the fire was sick- 
ening. What was twenty-four houis previous 
to the penning of this article a handsome 
business street, is now a fearful scene of deso- 
lation and iiiin. But it is well it was not 
worse, and the fire departments saved ns. 



Business men are in the streets, families are 
homeless and houseless, with everything gone, 
a total wreck. "What a disaster! Crowds of 
peo])le from all directions are perand>ulating 
around the ruins, discussing it excitedly in 
all its varied phases, and tendering their 
greatest sympathy for the sufferers. 

" The losses are terrible to contemplate. 
Below we give a reliable statement of the 
losses sustained, and the amount of insurance 
in each case : 

"O. S.Miller & Co., loss $-10,000; insurance 
§20,000. Aspinall & Son, loss $4,000; insur- 
ance $2,000. B. B. Leonard, loss $6,000; 
insurance i5>3,000. Drugs not insured. Loo-ati 
County Bank, loss $300; insured ; valuable 
jiapers all saved. .1. S. Packer, loss $700; no 
insurance. O. P. Longfellow, loss $.500; no 
insurance. John R. Steelman, loss $2, .500; 
insurance $1,000. J. Wood Brown, loss $300; 
no insurance. Mrs. Jane .Hildebrand, loss 
$5,000; insurance $2,000. Thos. P. Miller, 
loss $500; no insurance. H. F. Kurfurst, loss 
$28,000; insurance $14,000. George F. Bai- 
ley, loss $4,000; insurance $2,000. Odd Fel- 
lows, loss $2,000; no insurance. James 
Henderson & Son, loss $2,500; no insurance. 
D. W. Gill, loss $1,000; no insurance. G. W. 
Gorton, loss $1,000; no insurance. Fishbough 
& Gribble, loss $200; insured. H. J. Miller 
& Co., loss $800; insured. Clias. Darlinton, 
loss $2,000; no insurance. James Cook, loss 
$2, .500; insurance $350. I. S. Miller, loss 
$100; no insurance. J. C. Muzzy, loss $100; 
no insurance. J. A. Boyer, loss $T5; no in- 
surance. J. H. Deck & Co., loss $2,0()0; in- 
surance $],G00. 1. G. Thomas, loss $2,500; 
partially insured. Cyrus /iegler, loss $100; 
no insvH-ance. Zieglei- & Jai-kson, loss $2,500; 
partially insured, .fas. Artis, loss $200; no 
insurance. M. C. Keith, loss prtrbably $100; 
no insurance. 1). H. Garwcmd, loss $4,000; 
partially insured. Dr. NV. ( '. Kavanaoh, loss 
$100; no insurance. Dr. H. P. Kelly, loss 



576 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



|!l(X); no insurance. H. S. Taylor & Co., loss 
*:3,000; insurance *1,000. \V. A. Gill, loss 
*800; no insurance. Forsyth Bros., loss §100; 
no insurance. F. N. Draper, loss 45400; in- 
sured. Chas. Pittenger, loss $200; no insur- 
ance. Mrs. V. Bonder, loss ?!400; noinsiiraiicc. 
J. W. Woodward, loss §4,000; insurance 
$3,500. Arthur Wallace, loss $25; no insur- 
ance. Mrs. 8. E. Cook, loss §l,00O; no insur- 
ance. John Ordway, loss *3,500; insurance 
$2 500. E. Myers, loss $50; n(j insurance. 
James Knig-ht, loss $1,000; no insurance. 
Elislia Steelman, loss $200; no insurance. 
John M. Hunter, loss $50; no insurance. 

" Our business men who have been displaced 
by this fire can be found in the i'oliowing 
places: H. S. Taylor & Co., grocery, in Ord- 
way 's block; J. W. Woodward, boots and 
shoes, in Ordway 's block; J. H. JJeck & Co., 
notions, Taylor & Couchnian's building, Baird 
street; Logan County Bank, Corjjoration 
Clerk's office; Post-Office, adjoining Ginn 
House; (). S. Miller & Co., Town Hall; Tiios. 
P. Miller, ni(!at market, next door to Stanton 
Bros.; James Henderson is above Stanton 
Bros', store; Ziegler & .laekson, with C. F. 
Fox; I. S. -Miller, in Fishhough it Cribble's 
basement; 11. Aspinall & Son are in the room 
next to George W. Gorton's. 

"O. S. .Miller & Co., George F. iJiiiley, Esi]., 
iinil Dr. II. F. Kurluret, each will re-build as 
i|iiicl<ly as possible. Let some enterprising 
man ii|i"n a brick-yard here at once; it will 
not onlv inspire building but it will give poor 
men work, and compi'usate t'ully any man 
will) will engage in the business. 

" .Must we lie dormant and let the ruins re- 
main untouched? No, never! Let all who 
sutTered cheer up with what is left, and wo 
shall come out all right. We have life left, 
and true grit, and we must rise, I'hu'uix-like, 
aliove the ashes. Cheer up! In the midst 
of calamity without a parallel in this town, 
IfHtking n|iiin the ashes of years and vears of 



accumulation, let us be resolved to enter into 
a new era, with redoubled vigor. As there 
never has been such a calamity here before, 
so has there never been such cheerful forti- 
tude in the face of desolation and ruin. 

"Thieves were scattered all over town yes- 
terday, and some plundering was the result. 
No account can be given of the groods stolen. 
An extra jxiliee forc(! was sworn in by Mayor 
Kavanaijh, and the result was a lot of rouo-hs 
were calaboosod and will receive the atten- 
tion of the Mayor. Several fights occurred, 
but all disturbances of this nature were 
promptly iiut down by niaidv men. 

"The (r(^;.('^A' could hardly give a fuller re- 
port of the conflagration than was contained 
in the " extra " g-otten out at this office last 
Friday morning-, which we reprint. It em- 
bodies about all that the pen (ould picture 
relative to the fire and its conseipiences. 
There are some corrections, however, that we 
desire to make in this article. Dr. Kurfurst's 
loss is $38,000, instead of $2«,000. The (^dd 
Fellows' loss is reported at $2,00(1, but recent 
developments show tln' aiminnt h-ss than 
$1,n00. Ziegler & Jackson's loss is $liOII, in- 
stead (if §2,.")00, on which there is no insur- 
ance. H. S. Taylor i*t Co.'s loss reaches 
$3,000; but they received $1,100 insurance 
from the -Etna, and their salvage will, |)rol)- 
ably, amount to $500. Charles W. Pittenger's 
loss is $450, instead of $200. F. N. Drajjcr's 
loss is $388.50, which is insured. Mrs. M. L. 
Fishbough's loss is $300, on which there is no 
insin-ance. She is not reported in the "extra.'' 
The reading rotmi is a thing of the ])ast. 

" As to the origin, nothing new has disclosed 
itself. There aie many, vi^ry many, that give 
credence to the runmr thai .ludge Conk is tli(> 
author of the devilment, and it will devolve 
upon Mrs. Lyman Conk, the mother of the 
boy charged with tlu; incendiarism, tn produce 
some evident-e that is reliable, that .ludgi' 
was not near the stable at or near the timi- 



^ 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



of the starting of the fire, to wit, between 
the hours of two and three o'clock in the 
afternoon of that Jav, in order to convince 
the public mind of her son's guiltlessness in 
this matter, otherwise he must lie under a 
very serious charge — one that will pursue 
him to his grave. We sincerely hope Mrs. 
Cook can do this. Liberal responses have 
been made to appeals for aid for those who 
have been utterly bankrupted l)y the fire, by 
our sister towns. Springfield, Urbana, De 
Graff, Bellefontaine and Marysville, so far 
as we have learned, have raised about one 
thousand dollars. The great crowd of strang- 
ers from these, and other places, whilst here 
last Sunday, opened their purses with a will- 
ing hand. Here is what is still being done in 
Bellefontaine, as our friend, Joseph H. Law- 
rence, Esq., writes: 

"Bellefontaine, O., May 18, 1880. 
"/T. W. Hamilton, WestJ.iherf]/, 0.: 

"At a meeting of the citizens of Bellefon- 
taine, held Monday night, a committee of six- 
teen was appointed to canvass the town, to 
raise money to aid the citizens of West Lib- 
erty, who have suffered loss by the late fire. 
The committee are now at work. 

"Joseph H. Lawuence. 

" Prof. Search went to Marysville last Mon- 
day, to secure some funds, and he got §10."), 
of which Hon. Judge Porter gave 850. Long 
may he be remembered, as \\ell as his town. 
With this money, and that that is to come, 
great relief can be given the sufferers. 

"The fire is replete with solemn warnings, 
and in another column we urge the Council 
not to forget their existence, and to give us a 
steam fire engine without delay. 

"The insurance companies are settling up as 
fast as the stocks left can be invoiced. Thev 
have all Ijeen remarkably prompt, and will, 
as we learn, pay \ip in full. 

"The work of re-construction has already 
begun. Dr. Kurfurst has carpenters at work 



erecting a temporary frame structure, 28.\30, 
on the east end of his corner lot, and expects 
to be in it, with a stock of drugs, by Saturday 
next. The building will also have a room for 
the Postoffice. The doctor also has a large 
number of men and boys cleaning away the 
debris, and cleaning- and piling up the brick, 
preparatory to the erection of a fine business 
block, at once. George F. Bailey, Esq., will 
erect a two-story brick, with two handsome 
business rooms, at once. Mrs. S. E. Cook will 
pvit up a like brick structure adjoining Esquire 
Bailej'. O. S. Miller will not delay the erec- 
tion of a handsome business block, which will 
be modern in every respect. Robert Aspinall 
thinks it doubtful about his erecting a busi- 
ness block on his lot, but we are safe in pre- 
dicting that he will ' change his plans,' and 
))ut up a good building. Other buildings will 
be put up commensurate with the enterprising 
spirit of our town. Dr. Ordway will be apt 
to build, as will Mr. Henderson, Dr. Garwood, 
Dr. Leonard and Mrs. Hildebrand. New im- 
petus will l)e given the business of the town, 
more money will be exchanged, and West 
Liberty will boom." 

There being no fire department in the 
town, great risk was shouldered and suffered 
from the omission, and the Gazette, in an edi- 
torial of the 14tli of May, also expatiated 
upon this grave matter, as follows: 

"On: Lesson. 
"a word to the wise. 



" Our hardest trials sometimes teach us 
great lessons of wisdom that we are not apt 
to allow to go by unheeded. Times of gen- 
eral calamity and confusion have ever been 
productive of the greatest minds, even as the 
purest ore is produced from the hottest fur- 
nace, and the brightest thunderbolt is elicited 
from the darkest storm. A wise man is gen- 
erallv led to wise acts bv some severe lesson, 



'1^ 



♦• 



578 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



and we think that our jieople ami our Town 
Council have drawn soino hunks of wisdom 
from our recent terrible coiiflajiration. 

"The Gazette, in a ni>to of the Bahlwin fire, 
remarked that that fatal accident was "full of 
susrsrestions." and the asseveration has proved 
too true. We have repeatedly urged the 
Council of West liiberty in these columns to 
provide us some means for protection in case 
of fire, but no attention has been paid to our 
appeals. Enough property was destroyed 
last Thursday to pay for forty steamers, at 
iJio.OOO each — for a good steamer can be pur- 
chased for that amount of money, and less. 
Now look at the result ! Here we are in ruins, 
and still at the mercy of another holocaust. 
Citizens of West Liberty, and tax-payers, can 
we afford this longer? Can we afford to run 
the risk of being totally annihilated for fear 
of a little tax? Let the answer come in tones 
of thunder. No! No! Ko! Then let us awake 
to our danger and have no further delay. Let 
us have a prompt meeting of our Council, and 
quick action. 

" Mr. F. N. Drapor, a heavy tax-])ayer, and a 
strong advocate for a fire engine, who is fully 
sensililo of our real peril, has received a propo- 
sition from the La France Fire Engine Com- 
pany, who agree to furnish a steamer com- 
plete in all |)artiiulars, and warranted, to- 
gether with 700 feet of best rubber hose, four 
ply — five ply ends — guaranteed to stand a 
pressure of 400 pounds to the square inch, 
with any coupling preferred; also, one fine 
finished, two-wheeled balance hand hose 
reel, made from best quality of wrought 
iron, for the sum of 4*3,900; the engine to 
be capable of throwing one 1^ inch stream 
225 feet, and to be capable of discharging 
325 gallons of water per minute. This engine 
is guaranteed for a period of twelve years, 
and also to s\irpass any other make of equal 
capacity made in this or in any other country. 

"We du not urge the C<jnncil to buy Tins 



rAKTicuLAR EXGisE, but in the name of tiie 
people who jnust have protection, — in the 
name of the innocent who have been ren- 
dered moneyless, houseless, and lionieless by 
the late catastrophe — in the name of others 
who have suffered the severest blow of their 
lives, who have had the accumulatioivs of 
years and years swept away by the*ery fiend 
with one fell swoop — in the name of the repu- 
tation of our town which we must ever hold 
sacred, we DEMAND a fire-engine, capable of 
protecting the property of our town, and we 
cannot afford to have this matter overlooked. 
Let there be some decisive steps taken this 
week. Such exigencies arise in this matter 
as to admit of no combattinjr. The people 
will look anxiously and earnestly to the Coun- 
cil now for expeditious action. In the mean- 
time, let everybody be careful to avoid a sim- 
ilar disaster in the future." 

At the next meeting of the Town Council, 
held May 21. Mr. F. N. Draper introduced the 
following resolution, to wit : 

Jxexoived, That it is decided to ]>urchase a 
steam fire engine and all necessary fire a]>pa- 
ratus to give our town full protection against 
fire, jirovided, upon investigation, we have 
a legal right to issue bonds for the same. 

The resolution was adopted by a full vote. 
But there was another matter of the utmost 
importance to be attended to. in order to get 
the money to pay those bonds without distress- 
ing a few to benefit a large number, and 
that was the annexing of certain contiguous 
territory to the town, for fully thn-e-fourths 
of the people belonging to the town proper, 
at this writing, live outside of the corjioration. 

The Council jiassed an ordinance, .lune 12, 
1874, providing "for the extension of the 
limits of the Incorporated Village of West 
Liberty," but this was op])osed by remon- 
stralors on the ground that there was a con- 
flict in the laws then in existence, the Legisla- 
ture, having passed a new law on the subject. 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. 



579 



inadverteiith' omitting to repeal the old one, 
and the proposition met with a Waterloo. 
The old law required a petition to extend to 
be signed b}- three-fourths of the owners of 
property sought to be annexed; now it only 
requires a majority of the adult free-holders 
residing on sucli territory. The latest efforts 
at annexing the territory desired, is very 
liable to result successfully, the Council having 
employed R. N. Jordan, Esq., an able, 
cautious, vigilant attorney, to conduct the 
case. It is safe to predict a purchase of a 
steamer at an early day. 

Has West Liberty risen " from its ashes?" 

To answer this question, it is only neces- 
sary to point to the monuments of enterprise 
that now stand where the buildings stood on 
the 12th day of May, that on the day follow- 
ing crumbled beneath the power of the fier3' 
fiend. For these magnificent evidences of 
enterprise that adorn the business portion 
of the town, there wili cluster around the 
hearts of the rising generation bright memo- 
ries of the names of Oliver P. Tavlor and 
'Henry Couchman, H. S. and F. P. Ta}'Ior, 
Dr. H. F. Kurfurst, William Fishbough, 
James Henderson, R. & T. Forsyth, James 
Cook, George F. Bailey, William Gill, Dr. 
John Oidway and J. W. Woodward, and the 
members of the lodge of I. O. O. F. It was 
these gentlemen who settled the question. 

The secret societies of this town comprise 
the Masonic and Odd Fellows' Lodges. The 
Masonic Order is known as Mad Eiver Lodg-e 
No. 161. The charter was issued and dated 
September 28, 1848, being originally peti- 
tioned for by Joel Funk, Z. B. Tennerv, 
Seneca Lapham, William B. Mcllvaine, John 
Wader, William Lapham, .lames C. Turner, 
and H. M. M'hite. 

A second charter was issued, dated Octo- 
ber 22, 1873, \VhereiirJoel Funk was appoint- 
ed Master ; T. B. Tennery, Senior Warden ; 
and Ssneca Lapham, Junior Warden. It 



was signed by Asa H. Battin, M. W. G. M. ; 
Chas. A. Woodward, R. W. G. M. ; Sain'l 
Wardle, R. AV. S. G. W., and S. Moore, R. 
W. J. G. W. It was attested by John D. 
Caldwell, R. W. G. Secretary. Before the 
charter was granted, the first meeting was 
held March 13, 1848, under dispensation, 
Joel Funk being Master ; Z. B. Tennery, S. 
W. ; S. Lapham, J. W., these having been 
appointed by the Grand Master of Ohio. 

The following brethren were appointed by 
the Chair : W. Lapham, Sec y ; H. M. 
Black, Treasurer ; A. D. Frazell, S. D. ; and 
W. B. Mcllvaine, Junior Deacon. The char- 
ter members were: D. D. Ogden, James 
Stafford, Jacob C. Kizer, Zachary Provotty, 
A. B. Turner, Geo. W. Kizer, Z. B. Tennery, 
John Wade, Wm. B. Mcllvaine, Nathan 
Hammond, W. R. Stafford, David Underwood, 
John M. Scott. The lodge is in a flourishing 
condition, and has a membership of fiftv. 
The present oflSeers are: Joseph Miller, W. 
M.; D. B. Hale, S. W.; Frank P. Taylor, J. 
W.; M. G. Royer, S. D.; John F. Kizer, 
J. I).; Volney Thomas, Tyler; Job Sald- 
keld, Treasurer ; Henry F. Kurfurst, Secre- 
tary. 

The I. O. O. Fellows also have a good 
lodge. It is styled Lil)ertv Lodge, No. 
9G. 

The charter was granted William Hamil- 
ton, Joseph C. Brown, John Maps, AVilliam 
Elliott, James Broadwell, Jerome M. White 
and Benjamin Ginn, November 20, 1847, and 
was signed by Thomas Spooner, M. W. G. 
M.; Albert G. Day {pro tern.), R. W. D. G. M.; 
Joseph Roth (pro tem.),F,. W. G. W.; Isaac 
Hefley, R. W. G. Rec. SecV; H. N. Clark, 
R, W. G. Cor. Sec'y; DavidT. Snelbaker, R. 
W. G. T.; William Chedsey, R. W. G. G.;' 
W. D. Neilson, R. W. G. C; Samuel L. 
Adams, R. R. G. C. The lodge has a mem- 
bership now of eighty-one membiMS, and is 
officered as follow^s: William J. Rule, N. G.; 






oSO 



HISTORY OF LOGAN COUXTY. 



John Kirkwood, V. G.; George Feather, R. 
S. X. G.; John Fulwider, L. S. N. G.; Ira 
Kirkwooil, R. S. X. G.; AVilliani Petty, Sec'v; 
\V. R. Fisher, Treas.; W. K. Ruhm.j, I. G., 
aiul John Maxwell, O. G. 

This societj' is now erecting a liaiiilsonie 
buiklinfr on the corner of Baird and Detroit 
streets, in which they are arranging a beauti- 
ful hall to be finished in the highest style of art. 

Among our veteran ])hysicians we must 
notice Dr. I. C. Taylor, who has been prac- 
ticing medicine in this town since January, 
1844. He is the oldest jihysician in the prac- 
tice in this ])lace, and next to the oldest in 
the county, lie is a skillful surgeon. 

Then there is Dr. D. B. Allen, who has 
been practicing medicine here since IS.jl. 
The doctor is blessed with a wide range of 
practice, and is a well-read physician. 

Leonard & Jones are enjoying a large prac- 
tice. 13r. Leonard commenced about twent\-- 
five years ago. Dr. Jones' partnership practice 
dates back from 1SG8. These gentlemen are 
well versed in their ])rofession, and make a 
specialty of surgery. 

1 )r. I ). B. Hale practices allopathy very 
successfully. 

Dr. Ben S. r^eonard has just launched out 
into the practice of medicine, with bright 
hopes and happy anticipations. Ben is a 
graduate of the ( )hio Medical College, from 
which institution ho emergeil with Mattering 
honors in the spring of ISSO. 

The business of West Liberty is represented 

by one ])rinting ollice, two dry goods stores, 

1 six groceries, two drug stores, two boot and 

i shoe stores, two clothing stores, two tin stores, 

three stove stores, one large wholesale notion 

; estalilishment, one ]iri)visi(>n market, three 

meat markets, two harness shops, one retail 

notion store, two hr)tels, two millinery stores, 

two saloons, one jewelry store, one large ware- 

liouso where grair\ is purchased, one grist 

mill, one furniture store, one undertaking es- 



tablishment, one marble shop and two l>lack- 
smith shops. 

There is one Presbyterian church, one 
Methodist, one Christian, one Lutheran, and 
one Catholic church. 

The corporation united with the Trustees 
of Liberty Township in the erection of a 
handsome town-hall in 1SG8, expending there- 
on §7,000. It is a substantial structure, and 
is a credit to the town. The corporation ami 
township officers arc in the first story. 

The corporation officers are: Dr. W. C. Kav- 
anagh. Mayor; James Ewing, Clerk; Dr. 11. 
Garwood, Treasurer; D. B. Allen, Enos Bald- 
win, F. N. Draper, W. R. Fisher. W. M. Fisli- 
bough, Stephen .Jackson. 

In ISTl, the West Liberty M'heel Comjiany 
was organized, with a capital stock of §3"^,000; 
F. X. Draper, President. 

It conducted the business of manufacturing 
carriage wheels and carriage material; Mr. 
Drapi'r continued in office one year, after 
whicli, W. R. Fisher served as President 
until the company closeil uji its business in 

isro. 

At the beginning, the prosjiects of the 
company were excellent, and their business 
a fair one, but owing to the ])ressure of hard 
times later on and mismanagement, it met 
the fate of thousands of other enterprises of a 
similar character. 

The ])ost-offi<(' is ably and carefully pre- 
sided over by .Mr. Charles F. Darlinton, and 
his estimable wife, both of whom make many 
sacrifices to jtlease the public, and their 
efforts in this direction liavo won for them en- 
viable popularity. There is no hue and cry 
for a "change" in their department of Gov- 
ernment service, ami well it is that there isn't. 
They demonstrate that they are public ser- 
vants in fact. 

XoTE.— Tlib writer of this history of West Llbertj- Is In- 
.lebteil to U. S. Jor.lan, E<n-. F- N- l>rii|iiT. Dr. Jolin Onlwny. 
J. W.Woodwiiril. Dr. II. F. Kiirfiirst. Dr. L J. Drake. Rev. E. 
K. Dell mill ninny others, for viiliie.l iiifurmation. 



>i'U 



^! 



PART III. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Biographies Too late For Alpliabetical Insertion. 



DONX PIATT. This noted journalist and 
author is a native of Ohio, and makes the 
Ix^autiful ilacliacliaclv Valley, in Logan Co., 
his home. 

He is, as his name indicates, of French 
orinin, and retains more than any other mem- 
ber of tliis influential family tlie character- 
istics nopularly attributed to that nation. 

All the Piatts of the United States orijTi- 
nated from two brothers, Jacobins, who fled 
reli<;ii)ns j)crsecutioii in France, first to Hol- 
ianfl and subsequently to the United States. 

Oil', the pro-ienitor of the Ohio, Peniisyl- 
vjiiiia and Illinois Piatts, settled in New 
.ler.sey, while the other went to South Caro- 
l.iri and thence to the West Indies. 

Jaeoli Piiitt, grandfiither o! Wykofi', Donn 
and H. Sanders Piatt, was a noted officer of 
the Ifcvohition, havinij enlisted as a private 
and fouyiit his way up to a position by as- 
s <i-nnieiit at one time on the st;irt' of Gen. 
W.ishiiiji'tou. 

.John II. Piatt, son of .lacob, was a success- 
ful merchant and banker at Cincinnati, and 
to his eneigy and enterjirise that city owes 
much of its early prosperity. 

Donn studied law. He savs he was put 
upon the bench shorth' after his admission 
to the bar, by kind friends, that he might 
learn something of iiis profession. 

From the bench he was transferred to the 
Di))lomatic Corps by President Pierce, and 
served as Secretary of Legation at Paris, and 
for a year, during the illness of the Minister, 
was dharge (V Affaires. 

This promotion got the Secretary into 
serious trouble. As Secretar}-, he was paid 
at the rate of $2,000 a year, and accommo- 



dated his expenses to his pay. As Charge 
he was expected to take the place of Minis- 
ter with the iniderstaiiding based on custom, 
that Congress would allow, subsequently, ex- 
tra compensation. Confiding in this, the 
(Jhargv plunged into an indebtedness that 
Congress met so long after, that he was stig- 
matized and abused in a manner that was 
extremely unjust. 

Keturning to the United States, lie resumed 
the practice of the law until the war broke 
out, and he volunteered as a private to fight 
for the government. Promoted to a Cnp- 
tainey, he soon after accepted the position of 
Adjutant General on the staff of Gen. Rob- 
ert C. Schenck, and under that gallant and 
able (itticer, continued in the service until 
the end of the war. H(> took part, with the 
praise of his superior ofliccrs, in thi; battles of 
the fir-t and second Bull Finn, Cross Keys 
and B dl Pasture Movmtains. After the 
wounding of his general, at the second Bull 
Run, he was assigned to duty as Judge Ad- 
vocate, and as such conducted the investiga- 
tion of Gen. Don Carlos Buell, that was so 
protracted that it came near surviving the 
war. It was, as Inspector General of the 
Middle District, with head(|uarters at Balti- 
more, \ that Col. Piatt with Gen. William 
Birney, and aided by Henry Winter Davis 
and Judge Bond, inauourated the enlistment 
of slaves in the military service, against the 
wishes of the administration, that made Marv- 
land a free State in thirty davs. 

For this act of insubordination he lost favor 
with the gorvernment, and when the Union 
men of Maryland and Delaware waited on 
the President, asking, on the retirement of 



V 



584 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



General Schonck, he beiiifj returned to Con- 
gress, that Col. Piatt be jiromoted to the posi- 
tion of Urifjadier General, and given command 
of the Middle District, Mr. Lincoln said, in 
his quaint way: " Schenck and Piatt are good 
fellows. If there's any rotton ajjples in the 
barrel, they can be counted on to hook 'em 
out; but, gentlemen, they run their machine 
on too high a level for me. I don't have much 
obedience, but a little is necessar\',you know." 

Twice suljsequent to this, when a list of 
names was sent in for promotion to Brigadier 
General, from the Mar Department, Mr. Lin- 
coln seeing that of Col. Piatt, drew his pen 
across it, saying : " Knows too much." 

After the war, in LS(1.5, Col. Piatt sought 
and secured a return to the Ohio I>cgisla- 
ture for Logan Co., that lie might aid in send- 
ing his General, Robert C. Schenck, to the 
United Slates Senate. He failed in this, but 
succeeded in making it very disagreeable to 
his brother mendjers, by introducing various 
measures of reform, and advocating them 
with the wit and sarcasm, for which he is as 
rennirkable in oratory as he is with the pen. 
Ami ing other proposed reforms was a measure 
tending t<j take the police of cities from the 
political arerni, so that it might serve as a con- 
servator of till' peace, in protection of society, 
iiistread of being a political machine of the 
most degraded sort. 

(Jf course he failed, and became, in conse- 
cpKMice of this and other like measures of re- 
form, extremely unpopular. It is toid of him 
that a nienibej- came one day and asked his 
assistance for a bill tluMi ])ending. 

"Give me the papersand I will do my best 
in its support," saitl the member from Logan. 

"Oh! I don't mean that," responded the 
honest member. "I want you to pitch into it 
in one of your devilish speeches. Then all 
these fellows who can't get even with you 
any other way will vote for it." 

Donn Piatt sickened as much of his legis- 
lative eareer, as ilid his constituents, and there 
was an unanimous consent given to his re- 
maining at home. 

It was after this tliat Col. Piatt turned his 
attention exclusively to journalism, with which 
h',' had been trifling from time to time as an 
iimnsem -nt. Eni|)l(iyeil by the Cincinnati 
(.'oiiiiiiiri'iiil, as its Washington correspon- 
dent, he began and continued for three years, 



giving a letter a day during the sessions of 
Congress. Tlicse letters were remarkaiily suc- 
cessful. While awakening a sensation at the 
National Capitol among othcials never before 
so criticised and commented upon, they were 
copied more or less by every journal in the 
country. The secret of his success is told by 
the correspondent himself, in a letter published 
not long since. He savs: "I founded a new 
school. I discovered that the American ])Cople 
longed for personalities, and I catered to that 
taste. At AVashington I found otlicial agents 
who had to be treated with ridiculous tender- 
ness, for they o\vned the city and all the pen- 
drivers therein, and hid their imbecility and 
wickedness under the cover of exalted position. 
I found tlie House a Cave of the Winds, and 
the Senate a |)reposterous fog-bank. 1 pried 
into both, creating the same astonishment and 
disgust felt by a convocation of carrion crows in 
a dead oak when a s])ortsman disturbs them 
with bird-shot. To hold a solemn old pump 
of a Senator up to ridicule was as startling as 
it was delicioiis to the public." 

The school founded by Col. Piatt consisted 
of a crowd of coriesjioiidents, who imitated 
all his faults, without a ray of the merit found 
in selecting for attack only charlatans, rogues 
and imbeciles, and garnishing these attacks 
with wit, tf) make thciii acceptable. Col. 
Piatt sought to bring tSe evil ellects of our 
government into disfavor. His followers have 
succeeded in fetching the government itself 
into contempt. 

At the end of the three years correspond- 
ence, Col. Piatt and George Alfred Town- 
send started the WdKltlniilon (Japitol, a 
weekly journal that is to this country what 
Punch has been to England, and the Fiijaro 
to France. George Allred Townsend retired 
at the end of three months from the editor- 
ship of this independent and amusing journal, 
that has since been conducted by Col. Piatt 
alone. 

Although known widely for his wit, Donn 
Piatt cannot be considered a humorist, by 
which is nuant one who has this quality only. 
His wit or humor, as it is jinpularly called, is 
but an aid to inon; serious aims. His graver 
writings, marred by a cyiiieal turn and much 
eccentricity, have had so much influence that 
one regrets the; wit that gives a flavor of in- 
sincerity to all he does. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



5S5 



WILLIAM BOGGS, retired farmer; Mi- 
ami Tp., P. O., DeGraif, O. The subject of 
this sketrh, whose portrait appears in this 
\v(jrk, was horn Sept. II, IfSOl. At that early 
day, the country was known as Ohio Terri- 
torv, he Ijeing born in tiiat portion now 
included in Pickaway Co., where he lived for 
twenty-five years. His father was a farmer, 
and he was brought up to the same pursuit, 
and like others in those early days, had few 
facilities for obtaining an education. While 
living with his parents he did some flat- 
boating, making three trips to New Orleans 
with flour. He also spent some time teaming 
to Portsmouth, Cincinnati, etc. March 17, 
1824, he was married to Miss Jane Britton, a 
native of Northumberland Co., Pennsylvania. 
Mr. Boggs came witli his wife anil cliild to 
Logan Co., O., in 18'-iti, and settled on the 
banks of the Big Miami, near the mouth of 
the Buckongahel.as creek; at first they lived in 
their wagon, until he could build a house, 
which was made of round logs, cut down in- 
side, forming one room, with stick chimney, 
oiled paper windows, one door, clap-board 
roof, puncheon floor, etc.; this served as a 
h;)me for some fifteen or sixteen years, and 
though vacated and dilapidated, is yet stand- 
ing. Upon his settlement here, Mr. Boggs 
bjgan to clear a farm, and to enjoy the comforts 
of a pioneer generallv, and in 18o7 he built 
a saw-mill on the Buckongahelas Creek, near 
his residence; and in 1840 he built a flour 
mdl in the same locality; this mill is doing 
service to-day, and is regarded as one of the 
best in the county. In August, 18,j0, Mr. 
Boggs had the town of DeGraif surveyed 
on his land, an account of which, together 
with other matters pertaining to our subject, 
will be found elsewhere. Sept. 6, 1868, Mr. 
Boggs was called to movirn the death of his 
wife. They had four children, of whom two 
are living — Mrs. Lydia Strayer, living (m the 
old homestead, and Mrs. Ann Henderson, 
living in Illinois. Mr. Boggs' present wife 
was Miss Leonia Whitzel; she was born in 
Ross Co., O. They were married Oct. 17, 1872, 
and live on the old homestead. In 1808, short- 
ly after the death of his first wife, Mr. Boggs 
became paralyzed, and has been an invalid 
since, having been confined to the house the 
past eighteen montlis. Daring his residence 
here, "Uncle Billy" as he is f'anrliarly called. 



has witnessed many changes. The town that 
in 18.50 was mere pencil marks on paper, has 
now risen to the rank of second in the county, 
and the wild forests have turned to fertile 
farms. The iron-horse now speeds in sight 
of the old caljin, and in every direction a 
great transformation appears. 

O. S. MILLER, Liberty Tp.; was born in 
Fredricksburg, Wayne Co., O., on the 31st 
day of October, 1838. He was the eldest son 
of John M. and Agnes (Sereles) Miller. Mr. 
Miller's school-days were very few. He had 
only the district school to attend, and obtained 
but a meagre education. The union schools 
were unknown in that da\'. At the early 
age of 15 he ceased going to school, at which 
period he came with his parents to West Liber- 
ty, where he has lived ever since. Mr. Miller's 
father being engaged in the mannfacture and 
sate of patent medicines, with J. Olinger & Co., 
young Shep, as he is familiarly called, secured 
a position with this firm, receiving as a com- 
j)ensation for his services, for the first year, 
^100. The second j-ear of his connection 
with this firm, being but a mere lad of 17, 
having developed a fine business tact, he was 
" put upon the road," in commercial travel- 
ers' parlance, and was entrusted with the im- 
portant work of establishing agencies throurrh- 
out Ohio and Eastern Indiana. Mr. Miller 
continued in the employ of this firm, trusted 
and honored, for six years continuously, the 
two last years purchasing all their stock. 
January 1, 1859, he purchased the entire es- 
tablishment, conducting the business on his 
own responsibility for about five years, at 
which time he associated with him his brother, 
Theodore F. Miller, and the firm then prose- 
cuted business under the firm name of O. S. 
Miller & Co., and it gradually chanired into 
the business of selling- notions. The firm does 
a heavy business, exclusively wholesale, mak- 
ing a specialty of their " Nonesuch " overalls, 
coats, jackets, waists, shirts and underwear. 
They have three commercial travelers con- 
stantly "on the road," and they employ about 
200 sewing women, many of whom make their 
entire living from the proceeds of work fur- 
nished them by this enterprising firm. Mr. 
Miller, in judgment, is very practical and in- 
dependent. He looks after details sharply. 
As a business man, although he has salesmen, 
he likes to be in the midst of. his business. 



>^ 



586 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



As a niaiiufacturer of his specialties, he is 
very tliscrimiiiatiiiir, and probably knows how 
to make an article with much less expense 
than most men, similarly situated. He has, 
what mijjht properly be denominated, common 
sense. His memory is good lor a man so 
overflowmn- with ijusinoss. Every I'act which 
ho ac(|uir('s himself becomes a part of himself. 
He talks to the point — is c[uite a critic — full 
of dry humor, and he moves among men as 
thon;^h he understood tiiem. He is firm in his 
convirtions, strotiir in liis opposition; is tech- 
nical in his ideas; ready to compromise unim- 
portant differences, but he urires unfl nching- 
ly what he beli(!ves to l)e riiilit. He is an 
active, enterprising citizMi, and a popular 
"man among men," and a liberal friend of 
the poor. Mr. Miller was married to Miss 
Laura Phillips at West Liberty, March 6, 
18(jl, and they have a family of four daugh- 
ters and two sons — all living. 

.JOHx\ MH.LIGAN MH.LER; Liberty Tp.; 
father of O. S. and Theo. F. .Miller, Iea<ling 
business men of West Liberty; was born in 
Westmoreland Co., Peinisylvania, in August, 
ISilH. His parents moved to Fr.'ilricksbnrg, 
()., in the year ISKl, where Mr. Miller was 
reared and educated. He learned the milling 
business, but did not pursu(> the trade for a 
livitlihood. He entered the mercaTitile busi- 
ness u]>on his own responsibility soon after 
becoming of age, conducting a geni-ral mer- 
cantile and produce traile. His business grew 
to be the largest in that section of country 
having places of business in Cleveland, Mas- 
sillon, Fredericksburg, Kdinburg and La- 
fayette, Ohio. Over this immense business 
he had imjierious control. Few men had 
more comprehensive views of business mat- 
ters, quicker insight into diflicult probh^ms, or 
were better posted in all th(> details of busi- 
ness operations. In 1840, Mr. Mdhr met with 
a heavy financial disaster, and he was forced 



to succumb to the great pressure. The jirime 
cause of the failure was the memorable blow- 
ing up of the Reservoir at Massillon in 184S. 
It was undermined, and a magazine of powder 
placed under it bv enraged citizens, on account 
of the deleterious effect of the stagnant water; 
after a series of efforts to induce the Legisla- 
ture to dispense with it. The result was 
disastrous to many people, the Hood of water 
destro\'ing everything before it, .Mr. MillcM- 
being among the unfortunate sufferers, iiis 
mill and warehouse having been sw(M)t away 
with their valuable contents. His loss in 
this instance, was about ?'')0,()0(). The second 
trouble that visited Mr. Miller, was a heavy 
decline in the jirice of pork — of which, he 
was at that time holding about *i.5G,000 worth 
in Cleveland and Buffalo. The loss suffered 
in this instance, amoinited to about ^15.000— 
this, together with further troubles of a like 
nature, causeil the jilucky man to yield. In 
the month of March, 1851, he removed with 
his I'amily to Mt. Vernon, Ohio, where he 
engaged in the manufacture of agricultural 
implements with M. C. Furlong, remainng 
there one year, removing in 1S5".J to Independ- 
ence, Ohio, where he look an interest with 
Robinson, Jones & Co., in the jiroduce busi- 
ness, staving there one year, reinoving thence 
to West Lib>rty, in the month of Ajjril, 185:i, 
where he engaged in the maiiufactun,' ami 
sale of ])at(Mit mediciin's with .1. Olinirer, the 
style of the firm being J. Olinger & Co., in 
which business he continued until ISoO, the 
business having been sold to Mr. O. S. Mil- 
ler at that time. Mr. Miller's family con- 
sisted of si.\ sons and four daughters, of 
whom i)ut two sons, O. S. and Theo. F. Miller, 
and two daughters, .Mrs. L. A. Pratt and Miss 
Margaret Miller are now living. He was 
killed in a railroad accident at Ansoina, Ohio, 
November 19, 1872. His wife soon followed 
him, never having recovered from the shock. 



^1^ 



@ k^ 



LAKE TOWXSHIP. 



5S7 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



SAMUEL E. ALLMON, postmaster; Belle- 
foiitaiiie; was born in Portage Co., Ohio, Jan. 
14, 1837, an J is tlie son of Isaac and Elizabeth 
(Ellison) Allnion; the mother was born in 
Virginia, and the father in Ohio, his people' 
being early settlers of Stark Co., O. Our 
subject from his native county moved to Stark 
Count}', from thence to Logan, and first located 
at East Liberty, where he was engaged in the 
manufacturing business; in 1861 he moved to 
Bellefontaine, and in 180:i enlisted as private 
in Co. C, 45th O, V. I., and was soon after made 
Sergeant-Major, then Adjutant, serving until 
the expiiation of his time, and particij)ating in 
all the battles and marches with the regiment 
fron) 1802 to 1805; at the close of the war 
Mr. AUmon returned home to Bellefontaine, 
and was engaged in traveling for the Wheeler 
& Wilson Mfg. Co.; in 1870 he was ap- 
jiointed postmaster of Bellefontaine under 
President Hayes, which office he is now filling 
with entire satisfaction to all. Mr. Ailmon 
had three brothers in the late war; one killed 
at the siege of Vicksburg. 

I. AKEY, farmer; P. O., Bellefontaine; 
was born in Washington Co., Pa., Sept. IS, 
1815, and is the son of James and Sarah (Mc- 
Call) Akey, In about 1827 he, with his par- 
ents, moved to Stark Co., where he remained 
for a number of years; in 1837, Mr. Akey first 
came to Logan. Co., working by the day on 
the farm; he was married Feb. 7,1843, to Miss 
Vesta Hubbard, of Portage Co., O^ daughter 
of Rev. Stephen Hubbard, a Methodist 
])reacher for fifty years, now living in Portage 
Co., O. After marriage, Mr. Akey moved 
to Logan Co., and located in Rush Creek Tp., 
but on account of his health, he returned to 



Stark Co., where he remained under medical 
treatment for about one year; after remain- 
ing in Stark Co. some three years, he re- 
turned to Logan Co., and located in Jeffer- 
son, where he remained until 1853, when he 
moved to his present farm in Lake Tp., which 
is one of the finest and liest improved fruit 
fanns in Logan Co. M'hcn Mr. Akey first 
came here he found it but little improved; he 
set out, and, by industry and good manage- 
xnent, has brought his farm to the highest state 
of cultivation. 

GEORGE H. ALLEN, Clerk of Courts, 
Logan Co.; Bellefontaine; was born in Picka- 
way Co., O., Sept. 0, 1840, and is the son of 
Harvey and Mary (Shawhan) Allen ; his mother 
was born in Virginia; his father is a native of 
this State; he engaged in mercantile pursuits. 
Geo. H. remained a resident of his native coun- 
ty until 1803, where he received a good com- 
mon school education, and coming to Belle- 
fontaine, he received a clerkship in a hardware 
store, where he remained from 1803 to 1878, 
during which time he became a member of 
the Logan County Agricultural Society, filling 
the office of Secretary of this SocietvVor some 
five years; here he came in contact with a 
great many leading farmers and business 
men of Logan Co., and in 1877 his friends 
placed his name before the people of the 
county for the office of Clerk of Courts of 
Logan Co.; he received the nomination bv a 
vote of 1,473, and elected to the office by a 
majority of 977 vtstes, being 248 votes over 
the regular ticket, Mr. Allen is a Repub- 
lican; he is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church; he has been faithful to 
the office of Clerk of Logan' Co., proving 



588 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



himself a trfiiitlcmnn of aoknowledered ability. 

KKV. I'lONOHATUS F. HOCHION, Pas- 
tor of the Catiiolio Churcii; BeilL'foiitainc. 
Tliis gentliMiian was born in Lorraitie, France, 
June 1, 18-iO, and is the son of Francis Bour- 
ion, who was i)y profession an architect. After 
receiving a good common sciiool education, 
Honoratus entered the scliools of Paris, and 
graduated from the leading schools of learn- 
ing in that city; he came to America and was 
ordained priest of the ("atholic Church by Rt. 
]{ev. Bishop Baraga, of Marquette, Mich.; his 
first charge was at Nogaunoe, Jlioh.; Rev. 
Bourion was the lirstregular priest of this place. 
Here he found no church, and but few workers; 
he went to work organizing, and with his faith- 
ful work and never tiring energy, he, after re- 
maining there some ten years, had organized 
and built four churches — two churches in Ne- 
gaunee, one at a cost of ^5,000 and one at 835,- 
OUO; one at Ishpeuiing cost ^2."),000, another 
in his field of labor at a cost of $.5,000, leav- 
ing a charge of some (),000 members. After 
remaining in this charge some teti years, al- 
most completely breaking down with his labor, 
working night and day, he went to Central City, 
Col., where he remained until 1877, during 
which time was erected a church at a cost of 
$"20,000, and a school. Sisters' Acadenu', at a 
cost of $28,000, he came to Bellefontaine, 
and found the church in debt some $000; to- 
day, 1880, the church is out of debt, and has 
in its treasury some $2,000. 

JOSEPH .Si. Bi>ACK; Bellefontaine; was 
born in Mercer Co., Peiiii., .May 21, 1S23, and 
is the son of William aiul Jane (Bell) Black, 
both parents of Ireland, having come to 
America when young. Jose])h, when 14 
years of age, with his parents came to Logan 
Co., O., and located on a farm in Harrison 
Tp., where he was engaged in farming in 
Ilarison and \Vashingt<m Tps. until 1872. 
In 18G2 Mr. Black enlisted as a private in 
Co. ]., 90th O. V. 1., and served ten months; 
on accoui\t of sickness, he was hoiuirably 
discharged; in lS(i4 he recruited Co. E. of the 
]32d t). V. 1. for 100 day's service, serving as 
Captain of C(j. E. until the expiration of his 
time after which he returned to Logan Co.; in 
1872 he went to Champaign Co., and was en- 
gaged in the milling business some two years, 
when, in 1874, he came to Bellefontaine, 
entering the grocery business; he is now en- 



gaged as salesman in the agricultural busi- 
ness. Both parents are dea<l. Capt. IJlack 
has chased wild game in Logan Co., killing 
the deer and wild turUevs. 

MARTHA R. BROWX; Bellefontaine, is 
the wife of the late Dr. M. D. Brown, who 
was born in Loudoun Co., Va., Sejit. 23, 1837, 
and is the son of .John and Susan G. Brown, 
of Virginia, who were members of the Quaker 
Church, consecpiently Dr. Brown was brought 
up in the Quaker Church. After remaining 
in Virginia until about 1858, he came to Ohio 
and was engaged in going to st-hool for about 
one year, when he returned to ^'irginia and 
remaining there until the breaking out of the 
late civil war, he in 18G1 left his native State 
and came to Ohio, where he soon after began 
the study of medicine, under Dr. W. D. Scarlf 
of Bellefontaine, and afterwards attended 
Medical h^ctures at the Cincinnati Medical 
College, also the Jefferson Medical College of 
Pliiladel])liia, Peun., graduating from the lat- 
ter in 18GG; he returned to Logan Co., and 
commenced the practice of medicine at De- 
Gralf, where he remained until 1875, during 
which time he had built up a lucrative busi- 
ness. Coming to Bellefontaine in 1875, he 
continued the practice of his thosen profession 
until his death, which occurred Nov. 23, IJSTO, 
when after visiting one of his patients he 
went Iiuntirig, and the ne.xt found of him was 
three and one-half miles west of B(dlcfontaine, 
dead, where it is sup|)osed he ha<l died of 
heart disease. Thus jiassed away a man re- 
spected atui loved by his fellow man, leaving 
a wife and two children to mourn his loss. 
Dr. Brown came to I>ogan Co. a poor boy, and 
taught school in order to pay his way in the 
stud}' of medicine, but with his never-tiring 
energy and attention to his practice of medi- 
cine, he had built up a leading practice. Ho 
was married, Oct. 25, 1800, to Miss Martha 
Rodijers, of Belmont Co., O. 

GIRDON X. BROUGHTOX, manufactur- 
er; Bellefontaine; was born in Windom Co., 
Conn., Dec. 3o, 1S04, and is the son of Na- 
than aiul Alida (Cady) Broughton; both par- 
ents natives of ('onnecticut. When very 
young, Mr. Broughton, with his parents, 
moved to Jellerson Co., X. V., where he re- 
maine<l until 1814, when he moved West to 
Ohio, first locating in Ashtal)ula Co., thence 
to Champaign Co. Mr. Broughton, in about 



W 



LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



5S0 



l.S3"2, came to Logan Co., farming- in Liberty 
Tp. for some fifteen years, when he moved to 
Bellefontaine, where he has been one of its 
honored and enterprising citizens ever since, 
entering the coopering business when he first 
came here, wliich he has been engaged in 
ever since, employing at one time as high as 
sixteen hands in the cooper shops; Mr. 
Broughton is the patentee of a churn, known 
as the " Peerless Churn," which is recognized 
as one of the best churns now in tlie market up 
to date; he has manufactured some 3,400 of 
these churns, finding sale for his goods in dif- 
ferent parts of the f nion. Mr. Broughton 
was married in Champaign Co., to Miss Mar\^ 
Miles. By this union they have seven cliil- 
dren. Coming here, as Jlr. Broughton did, 
at an earlv day, he had all the trials the old 
settlers had in a new country; he drove pack- 
horses from Urbana to Ft. Wayne when the 
Indians were here. By good management, 
with hard labor, he has accumulated a fine 
property. 

F. d. BATCH, merchant; Bellefontaine; 
was born in Marion Co., O., in 1845, and is 
the son of J. S. Batch, who was a soldier in 
the late civil war, having enlisted in Co. K., 
43nd O. V. I., he died in the service at Ash- 
land, Ky., in 1862, with heart disease. Our 
subject commenced to learn his trade of 
harness-making, in Marion, O. After learning 
this trade he worked in several places in Ohio 
and Indiana. At the breaking out of the war 
he enlisted for the three months" service in the 
4th O. V. I., but after going to Columbus he 
was rejected on account of being too 
young — then onlj^ 16 years old; he returned 
to his work, but re-enlisted in Co. K., 42nd 
O. V. I., where he served some three years 
and two months, having participated in most 
of the leading battles and marches of this 
regiment. We may here ment on that Mr. 
Batch had two other brothers in the Rebellion, 
R. J. was a member of the 13th O. V. I., W. 
W., a lieutenant in the 191st. In 1867 Mr. 
Batch commenced the harness and saddle 
business in Bellefontaine, and to-day is the 
oldest in this line of business in the city. He 
commenced business a poor boy, but with hard 
work and attention to his business he has ac- 
cumulated a good start, and enjoys a leading 
trade; he is now occupying a room on Colum- 
bus street, where he employs some four men 



in the manufacture of harness and Siulcllery; 
he also keeps on sale a full line of trunks and 
valises. Mr. Batch is now Adjutant of the 
7th Ohio National Guards, he being a member 
of the Guards tor the last five years. 

C. W. BUTLER, Superintendent of the 
Public Schools; Bellefontaine; was born in. 
Marion Co., O., Dec. 9, 18.i3, and is the son of 
Dr. W. A. and Martha (McElvy) Butler, both 
parents are natives of Marion Co., O., their 
parents having located in that county at an 
early day. Mr. Butler, after receiving a com- 
mon school education in his native county, 
entered the Northwestern Normal School of 
Ada, O., graduating from this place of learn- 
ing in 1874, when he received a call from 
Patterson, ( t., where he was Superintendent of 
the Public Schools of that place, for one year; 
thence to Plymouth, filling a similar position 
until 1879, when he was made Superintendent 
of the Public Schools of Bellefontaine, which 
position he has been filling ever since, prov- 
ing himself a gentleman of acknowledged 
ability. Mr. Butler is a member of the Meth- 
odist Episcoj)al Church. 

STEPHEN R. BLIZZARD, M. D.; Belle- 
fontaine; was born in Bellefontaine, O., Nov. 
7, 1832, and is the son of John and Elizabeth 
(Sharp) Blizzard, both natives of Delaware; 
leaving their native State in 1832, thej' came 
to Ohio, and the same year located in Belle- 
fontaine; here John Blizzard, our subject's 
father, worked at his trade of carpenter; he 
engaged in working on the first Court House 
of Logan Co.; he was a soldier of the war of 
1812, and died at Bellefontaine in 1867, near 
77 years of age. Jlrs. Elizabeth Blizzard 
died at Huntsville, in 1878, nearly 78 years 
of age. Of tnis family there are three chil- 
dren living — J. E. Blizzard, editing a leading 
paper; Dr. John W. Blizzard, practicing phy- 
sician in Mercer Co., O. He, after receiving 
a common school education in the schools of 
Bellefontaine and West Liberty, commenced 
the study of medicine; he taught school in 
the winters of 1851-2—3-4 in order to pay his 
way in the study of medicine; in 1856 he 
went to New Hampshire, Auglaize Co., O., and 
commenced the jjractice of medicine; at- 
tended a course of lectures at the Starling 
Medical College of Cokimlnis, and then en- 
tered the Ohio Medical College of Cincinnati, 
graduating from there in 1859, when he came 



«^' s- 



rpT 



^l 






500 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



to BoUefontaine, where the Doctor has been 
in the practice of liis chosen profession ever 
since, with the exception of some twelve 
yours practice in Huntsville, Log'an Co. Dr. 
Blizzard iliil surjiical work in the late war; 
attpiitled the liattle of Shiloh. He was mar- 
ried in 185G to JNIiss Mary Neer, of Licking 
Co., Iiaviiig moved to Logan Co. with her 
parents some five years before marriage. She 
is the daughter of Joini and Sarah Neer, who 
are now living in Harrison Tp., at the good 
old age — he 80 years, she in her ;9th year. 
They have been married over si.xty years, 
aiid'have seven children, all living, the oldest 
near 58 years old. By tlie marriage of Dr. 
Blizzard to Miss Mary Neer, they have two 
chil(h-en, son ami dau>rhtor. 

Wn.LL\.M BAKUlXtiER, job printing; 
Bellcfontaine; was born in Pennsylvania, Dec. 
25, 1829. He caine to Ohio at an early day, 
having come toBellcfontaiiie in 1840, where he 
was engaged in working at liis trade as a print- 
er in the ollice of the Logan Gazette. He, in 
company with Coates Kinney, in 1850and '51 
was engaged in |)nblishiiig the West Liberty 
Jiiniiict; at NVest I^ilterty, Logan Co. After 
working at his trade as a printer, Mr. Bar- 
ringer was, for some seven or eight years, en- 
gaged in the phiitogra]>li liusiiiess. He is also 
known among the professional rope-walkers 
as lieing one among the best in the country 
(luring his day. Mr. Barrringer followed 
ro|)e- walking for a niinibcr of years, traveling 
througli Indiana and Ohio, walking for agri- 
cultural societies at fairs. His last W'alk was 
at Canton, ()., wliere he fell from tlie rope 
thirtv feet from the ground, bri'akiiig his right 
arm in two ])laoos, suffering for some two 
months. In 1SU8 Mr. Barringer commenced 
liis present business of jol) printing, where he 
is prepared to do all kinds of work usually 
ilone in a job oflice. His place of business is 
located on Main street, opposite the Court 
I House. 

ALBERT BODEV, cigar manufacturer; 
Bellefontnine, was born in Crawford Co., O., 
in 1854; he learned his trade as a cigar maker 
in Gallon; in 1870 he came to Bellcfon- 
taine with a small capital, and entered the 
cigar manufacturing business with Mr. Marsh; 
Matsh & liodoy started with a meager cap.tal, 
employing two hatids. Continuing in business 
until 18T8, when Mr. Boiley became sole 



owner, since which time his trade has gradu- 
ally grown; that at the present time he is eni- 
jtloyuig four hands in the manufacture of ci- 
gars, doing a good business, his goods finding 
a ready sale where introduced; he manufac- 
tures the celebrated " New Coin " five cent 
cigar, which is perhaps the best five cent cigar 
inthe itiarket; his ca])acitv in the manufactur- 
ing of cigars is from 5,000 to i,0()0 weekly; 
findinsr sales for his ci";ars in Bellcfontaine 
and neighboring towns. Mr. ]5odey is also 
doing a retail business, keeping on hand a full 
line of smoking and chewing tol)acc(js: also a 
complete stock of ])ipes. liis ])laee of busi- 
ness is Columbus Street, opposite the Milteii- 
berger House. 

CHARLES E. B.\RTRAM, merchant; was 
born in Marion Co.,0.,.-\ug. 25, 1854, and is the 
son of J. ^^'. Bartram, who was born in Tomp- 
kins Co., N. Y.. Feb. 25, 1831, and came to 
Ohio in 1837, located at Maiion, and learned 
the trade of a tailor, which business he has 
continued in from 1843 till the present time, 
and t^i-day is ])erhaps the oldest tailor at the 
trade in the city. Oiu- subject came to Bellc- 
fontaine in 1807, entering the merchant-tai- 
loring business, which he has continued ever 
since, with the exception of a short time that 
lie was in the liat and cap trade. His place 
of business and merchant-tailoring establish- 
ment is located at No. 7 W. Columbus St. 
Here he occupies two rooms on the lirst floor, 
18x70 feet, where he keeps a full line of 
gents' furnishing goods, hats, cap«i, and a 
complete stock of American and imported 
cloths, and is recoiruized as The Tailor. 

EZRA BENNETT, furniture; 15cll.fon- 
taine; was i)orn in Cumberland Co., N. J., on 
the 13tii of March, 1812, and is the son 
of Timothy B(!nnett, a farmer. Our subject 
was born on the farm, wliere he remained un- 
til he was some 14 years of age, when he com- 
menced to learn his trade as a caUinct-maker, 
in Cincinnati,*)., having come t" Ohio with 
his parents in the fall of 1817. Subse(pieiitly 
he W(»rked at his trade at Cincinnati, Spring- 
field and Xenia. On the 10th of .luly, 1844, 
he married Miss Mary A. Bryant, in Chu ke 
Co., O. In his leisure hours he had studied 
law, and in 1844 was admitted to the bar by 
the Supreme Court, at Urbana. Li March, 
1845, he moved to Bellefontaine, where he 
engaged in the practice of law, and in the 



LAKE TOWXSHIP. 



531 



fall of 1847 was elected Prosecuting Attor- 
ney of Lo2:ati Co. He vvas elected the lirst 
Probate Judge, under the new Constitution, 
in the fall of 1851, and re-elected in 1854:. 
Not liking the practice of law as well as he 
anticipated, Mr. Bennett purchased an inter- 
est in a foundry and machine shop, which 
proved an unsuccessful venture. Himself 
and two sons, Lucius C. and John Q. A., and 
a son-in-law, .James Van Eaton, served in 
the late Reiiellion. Mr. Bennett helped to 
recruit the llSth Ohio Battery, of which a his- 
tory will be found in another part of this 
work. He enlisted in this Battery as a 1st 
Lieutenant, and served faithfully. He was 
honorably discharged on account of sickness. 
After the war Mr. Bennett returned to the 
furniture business in Bellefontaine, which 
business he has continued ever since, being 
now in partnership with his son-in-law, Mr. 
Adams. Bennett & Adams' place of business 
is located on Columbus street. 

THO.MAS SANDS BROWN, lawyer and 
f.irnier; Bcib'fontaine, is the youngest child 
of Asa and Hannah (Sands) Brown, who were 
residing in Zanesfield at the time our subject 
was born, June 5, 1852. Three years later, 
the family moved on a farm one mile and a 
half east of Zanofield. Thomas's early boy- 
hood was spent at home; after attending the 
])ublic schools, and receiving all the benefits 
that could be acquired there, he entered Earl- 
ham College, Sept. 1, 1868, while in his six- 
teenth year, entering the senior preparatory 
year, graduating with honors in li^7.3. In 
September, same year, he married M. Eliza 
Knight, who was born in Gray Co., Canada, 
May 16, 1855, daughter of Benjamin and Ann 
Knight, who are ot English birth and jiarent- 
age. Alter their marriage he located on the 
homestead farm, consisting of ^30 acres; 150 
acres of this land was embraced in a deed, 
the first rec(U'd(>d in the county. In Novem- 
ber, 18T9, he began the study of law with West, 
Walker & West, attorneys in Bellefontaine. 
Since October, 1880, Mr. Brown has been a 
resident of Bellefontaine, having rented his 
farm, he purposes remaining with a view to 
enter the practice of law in 1882, and to affil- 
iate himself permanently with the place and 
its interests. He and wife have three children 
— Lola F., born Nov. 1, 1874; Benjamin S., 
July 22, 1876, and Arthur C, Sept. 18, 1879. 



He is a member of Wapatomica Lodge, I. O. 
O. F., No. 424. 

JEO. R. CHRISTIE, the hatter; Belle- 
fontaine; was born in Ft. Wayne, Ind., Aug. 
22, 1851. After attaining his majority he, 
with his mother (father having died), moved 
to Urhana, remaining there a few years, then 
to Toledo; here our subject, when a young lad, 
entered as a drummer in the 100-day service, 
serving in the 130th O. V. I., where he re- 
mained for four mouths, returning he re-en- 
listed, and served about one year in the 195th 
O. V. I., as a drummer, participating in some 
of the most severe battles and marches dur- 
ing the late civil war — Shiloh, Sheridan's raid 
around Richmond, Petersburg, etc.; after the 
war, Mr. Christie went to Boston, Mass., where 
he learned his trade as a hatter, remaining 
and working at his trade for about nine and 
half j-ears, when he returned to Toledo, work- 
ing at his trade there two years, when in 1878, 
he came to Bellefontaine, working at his 
trade, in 1880, he embarked in tiie hat, cap 
and gent's furnishing goods business, and 
to-dav, keeps one of the most complete stocks 
of this line of goods in Bellefontaine; he 
manufactures his own silk hats, and is recog- 
nized as one of the leading hatters of the 
State; his place of business is next to the 
postoffice. 

CHARLES L. COOLEY, merchant; Belle- 
fontaine; was born in West Springfield, Mass., 
July 4, 1822; ent ring the railroad contracting 
business, he took leading contracts for build- 
ing the North Hamjjton R. R., Hartford & 
New Haven R. R., Hudson River R. R., East 
Tennessee & Georgia R. R., Montgomery & 
Pensacola R. R., Cleveland & Pittsburg R. R., 
C, C, C. & I. R. R., etc. Coming to Bellefon- 
taine in 1852, he took a contract to lay track 
and ballasting on the C, C, C. & I. R. R. from 
Gallon to Union; he continued the railroad 
contracting until 1869, when he embarked in 
the grocery business in Bellefoi'^aine, which 
he carried on some ten years, when he en- 
gaged in agiiculture. His piace of business is 
located on West Columbus St., where he is 
enjoying a leading trade in the agricultural 
line. 5lr. Cooley has one-third interest in 
the Bellefontaine woolen mills. 

R. H. CANBY, Superintendent of Gas 
Works; Bellefontaine ; was born in Warren 
Co., O., Feb. 25, 1821, and is the son of 



■^ 



- IS) 



502 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Joseph and Mirgaret (Haines) Canby; he re- 
maiiieil a nsiileiit of Warren Co. until 1825, 
when he, with liis parents, moved to Miami 
Tp., Lo^an Co.; here Mr. Canby ri'inained 
until 1851, during which time he was fanning 
and working in his fath(>r's grist-mill, the first 
grist-mill built in the townshij); coming to 
Bellefoiitain(!, Mr. Canby and his brother 
John took a contract for building the lielle- 
fontaine & Indiana R. R. (now known as the 
Bee Line C, C, C. & 1. R. R.) from De Graff 
to Quincy. He was also a Director of this 
railroad for eleven years. In 1854 he entered 
the milling business in Bellefontaine, build- 
ing a largo grist-mill near the C, C, C. & I. 
R. R. engine-house, operating this mill until 
18(30; he then went to ])c. GralT, and was en- 
gaged in the milling i)usincss there until 18(i0, 
when he njturned to Bellefontaine, where he 
entered th(! employ of the gas-works as stoker, 
and in 1874 was mailo Superintenilent of these 
works, which jjosition he is now filling. Mr. 
Canby married first, in 1842, Miss Mary Ann 
Leister, of Ross Co., 0.; she died in 1843; 
he married his present wife. Miss Catharine 
Wolfe, of Green Co., O., in 1847. They have 
six children — one by first wife and five by 
second wife. 

JAMES COOPER, physician; Bellefon- 
taine; is one of the oldest and most pronii- 
nent phj'sicians in Logan Co.; who was 'horn 
in Westmoreland Co., Penn., Au". 3, 1821, 
and is the son of Samuel Cooper, an attorney 
by profession, now 'Xi years of age, and a 
captain in the war of 1812. 'When but 5 
years of age, James, with his ])arent.s, moved 
to Pittsburg, Penn., remaining there until he 
was 13 years of age, during which time he 
received a good edueatinn, attending school 
in a lecture room of the First I'resbvterian 
Church of that city; he afterwards went to 
Central America and commenced the study 
of medicine with Dr. liaidwin in Nicaragua; 
after remaining in Central America some 
fight months he returned to Pittsburg, con- 
tinuing the study of medicine; in 1831) he 
went to Jowa; in 1839 and 1840 he attemled 
medical lectures at Si. Louis. During his 
stay in Iowa he had considerable ])ractice 
among the ln<lians. In 1842 Iw went to Lan- 
caster Co., Penn., thence to York Co., same 
State; in 1853 he came to Ohio and located 
in Stark Co., remaining there until 1855, and 



came to Bellefontaine, where he has remained 
ever since, and is recognized as one of the 
most abh; physicians of Logan Co. During 
his jiractice in Bellefcjntaii.e he has made 
three jirofessional visits to the far West on 
geology and mineralogy; two visits in 1871, 
and one in 1875, during which time he wrote 
a series of letters for the press, whi<h were 
acknowledged to be very valuable. Dr. 
Cooper has also written several articles for 
the medical journals; a number of ])ieces of 
poetrj- for iniblication, one '• The Stream of 
Life." He has delivered a number of lectures 
on Natural Science in dilferent parts of the 
United States, to large and appreciative audi- 
ences. Dr. Co )per is a member of the State 
Eclectic Medical Society. He has filled the 
office as member of the City Council, of tlie 
First Ward of Bellefontaine, for some si.\ 
years, with honor and credit. 

DR. JOHN A. COULTER, of Bellefon- 
taine, was the fourth son of eight children born 
to John and Margaret ( Elder) Coulter; his 
father was born in Jeflerson Co., O., in the 
year 1804. He learni d t le tanning busmess 
at Newark, O., and in 182) located in Belle- 
fontaine, O., starting a tanyard in company 
with Robert Patterson. Sept. 11, 1832, he 
sold his interest to his partner, and in the same 
year bought a farm and tanyard of Isaac Coop- 
er, near Hnntsville, in this couiitj', where ho 
at once removed; he continued his residence 
here until his death, on Dec. 20, 185. t. Mr. 
Coulter was a man of fine education, and held 
the office of Justice of the Peace in McArthur 
Tp. for twenty years; he was nuirried to Mar- 
garet Elder, .Inly 10, 1832, by whom he had 
eight children, three sons and five daughters, 
the latter of whom are all dead. Dr. John 
A. Coulter was burn in .McArthur Tp., Logan 
Co., O., March 31, 1843; was educated in the 
common schools and by a |)rivate tutor; en- 
tered the mercantile business as clerk, and 
was employed in various establishments in 
Hnntsville, BellefontaiiH>, Findley, Columbus 
and Cincinnati; at the latter place he served 
with the well-known tobacco louse of Mad- 
dox Bms. for two years. In .hdy of 18(il, he 
eidisted as a ])rivate soldier in Co. G. 1st (). 
V. I., and was discharged in June, ]S()2, at 
Jackson's Ford, Ala., on nieount of sickness; 
he subsequently studied at the Cincinna- 
ti College of Medicine and Surgery, and 



^. 



©b. 



LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



593 



graduated with the degree of M. D., March 1, 
1872. In 1875 lie was acting Assistant Physi- 
cian at the Clevehmd Hospital forthe Insane, 
and had full charge of 300 insane patients. 
Subsequently he engaged in active practice of 
his profession, at Huntsville, O., until Nov. 
21, 1878, when he removed to Bellefontaine to 
accept the office of County Recorder, to which 
office he had been elected for three years, in 
the preceding October. Dr. Coulter was 
married to Lou. J. Dewey, daughter of Dr. S. 
S. Dewey, of Huntsville, on .fuly 8, 18(17. 
One child, a daughter, was born to him Oct. 
30, 1873. 

WILLIAM H. CHANDLER, Co. Treas- 
urer; Bellefontaine. Among the prominent 
and well known men of Logan Co. is William 
H. Chandler, who was born in Elizabeth City, 
N. .L, May 25, 1836, and is the son of Henry 
and Susan (.lewell) Chandler, both natives of 
New Jersey. William, when quite young — 
with parents — moved to Ohio and located in 
Knox Co., where he remained until 1859, 
during which time he learned the trade of 
cariiage maker. Coming to Logan Co., in 
1859, he located in Huntsville, where he 
worked at his trade until 1802, when, during 
the late civil war, lie enlisted as private in 
Co. I, 96th O. V. I. for three years, partici- 
pating in si.xteen regular battles and two 
seiges. Among the most prominent battles 
were Arkansas Post, Chickasaw Bluffs, Jack- 
son, Vicksburg, Carrion Crow, Parie, La. Here 
he was taken prisoner, and after remaining a 
prisoner of war for two months, was ex- 
changed, and rejoined his regiment, remain- 
ing until the expiration of enlistment. Mr. 
Chandler entered a private; from that he was 
made second lieutenant, then first lieutenant; 
from this he was made captain at the fall of 
Vicksburg, which he filled until his muster 
out, proving himself a brave soldier and an 
efficient commander. After serving three 
years in the army, he returned to Logan Co., 
and embarked in the dry goods business in 
Bellefontaine one year, also in Rushsylvania, 
where, in 1872, he was was elected to the of- 
fice of Sheriff of Logan Co., and was re-elected 
to the same office in 1874, where he served 
the people of Logan Co. with such credit, that 
in 1878 he was elected to the office of Treas- 
urer of Logan Co., by a majority of nearly 
1,000 votes. Mr. Chandler is now filling the 



office of Councilman of the Second Ward of 
Bellefontaine; he has faithfully performed his 
duty; is a Republican in po.itics and a hard 
worker in the party ranks; a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 

PERRY DECATUR COVINGTON,eldest 
son of Samuel and Ruth Covi no-ton, was born 
in Liberty Tp., Logan Co., 0.,Dec. 27, 1842. 
He lived on the farm until 1860, and taught 
two terms of school in Allen Co., O. In 
1862 he enlisted in the 88th O. V. I.; was 
with his regiment about a j-ear, and clerked 
in Draft Rendezvous, at Columbus, O., one 
year. He was promoted to Capt. Co. F, 
118th U. S. C. I. in 1864, and commanded the 
infantry (two companies) which held Fort 
Brady from the fall of 1864 until about March 
30, 1865. Brady was the Union Fort on the 
James river nearest Richmond. His brigade 
was the first to enter Richmond, and went 
from Rii-hmond with Gen. Weitzel's com- 
mand to Texas, and crossed into Mexico in 
command of 200 men, Jan. 6, 1866, and occu- 
pied the town of Bagdad during its bom- 
bardment by the French blockading fleet. 
He was mustered out with his regiment, 
Feb. 6, 1866; was married May 15, 1866, near 
Lima, O., to Miss Sarah Ellen McClain, 
daughter of James McClain, Esq.; read med- 
icine with Dr. D. Watson, and graduated at 
the Medical College of Ohio in the sjjring of 
1869, and practiced medicine at Round Head, 
O., four years. He removed to Bellefontaine 
in April, 1873, and formed a partnership with 
Dr. Watson. Since dissolving partnership 
with Dr. AVatson in July, 1877, he has con- 
tinued the practice of his profession alone. 

J. R. CRAWFORD & SON, livery and 
sale stables; the oldest livery firm in Belle- 
fontaine is that of J. R. Crawford, who was 
born near Darlington, Md., in 1810, and moved 
to Ohio in 1824. He was married in 1834 to 
Miss Myra McJiillan, who was born in Harri- 
son Co., Ohio, in 1811, and is the daughter of 
James McMillan, who came to Ohio in 1803. 
Mr. Crawford, after marrying, remained a resi- 
dent of Harrison. In 1866, he removed with his 
family to Bellefontaine and embarked in the 
livery business. J. Crawford was born in Har- 
rison Co. in 1853, having removed from there 
with his parents to Bellefontaine, embarking in 
the livery business, where they are now doing 
a good, fair business, both in the livery and 



4'- 



:k 



594 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



feed business, keeping nine good livery 
horses and a nunilier of veliicles; tiieir place 
of l)iisiness is located on east Columbia street, 
! where they are prepared to let livery at reas- 
oiialtle rates. 

ROBERT T. COOK, merchant; Bellefon- 
taine; was born in Washington Co., Pa., Feb. 
28, 1809. When he was 3 or 4 years of age, 
he, with his parents, came to Ohio, and located 
in Guernsej' Co. During this trip West Mr. 
Cook remembers seeing the soldiers of the 
war of 1812 along the route to Ohio. Remain- 
ing a resident of Guernsey Co. until he was 
about 10 years of age, when he returned to 
I'ennsylvania and learned his trade as a cab- 
inet maker. In 1832, about the 1st of March, 
Mr. Cook arrived at Bellelbntaine and began 
to work at his trade on Columbus street. 
After following his trade for some fifteen or 
si.\teen years in Bcllefontaine, he embarked 
in the grocery business, which he has con- 
tinued since, and to-day is the oldest grocery 
merchant, as well as the o'dest settler of the 
origiiuil plat of Bcllefontaine. In 1S.")0 Mr. 
( 'ook was a heavy loser in the great fire of 
that year, losing his building and enti'-e stock 
of groceries, without any insurance. He has 
been located at his jircsent stand ever since. 
He married, in 1834, Miss McClure, who came 
to Logan Co., at an earlv day. 

JAMES COWMAN," merchant; Bcllefon- 
taine; was born in Anne Arundel Co., Md., 
March IT, 1S2.">, and is the son of Jerod and 
ElizalK'th (Wright) Cowman. In 1827 he, 
with his parents, came to Ohio, and located in 
.Springborough, Warren Co., where- heremainc d 
until 1847, during which time he learned his 
trade as a saddler; coming to Bcllefontaine in 
1847, he embarked in the saddlery and har- 
ness business, working at his trade some 
twelve years, when he entered into tin/ meat 
market business, opening the first daily moat 
market in the city. In 1805 Mr. Cowman 
commenced the grocery business, in which he 
has continued ever since. Mr. Cowman is 
entirely blind, having lost his sight some 
fifteen jears ago, but, nevertheless, he has 
been one of Bellefontainc's most active l)usi- 
ness men. He waa a member of the Building 
Association, which erected the Buckeye and ' 
Empire Blocks, two of the leading business 
blocks i[i the city. He nunried twice, his 
first wife being Eliza Ann S-tiouther, deceased; 



he afterwards married Harriet Ann Rhoads; 
they have two children, Edward and Eliza 
Ellen. 

HON. ANTHONY CASAD, deceased; 
Bellcfontaine; was born in Sussex Co., N. J., 
March 10, 1802, and he is the son of Aaron 
and Rhoda (Dunn) Casad, who, in 1805, with 
a large family, came to Ohio and settled in 
Greene Co. Our subject's father was a me- 
chanic, in "moderate circumstances, and, in 
the absence of common schools, and with the 
facilities for educating his children beyond 
his reach, Anthony Casad grew to man's es- 
tate with only the rudest elements of a com- 
mon English education. In 1823 he entered 
the law office of the late Judge Joseph Crain, 
of Dayton, as a law student. He was ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1820, and immediately 
came to Bcllefontaine and settled, for the 
purpose of practicing his profession. He was 
literally destitute of means, and his income 
from his jiractice was necessarily very slen- 
der. 0.1 the 27th of December, 1827, he was 
married to Miss Orpah Williams, daughter 
of John William. .ludge Casad's limited 
means and precarious income from his profes- 
sion rendered it necessary for him to devote 
a considerable portion of his time and atten- 
tion to other pursuits. This prevented him 
from acquiring as large a store of j)rofessional 
learing as he otherwise miglit have done. In 
the fall of 1828, he attCTided the first court 
hekl in Hancock Co., and was ap]iointed the 
first Prosecuting Attorney of the county. In 
1834 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of 
Loiran Co. In 1838 he was elected representa- 
tive to the Ohio Legislature, and was re-elected 
in 1830; in 1851 he was again elected to the 
Ohio Legislature under the new Constitution, 
and served for two years. In 1857 he waseiect- 
ed Prol)ate .ludge of Logan Co., and was re- 
elected in 1800,and held the otBce at the time of 
his death. He joined the Christian Church 
in 1842, and at the organization of the clnirch 
he was made an Elder. He subscribed large- 
ly towards the erection of the church build- 
ing. He died a sincere, earnest and devoted 
Christian, with most undoubting confidence 
of a glorious resurrection. Ri'inarks deliv- 
ered by Hon. Benjamin Stanton before the 
Court of Common Pleas of Logan Co., on the 
death of Hon. Anthony Casad: "Of his char- 
acter. I can S|)e!ik with entire confidence, fnjma 



* ^''U — f^ 



J- 

■* — *- 



-•t. 



LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



5^.3 



very close and intimate acquaintance of nearly 
twenty-eight years — residing in the same 
villane, practicing at the same bar, candidates 
in the same contests, sometimes in opposition 
and sometimes on the same ticket. Many 
of the fondest and most dearly-cherished recol- 
lections of my early professional life are in- 
separably connected with my departed friend; 
and, in all my intercourse with the world, in 
my professional and political career, T have 
never found a man of more simplicity and 
purity of character than Anthony Casad. I 
have never had a friend upon whose integrity, 
sincerity and fidelity I could rely with more 
perfect and entire confidence than he whose 
loss I now so deeplv dei)lore." 

JOHN CANBY^ merchant; Bellefontaine; 
was born in Lebanon, Warren Co., ()., Sept. 
24, 1824, and is the son of Joseph and Mar- 
garet (Haines) Canby. Our subject, with his 
parents, moved to Logan Co. in 1825, and 
located in Miami Tp., where he was engaged 
in farmuig and milling until he, in company 
■with his brother, R. H. Canby, engaged in 
building the Bellefontaine & Indiana R. R. 
from De Graff to Quincy (now the Bee Line); 
he was made Paymaster and Assistant Super- 
intendent of this road, and filled that position 
for nine years, when he was made its Presi- 
dent, filling that place for five years, when 
Mr. Canb\' resigned. In 1805 he embarked 
in tlu! agricultural business, which he is now 
engaged in; his place is located on West 
Coiumbus street, where he is doing a leading 
business in his line. Mr. Canby married, in 
1802, Miss C. W. Collier, of Boston, Mass.; 
they have three children. 

ROBERT CROCKETT ; retired; is one of 
the oldest settlers of Logan Co., and was born 
in Clark Co., Ky.,Nov. 8, 1808, the son of Rob- 
ert and Patsey (Cartrnill) Crockett, both pa- 
rents natives of Virginia. They married in 
Kentucky, and in 1812, with ten children, 
they moved to Ohio, and Jocatecl on a farm 
of 180 acres, one ami (me-half miles west of 
West Liberty, Logan Co., then a wild coun- 
try, with plenty of Indians and wolves. 
Here his father died about the year 1821,' at 
51 years of age. The mother then mov- 
ed to West Liberty, our subject having 
moved there with his sister in 1810. She 
(his sister) had married Thomas Clark, who 
kept the first hotel in West Liberty. Mr. 



Crockett saw the first house raised in West 
Liberty; was a resident of Urbana a short 
time. In 1854 he was elected Sheriff of Lo- 
gan Co. by the Know-Nothing party, by a 
a majority of some 1,800 votes. This office 
he tilled with honor and credit for four years 
and three months. In 1855 he moved to 
Bellefontaine, which has been his home ever 
since. He was Deputy-Sheriff two years, 
City Police two years, and Constab'e, which 
office he now fills. He was a soldier in the 
late civil war, recruited Co. D, of the 6Cth O.V. 
I., and enlisted in this Company as its 2d Lieu- 
tenant — was afterwards made its 1st Lieu- 
tenant, and served some twelve months, when, 
on account of sickness he was honorably mus- 
tered out of service, and returned to Bf lle- 
fontaine. He was married in 1832 to Miss 
Elizabeth Roberts, of Virginia, who came to 
Logan Co. at an earlj- day. By this marriage 
thev have had seven children. Mr. Crockett 
learned his trade as a tanner at 17 years of 
age, in West Liberty. His mother died in 
South Bend, Ind., at 79 years of age. 

MILLER CARRIAGE COMPANY; Belle- 
fontaine. Every institution of a manulactur- 
ing nature is of direct and indirect benefit to 
any city where located, and etjual advantages 
are given by its proprietor should alwaj'S 
command the patronage of home consuniers, 
as thereby each citizen receives his quota of 
profit. Among the institutions of Bellefon- 
taine, of which the citizi-ns ought to be proud 
and help sustain, is the Jliller Carriage Com- 
pany, which was organizinl in ]85:i, andhas 
since then succeeded in nuiking all kinds ot 
carriages usually made in a first-class estab- 
lishment. Their work is unsurpassed in 
quality, which have brought the good name 
of this vicinity prominently before the people 
throughout the country. The oldest of the 
firm is Mr. Amos Miller, who was born in 
Stark Co., O., March 28, 1828, and is the son 
of Jacob Miller, of Pennsylvania. Learning 
a trade as a carriage woodworker, in Pans, 
Stark Co.; he afterwards worked at his trade 
in Salem and Cleveland, Ohio, in 1853. He 
came to Bellefontaine and embarked in busi- 
ness with U. S. Miller, as the firm of A. & I). 
J. Miller, in the brick shop in the rear of the 
Miltenberger House, where they were engaged 
very extensively in the manufacture of ear- 
riao-es; then moved to the frame building on 



"3/ 



f 



^ 



5oa 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



tlio opposite side of the street; thence to the 
proseiit place of business. Thej' estal)lished 
a brancli liouse at one time at .Muiicie, liid., 
where they einj)loyed some thirteen hands, but 
on aecouiit of liard times this was closed. 
This firm is now juincipally engaged in the 
manufacture of the patent buggy body, for 
which they find sales throughout tlie country. 
From a small start, employing some three 
hands, the business has gruvvn to a leading 
one, employiTig as high as (ifiy hands. Amos 
Miller, General .Manager; .J. N. .Miller, Travel- 
ing Salesman; D. J. .Miller, Superintendent 
of <he Iron De])artment. 

W. G. SHOUT, livery; B -llefontaine. We 
believe that many people fail of success in 
the livery business through a lack of atten- 
tion to the general wants of the jiublic. One 
of the leailing livery stables of the city is 
owned by Comer & Short, which is well 
equipped with good horses and carriages. 
The place of business is located on Main 
street, next to the New Opera House, where 
the}' are prepared to let livery on reasonable 
terms. Our subject's father, Leonard Short, 
of Delaware, came to liellefontaine at an 
early ilay; he was a carpenter by trade, and 
contractor, and was engaged in building a 
number of houses in Uellefontaine; he was 
engaged at work on the oil mill building 
west of the city, when, on the 4th day of 
March, 1.S51, a stick of timber fell on him 
and killed hitn instantly; he was a man re- 
8])ected and hononNJ bv all. 

IH'XCAN D(J\V, attorney at law, Belle- 
fontaine; was born in Harrison Tp., Logan 
Co., O., M.'irch i:i, lS4i(, and is the sun of 
Robert and Harriet (Brewster) Dow; his 
mother is a native of Pennsylvania, and his 
father of Scotland, he having emigrated to 
America when very young, locating in I^ake 
Tp., Logan Co., in about liS."i."i, he was Colonel 
ol the Militia, and during the late civil war, 
he recruited Co. D, of the 45tli (). V. 1., 
serving in that regiment for one year, when he 
ri'signed, and returne<l tci I,ogan county, and 
is now living in Harrison Tp.; our subject re- 
niaiiu'<l a resident of liis native t(^^vnship 
until 181)4, during which time he wa.s engageil 
ill furmiii<r ami altendinir school. JnlSc)4 he 
came lo Bellefontuiiie, and was appointed 
Deputy Auditor of Logan county, under 
Thos. Milteiiberger, (then Deputy County 



Clerk), and filling this office with marked abil- 
ity during his time as ])e]iuty. Mr. Dow was 
engaged in the study of law with .ludge W'm. 
Lawrence. In 18(i'J he graduated from the 
Cincinnati Law School of Cincinnati, O. In 
18G9 he entered into ])artiiership in the prac- 
tice of law with J. B. Mcr-aughlin, which part- 
nership continued until the ileath of Mr. Mc- 
Laughlin in 1878, when Mr. Dow formed a 
partnership with J. D. McLaughlin, firm name, 
McLaughlin & Dow, one of the strongest law 
firms ofthe Logan County Bar, enjoying a lead- 
ing i)ractice. Mr. Dow in 18tjll was elected to 
the olfic<> of Prosecuting Attorney of Logan 
County, being re-elected to the same oflice in 
1871, filling this office for four years. In 
ISTS he was elected a member of the Ohio 
State Lcirislature from l^ogan county, being 
re-elected in 1ST7; he has given entire satis- 
factiiin, having proven liimself a gentleman 
of acknowledg<'d aliility. Mr. Dow is a Repub- 
lican, and a member of the U. P. Church, of 
which he is one of its honored Elders; ne mar- 
ried in 1875 Miss Mairgie A. Gregg of Phila- 
delphia, Pa., by whom he has two children, 
both are dauffhters. .Mr. Dow is a director 
of the Firts National Bank of Bellefontaine. 
JOSHUA M. DICKINSON, proi)rictor of 
the Logan House; Bellefontaine; was born 
one mile east of Zanesfield, Logan Co., O., 
Feb. 18, 1824, and is the son of Thomas and 
.Maria (Lo%ve) Dickinson. His mother was 
born ill West Virginia, and his father in 
Pennsylvania; they were married in West 
Virginia, and in 1810 came to Logan Co., 
and located in Jefl'erson Tp.; they came here 
v<Ty poor; they had but one horse and a few 
necessaries of life; alter remaining in .lelTer- 
s n Tp., some three years, tlu-y moved near 
East Liberty, where Thomas Dickinson was 
employed by Duncan Me.\rlhur, who was a 
hiige iand speculator, and remained in his 
service a short time. Duncan McArthur 
placed the family of Dickinsons on 100 acres 
of land near Zanesfield, which afterwards 
belonged to them, and they, in 18:i2, soltl the 
sann; for f!4 per acre; they then moved to 
Push Creek Tp., where the father, Thomas 
Dickinson, died May 1!), I87!t, at 90^ years 
iif a' re, a n^specti-d and Imnored man, be- 
ing a mnmber of the t^Juaker Church; he 
WHS a soldi(>r of the war of 1812. His wife 
died in 18U5. Our subject moved with his 



LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



597 



parents to Rush Creek in 1833. AVlien he 
was 91 years of age he, in company, purchas- 
ed 150 acres of land; this is the first land 
that Mr. Dickinson owned; it was located in 
Jeiferson Tp.; this land was paid for at §5 
per acre, and Mr. Dickinson paid for the 
same in manufacturing maple sugar. At 21 
years of age, he married Miss Martha Brun- 
son. At this marriage he was worth some 
§000. By this marriage they had four chil- 
dren. After marrying, he lived on a rented 
farm for a number of years; he farmed near 
Rushsylvania from 1846 to 1854, when he 
moved to Perry Tp., near East Liberty, where 
he remained until 1870, during which time 
he was eng;iged in farming and stock-raising, 
in which business he has been very success- 
ful, maUiniT a specialty in raising mules, and 
was the largest dealer in mules in Logan Co., 
having sold from his farm at one time, $9,000 
worth of mules. To-day .Mr. Dickinson owns 
970 acres of land, and valualjle citv property 
in Bellefontaine; he is proprietor of the Lo- 
gan House, which is a neat three-story brick 
building, located in the central part of tiie 
city, and is recognized as one of the leading 
$'i houses of Central Ohio. Mr. Dickinson 
donated largely money to carry on the late 
civil war; his township never had a man 
drafted; he again married, his present wife 
being Ellen Armstrong, by whom there are 
three children. 

HENRY C. DICKINSON, attorney-at- 
law; Bellefontaine; was born in Rush Creek 
Tp., Logan Co., O., June 30, 1839, and is the 
son of Robert and Rebecca (Stephenson) 
Dickinson, old pioneers of Logan Co. Our 
subject moved from Rush Creek Tp. to Perry 
Tp., where he remained until 18G1, during 
which time he was engaged in farming and 
attending the district schools. In 1801 he 
moved to Union Co., O., where he remained 
ten years, engaged in farming, when he re- 
turned to Perry Tp. Here he devoted part 
of his time to reading law, and, in 1873, he was 
admitted to the Bar; in 1875 he moved to 
Bellefontaine and began the practice of his 
chosen profession; in 1877 and 1878 he 
was associated in the practice of law with 
Mi: Steen, the firm being Steen & Dick- 
inson. With this exception, Mr. Dickinson 
has been alone in the practice of law, and to- 
day ranks among the successful lawyers of 



the Logan Co. Bar. Mr. Dickinson >vas for a 
short time in the livery business in Bellefon- 
taine, which is the only other business he has 
been in since his residence in this city. He 
is a Republican. 

LEVI DURINGER, brick manufacturer; 
Bellefontaine. Of the leading bnckvards of 
Bellefontaine, we mention that owned and 
operated by Mr. Duriiiger, who began the 
manufacture of brick upon the present site 
in 1874, making that year 300,000 brick. 
Since that time they have made as high 
as 800,000 brick in one year; finding sale 
for them in Bellefontaine and vicinity. Mr. 
Duringer has, perhaps, traveled as much 
as any j^oung man in Logan Co.; he was 
born in California in 1854, where he re- 
mained until he was ]3 years of age, then, 
with his parents, he made six ocean voy- 
ages, visiting the Sandwich Islands, Cuba, 
Vancouver's Island, Mexico, and several other 
prominent places on the Atlantic and Pacific 
Oceans. His father, John O. Duringer, is a 
native of G-ermany, where he learned the 
brewer's trade. Coming to America at an 
early day, he was for a short time a resident 
of New York, New Orleans, Cincinnati, St. 
Louis, Peoria, St. Joseph, and thenceto Cali- 
fornia. In 1874 the family came to Belle- 
fontaine, where they have remained ever 
since. Mr. Duringer is meeting with fair suc- 
cess in the manufacture of bricks, of which 
he makes a superior article. 

G. W. EMERSON, attorney-at-law; Belle- 
fontaine. Among the successful attorneys 
of the Logan Co. Bar, we may mention the 
above-named gentleman, who was born in 
Logan Co., Ohio, Dec. 19, 1849, and is the son 
of Moses Eraersim, one of the oldest settlers 
of Logan ('o., a farmer, and a strong temper- 
ance ailvocate. Our subject graduated from 
the Hillsdale College, in the classical course, 
in 1870. He then engaged in teaching school 
and in surveying Government land in the 
West. He read law in the office of West, 
Walker & Kennedy; in 1875, was admitted 
to the bar, and in 1876 he commenced the 
practice of his chosen profession, entering 
into partner>;hip with E. J. Howeiistine, which 
continued up to 1877, since which time Mr. 
Emerson has tieen alone in the practice of 
law. In 1877, he was elected to the office of 
ProS'- outing Attorney of Logan Co., and 



=1^ 



598 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



re-elected in 1870; this office he has filled with 
ai-knovvlef]<jeil aliility. 

S. W. P^IJLLER, ph\-sician; Bellefontaine. 
Of the old and highly respected members of 
the Logan Co. iiiediciil profession is the above 
named gentleman, who was born in Athens 
Co., ()., Jan. 2-5, 1814, and is the son of Seth 
and Hannah (Fisher) Fuller, a daughter of 
Col. Fisher, of the Revolutionary AVar; his 
father is from Ma.ssuchusetts, ami came to Ohio 
in about 1805; l)oth parents died in Athens 
Co., when S. W. was quite young. He, at 
10 years of age, went to Washington Co., O., 
where he remained until be was 23 years of 
age, during which time he received a good 
common school eilucation; in 1837 he went to 
Cincinnati and took a regular course of lec- 
tures in the Medical College of Cincinnati; in 
1838 he came to Logan Co., and located in 
West Libertj', where he began the practice 
of medicine, and remained there until 1855, 
and then went to Xenia, O.; 185G he came to 
Bellefontaine, where be has been engaged in 
the practice of medicine ever since. In 1850 
he entered the drug business in connection 
with his profession; the same year his drug 
store burned in the great fire, he losing very 
heavily in this tire. He afterward commenced 
anew in the drug business, which he contin- 
iieJl some two years, when he sold out his 
busuinss and turned his entire attention to 
the practice of medicine, and to-day is one of 
the oldest as well as one of the most successful 
]>hyscians of Logan Co. He is a member of 
the Ohio State Medical Society ami the Lo- 
gan Countv Medical Society; is President of 
the latter society. ])r. Fuller has held several 
oiBces of public trust; he has been a mem- 
ber of the Board of Education vif Bell(>fon- 
t'line for some nineteen years, during which 
time he was Chairman of the li<iar<l for some 
lifieen years; he was Couiuilman of ihi; city 
for iwo terms; he is a I}e|iul)lican, and belongs 
to the Pri'sbyterian Church, having bi'cn a 
mendiiT of that ehun-li for some tlurty years, 
I'llliiig prominent ollici'S of the church; ho is 
now associated witii Dr. J. P. Wallace in the 
practice of medicine, who is a graduate of the 
.Stnrling Me.lical and Belleview Hospital 
.Meilical College, two of the leading .Medical 
Colleges of the country. Dr. Fuller married, in 
IS4T, .Mi^s Fiances M. Hull; by this marriage 
they have had eight children — five living. 



WILLIAM F. FI'XK, cooper; Bellefon- 
taine; was born in Adams Co., O., in 1851. 
When five years of age he, with his pa- 
rents, came to Logan Co., and settled 
in Rushsylvania. Here he began to learn 
his trade — that of cooper — when he was 
about thirteen years of age. After learning 
his trade, he traveled in diO'erent parts of 
Ohio and Indiana, working at his trade. In 
1873 he came to Bellefontaine and accepted 
a position as clerk in a dry-goods store, where 
he remained for several years, and where he, 
with assistance, saved enough money to start 
a cooper shop of his own, and in 1877, he 
erected a slioj) 20 x 70 feet, where he is pre- 
pared to do all kinds of coopering usually 
done in a first-class shop. In busy seasons 
he has em])loyed as high as eight men in his 
shops. His principal business is now in man- 
ufacturing flour barrels for the flour-mill at 
Bellefontaine. With the push and energy 
that Mr. Funk is showing in his business, his 
success is certain. 

REUBEN V.GREEN, saw-mill; J5ellefon- 
taine; was born in Monroe Tp., Logan Co., 
O., April 21, 1835, and is the son of John and 
Mary Ann (Watkins) Green; his mother, 
Mary Ann Watkins, was born in Logan Co., 
O., Nov. 14, 1814, and is the daughter of 
Benjamin and Obedience Watkins; his father, 
of tirayson Co., A'a., born July 27, 1810, came 
to Ohio at an early day. first to Clinton Co. 
and then to Logan Co.; they married, in 1832, 
in Jefferson Tp.; both ]5ar(>nts are now living, 
being of old Quaker stock. Our subject re- 
mained a resident of his native township un- 
til 1874, during which time he was engaged 
principally in the saw-mill business. In 1874 
he came to Bcdiefontaine and ])urchased a 
saw-mill on the site of his present mill. 
In 1875 the mill burned, with no insurance 
upon it, leaving Mr. Green in meagre cii- 
fuu'stances; with the help of friends, Mr. 
Green soon had his ])resent mill in o])eration, 
and to-dav he is enjoying a good business; 
his mill is locateil in the northeiist portion of 
the town. Mr. Green was married in Logan 
Co., O., to Miss Mary Ann Hog(>, who was 
born in Virginia in 1837, having moved to 
Logan Co., t)., with her jiarents when she was 
about 8 years of age, her ])arents locating in 
Jefferson Tp.; by this mairiage they have 
one child, a daughter — Katie Hoge, born in 






LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



599 



Bellefontaine, O., Aug. 7, 1877. Mr. Green 
lias an old lainily Bible, that has been in the 
family since 179'^. 

FALTI, GREEN & CO., carriage manu- 
facturers; Bellefontaine. There are few busi- 
ness firms of Bellefontaine that enjoj-^ the 
confidence of the people more than the ahove- 
named firm, and as manufacturers Falti, Green 
& (Jo. stand hrst-class. The firm is composed 
of C. F. Falti, who has had some twenty- 
three years' experience in the business. He 
\v s a soldier of the late war. Benjamin P. 
Gr^en, in charge of the paint shop, has had 
some twentj'-Hve years' experience in the 
business, and is also Chief of the Bellefon- 
taine Fire Department. H. C. Garwood, in 
charge of the trimming department, has had 
ten years' experience; in the business. It will 
be seen that these gentlein(!n each have had 
a very extensive expericnice in his line of 
business; each a practical and thorough work- 
man, giving their own j>ersonal supervision to 
all work being constructed in their manufac- 
tory. Their manufactory is located south- 
west from the Court-House. The building 
was erected for a wagon and plow shop at an 
early day. In 1876 the present firm em- 
barked in business in the manufacture of bug- 
gies and spring wagons, occupying three 
buildings — the first, 20x50 feet, and two 
stories high, the first floor being used as a re- 
pairing de|)artment; the 2d iloor, trimming 
and ]iainting; blacksmith's department. 20 
X 42 feet; the rejiository, 20x40 feet. Ever 
since the commencement of this firm tiieir 
busin(>ss has graduallv imjiroved, so that to- 
day they do a leading liusiness, employing in 
all dejiartments some eight men. 

O. S. GOODWIN, carriage-maker; Belle- 
fontaine. The oldest as well as one of the 
leading carriage manufactories of Logan Co., 
is that owned and operated by the above 
named gentleman, who learned his trade as a 
woodworker in a carriage department in.Ohio; 
he came to Bellefontaine as a first-class me- 
chanic, and as a builder of caniages has built 
up a large trade, and won a very envialile rep- 
utation. He came to Bellefontaine in 1868, 
ami worked at his trade for Miller Bros. In 
1809 he entered as a partner in the firm of 
Duddy, Goodwin & Fossler, which continued 
some three years; then Duddy & Goodwin con- 
tinued for five years; since then Mr. Goodwin 



has been alone in tin; manid'acturing business. 
His work is noted for its solidity and elegance 
of finish. The manufactory is located in the 
rear of the Miltenberger House. The main 
building-s are 220 feet long, part of it two 
stories high. Enijiloys in l)usy season as high 
as ten men. Besides the manufacture of all 
kinds of light vehicdes, Mr. Goodwin is pre- 
pared to do reparing in the best possible 
manner. 

DR. A. E. GRIFFIN, dentist; Bellefon- 
taine; was born in Greene Co. N. Y., in 1882; 
having moved to Ohio with his parents about 
1S:?4. In 1853 he began to learn dentistry 
at Wilmington. After serving his apprentice- 
ship, he went to yhelbvvill(>, Ky., and began 
the practice of dentistrv, whore he remained 
about two years, when he returned to Ohio ami 
practiced dentistry at Mt. Gilead, Urbaiia, 
Marion and Pickaway. In April, 1864, he 
came to Bellefontaine, where he has remained 
practicing his profession ever since, and to- 
day is the oldest dentist in this vicinity. He 
has occupied his present office, located over 
the First Natiomil Hank, for the last fourteen 
years. His offii es an' neat atul well arranged, 
where he is prepared to do the very best of 
dental work. Dr. Griffin was a soldier in the 
late war; he enlisted in Co. D, 87th O. V. I., 
participating in the battle of Harper's Ferry. 
He filled the office of member of the Belle- 
fontaine School Board, for two terms, with 
credit. 

L. W. HOLZER, merchant-tailor; Bellefon- 
taine; is the oldest merchant-tailor of Bellefon- 
taine now in business. He was born in Feld 
Kiich, Austria, .lune 7, 1824. At 12 years of 
age he began to learn his trade as a tailor; at 
16 he was engaged in travelino- in different 
parts of Germany, Fratice, etc., working at 
his trade; when his country, Austria, engaged 
in war against Italy — known as the Italian 
war — Mr. Holzer was drafted in the army 
and served eight years, partici])ating in a 
number of battles and marches of that war, 
under Gen. Radatzky; he received a saber 
wound in the head in a leading engagement. 
In 185:^ Mr. Holzer came to America and di- 
rect to Bellefontaine; here he worked at his 
trade until 18.")9, when he established busi- 
ness for himself. His place of business is 
now located on the northeast corner of Main 
and Chiilicothe streets, where he keeps on 



GOO 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



band a full line of furnishing goods and is 
pro])arod to do the bust of morcliant-tailoring. 
He was inarried, in Bellefontainc, to Mrs. 
Bushel, of Prussia. 

JOSEPH A. HUiMPHREY, proprietor of 
brass and iron foun(hv; Hellelontaine. Of 
the old and respected imsiness men of Belle- 
fontaine stands the above-named gentletnan, 
who was born in Jeft'erson Co., O., in 1818. 
In 183.5, he moved to Logan Co. with his 
parents, and located on a farm near Bellefon- 
taine. In 1841, he began to learn his trade 
as a machinist; he, in (■(impaiiy with several 
others, started the first foundry in Bellefon- 
taine — firm of Stroud, Hum])lirey & Scott; 
alter working here several years at the foun- 
dry business he went to Indiana, and was for 
four years engaged in the saw-mill i)usiness, 
when he moved to P(Mnl)erton, Shelby Co., O., 
where he followed the same business until 
18G.5, during which time he also enlisted in 
tlie 134th O. y. I., undfr Cajjt. "Wilkinson, 
and served with this regiment in the lOO-days 
service, doing duty near Richmond and Peters- 
burg. In 1S(J5, he returned to Bcllefontaine, 
and in 1874 embarked in his ]jresent business 
by first erecting a frame building, 24x30, with 
basement and first floor; this was erected to do a 
general rejiaiiing l)usiness in the agricultural 
line, and run by liorse-])ower, but the business 
gradually increased, until .Mr. Iluniphrey 
ailded a fouiulry de|)artinent to do a general 
molding and foundry business. In l!-SJ he 
increased his business by Iniilding new addi- 
tions, 24x311, and to-day has a neat foundry 
and niachiiK! shop, wlx're he is pre])ared to do 
all kiiiils of work usually done in the foundry 
and machine slio|) business; he is engaged 
very extensively in manufaclin-ing iron pumps, 
which are meeting with good sale; his ma- 
chine df|)artment is now run by steam-power, 
em|tloving some si.\ men in both departments. 
He is a man that is recognized as ln'ing a No. 
1 machinist; he did the first iron turning in 
Belh'fonlaine; his work turned out from his 
establishment is f)f a No. 1 <piality, givinsr 
satisfaction to his customers; his bu-i ness is 
constanllv incre!isin<ir. 

1-:. .I.IIOWKNSTINE, atlorney-at-law; 
Bellefoutaine. Of the successful lawyers of 
the Liigaii Co. Bar mav be mentioned the 
above-named gentleman, who was born in 
Crawford Co., O., April 5, 1843, and is the son 



of Jacob and Martha (Stough) Howenstine; 
his mother is a native of Ohio and his father 
of Pennsvlvenia. Our subject, when a yoiuig 
man, entered as a clerk in a dry-goods store, 
where he remained for a short time, when he 
entered the Jefferson College of Cannonsburg, 
and graduated frtun this place of learning in 
1804, with high honors. He returned to his 
native county and began the reading- of law 
in the office of .Jacob Scroggs, of Bucyrus, O., 
and afterwards attended the Cincinnati Law 
School at Cincinnati, where he graduated in 
1866. The same year he came to Bcllefon- 
taine and formed a law partnership with Jutlge 
William Lawrence, the firm being Lawren<e 
& Howenstine, which continued until 1S71, 
being recognized as one of the strongest law 
firms of Central Ohio. In 18?8 the law firm 
of Howenstine & Sweet was formed, and to- 
day is one of the leading law firms of Li>gan 
Co. -Mr. Howenstine is a Hc]iul)liran aiul a 
member of the Presbyterian Cliurch. 

CAPT. T. L. IlUTClllXS, Deputy T'nitcd 
States Internal lJevc>nue Collector; Bcllefon- 
taine; was born in Vernon, Jeiininirs Co., lii<l., 
Nov. 17, 1827, and is the son of Daniel D. 
and Lucinda (Branhain) Hutchins. His mother 
was born in Kentucky; his father having set- 
tied there at an early day, they mariied in 
Kentucky and moved to Jennings Co., Ind., 
being among the ; arly settlers of that county. 
When very youi;g his father died, leaving the 
family in poor circumstances; after rema ni ig 
a resident of Vernon until 1840, di ring 
which time he carried on an eating-house, 
where he succeeded in ac(|uiringa small cap- 
ital, when he went to Klizabcthtown, Ind., 
and embarked in the dry goods b\isiness. 
-Meeting with fair success, and remaining 
there until 18.">4, Ca|)t. llntchins went to 
Franklin, Ind., and kept a hotel until l!-'.")7. 
Coming to Bc-llefijiitaine he was engaged in 
keeping an eating-house at the railroad until 
I860,, when he turned his attention to the 
poultry busim>ss. buying, and shipping his 
poultry to New (")rleans. On one of these 
trips, in 1861, he I'oinid himself in New Or- 
leans wlii'e the Confederates were recruiting 
for the service. Mr. Hutchins returned home 
and immediately commenced the recruiting of 
soUliers for the Union .Vrmy. In company with 
Capt. Andrew Gardner he began the recruiting 
of Co. K, 42nd O. V. I., and on the 28th of 



Jy.' 



LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



GOl 



Sept. 1801, was made First Lieutenant, serv- 
iiij^ in that capacity until Jaiuiary, 18(Jo, when 
he was made Captain of the same company, 
wliich office he filled until Dec. 4, 1^04, when 
the reofiment was mustered out. (History of 
the 4'2nd will be found in another part of this 
work). Capt. Hutch'ns jiarticipated in all the 
leading battles and marches of this regiment. 
At the battle of Arkansas Post he served as 
Aid to Gen. George W. Morgan, during 
which time his horse fell and broke his right 
arm. Capt. Hutchins remained with his regi- 
ment: took charge of his company with his 
ai'ni in a sling, at the siege of Vicksburg. 
The history of Co. K is the history of the 
4"^nd, all of whose services and perils it 
shared bravely and faithfully, from first to 
last. At the close of the war Capt. Hutchins 
returned to Bellefoiitaine and carried on the 
agricultural business until 1807. In 18GS 
and ISOy in the dry goods business. On Feb. 
yi), 1809, was appointed Assistant Assessor of 
United States Internal Revenue, filling this 
office until 1872, since which time he has been 
Deputy Collector. Capt. Hutchins has taken 
a very active part in the improvements of 
Bellefontaine, being interested in the building 
of three of the finest business blocks in this 
city. He is a Republican in politics, being 
an active worker with that party. He mar- 
ried, in Jennings Co., Ind., Nov. 5, 1848, Miss 
Elizabeth Jane Sandford, of Indiana; they 
have qn(vchild, a daughter. 

'r. W. HYNES, merchant; Bellefontaine. 
The subject of this brief sketch was born in 
lri:>land, Dec. 21,1810. In his native coiuitry 
Mr. Ilynes was engaged in farming, and after 
marrying, he, with wife and one child, in 
1840, came to America, locating in Jefferson 
Co., N. Y., where he was engaged in farming, 
following this for several years ; he then 
entered the mercantile business in Buffalo, 
N. Y. He was a resident of Iowa for some 
time, and in 18G5 came to Bellefontaine, 
whrfie he has been one of its honored and re- 
spected citizens ever since. He is now en- 
gaged in the grocery business on Main street, 
and is recognized as one of Bellef'ontaiiie''s 
enterjirising citizens. 

PHILANDER JONES; coroner; Bellefon- 
taine; was born in Licking Co., O., March 13, 
1818, remaining in his native county until 
about twenty-one years of age, learning the 



trade of a tailor; he then set out and worked 
in different parts of Ohio, and a short time in 
Indiana. In 1850 he came to Bellefontaine, 
which has been liis home ever since; when 
first coming here he went to work at his trade, 
tailoring, and continued this i»usincss for a 
number of years. In 18G2 he was elected to 
the office of Justice of the Peace, filling that 
office with credit for twelve consecutive years, 
and again elected in 1878, which he is now 
holding-, being the oldest Justice of the Peace 
in Bellefontaine. In 1800 Mr. Jones was 
elected to the office of Coroner of Logan 
County, filling that office ever since, with the 
exception of three years; in these offices Mr. 
Jones has gifon entire satisfaction. He 
was a soldier in the late civil war, and enlisted 
in Co. B, 85th O. V. I., and served some four 
months with honor and credit. He is en- 
gaged in the real estate and insurance busi- 
ness, representing some of the leading insur- 
ance companies of Ohio — Richland Mutual, 
of Mansfield; Western Mutual, of Urbana; 
Franklin, of Columbus, and Farmers', of Yoi k, 
Pennsylvania. 

Rev. GEORGIUS LUDOVICUS KALB, 
minister of the First Presbyterian Church; 
Bellefontaine; was born in Franklin Co., O., 
Sept. I'i, 18'^n, and is the son of George \V. 
and iMargaret (Claybaugh) Ka b; his mother 
is a native of Pennsylvania, and his father of 
Maryland, and came to Franklin Co., O., in 
iSOo; he is a farmer and is still a resident of 
Franklin Co., being- one of the oldest living 
settlers of that county. Georg'us L. was burn 
on the farm, where he retnained until he was 
14 years of age, when he entered the Miami 
University; he afterwards entered tin; Centre 
College, of Danville, Kv., and graduated from 
this place of learning in the class of 1848, 
with thirty-three others; out of the class of 
thirty-four graduates at that time, we find 
eight ministers, also J. M. Crook, brother of 
Gen. Crook, Judge Alexander F. Hume, of 
Ohio, and Senator George G. Vest, of Mis- 
souri. In 1849 Mr. Kalb began studying for 
the ministry under Dr. Claybaugh, of Ox- 
ford, O. In 1851 he was licensed to preach, 
in October, 1852, he was tendered a charge 
at Circleville, Ohio, which he accepted, and 
preached from the jjulpit of the Central Pres- 
byterian Church until 1803, being ordainetl 
in 1853. In 1802 he helped to organize the 



602 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



90ili O. V. I., which took part in the late civil 
war; on its organization lie was made its 
Chaplain; after eii^ht months he resigned on 
account of sickness. In 1803 Dr. Kalb came 
to BcUcfontaine, where lie had i)een ajjpointed 
to fill the pulpit of tiie First Presbyterian 
Church, then located on North .Main street. 
In .lanuarj', 1874, the present chur ch was dedi- 
cated, where our worthy sul)ject has filled the 
pulj)it since. lie has taken a very active part 
in tiie public schools of Hellefontaiiie, having 
been a member of the School Board for some 
e ght years. He was Clerk of the School 
Board seven years. Dr. Kalb was married 
Nov. 30, 1854, to Miss Mary E. Bigiiam, of 
Butler Co., O.; they have had six chiklren, 
one deceased. 

REV. O. KENNEDY, minister of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, was born at Milford 
Centre, Union Co., O., Oct. 16, 1825, and is the 
son of E. and Martha (Sanders) Kennedy. His 
mother was born in Pennsylvania, and his 
father in Maryland. He was a blacksmith 
jjy trade, having emigrated to Ohio when 
the Indians were very plentiful. Young 
Kennedy remained a resident of his native 
County until 1S53, during which time he was 
engiiged in goinsr to sciiool and learning l)lack- 
smitliing witii his father, in 185:i Rev. Ken- 
nedy began as traveling preachei' of the North 
Ohio Methodist Episcopal Conference; the 
same year he was ordaineii as deacon, preaching 
for two years in Darke Co., Arcanum Circuit, 
two years, and thence to Greenville, tvvoyeai's. 
In 1857 he came to Bellefontaine, remaining 
one year; and in Toledo three years; and in 
Bucyrus asiiort time. Hr>re lie enlisted in the 
lOlstO. V. I., and as Chaplain renuiining with 
that regiment some two years, and participat- 
inir in the batth-s of Perryville an<l Chicka- 
mauga. Returning to Ohio, lie tilled the fol- 
lowing appointments: \'an Wert, O., two 
years; Lima, three years; Finillcy, three 
years; Marvsville, one year; Van WCrt, three 
years; Sidney, three years; and in isli) re- 
turned to Bellefontaine. 

MILT KOOGLK, photographer, was liorn 
in Warren Co., Ohio, in ]8:i5. Ilu learned 
his trade as a [ihotographer in 18(i8, working 
at liis trade in several cities of Ohio in 18;ti; 
from I^ebnnon he came to B'llefontaine and 
commenced the photographic Inisiness in his 
present rooms on Columbus street, wliere li(> 



has already demonstrated thijt he is entitled 
to a place in the front ranks of photogra])h- 
ers of Central Ohio. Ilis work has taken the 
first premium at all fairs where exhibited. 
His rooms are located on the sin-ond floor. 
The reception rooms are tastefully fitte.! uj) 
and hung with some of his productions, which 
arc first class, cimijiaring with the best work 
in the country. Mr. Koogle was a coldier in 
the late war; was one of 100 men selected 
by Gov. Todd, and presented to the Govern- 
ment as President Lincoln's boily guaril, 
known as the Ith OliioInde|)en<lent President's 
Escort. This conipany did duty at Washing- 
ton for three yeais. During 1805 Mr. Koogle 
received a kick from a horse in the left hax, 
which was very severe. At close of the war Mr. 
Koogle returned to Ohio, coming to Bellefon- 
taine in 1808, and established his business, 
making him the oldest pholograiiher in the 
citv. 

W. H. KIXDELL & CO., furniture manu- 
facturers; Bellefontaine. Among the enter- 
prising business firms of Bellefontaine we 
may mention that of W. H. Kindell & Co., 
furniture manufacturers. Their ]ilace of busi- 
ness is located on South Main street, occupy- 
ing a Inrrro, two-story frame building, 'M x 74 
feet. This building was erected by the Kin- 
dell Bros., in 1877, for the manulacturing 
business, and has in the basenn'Ut the ma- 
chinery and a fourteen-horse steam engine, 
which is the power for the machinery used 
in the manufacture of furnilure; employing 
in this establishment at (me time as high as 
nine hands, jnincipally in the manufacture of 
bedsteads and tallies. The first floor is used 
as office and manufacturing rooms, the second 
floor as varnishing and fiirshing rooms. AV. II. 
Kindell was born in Richland Co., Ohio, in 
1850; learning his trade in Kenton and Belle- 
fontaine, coming to this city in 1858. With 
the exception of a short time in thi' mercan- 
tile business, .Mr. K. has followed his jiresent 
business, .lohii Cantwell was l)orn in Belle- 
fontaine, Ohio, in 1854. Learning the stone- 
cutter's trade, he followed the business for 
.some fourteen years.when he entered intojiart- 
nership with Nlr. Kindell in the manufacture 
of furniture. 

D.Wll) KK.MPKR, idncksmith and wagon- 
mak(!r; Bellefontaine; was born in McArthur 
Tp., Logan Co., O., in 183C, and is the son of 



^- 



LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



603 



Madison and Jane (Smith) Kemper; his moth- 
er is of a family who were among the first to 
locate in Logan Co., and his father is of Vir- 
ginia, having located in Logan Co., as early 
as 1831, both parents died in Lake Tp., this 
county. Our subject was raised on the farm, 
where he remaineJ until 1851, when he moved 
to Bellefontaine, wliieh has been his home 
since he commenced to learn his trade as a 
blacksmith, which business be has carried on 
ever since. He is now engaged in black- 
smithing and wagon-making, and his place of 
busii>ess is located in the alley, one-half 
square west of the post-office, where he em- 
ploys some seven hands, and is prepared to do 
all kinds of woik usually done in a first-class 
establishment. 

J. M. KAUFMAN, Logan Co. Infirmary 
Director; Bellelontaine. Among the old set- 
tlers of Logan Co., we may mention the abovt- 
named gentleman, who was born in Baltimore 
Co., Md. Leaving his native State in 1833 or 
1834, he moved to Kentuekj-, where he re- 
mained a resident until 1838, when he moved 
to Logan Co., locating on a farm in Harrison 
Tp.; here he engaged in farming for a number 
of j'ears, and was acknowledged as one of its 
successful farmers. Some twelve years ago 
Mr. Kaufman moved to Bellefontaine, where 
he has been one of its honored citizens, filling 
several offices of public trnst with honor; was 
a member of the Citj' Council; is now a 
Director of the Logan Co. Infirmary, which 
he has been filling sincj 1872. Mr. Kaufmnn 
was engaged for some six years in the dr^'- 
goods business in Bell 'I'ontainc. 

JOSEPH H. LAWRENCE, attorney-at- 
law, Bellefontaine; was born in Bellefontaine, 
Logan Co., O., August i. 1847, and is the 
son of Judge Wm. Lawrence, whose biog- 
raphy appears in another part of this work. 
Joseph, after receiving a common school edu- 
cation, entered the Washington and Jeffer- 
son College of Pennsylvania, and graduated 
fr6m this place of learning in 1870; he soon 
after entered the Columbian Law College of 
Washington, and graduated in 1871, when he 
commenced the practice of law with his 
father. Mr. Lawrence was a soldier in the 
late civil war, enlisting in Co. B, 13'^nd O. V. 
I., where he served for some four mouths. 

JAMES LONG, physician; Bellefontaine. 
Among the learned and successful physicians 



of Logan Co., may be mentioned the above- 
named gentleman, who was born in Buffalo, 
N. Y., Dec. 19, 1799, and is the son of Samuel 
and Margaret (Pense) Long. The mother 
was of Pennsylvania and his father of Mary- 
land. He (the father) was a physician, being 
in the regular United States service, as a 
physician and surgeon, participating in the 
war of 1812. He was wounded at the battle 
of Luiidy's Lane. Our subject entered his 
father's office and remained under his charge, 
in the study of medicine, for a number of 
years, when he began the practice of the 
same. In 1829 Dr. Long cann^ to Ohio, which 
has been his home, princijially, ever since. 
He graduated from the Eclectic Medical Col- 
lege of Penns\'lvania, in 18(i.5, and was a 
member of the Eclectic Jledical Society of 
Pennsylvania for some fifteen years. Dr. Long 
and son, Madison S., have just located in 
Bellefontaine, coming here from Marion, 
(where they had a large and successful prac- 
tice) highly recommended by the people and 
press of that city. He is a thoroughly 
educated physician, fully understanding the 
nature and treatment of disease, and, as such, 
is entitled to the confidence of the people. 

MADISON S. LONG, physician; Bellefon- 
taine; was born in Beaver Co., Pa., in 1840. 
After receiving an education, he entered his 
father's office and began the study of medi- 
cine. In 1871 he graduated from the Eclec- 
tic Medical Institute of Cincinnati, O., and 
soon after commenced the practice of his 
chosen profession in company with his father. 
Dr. James Long, since which they have been 
meeting with good success, making a spec- 
ialty in the treatment of chronic diseases. 
Their office is located on Main St.. opposite 
the post-office, where Dr. Long can be con- 
sulted in the German and English lan- 
guages. These gentlemen are just locating 
in Bellefontaine, but from the recommenda- 
tions from tlr^ people of their former home 
and the solicitation of friends here, their suc- 
cess is certain. 

G. W. LOOFBOURROW, dentist, Belle- 
fontaine. Among the leading business men of 
Bellefontaine, is Dr. Loofbourrow, who was 
born in Adams Co., Ind., A]iril 1, 1839, and is 
the son of Thomas R. and Rhoda (Messmore) 
Loofbourrow, both parents being natives of 
Ohio. He commenced the study of dentistry 



s "V 






004 



BIOGKAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



ill a lea(]in<ir office in the City of Cleveland; 
he also took a legulav course of lectures in 
Cincinnati, O. Engaging in the practice of 
tliMitistr}- for a short time, ho went to Indiana. 
In 1804 he enlisted in the 139th l.V. I., where 
he served faithfidly until mustered out. In 
1SG.1 he came to I^ogan Co.. first locating in 
Northwood, where he engaged in the practice 
of his profession. In 1800 he came to BcUe- 
fontaine, where he has been located ever 
since. His dental rooms are located on 
Columbus street, where he is prepared tcj do a 
lirst class business. 

JOHN G. MAIER, butcher; Bellefontaino; 
was born near Wittemberg, Germany, April, 
1S40, having emigrated to'America with his 
]iarents, ami located in Champaign Co., O., 
in 185"^, where they remained for several 
years, and then moved to Union Tp., Logan 
Co., where our subject was engaged in farm- 
ing for a number of years; he was for a short 
time a resident of Illinois and Indiana. In 
December, 1870, he came to IJellefontaine, and 
commenced the l)nsiness of butchering; he is 
located in the rear of the Court House, where 
he is doing a good business, keeping con- 
stantly on liand a oooil stock of meats. 

J. 1")IXCAX .M< LAI'GIlLIN,aitorney-at- 
hiw; Helle.ontaine; was born in Logan Co., 
()., July yC, 1S44, and is the son of James B. 
and M". (I'arker) McLaughlin. The mother 
was of Ohio ami his fatiier was born in the; 
city of Perth, Scotland, Jan. 10, 1817, and 
came to America in IS'iV, settling in Yellow 
Springs, where ho received a liberal educa- 
tion. In lHo'.i he came to Ohio Jind reail law 
willi Judge William Lawrence; was admitted 
to practice in ISOO, and was elected Prose- 
cuting Attorney of Logan Co. in 1802, serving 
one term, and to the office of County Sur- 
veyor in 1852, and re-elected in ]8,")4; fdled 
tli(! ollice as L'nited States Commissioner for 
a number of yenrs; was the senior member of 
the firm of .McLauglilin & Dow, one of the 
leading law firms of Logan Co. He died in 
1878, respectetl and honored. Our subject 
remained on the farm in Jefi"erson Tp. until 
he was some 19 years of age, when he went 
with his father in surveying; also, engaged 
in the study of law; graduated- from the Cin- 
cinmili Law School in 1809, and was admitted 
to the bar same year. He has filled several 
offices of public trust — in 1SG6, was elected 



Cotinty Surveyor, one term; Prosecuting At- 
torney, 1874 to 1878. In 1880 he was elect- 
ed Mayor of Bellefontaine, which otlice he is 
now filling. In 1809 formed a pai'tner-'^hip in 
the firm of McLaughlin & Dow, which has to- 
day one of the leadnig practices of tiie county. 

JOHN M. M. CI.'ACKEN, County SherilY; 
Bellefontaine; was born in Union Tp., Logan 
Co., O., March 27, 1840, and is the son of D. 
W. and S;irah C. (Hoover) McCracken; both 
parents are natives of Pennsylvaiua, having 
moved to Ohio and located in Logan Co. at 
an early day. Our sul)ject was raised on the 
farm, where he was engaged in faiming in the 
summer months and in the winter attending 
the distript schools. After remaining on the 
farm until he was near 24 years of age, he 
came to Bellefontaine and acce|)ted a ])osilion 
in a drug store as clerk. Leaving the store, 
he was "made Deputy-Sheriff inider William 
II. Chandler, and then under .Mr. M<-Ilvain. 
During his term of olfice as Deputy- Sln'rill', 
ho ])eiiormed his duty faithfully and gained a 
host of friends, that, in 1870, ho was elected 
to the office of Sheriff of Logan Co., and re- 
elected to the same office in 1878. In this of- 
fice he gave entire satisfaction, having jiroven 
himself a gentleman of acknowledged ability. 
Mr. McCracken is a l{e))ublican in politics 
and a faithful worker in the party ranks. Ik- 
was married, in Logan Co., to Miss Cornelia 
B. Bergen, of Ohio. 

J. F. McGinn IS, city Clerk; Bellefon- 
taine; was born in Ross Co., 0., Dec. IK), 
1842. When but ten months old he, with 
his parents, moved to Hardin Co., remaining 
there until he was fifteen years of age; thence 
removed to Allen Co., and in 1804 moved to 
Bellefontaine, Logan Co., which has been his 
home ever since, with the <>xcei)tion of 1808- 
70. He, in ISIO, was elected to the office of 
City Clerk of Belh-fontaini', filling this of- 
fice with acknowledired ability. He was 
re-elected in 1878 and 1880. to the sam<' office, 
filling it with honor and credit. Mr. McGm- 
nis holds several offices of trust: is Secri-tary 
of the Lake and Logan Building and Loan 
Association, being one of the organizers of 
the Logan Building and Loan Association. 
He has for the past five years been engaged 
in the fire insurance business, representing 
some of the leailing insurance companies of 
America: Phoeni.x, of Brooklyn; Newark, 



•< 



LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



G05 



Amazon, Cooper, Jefferson, Toledo Fire and 
Marine, doing one of the leading insurance 
businesses ol:' Logan Co. His place of busi- 
ness is located opposite the Post-office. 

•JOHN F. MILLER, merchant; Bellefon- 
taine; was born in Baden, Germany, March 
4, 1832; at 15 years of age he began to learn 
the trade of a baker; in 1850, he, in company 
with his brother, sailed for America, landing 
in New York; he had but a five-franc piece, 
being all the money he had; Ik; came direct 
to Oliio, jind located in Columbus, where lie 
worked at the baker's trade for some two or 
three years, afterwards working in different 
parts of Ohio. March 11!, 1808, Mr. Miller 
came to ] JcUcfontaine, entering the bakery 
and grocery business near the present site of 
his place of biisiness; htire he remained until 
18i T, when he erected his present business 
block, two stories high, 2()x]21 feet, including 
bakery shop; besides Mr. Miller's extensive 
grocery and bakery business, he is interested 
in the Bellefontaine woolen mills, one of the 
leading manufactories of the city; he is also 
owner of a large stone quarry west of town, 
and the owner of four farms. His success in 
life is due to his industry and good manage- 
ment; he stands to-day as one of Bellefon- 
taine's most enterprising business men. 

.1. W. McUOlD, meat market, Bellefon- 
taine; was born in Muskingum Co., O., .Tune 
23, 1843, and is the son of John and Ellen 
(Eehelberg) McCoid; our subject, when about 
three years of age, with his parents moved to 
Bellefontaine, which has been his home ever 
since; here he entered his father's butcher 
sho]) when about fifteen years of age, and Mr. 
McCoid has continued in the butcher business 
ever since; he is now the oldest butcher in 
business in Bellefontaine. Mr. McCoid for a 
number of years kept butcher sho]5 on the 
corner where the Miltenberger House now 
stands; from there he moved to the north- 
east corner; from there to his present place of 
bnsiness, located on the northwest corner of 
Columbus and Detroit streets, where he keeps 
the leading butcher shop in the city. Mr. 
McCoid married Miss Emma J. Wheeler, of 
Ohio, by whom he has two children living, 
Adolphus and Crutcher. 

JOHN MILLER, jeweler; Bellefontaine; 
was born in Cecil Co., iMd., March 20, 1809, 
and is the son of Tliomas and Abbie (George) 



Miller, both jiarents natives of Maryland. 
Our subject remained a resident of his na- 
tive county until 1810, when he with his 
jiarents moved to Washington Co., Pa., where 
he remained until 1824; then came to Ohio, 
and located in New Lisbon, where he learned 
his trade, watehinnking; and afterwards was a 
resident of Washington Co., Pa., then to 
Gnornsey Co., O., and in 183-1 moved to Belle- 
fontaine O., where he entered the watch and 
jewelry business, which l)usiiiess he has con- 
tinued ever since in Bellefontaine, being to- 
day the oldest watchmaker in Logan Co. 
During Mr. Miller's residence in Bellefontaine 
Iw has hel 1 several offices of public trust with 
honor and creclit; he was JIaj-or of the city 
for two terms, and a member of the City 
Council two terms; is a member of the Dis- 
ciple Cluu-ch, of which he has been one of its 
active mondjers, preaching for a number of 
years; a hard worker in the temperance cause, 
and took an active part in the anti-slavery 
c(uestion, and a ni unber of the underground 
railroad. Mr. Miller conunenced the watch 
and jewchy business in Bellefontaine with a 
small cajiital; he rode horseback to Cincinnati 
and purchased his stock, returning with it in 
a pair of saddle-hags. He married in 1829 to 
Miss Abbi(! Torrence; by this union they had 
seven children, of whom five are living. Mrs. 
Miller dieil in December, 1879, nearly 70 years 
of age. Tlnisjiassed away one of the highly 
respected old settlers of Bellefontaine. 

HORACE G. McKEE, livery; Bellefon- 
taine. Among the most successful livery- 
men of Bellefontaine is the above-named 
gentleman, who was born in St. Lawrence 
Co., N. Y., and came to Ohio when he was 
about twelve years of age and located in 
Morrow Co., where he remained for a' num- 
ber of years, holding several offices of public 
trust, and was .Sherilf of Morrow Co. for two 
terms, and a nuMnber of the City Council of ilt. 
Gilead some five years. Those offices Mr. 
McKee filled with honor and credit. He was 
also a soldier in the late civil war, serving in 
the 126th O. V. I. From Morrow Co. Mr. 
McKee moved to Knox, tiience to Bellefon- 
taine in 1870, having purchased his liverv 
business in 18G8. He is now the owner of 
one of the best livery stables and enjoying a 
leading business of Logan Co., keeping on 
hand the best livery in the city: seventeen 



G06 



BIOG RAPIIICA h SKETCHES. 



head of horses and h fine turn-out in the ve- 
hicle line, havinjj accomniodations for sixty- 
three heail of horses. 

.lOIiX 15. Mir.I.El?,d.>cea?ed,BeIlefontaino; 
was horn in New York City, Dec. 16, 1808, and 
was the sou of Kpiiiaini Miller, a carpenter by 
traile. Oursuhjeit learned tiie tratle as a shoe- 
maker in Cincinnati, O., wiiere he had moved to 
when he was a cliild, and working at his trade 
in dilfereut sections of the countiy. He mar- 
ried Susan Thurston, who was born in Massa- 
ciuisetts in 1811; came to Cincinnati wlien 
she was not quite 13 years of age. In 18-52 
tliey moved to Bellefontaine; coming here in 
a two-horse wagon, being one of the first 
regular shoemakers to locate at Bellefontaine, 
working in a building on the site of the C)])era 
House for a number of years. He entered 
the mercantile business, and then in the hotel 
business. He was a soldier in the Mexican 
war, eidistinir in the l.jth Infantry as First 
Lieutenant; here he served for nine monliis, 
doing good service. He was also in the late 
civil war, enlisting in the 13th O. V. I. as 
Captain, and serving sonu- tliree years, and 
p!irtici])ating in a nundjer of engagements. 
He had also a son, Spencer, in the same regi- 
ment, who did good service and was honor- 
al)ly discharged. Mr. Miller has filled several 
ollici'S of public trust, serving as Postmaster of 
B dlefontaine for some four or live years, and 
Deputy Sheriff of Logan Co., filling this office 
with honor and credit. He was liked and 
honored by all. He died .Ian. 4, 18i 7, leaving 
a large familv to mourn his loss. 

J('>XAS MEKKDITH. farmer; P. O., Belle- 
fontaine; is one of the old pioneers of Logan 
Co.; was born in Loudo\ui Co., Va., Mav 24, 
1792, and is the son of B -n jamin and Eliza- 
beth (Ilowelll Meredith; his mother was born 
in Virginia, and his father in I'lnnsylvania; 
they married in Loudomi Co., Va. Bi'iijiimin 
MiTcdilh was a shoemaker by trade, l)Ut in 
latter years engaged in farming. In ISO."), the 
family moved to Belmont Co., O.; here both 
))arents died. Our subject learned his trade 
as u house- joiner, working at difl'erent places, 
when, in 1833, lie came to Bidlefcmtaine and 
worked at his trade. In 1834 he married 
Rebecca Kirkland, and in September, 183.5, 
moved to the pr.'sent homestead, which thcui 
had but little improvemi'uts, in a dense for- 
est; starting at work on the new home, ho com- 



menced clearing- ianil, and to-day has a fine 
farm of 200 acres, m good condition. In 1830 
Mr. Meredith was .lustice of the Peace. Mrs. 
Meredith died April 15, 1807; they had four 
ciiildren, two of whom are living; had one 
son in the ]aU' civil war. Benjamin F. en- 
listed in the ]32d (). V. I., lOO-days service; 
ho is now engaged in farming on the old 
homestead. 

JOHN XEVIX, retired; B,"Ilef,.ntaine; 
was born in Ross Co., O., Sept. 2, 1800, and 
is the son of Willi;im and Mary (Robinson) 
Nevin. He remained in his native county 
until he was eight years old, when he, with 
his parents, moved to Fayette Co., remaining 
there one year; he then moved to H;glil:ind 
Co., where he remained until 183."), during 
which time he went to Ross Co. and began to 
learn his trade as a chair-maker, returning to 
Hillsborough, whei'C he worked until 1835, dur- 
ing which year he cann» to Bellefontaine and 
engaged in workini; at his trade. Soon after- 
wards he embarked in the cabinet-tuaki-r's 
business, which he carried on until 1870, 
when he closed out his business. Mr. Xevin 
was a sufferer by tlu^ big fire in Bellefontaine 
in ] 856, losing some *>3,000 worth of property, 
without any insurance. Mr. Xevin purchased 
his present homestead in 1834, but did not 
move to Bellefontaine until 1835. It has 
been his home ever since, and to-day he is 
recognized as one of its honored and respect- 
ed citizens. He married Miss Nancy G. 
.'^tarr, daughter of James .Starr, who cauK^ to 
Bellelontaine about 1833. By this union 
they have two cliildn^n. 

W. P. PAT'1'ERS( )X, marble works; Belle- 
I fontaine; was born in McArtlmr Tp., Logan 
I Co., Dec. 20, 1830, and is the son of William 
j Patterson, who w-as born in Ireland, having 
emigrated to America when about 13 years 
of age, and located in Pennsylvania; aliuut 
1829 he came to rx)gaii Co., O.; he was a 
brick mason i)y tradi', and was engaged in 
building the first court-house of Logan Co.; 
he also had a brother, Joseph, who was a car- 
penter by trade, and worked on the same 
l)uilding. Our subject remained a resident 
of his native towitship until 1809, iluring 
which time he was eniraged in farming and 
working at his trade of carpenter. During 
the late civil war he enlisted in Co. G. 1st O. V. 
1., where he served three years and fourteen 



^ 



r 






in* 



LAKE T0WN8H1P. 



607 



(lays, participating in all the prominont 
battles and marches of this regiment — Shiloh, 
Corinth, Stone River, Chickamaiiga, Mission 
Ridge, campaign around Atlanta; returning 
home, he then went to Dayton, O., where ho 
worked at the carpenter's trade some two 
and one-half years, when he retiirnod to Lo- 
gan Co. In ISi!) he embarked in the marble 
business, in partnership with J. K. Stewart, 
this firm doing some of the leading work in 
the marble line. Mr. Patterson is now alone 
in the inarlilc business. He married, in 1868, 
Miss Maggie Zimmerman. 

J. S. PATTERSON, potter; Bellefontainc; 
was born in Bellelontaine, O., Feb. X'2, 1854, 
an i is the son of Joseph Patterson, one of the 
pioneers of Logan Co. Our subjec-t learned 
a trade as carnage-maker with Miller Bro's, 
of Bellefontainc, working at his trade until 
1880, when he entered the pottery bui^iness. 
lie is now in company with Nathan Pensey. 
These srentlemcn have just emiiarked in their 
present business, wiiich stands fair to l)e very 
extensive at an early day. Mr. Patterson was 
married in Bellefontainc, Aug. 9, 1876, to 
Miss Dola C. Bnikhart, horn in Lake Tp., 
Logan Co., a daughter of W^ilHam Burkhart, 
who died at 7-i years of age. Mr. Pattersons' 
wife died .July 4. 1880. 

NATHAN PENSEY, pottery; Bellefon- 
tainc; was born in Bellefoutaine, O., Sept. 24, 
1847, and is the son of Samuel Pensey, who 
was born in Lancaster Co., Penn., in 1824. 
Came to Ohio in a wagon with his parents, 
and located in Champaign Co., where he re- 
mained until 1833, wheu he moved to Belle- 
fontainc, where he has been one of its honored 
citizens since; he is now working in the pot- 
tery business. In 1880 he formed a partner- 
ship with Mr. .1. S. Patterson in the pottery 
business; these gentlemen are now engaged 
in an extensive manufacture of pottery, find- 
ing sales for their ware in Bellefontainc and 
surrounding country. Mr. Pensey was married 
in Springfield, in 1878, to Miss Martlia Dailie, 
by whom he has f>ne child. 

JOHN A. PRICE, attorney-at-law; Belle- 
fontainc; was born in Galloway, Mo., Nov. 9, 
1840; is the son of Charles F. M. and Martha 
M. (Kelley) Price; both parents are natives of 
Virginia. John A., with his parents, moved 
to Logan Co., O., and settled in Monroe Tp.; 
here Mr. Price remained until 1800, during 



which time he received a good common school 
education at the West Liberty High School; 
he then came lb Bellefontainc and began the 
study of law in the office of Stanton & Allison. 
In 1S(5"2 he was admitted to practice law in 
the district rovirts. He commenced in Belle- 
fontaine and continued alone in the practice 
of law until 1874, when he formed a partner- 
ship with W. H. Martin, and the firm of Price 
it Martin continued some three years. In 
October, 1870, the law firm of Price & Steen 
was formed, James AV. Steen being the part- 
ner, and is recognized as one of the strong 
firms of the Logan Co. Bar; Mr. Price was a 
soldier in the late civil war, having enlisted 
in April, 1861, in the first company recruited 
in Logan Co., the 13th O. V. I., three months' 
service; he, on account of sickness, was 
honorably mustered out, when he returned to 
Bellefontainc, and in the fall of 1863, re- 
enlisted as Lieutenant of the 5th U. S. Col. 
troops, doing duty with the 18th Army Corps; 
this regiment did some very active work at 
the siege of Petersburg in 18i)4, and other 
noted engagements. While Mr. Price was in 
the service his friends in Logan Co. elected 
him Prosecuting Attorney, when, in 1864, he 
resigned from the service and came home and 
entered upon the duties of his office; he was 
re-elected to the same office in 1866 and 1808, 
when he resigned, having been elected to 
the Legislature in the fall of 1869. hav- 
ing filled the office for one term, He re- 
fused to be a candidate for re-el'Ction. Both 
in the office of Prosecuting Attorney and in 
the State Legislature he has proven himself a 
grentieman of ability, having: filled the offices 
with honor and credit. 

PETER S. POWELL, deceased; Bellefon- 
tainc; was born in North Bend, O., March 13, 
1800, and was the son of William and Elizabeth 
(Stilley) Powell. In 1812 he, with his parents, 
moved to Logan Co., and located in what is 
now Bellefoutaine; here he was engaged in 
fanning. During his younger days he was 
known far and near as a fast runner, and was 
acknowledged the champion foot-racer. On 
one occasion he ran a foot race with a noted 
Indian, who was acknowledg-ed as being one 
of the fastest runners of his tribe. This was 
a big day among the settlers and Indians. 
Alter Mr. Powell had beaten two of the In- 
dians, who were fair runners, they brought 



^ 



oris 



BIOGKAPIIICAL SKETCHES. 



out their ffivat racer, feeliiiir confident that he 
coiiKI licat till- ]);il('lace, but were astonished 
to see how easily their man was beaten, for 
Mr. Powell left' the Indian far in the rear. 
He was married, March i'.), 1827, to Miss Mary 
Smith, who was born in Warren Co. about the 
year 1S()8; she came here with her parents 
aliout 1811, locatin<T about three miles north 
of IJellel'ontaitie; she was the daun:liter of 
Joel and Rhoda Stnith, who both died in Logan 
Co. She livc'l to be about 07 years old. Of 
that family there are three children Hvina: — 
ilarjraret, 'Maria ar.d Mary. By the marriage 
of Peter S. Powell to Mary Smith there are four 
children living — Malinda, Rachel, Henry and 
Mary, all born on the ohl homestead. The 
father died Aug. 'i'i, 1S?8, and thus passed 
a-wav one of the highly respected old pioneers 
of Logan Co. rU'iiry Powell commenced the 
manulacturc of brick in 1877, in which year 
he made some 40(),(l00. The yard is now 
retited to a building eompanv. 

AVILLI.AM POWKl.L, deceased; Belle- 
fontaine; was born in I'cnnsylvania, on a farm. 
When a voung man ho leartied the carpenter's 
trade. In 171)0 or ]7!)7 he came to Ohio, and 
located at North Bend, where he was engaged 
in farming and hunting, remaining there until 
\HOi or ISOI), when he moved two miles east of 
Urbaiia, remaining there until 1813; he then 
moved to what is now known as Bellefontaine, 
I^ogan Co., with his wife and ten children, 
two of whom are now living in I'l'Uefontaine — 
.lames Powell and Mrs. Powell Mays, who 
was born near I'rbana, ()., Dee. ;*5, 180(3; 
came here with her parents in 181:i, aiul mar- 
ried John Mays, of Kentucky; by this mar- 
riage tliey had two chililren, a son and 
daughter. The daught<'r, Llizalieth, was mar- 
ried in 184('i to E. B. Lowe, to whom she bore 
seven chililren. The Powell family came 
here at an early dav, when the Indians and 
wolves were plentiful. William Powell died 
in 1835, at 77 years of age, his wife having 
died in 1840, at 7ti years of age. 

P. K. PET'I'IT, County Judge; Bellefon- 
taine; was born in Onondago Co., N. Y., Oct. 
30, ]81."», and is the son of David and A. 
(Kims) I'ettit, both of whom were born in New 
York; in 183'' he moved to Ohio, and located 
at Mt. Vernon, and in 18:14 came to Logan Ci>., 
locating in JelVer.son T))., from whence, in 
1848, he m ived to West Liberty, and iu 1878 



to Bellefontaine. In 1840 Judge Petsit 
taught his first school in Jelferson Tj)., being 
now one of the old pioneer teachers; he also 
tatight school lor a number of years at West 
Liberty. In 1878 he was elected Probate 
Judge, which otliee he is now filling. He is a 
Republir'an in ])(ilitics, ami a mend)er of the 
Presbyterian Cluirch. He was m:irried in 
1853, to Miss Caroline Tod<l of Pennsylvania, 
deceased, and married his present wife, who 
was Mrs. Susanna (Hoover) Hamilton, in lt-G3. 
By his first wife lie had two children, and two 
have been born to him bv his second marriaire. 
E. PRATT. .M. 1).. Bellefontaine; was born 
near Grandvilh;, Licking Co., O., Nov. 17, 
1837, and is the son of Moses and .-Vbigail 
(Bigelow) Pratt; both ])arents of ^'elUlont. 
Our sulijiM-t, ill 1841), commenced tlie reading 
of mediciiu! under his uncle. Dr. Pratt, then 
with Dr. Thra.l. In 1848 he attended a reg- 
ular course of lectures at the St.irling Medical 
College, anil in 1840 he began the practice 
of his profession at Chathani, Licking Co. In 
18.50, he came to Logan Co., and located at 
Bloom Centre; was thi> first ])liysieian to lo- 
cate at that place. Starting in a new country, 
with rough roads, his practice c.vtending over 
territory some twenty miles away, he re- 
mained in Bloom Ci'iitre until 180.3, and during 
which time he was Postmaster of the ])laee for 
twelve years, and Treasurer of the Townslii]) 
for four years. He was one of the organizers 
of the -Methodist Episcopal Church at that 
plac(>, coming to Bellefontaine in 180.'); he 
continuinl there dtiring Dr. Pratt's ]iraclice in 
Bloom Centre, he treatinir a number of cases 
of milk sickness, with- which he was very suc- 
cessful. He is a member of the Logan Co. 
Medical Society. Married twice; first wife, 
Maria L. Cross, who died in 1800, by whom 
he had threi; children; imirried second ti|U(! 
to .Miss Catharine Rowand, by whom he li.is 
had two children. 

IlOWBERT & REYNOLDS, book and 
notion dealers; Bellefontaine. Among the 
leading nierehants of B.'llefontain<> stand 
the firm of Ilowbert & Reynolds, who com- 
menced business in April, 1880. P. J. Ilow- 
b(Vt was born in Hamilton, Butler Co., O.. 
Feb. 9, 1840, anil is the son of A. and Sarah 
(llelwig) Howbert. His mother is a native 
of Ohio, and his father of Virginia. When 
I Mr. Howbert was but six years of age he, 






LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



with his parents, moved to Crawford Co., re- 
iiiaininii- tliere until 1^61, when lie moved to 
Belli'tbntaine, which has been his home ever 
since, with the excepiion of some eis>'hteen 
months in Kansas and one year in Illinois, in 
which State he engag-ed in the grocery busi- 
ness. In 1868 Mr. H. entered the book and 
stationery business in Bellefoutaine, remaining 
in business some two years. D. R. IJeyiioids 
was born in Juniata Co., Pa., July '■JI, I808, 
and is the son of Isaac and Nancy (liothrock) 
Reynolds. In tracing up Mr. Reynolds wo 
lind his life has been very active; his first ex- 
perience in business was in JIiffl;ntown, Pa., 
in the drug and book l)usiricss, for ton years, 
when he went to Altoona, Pa., and clerked in 
a clothing establishnu^nt one year. In 1861 
he came to Lima, O., where he was engaged 
as salesman with a wholesale grocery house for 
a short time; h(>re during the late civil war 
he enlisted, in 1862, in Co. B, !)9th O. V. I., 
and served for two years, participating in 
the battle of Chickamauga; on account of 
sickness he was honorably discharged, when 
he returned to Lima, O., remaining there two 
years and engaging in the phoLogra])li busi- 
ness, and was a resident of Kenton two and a 
half years; also of Columbus a short time, and 
of Delaware two years, iif the drug and book 
business. In 1875, he came to Bellefoutaine, 
and was bookkeeper in the Miller Bros.' car- 
riage works until 1879. Dec. 17, 1878, Mr. 
Reynolds took out a patent on a stationery 
binder — one of the best binders manufactured 
— meeting with good success with his patent. 
Their place of business is located on Main 
street, occupying a large room 18x70 feet, 
keeping the largest stock of books and notions 
in Belh'fontaine; dointr a leading business. 

GEO. J. RAUSENBERGER, butcher; 
Bellefontaine; was born in Champaign Co., (J., 
in 1850, and is the son of John Rausenberger, 
who came to Ohio at an early day; was for a 
number of years engaged in the butchering 
business in West Liberty, Logan Co., O.; he 
afterwards retired from butchering, and lo- 
cated in Union Tp., on a farm, where he is now 
engaged in fanning. Our subject, when very 
small, entered the butcher shop with his 
father, and remained with hiin engasred in 
butchering; he moved to the farm; he followed 
farming; he was for a short time engaged in 
the butchering business in Lima; he returned 



to the farm, and in 1877 came to Bellefontaine 
and embarked in the butchering and meat 
store business; he to-day is doing- a leading 
business in his line; his place of business 
is located on Main street, near the First Nat- 
ional Bank. 

J. H. ROBISON, Suporintendent of the 
Bellefontaine Woolen Mills; Bellefontaine. 
Among Bellefontaine's loading business men 
is the above-named gentleman, who was born 
in Wayne Co., O., m 18-^8; he entered his 
father's woolen mills at Wooster, O., when a 
boy, first working in the carding-room, then 
the finishing; thence to the dye rooms, work- 
ing in each department until he was thor- 
oughly posted in all de]>artments of the wool- 
en mill business. At the death of his father 
the w'oolen mills were placed in his charge, 
he operating them until 1862; during the late 
civil war he enlisted in Co. I, 102d O. V. I., 
and served as Captain for nearly two years; 
returning to Ohio in 180-t, he returned to the 
woolen mill business in Springfield, O., in 
company with Chas. Rabbitts. They were 
known as the Springfield Woolen Mills, these 
mills turning out at that time the celebrated 
Springfield jean.s, which became widely known 
throughout the country. In 1875, Mr. Rolii- 
son came to Bellefontaine, and in conijiany 
with other leading iTien of the city began the 
erection of the Bellefontaine Woolen Mills, 
which was built under Mr. Robison's s;i- 
pervision, and is, perhaps, one of the most 
complete and perfect mills in the State. In 
18711, the firm was changed to J. H. Rcjbisoii 
& Co., the company consisting of John F. Mil- 
ler and Charles L. Cooley, two wide-awake 
business men of Bellefontaine. 

JACOB A. RYSER, florist; Bellefontaine; 
was born in Germany, May 21, 1821, where he 
married Sophia Vassaux, of Germany. He 
learned his trade as a miller and baker, com- 
ing to America with his wife in 1861 ; came 
direct to Bellefontaine, where he was engaged 
in the confectionery business for several years. 
Mr. Ryser also was engaged in the milling 
business at Mingo, Ohio. In 1876 he first 
embarked in his present business of florist, 
and located south of the city, near the fair 
grounds; he has under cultivation some two 
acres; three hot-houses, 14x68 each; he do- 
ing the leading business in his line in the 
citv. 



-> 



^: 



mo 



BIOGRAPHICAL SCETCHES. 



STIEG & ZEARING, merchant tailors; 
Bt'llcriintaiiie; are rccofijnized as the leadiiifr 
inerfliant tailors of Bellefoiitaiiie; the firm is 
composed of G. W. Stieg, a native of York, 
Pa., and a praclicil cutter, having had some 
twenty years' experience iiithe merchant tail- 
i)rin<r business, first commencing business at 
Ills native ])hice; tlienee to Dayton, O., and, in 
1S7.5, to Beliefontaine. J. Zearing- is a native 
of Ohio, and served in the late war, enlisting in 
Co. G, 131st O. N. G. In 1870 the firm" of 
Steig & Zearing whs formed; their place of 
business is on Columbus street, occupying a 
room 18x127 feet; front room is used as sales- 
room, where may be found one of the most 
complete stocks of hroailcloth, cassimeres, 
piece goods, and a full stuck of gent's furnish- 
ing goods; the rear ri'oni is used as a work- 
sliop. This firm, in all dopartnicnts, employ 
as high as fifteen hands, lining the leading 
business of the kind in Belli fontaine, carry- 
ing a stock of goods amounting to nearly 
|!S,0()0. 

JOHN 11. STEWART, County Auditor; 
Beliefontaine; was liorn in Guernsey Co., O., 
May 1, 1828, and is the son of William Stew- 
art, who was born in Belmont Co., Ohio, in 
1803; his grandfather, John Stewart, came to 
Ohio from Virginia when this State was a 
Territory. John's father was a soldier in the 
late civil war; he enlisted from Logan Co., in 
Co. 1)., 00th O. V. I., at the age of til years; 
he did good service and was honorably mus- 
tered out. Mr. Stewart, in 1832, with his 
])nri'nts, moved to Logan Co., and .settled in. 
Beliefontaine, where his father was engaged 
in the tanni'ry bnsiiicss; the family afterward 
moved to McArthur's Tp., on a farm. Mr. 
Stewart afterwanl removed to Rush Creek 
Tp. where he riMuained initil 1847, during 
wiiic-h time he was engaged in working on the 
farm and in a saw-mill. Leaving Kush Creek 
Tp., he went to (rennantown and learned the 
])Otter's trade, which business he followed, 
working in dilTerent ])arts of Ohio and Indi- 
ana. He ri'turned to Beliefontaine and 
worked at his trade until 1859, when he re- 
tirnd from this business on accovint of ill 
health, and entered the produi-e business, 
whii-h he continued for some four and a hall 
years, whi-n, in 1800, he was appointed Deputy 
Auditor of Logan Co., which he filled for 
Bunie seven years, performing his duty so 



satisfactorily that, in 1873, he was elected to 
the office of Auditor of Logan Co., and re- 
elected to the same office in 1875 and 1877, 
■where he has given entire satisfaction to 
the people, and is recognized as b ing one 
of the most faithful county officers that Lo- 
gan Co. ever /i</(f. Mr. Stewart is a Repub- 
lican and a worker in the party raidvs, also a 
member of the U. P. Church for the last 
thirty-three years. He married in Findlay, 
Hancock Co., Ohio, to Miss Amanda R. 
Beardsley, of Ohio. By this marriage they 
have one child, a son, who is clerk in thi> 
Auditor's office. Mr. Stewart's father and 
two brothers were in the late civil war. 

W. D. SCARFF, M. 1)., Bidlefontaine; is 
the oldest practicing ])hysician in Beliefon- 
taine, having connnenced the ])ractice of 
medicine here some thirty-six years ago; he 
was born in this State, in Green Co., on the 
12th of .May, 181!), and is the son of Dr. John 
and Rachel (Curl) Siarff; both ])arents are 
natives of Virginia, but moved to Ohio in 
about 1817; his father followed the practice 
of medicine for several years, when, on ac- 
count of ill health, he retired to a farm. Mr. 
ScarfF, after receiving a good common school 
education, went to Cincinnati, where he 
attended a course of lectures at the Cincinnati 
Medical College; he then went to Louisville, 
and graduated from the Louisville .Mi-dical 
Institute (one of ,tlie best in the country) in 
184-1, and after graduating, he came to 
Beliefontaine, and began the jiractice of 
his profession, making, including himself, 
onlv three ri'gular ])ractiiing ])hysicians. Of 
that three, Dr. Siartf is the oidy one left in 
the active ])ractico of medii-inr, and is per- 
haps the oldest physician in Logan Co. He 
is a membiT of thi- AiniTican Medical Asso- 
ciation, Ohio Stall' .Mi-dical Society, and the 
Logan County Medical Society. In 1875 he 
was President of the Logan County .Mi-dical 
Society, and in 1870 was First Vice-President 
of the Ohio Medical Society; he has written 
valuable articles for the Lancet (iikI Observer, 
and other jouriuils. Durinor the late civil 
war, he was a])pointcd Examining Surgeon; 
at the close of the war he was apj)ointed 
Examining Surgeon for pensions, which office 
he has filled ever since. Dr. Scailf is a mem- 
ber of th<! .Methodist Episcojial Church. He 
married in 1851, to Miss Lois Whitehead, of 



tht^ 



LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



611 



Ohio; they have two chihlrcn, a son and a 
(laiirrhter. 

REV. W. H. SINGLEY, minister of the 
Lutheran Church; Bellefontaine; was born in 
Johnston, Cambria Co., Penn., Feb. IS, 18-18, 
and is the son of G. W. and Mary Ann (Trefts) 
Siiii^ipy; both parents are natives of Pennsyl- 
vania; !iis grandfather, George Singley, of 
Pennsylvania, a soldier of the war of 1812, is 
now living in Iowa, being 110 years old. Our 
subject's iather was a machinist in early life, 
l)ut later went to farming. In 185(3 our sub- 
ject, with father and family, moved to Iowa, 
a d located on a farm; here Rev. Singley en- 
gaged in farming in the summer months, and 
in the winter attending the district schools, 
where, after receiving a good common school 
education, he began teaching school; alter- 
wards he entered the Bryant, Stratton & 
Co. Business College of Davenport, Iowa, 
and graduated from this place of learninu' 
with the hiiihest honors in 1801). In 181)8 
he came to Springfield, Ohio, and entered the 
Wittemberg College, fiom which ifistitution 
he graduated in the class of 1873, tilling one 
of the highest ])ositions of his class. After 
graduating from this college, he entered the 
Theological Dei>artmont at Yale. After re- 
maining there a short time he returned to the 
Wittemberg College, and finished his studies 
in the theological department in 1875. Uurnig 
the last year he was editor of the college pa- 
per called the IVitienberf/er. His first pas- 
toral work was the Lutheran charge at Osborn, 
Ohio, where he remained until Aug. 1, 1876, 
when he came to Bellefontaine and became 
the jiastorof the Lutheran Church of this city, 
where he has remained since, doing good 
work. In .lanuary, 1877, he, in company with 
several others, entered into the pulilication of 
the LutJurcM J^^vatu/e/ist, Rev. Singley be- 
ing associate editor. In .lanu.iry, 1878, he ed- 
ited and published a Sunday School paper 
called the iSi/»s/iine mul Sliadoir, a neat illus- 
trated ]3aper with a circulation of some 6,LH)0. 
In 1879 he became sole editor of the Lutheran 
Evangelist., which is to-day one of the leading 
papers of the Lutheran Church, with a circu- 
1 ition of some 3,000 copies weekly. Besides 
Rev. Singley's regular pastoral work and edit- 
ing two religious newspapers, he fills the of- 
fice as a mendier of tlie Logan Co. School 
Board. Rev. Singley married in Springfield, 



O., May 20, 1875, Miss Emma E. Houck, 
daughter of W. H. Houck, one of the old and 
respected citizens of Springfield; by this mar- 
riage they have had two children — one de- 
ceased. 

THOMAS M. STEVENSON, Bellefontaine; 
was born in Washington Co., Penn., April 
27, 1807, and is the son of Rev. Joseph and 
Sarah (Marcpiis) Stevenson. Thev, in 1825, 
with a family of nine cliildren, started in two 
wagons drawn by six horses, for Oliio. They 
arrived in Logan Co. on the 7th of May, of 
that year, and located on a farm in a dense 
wood. They moved into a log cabin built 
on the site of the brick house now known as 
the old homestead, remaining in this log cabin 
luitil 1828, when they built the present brick 
house, which is, perhaps, one of the oldest 
residence's in Lake Tp. I^ev. Joseph Steven- 
son, who was born March 25, 1779, was a 
minister in the Presbyterian Church, taking 
an active part in organizing the Presbyterian 
churches at Bellefontaine, Sidney, Stone 
Creek and West Liberty; he died Feb. 24, 
1805. His wife, Sa'ah (.Marquis) Stevenson, 
was born Sept. 5, 1780; she died July 25, 1849. 
Our subject was married in 1828 to Judith 
Hover, who was born Oct. 29, 1806, having 
C(jme to this county with her parents at an 
earh"^ day. By this marriage tliey had nine 
cliildren, of whom si.x are living. She died 
Feb. 12, 1805. Mr. Stevenson built his pres- 
ent home in 1829, where he has lived ever 
since building his log cabin in the woods. 
He set out in clearing the land, and to-day, 
by hard work, the green fields and pastures 
stretch out from the old homestead on every 
hand. Mr. Stevenson, in his younger davs, has 
hunted the deer and wild cat, having killed as 
high as three deer in one day. The farm is 
now worked by his son, D. M. Stevenson, who 
is engaged in the dairy business. He has 
one son, Joseph H., who is a Presbyterian 
preacher, now located in Pennsylvania. 

JA.MES W. STEEN, attoVney at law; 
Bellefontaine; was born in McArthur Tp., 
Logan Co., O., .lune 16, 1855, and is the son 
of James L. and Margaret A. (Wallace) Steen ; 
his mother was born in Pennsylvania, and his 
father in Virginia; he was a farmer, and moved 
to Log-an Co. in about 1849. Our subject 
was left an orphan when a babe. At four 
years of age he was placed in the hands of 



l^r 



CI 2 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



his jjraiidfiitlif'r, James Steen, where he re- 
mained until lie was sixteen years of ajye, 
durinji wliicli time lie was engao-pd in farininjr 
and attended the district schools; at sixteen 
he went to Di-Graff, and accepted a clerkship 
in the Farmers' and Merchants' Bank of 
D.'Graff, where he remaineil about two years, 
when he entered the Wonster College, where 
he reiviaitied one year, and soon after entered 
the Monmouth CoUejye, of Monmouth, where 
ho staid four years, and graduated in class of 
187(', with forty-five in the graduating- class, 
Mr. Steen ranking Kfth of his class; after 
graduating with high honors from the Mon- 
mouth College, taking an active part in a very 
exciting deliate on the following question: 
" Resolved, that the President of the Senate, 
with the aid of the Teller, has a right to declare 
the electoral vote.'' The suhject was taken 
up by two Democrats and two Kepublieans, the 
latter of whom (one was Mr. Steen) came off 
victorious. In 1877, Mr. Steen came to 
Bellefontaine, and began the study of law in 
the ollice of the Jlon. .John A. Price; in 1879, 
he was admitted to the bar, and the same 
y(>ar formed a jiartnership with Mr. Piice, 
styling the lirm Price & Ste<Mi, which is one 
of the leading law linns of the Logan Co. 
Bar. In 188(1 .Mr. Steen w is ele.ted t > th i 
office of City S'.'licitor of Bclh-fontaine, and 
which olficp be is now iilling wlih credit. 

J. O. SWKKT, attorney at law; Bellefon- 
ta-ne; was born in t'ibuna. Champaign Co., 
O., Sept. :i(i, ]>H-i. and is the son of William 
T. and Klizabeth ((uiyton) Sweet; his mother 
is a native of Maryland, and his father of Ohio. 
^Vhen our subject was about 1 vear of age, 
he, with his parents, moveil tf) Logan Co., and 
located on a farm in Union Tji.; from this 
township he moved to McArthur Tp., where 
he eng.iged in farming. At the breaking out 
of the late civil war he enlisted as a private in 
Co. (jr, 1st (J. V. ]., and servf^d with this regi- 
ment two years, participating in the battles 
of Pittsburg Landing, Stone Kiver and Lib- 
erty Gap. On account of sickness, he was 
honorably discliar2:ed, when he n-turned home, 
and, on the :*il of S.-pt., 18(i:5, he rc-enlistcd 
in Co. C, I'ith (). V. C, as (^unrtermasti-r- 
Sir nant, participating in the battle of Mt. 
Steriing, Ky., June !l, ISO-I, where he was 
wou'kIimI ill the right ankle joint, causing am- 
putation of the foot, returning to liis home in 



liOii'an Co. In 1SIJ9 he was electe<l from 
liichland Tp. to the office of Recordfr of Lo- 
gan Co., and re-elected in 1872-'75, filling 
this office for nine years, servinir the people 
of Logan Co. as he served the Union, faith- 
fully discharging his dutv. In IS^l Mr. 
Sweet began the study of htw in the office of 
E. .f. Howenstine. In 187-t he was ailmitted 
to the practice of law. In 1878 the law fiini 
of Howenstine & Sweet was form(>d. and 
to-day is one of the leading law firms of Lo- 
g-an Co. He is a member of the .Methodist 
Episcopal Church. 

MILTOX STEliX, aftorney-at-law; Bello- 
fontaine; was born in Brook (."o., Va., Dec. 
'2-t, 183"i, and is the son of James and Jane 
Steen, both jiarents being natives of Virginia. 
Mr. Steen, with parents, in about 183.5, came 
to Ohio and located three miles east of Dela- 
ware, where they remained until 1838; then 
moved to McArthur Tp., Logan Co.; thence 
to Rush Creek Tji., returning to McArthur T]i., 
where he remained until 18o."), during which 
time he received a good common school educa- 
tion ami taught in the district schools. He 
began the study of law, studving for .a short 
time at Tiffin, 0.; thence to B 'llefontaine, in 
the law office of West & ^^'alkel•, his |)re- 
ceptors. In 185'J he was ailmitted to the 
practice of law, and comnienceil his chosen 
profession at Bellefontaine, im-eting with good 
success, quitting the practice of law to ac- 
co])t a ))osition in the People's Bank of Belle- 
fontaine as Cashier; he remained there some 
three and a half years; then, as Cashier of the 
Citizens' National Bank of same city, three 
years, when he went to DeCirafl", and was 
Cashier of the Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank 
of that ))lace for eigh* years, when he returned 
to Bi'llefontaine and resumed the ]iractice of 
law, being now one of the oldest attorneys at 
the Logan Co. Bar. Mr. Steen was a law 
partner of John Pollock for two years. Re- 
publican in ]iolitics and a member of the 
Presbyterian church. 

JOSEPH SHAW, deceased; Bellefontaine; 
Ex-Supei inteiident of the Bellefontaine City 
."schools. It is supposed that he was born in 
Kentucky, lb- was the son of Robert Shaw, 
who was engaged in farming, and x\lien (piiti; 
y(JUlig, he, with his parents, movi-d to Brown 
Co., O. Here he ren'ained for a number of 
years, during which lime he graduated from 



:|V 



^ 



LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



CIS 



tlio Athens College of Oliio, and was ordained 
as a preacher. He married Miss N. VVaite, 
daughter of Jonathan Waite, an early settler 
of Adams Co., O. In 1840 he moved to 
Washington Co., Penn., where he remained 
some twelve years, during which time he was 
preaching and teaching- a select school, after- 
wards returning to Brown Co., O., and re- 
mained there three years, when he came to 
Bcllefontaine and was teacher in the Union 
Schools under Superintendent Parsons, re- 
maining in that capacity some two years. 
He then went to Sidney, where he was Su- 
perintendent of the Public Schools about two 
years. He then returned to Bellefontaine and 
was made Suj)erintendent of the Citj- Schools, 
and, after filling that position with marked 
ability for about three years, he moved 
to Franklin, Ind., and was Principal of the 
Acad(!niy at that place for two years, when 
he returned to Bellefontaine and was again 
elected to the Superint(>ndency of the Public 
Schools. He was also engaged in the drug 
business in Bellefontaine for a niimber of 
years, and also in the insurance business. Mr. 
Shaw was also, for a short time, engaged in 
teaching school in Cairoll Co., Va. He died 
in 1875, respected and beloved by his fellow- 
men, leaving a wife and lour children to 
monrn his loss. 

E. J. SHORT, merchant; Bcllefontaine; 
was born in Bellefontaine, C., April 9, 1850, 
and is the son of H. D. and Elizabeth (Rive- 
lej') Short; both parents are natives of Pennsyl- 
vania, having come to Bellefontaine at an 
early day. The father was a contractor and 
builder, having erected some of the leading 
houses of this city — Logan House, Fountain 
House, etc. He was for several years Master 
-Mechanic on the C, C, C. & I. R. R. Our 
subject commenced as clerk; he managed to 
save a small capital, and embarked in busi- 
ness for himself, in the frame house west of 
his present place of business; in a few years 
he managed to save enough to erect his pres- 
■ ent business block, which is one of the neatest 
on Columljus street. He is holding office as 
Township and City Treasurer, and married 
Miss Mary Rutan Magrnder, daughter of T. J. 
Magruder. 

.i. THATCHER, milling and lumber; Belle- 
fontaine; was born in Green Co., O., July 9, 
1838, and is the son of A. and I. (Hedges) 



Thatcher, who came to Ohio as early as 1825, 
and located in Greene Co. Our suliiect, when 
in boyhood, moved to Champaign Co., thence 
to Indiana. In ISTO, ho came to Logan Co., 
and entered the lumber business in DjGraff; 
in 1880, he entered the milling and lumber 
business in Bellefontaine, in company with 
Mr. J. M. Dickinson, and to-dav this firm is 
doing the leading buihling and lundier busi- 
ness of the city; their planing mill is 40.\80 
feet, two stories high, with steam ])ower, and 
emjdoying six hands. Mr. Thatcher was a 
soldier in the lat3 civil war, enlisting in the 
(JGth O. V. I., being discliarged on account of 
sickness, contracted while in West Virginia; 
regaining his health, he re-enlisted in the 
33d Ind. Vol. I., where he remained until 
the close of the war, participating in a num- 
ber of battles — Antietam, Nashville, Cedar 
Mountain, etc.; was a brave soldier and 
prompt to dnty. Mr. Thatcher married Miss 
L. Long, of Champaign Co., O., and have 
seven children, five sons aiul two dana'hters. 
THOMAS LEE AVHIGHT, M.D.;' Belle- 
fontaine; maternal grandson of Dr. Samutd 
Huntington, of Craftsbury, V^t., and son of 
Dr. Thomas and Stiphia (Hnntingtou) Wright; 
his mother was born in Vermont, his father, 
lately decep.sed, of Hamilton Co., Ohio. 
Thomas L. was born at Windham, Portage Co., 
Ohio, Aug. ?, 1825. He was educated at the 
Miami Un'versity and at the Ohio Medical 
College. He graduated as an M. D. from the 
latter institution in 1845, ami practiced at 
Kansas City until 1854, chielly among the 
Wyandotte Indians, located near that eitj' at 
that time, but has been since that date estab- 
lished in Bellefontaine. During the session 
of 1855-50, he was lecturer u]>on theory and 
practice in the Wesleyan University. He is a 
member of the Ohio State Medical Society 
and of the Logan County Medical Society, 
and in 1877 was President of the latter. 
Among his published writings mav be men- 
tioned: " Notes on the Tlieorv of Human Ex- 
istence," 1 vol., 8vo. p. 37, 1S48; " Discpiis'- 
tion on the Ancient History of Medicine," 1 
vol., 8vo. p. 84, 1860; "Inquiry into the 
Value of Testimony Respecting Facts as they 
Appear to a Mind Partly Conscious;" "TKans- 
actions Ohio Medical Society, I860;" "The 
Deterioration of the Race upon the Western 
Continent," in Cincinnati Lancet and Observer 



614 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



in September, ]8('4, ami a paufr upon 
"Transceii<l(Mital Meilieine," tho puliiication 
of which was boijun in the Novenibor nuinlier 
of the Lancet aiidOlincrver of 18TS. In 1848 
he eiiitL^d the Ohio Censor, a political journal 
published at Bellefontainp. He has writtL'u 
two es-ays on " Insane Rospoiisibility — Par- 
tial Insanity," and " Responsibility Restricted 
bv Insane Delusion." Dr. AVrijrlit married, 
>iiireh 31, 184C), Lucinda, dau-ut-r of Dr. A. H. 
Lord, of IJ 'Hel'ontaine. He has two children 
— DrrAbiel L.W'riirht and Thomas H. Wright, 
attorney-at-law. While Dr. Wright was a 
resilient of Kansas City, lie was ado|)ted into 
the Wyandotte tribe of Indians, at one of 
their national feasts. The m 'dical l(!ctures 
delivered by Dr. ^^'n^Jht in the city of Keo- 
kuk, Iowa, were given before a class in the 
medical department of the Wesleyan Univer- 
sity of Iowa. While in Keo..uk, Dr. W. de- 
livered two or three lectures on scit'iit'fic sub- 
jects before large and int dligeiit popular au- 
diences. Of one of these lec:ures the l>ailti 
I'Ji'cnuKjTinies oiVoh. 14, 18.50, contains an 
claborati- notice, the editor remarking: "Weat- 
teiiiled th,' lecture of Prof. W:iijht last night, 
at IJurrow's Hall, on tlu' 'Relations of Physi- 
ology to Kducaliiiri,' and were higlily pleased 
at tlie ability with which th<' lecturer handled 
his subject, anil the fidelity with which ho de- 
picted the various and interesting mental 
phenomena that presented themselves in con- 
nection with its consideration," etc. Dr. W. 
has also delivered several addresses on sub- 
jects pertaining to politics, some of which have 
oeen published. One of them can be found 
in the Udhd'ontaine Iliinihliriin of October, 
]S(U), and another in the same paper of the 
l.jthof May, 1803. An address on the sub- 
ject of temperance, delivered on the 8th of 
December, ISilO, will be found in asubseipient 
issue of the lii /nihlifiin. Some of the jiapers 
of Dr. Wright, in addition to those above 
MiiMitiiined, are: An article on "Croup" (Cin- 
cinnati L(ini:i;l and (JLtijri'cr, August, 1857); 
"Ciinvulsions" (////</. October, \SM); <■•■ (Jan- 
iitihin Jndicun " [If'., February, 1803); "Scar- 
latina" {fb., February, 1805); "Cholera" 
(III., .May, ISIiO.) — the article on Cholera re- 
ceived an elaborate review in the Chicago 
Ml dim/ Ej-'iiniiier o( Aiigiist, 1800 — "Ulcus" 
(Cincinnati Lmmt and Obxerfcr, ?\:bruary, 
180r); "The Use uf Tobacco" {lb.. May, 



187^) — this article wa.s extensively copied into 
scientific papers — " Cerebro-spinal Meningit- 
is" {//a, July, 1872); "Science and Revela- 
tion," a ])am|)iilet, 1878; "Some Points Re- 
specting the Res])onsil]ility of the Partially 
Insane " (Cincinnati J^uncet and Vllnii', .lidv 
5-12, 1879) — extensively noticed in seientilic 
works, and ipioted bv the distiii'jrnished legal 
autliority, Francis N\'liarton, in '• The Criminal 
Law " magazine lur .lanuarv, 1880 — " R- spon- 
i-ibiiity Restricted by Insane Delusion " (Cin- 
cinnati Jfi'dical X&irn, November, 1879) — 
very extensively noticed, and elic.ting letters 
of inquiry from Canada to Texas, and from 
Connecticut to Utah. Dr. Wright has also 
written for the Cincinnati J^anci'f and Oh- 
server a series of articles on " Magnetism, 
Light and Topographical Changes in the 
Eai'th's Surface," as they severally influence 
th(! cause and course of disease, and the meth- 
ods of cure. The latest production from the 
pen of Dr. Wright is entilleil, "Cerel)ral 
Trance — .\ Cure — with Simie Critical Re- 
marks," which is printed in the Cincinnati 
LanrH and /'/inic of Sept. 11. 1880. The 
Doctor has jimjected and )>artly written an 
essay in(|uiring into the truth ami expedi- 
ency of the arguments against Revelation, 
which are founded u])on the, natural sciences; 
also, questioning the leijitimacy of the objec- 
tions to the doctrine of a first and intelligent 
cause, which are derived from the sanu; 
source. Dr. Wrisrht is still practicing medi- 
cine in Bellefontaine, and seems to be al- 
ways hard at work with his brains or his 
haiiils. 

JOHN W. W.\l;l). IMIelnntaim-; was 
born in Vates Co., N. V., April 21, 1S21, and 
remained in his native Slati; until he was 14, 
when he came to Ohio and located in Humn 
Co., there remainirrg until about 183!t, when 
111- went smith, and while there the war with 
.Mexico broke out, when he enlisted, at Louis- 
ville, in the lOtli U. S. I. regiiiiiMit, under Capt. 
liranham, for three years or during the war. 
Mr. Ward went to Mexico with the regiment 
and did good service, ])articipating in some 
skirmishing and hard marchinff. .Mr. AN'ard 
enlisted as John W. Denslow, wiiich was his 
iiiother''s maiden name. Returning from .Mexi- 
co, he, in 1855, came to lieihdontaine, where 
he jnirihased a lot and built a hotel, which 
aficrward burned. Mr. Ward was engage d 



^«- 



it^ 



LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



ei5 



in flat-boatiiig, on the Ohio and Mississippi 
Rivers from IS-tO to 1S53. 

A. G.WRIGHT, merchant; Belhefontaine; 
was born in Hillsboroug-h Co., N. H., in 1S;!9, 
and came to Oliio in 1855; ho engaged in 
railroading, being connected with some of the 
leading raih-oads in C)hio an.l Kentucky, and 
was connected with the Ohio & Mississippi 
Railroad when Gen. Geo. B. McClellan was 
its President. In 18G2 he came to Bellefon- 
taine and accepted a position on the C, C, 0. 
& I. R. R. as Master of Bridge Budding; he 
Hied this phice until 1878, retiring on account 
of his health. In 1879 Mr. Wright entered 
the drug business, and it is said that Butler 
& Wright own one of the finest drugstores 
in Logan Go. 

THOMAS N, WRIGHT, Bellefontaine; 
was born at Bellefontaine, Logan Co., Ohio, 
on the 30th of April, 1849. Heread law with 
the firm of Kernan & Kernan, and was ad- 
mitted to the Bar at the spring term of the 
Supreme Court at Columbus, in 1871, and 
subsequently in the Supreme Court at Denver 
City, Colorado, in wiiich city he mastered his 
profession with Gov. Bela M. Hughes, and 
practiced in that Territory for one year. Re- 
turning East, he was appointed to a position 
in one of tiie Government departments at 
Washington, which he held several years; 
resigning at length, he returned to his native 
town, where he is now engaged in the prac- 
tice of the law. 

FRANK J. WERLEY, Bellefontaine; w^s 
born in Seneca Co., Ohio, in 185o, where he 
remained for a numlier of years, entering the 
employ of the C, C, C. & L R. R., and was 
engaged in helping to build bridges, working 
at the stone mason's trade; here he remained 
for some four years. Mr. Werley also learned 
the butcher's trade; this he learned at Belle- 
fontaine, working at his trade for a few 
years. In 1879 be entered the sample-room 
business, becoming sole owner of his business 
in 1880. His place of business is located at 
the corner of Main and Chillicothe streets. 

JAMES WALKER, attorney-at-law; Belle- 
fontaine; was born in Washington Co., Penn., 
April 13, 1830, and is the son of William and 
Elizabeth (Lowther) Walker. His mother is 
a native of Maryland, and his father of Penn- 
sylvania; he was a cabinet-maker by trade, 
and a soldier of the war of 1813. Our James, i 



at 13 years of age, with his parents, moved to 
Ohio aiid located in Knox Co., where he re- 
mained until 1850, during which time he 
graduated from the Martinsliurg Academy. 
Jn 1848, ho began the Study of law in the of- 
fice of the Hon. Columbus Delano, of Mt. 
^'ernon, where he remained f^jr two years. 
In 1850 he was admitted to the Bar, when, in 
the same year, he came to Bellefontaine and 
<;ominenced the practice of biw. In 1854 he 
formed a partnership with Judge W. H. 
West in the practice of law. This Hrni (West 
& Walker) continued until 1807, when the 
law firm of West, Walker & Kennedy was 
formed, which continued until 1878, when 
Gen. Robert P. Kennedy was appointed to 
the oiBce of tinited States Collector, he retir- 
ing from the law firm of West, Walker & 
Kennedy. In 1878 the firm was changed to 
West, Walker & West, and to-day raidis as 
one of the strongest law firms of Central Ohio. 
In 1854 Mr. Walker was elected to the office 
of Prosecuting Attorney of I<ogan Co., and 
re-elected to same office in 1850, filling the 
office for two terms with marked ability. At 
the breaking out of the late civil war he was 
appointed by Gov. Chase as Loan Agent for 
the United States Government in raising 
funds to carry on the war. In this agenov 
he raised 8500,000 for the Government. In 
1803 Mr. Walker was appointed IT. S. As- 
sessor of the 4th District of Ohio, filling this 
office until 1805. In 1808 he was elected 
Mayor of the city of Bellel'ontaine, filling that 
office with honor and credit for twelve years, 
when he resigned to take his seat as a R .pre- 
sentative, being elected to this office in 1879. 
He was married May 4, 1859, to Miss Marv 
Hanger, who was born in Logan Co., O., and 
is the daughter of Frederick Hanger, one of 
the old settlers of this county. By this union 
thev have three children. 

REV. JOHN WILLIAMSON, minister of 
the United Presbyterian Church; Bellefon- 
taine. This gentleman was born in Delaware 
(/O., N. Y., March 9, 1837, and is the son of 
Joseph and Agn-es (Mitchell) Willian s m; both 
parents were born in Ireland, and emig-rated 
to America in 1832. Our subject, in 1843, 
with his parents, moved to Pennsylvania and 
located in the western part of that State; he 
graduated from the Westminster Collei»-e 
of Pennsylvania in 1803; completed the 






^ 



016 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



theolo<^ical course at the Allegheny Seminarj-, 
and w«s licensed to preach in 18G6, and or- 
dained in 1807; his first jtreaching was in Oil 
(Jitv, Pa.; from there ho cauie to Bellelbntaine 
and took charge of the United Presbyterian 
Church of this city in 1806; his first prea! h- 
ing, July 1, 186G, in BoUefontaine; here he 
has been located ever since, and, with one 
exception, is the oldest resident minister of 
Bellefontaine. During Rev. Williamson's resi- 
dence in Bellefontaine lie. has filled the office 
as a member of the Board of County School 
Hxaniiners for about eleven years, with honor 
and credit; he was for ten years President of 
the Logan Co. Teachers' Association. Rev. 
A\'illiamson was a solilier of the late civil war, 
having enlisted in the three niimths' service in 
Peinisylvania during Lee's invasion of that 
State. 

.1. M. WILLIAMSON, lumber merchant; 
Br-llefontaine; was born in Warren Co., O., 
in 1827, and is the son of George and Jane 
(.Morrison) Williamson, who came to the State 
of Ohio at an early day. Our subject was 
en'Vasrod some two years in Warren Co., in 
till- Inndter business, when he, in 1873 came 
to Bellefontaine and entered the lumber 
business with E. W. Iloge, which partner- 
ship continued up to 1878. In 187!) the firm 
of Williamson & Lesourd was formed, which 
to-day is one of the largest lumber firms of 
L'lM-aii Co. 

j)l!. AMIEL LORD ^VR!(';^1T; Bellefon- 
ttine; was born in Bidlefonlaiiie, ()., April 3, 
1847; he received his prelimituiry education 
at the high schools in the town of his nativity. 
At the age of IS, the civil war yet pending, 
he entered into the study of medicine with a 
view to entering the service in the cajiacity 
of Surgeon, but the war closed before he had 
.omplctcd his meilical studies. Dr. \\'right 
attended a course of lectures at Starling 
.Medical College, an<l graduated at the .Miami 
Medical College, of Cincinnati. After a prac- 
tice of tliree years, he was couipelled to 
abandon his profession on account of greatly 
impaired health, attended by an intense 
heailache. Rest and time have accomplislu'd 
a cure of this trouble, and the doctor is now 
employed as a reporter forseveial prominent 
ne\vspapi-rs in Cinciniuiti and Chicago. In 



this difficult business he is aquitting himself 
with great credit. 

J. P. WALLACE, i.hysician; Bellefontaine; 
was born in Oxford, Ohio, Aug. ">, 1849, and 
is the son of the Rev. Samuel and Nancy A. 
(Barnett) Wallace, both of Ohio. He re- 
ceived the principal part of his education at 
the Pickaway High School, and graduated 
from the Monmouth College in 1800. In J871 
he commenced the study or medicine and 
graduated from the Ohio Meilical College in 
1874, and the B.-lleview Hospital Medical 
College of New York in 1875. He com- 
menced the jiractice of medicine in Pickaway 
in 1877, arul came to Bellefontaine and began 
the practice of medicine with Dr. Fuller. 

DAVID WATSON, jihysician; Bellefon- 
taine; was born in Adams Co., O., Aug. IL 
1810, and is the son of William and Ruth 
(Farin) Watson, .both natives of Ireland. 
They married in Ireland, and, with two 
children, came to Anu-iicain 181)0, locatinj. in 
Philadelphia, afterwards moving to Adams 
Co., O., and from there, in 1823, came to Lo- 
pan Co., and located in McArtluir Tp., where 
he died at 85 years of age, and his wife over 
80 years of age, respected ami honored by all. 
They had twelve children, of whom only three 
are now living. Our subject remained in Mc- 
Arthur Tp. until 1830, when he canie to Belle- 
lbntaine and <'ommeiU'ed the study of medi- 
cine under Dr. Benjamin S. Biown, one of 
the pioneer doctors of Logan Co., and in 1845 
commenced the ])ractice of me<lii-ine in La 
Fayette, Allen Co., n'maining there two years, 
when he went to U]ii)er Sandusky, where lie 
remained a luimber of years, sjiending one 
summer in Iowa. In 1857 he came to Belle- 
fontaine, where he has continued the practice 
of his profession ever since, enjoying one of 
the leading jiractices of Logan Co., and |ier- 
haps has been the most successful ]>hysician 
of the county. In 1873 he formeil a partner- 
ship with Dr. P. 1). Covington, which contin- 
ued up to 1877. Dr. Watson is a memlier of 
the Logan Co. Medical Society, of which he 
has been President. He married Miss Eliza 
Richardson, of Shelby Co., O.. who has borne 
him six childii'ii, oin- of whom fs living — ^^a 
(laughter. The doctor lost one of his legs April 
13, lK3'.i, from injuries received at a log-rolling. 



— 9 



At 



HARRISON TOWNSHIP. 



619 



HARRISON TOWNSHIP 

JOHN H. ALEXANDER, larmer; P. O. 



Bellcfoiitaine; was born in Pcniisj-lvania, June 
14, 1819; is a son of William and Elizabeth 
Alexander, who were also natives of Pennsyl- 
vania. They came to Logan Co. in 1837, and 
have lived in the county ever since. Mr. 
Alexander >cnt his youth with his parents, and 
received a common school edvication. lie was 
married, Jan. '25, ISIS, to Lucinda Inskeep, 
whose parents were very early settlers of the 
county, and were natives of Virginia. From 
this union there are eleven children. Mr. 
Alexander purchased the farm that he -now 
resides upon, while heavily wooded, and has 
cleared and improved it. He began business 
for himself a poor man, and now is in jj^ood 
circumstances. He and his wife are members 
of the Presbyterian Church, and are respected 
members of societ}-. 

ANNA BRENNER; P. O., Bellefontaine; 
was born in Lancaster Co., Penn., in 
1818. She is the dauohter of John and Maria 
Shenk, who were also natives of Pennyslvania. 
She resided with her parents until her mar- 
riage, which vi'as in 1835, to Christopher 
Brenner, who was born in Pennyslvania in 
1812. They were botii of German descent. 
From this union there were ten children — 
Mary A., Elizabeth, Jacoli, Catharine, John, 
Philip, Romanas, Susan, Garhart and Henrv. 
The lather and four of these children are now 
dead. They all died within fifteen months of 
the death of the first one. The father died 
Aug. 17, 1876. Philip was born Ang. 11, 
1816, arrd died Dec. 8, 1875; Garhart, born 
Apirl 2, 1853, and died Oct. 22, 1875; Henrv, 
born Oct. 23, 1855, died July 20, 1876; Susan, 
born April 29, 1851, died Jan. 7, 1877. iMrs'. 
Brenner came to liOgan Co. in 1837, with her 
husband, and settled in Harrison Tp., three 
miles west of where she now lives, and where 
they lived until 1861, when they came to their 
present home. The farm that they first set- 
tled on was heavily timbered; they cleared 
and improved it, and afterwards sold it and. 
purchased the farm that Mrs. Brenner now 
lives on. They began business for themselves 



very poor, and by their industry and perse- 
verenee gained quite a fortune. Mrs. Brenner 
and husband were members of the German 
Baptist Church, and lived consistent with its 
teachings. 

J. E. CARR, farmer; P. O., Bellefontaine; 
was born in Virginia in 1820. Daniel Carr, 
his father, was born in Germanv, and came to 
America when quite young. They settled in 
Mrginia and resided there until ab(mt 1820, 
when they came to Logan Co. The mother 
was a native of Virginia. The^' settled in 
Bellefontaine, where the father died in about 
1831. The family, after the death of the 
father, lived in various places in the countv. 
They were very poor, and our subject had to 
help maintain the family. The countv was 
quite new then and he did a great deal of 
clearing, and splitting rails, and in this 
way laid the foundation of his fortune, i 
He now owns as fine a farm and as 
well improved as any in his part of the coun- 
ty. His business since his marriage has been 
farming and stock-growing. He did not have 
the advantages of education when he was 
young, as is afforded at the ])resfnt time, 
therefore his was limited. He was married 
in 1851 to Nancy r)ouglass. She was born 
in Pennsylvania and her jiarents were natives 
of the same State. They came to Logan Co. 
in 1832. From this union there were ten 
children, two now dead. He and his 
wife are members of the Lutheran Church. 
Mr. Carr has resided on the farm he now lives 
upon since 1830, and he has cleared and im- 
proved his land himself. He is in every re- 
spect a self-made man. 

CHRISTOPHER CULP, farmer; P. O., 
Bellefontaine; was born in Logan Co., July 
4, 1847; is a son of David and Catharine Culp. 
The father was a native of Virginia, and the 
mother of Pennsvlvania. Mr. Cvdp's parents 
came to Logan Co. in a very early day. He 
was raised on a farm, receiving a good educa- 
tion, and began business for himself at 29 
years of age. He was married in 1871 to 
Marj' A. Roof, who was born in Virginia, and 



-^|v 



-^^J- 

■^-r*- 



±1 



020 



BIOGRAPHICAL SXETCHES. 



came to Lo<>ari Co. with her parents in about 
iS&i. From this union tliere were five chil- 
dren, one now (h'ad — Eltie, "S^'illiaui D., An- 
rn'e,Calliarineiin(l.John. Mr. Culpentered bus- 
iiii'ss ibr liimselt". but has since been assisted by 
liis father to a farm. He and his wife are 
niend)ers of tlie German Baptist Church. 

HIIODA CARNS; Bellefontaine. The 
subject of this sketch is one of the ohlest res- 
idents of the county; she was born in Rose 
Co., O., March 9, 180G. Her fAther was a na- 
tive of Pennsylvania and her mother of New 
.Jersey'. The mother died in Fayette Co., O., 
and -Mrs. Cams came to Lou^an Co. witii her 
father in about 1818. Her father, Geo. W. 
Heath, was a soldier in the war of 1812; lie 
died in about 184(1. She was married in 1824 
to Micliael Cams, who was a native of Vir- 
irinia, and came to Logan Co. at about the 
same time that his wife's people did. They 
iiad a family of eleven chihlren, four of whom 
are now dead — Annie, Rachel, Elizabeth, 
Catiiarine, Nancy, .Janc\ George W., John and 
Michael; two died in infancy. The father of 
these children died in about 1850. Mrs. 
•Cams was here before the county was or- 
ijanizi'd, and has s?>en all the chanj^es, as they 
have tidien ])lace, in the county. 

HEXRV CASEBOLT, faVmer ; P. O., 
Bclli-fonlaine; was born in Lo^an County in 
1821, is a son of Robert and Haruiah Case- 
bolt. The father was a native of ^'i^l^inia, 
and till- mother of Ohio. They settled in 
Champaign Co. in about ISi;!, whore they 
lesided a shcirt lime, and in 1814 or' 15 came 
to Logan Co. where the parents lived and 
died, and where Henry still lives. The 
father tlied in 1801, and the mother in 18G5. 
Mr. Casebolt was married in lS,")i; to Sarah 
J. Taylor, who was born in N'irginia and came 
to Logan Co. with her jiarents in aiiout 
1843; from this union there were ten children, 
two of whom are now dead. He began 
business for himself entirely upon his own 
responsibility, and bj- hard work and proper 
economy ho has accumulated quite a fortune; 
he now has a farm of 248 acres of well 
improved lai\d, most of which he cleared and 
improveil himself. He has always folluwe I 
farming and stock-growing for a l)usiness. 
His father was a Methodist minister and 
preaclii-il fur a great many years. .Mr. Casebolt 
and family are members of the same church. 



GEORGE GULP, farmer; P. O., Bellefon- 
taine; was born in F^ogan Co. in 1844; is a 
son of David and .Mary C. Culp. The father 
was a native of \'irginia, and the mother of 
Pennsylvania. They came to Logan Co. in a 
very early day. (ieorge Culp was married in 
1807 to Mary E. Kerr, whose parents were 
very early settlers of the county. From this 
union there are three cliildren — Laura, Ada 
and David. Mr. Culp, after proving his will- 
ingness to do for himself, was assisted by his 
father to a good farm, which he is now in pos- 
session of. He and his wife are members of 
the German Bn)itist Church. 

JOHN DETRICK, farmer; P. O., Belle- 
fontaine; was born in Logan Co., June 20, 
1830. His parents, Peter and Sarah Detrick, 
came from Hardy Co., Va., to Logan Co. in 
182!),' settling in Harrison Tp., where they 
resideil about tiiree years, when they went to 
the adjiiining township of L'nion, whore they 
died. The father died in 180S and the 
mother in 1878. John was raised on a farm, 
received a common school ednoation, and at 
the age of 21, began business for himself, 
with a pair of willing hands for his capital, 
and by using them to good advantage, has ac- 
cumulated (juite a fortune. He was married 
Nov. 27, 1855, to Prudence J. Cummins, 
daughter of George and Sarah Cuinnuns, who 
came to Logan Co., |)rovious to the war of 
1812. From this nidon there arc four chil- 
dren, Benjamin E., James <)., Anis A. and 
Peter A. .Mr. Detrick was in the late r<d)el- 
lion. He went out May 2, 1804, and received 
his dischar<re So))t. 2 of the same year. He 
was in Co.li, 130 O. ^'. T. 

PHOEBA DUNSON, Bellefontaine, was 
born in Logan Co., O.. in 1829; is daugh- 
ter of Jo(d and Elizabeth Thomas. She re- 
sided with her ])aronts until her mnrriage, 
which was about 1849, to Benjamin Doer- 
wester, who was born in Licking Co., Ohio. 
From their union there were ten children, 
four of whom arc now dead — Mary J., Louis, 
Sarah E., Elisa, Phoeba A., George, Joel, 
Rachel F.; two also died in infancy. Mr. 
Deerwester ilied in ]8()3, and she was again 
married in 18^") t<i Willimn Duiison, she be- 
ing his third wifi>. Tlu'y lived togethiM- about 
four years, whi-n he died and slu' was for the 
sec'ond time loft a widow. Hor last husband 
was born in Logan Co., in 18O0. Ho was 






^i 



IIAURISOX TOWXSHIP. 



621 



father of eleven children by his first wives. 

GEORGE E. EMERY, faimor; P. O., Belle- 
fontaiiie; was born in Chester Co., Penn., in 
18-lG; is a son of James and Eliza A. Emery, 
who were natives of the same county in 
Pennsylvania; they came to Logan Co. in 
185-t. Mr. Emery was raised on a farm, and 
has followed farmino- principally for a busi- 
ness; he taui^ht school four winters previous 
to his marriag-e; he took a commercial course 
and g-raduated at Poua^hkeepsie, N. Y. ; was 
married in 18i2 to Nancy Horn; she was 
born and raised in Logan Co.; from this 
union there is one child, Effie A. He has 
followed farming and stock-growing for a 
business since his marriage, and has been 
very successlul; his wife is a member of the 
Lutheran Church, as are all lier folks. Mr. 
E. is a Republican. 

JOHN H. EATON, farmer; P. O., Belle- 
fontaine; was born in Jefferson Co., Kentucky, 
June 14, IS'^8; is a son of "William G. andEli- 
zalieth Eaton, the father is a native of Wood- 
ford Co., and the mother of Shelby Co., Ky.; 
her maiden name was Bridgewater; her father, 
and also our subject's father, served in the 
war of 181:2, and his grandfathers on both 
sides served in the Revolutionary war. In 
1S;5], Mr. Eaton went with his parents to 
Shelby Co., Ind., and resided here with them 
until about 1810, at -which time he began 
business for himself. Starting out at eighteen 
years of age, and no more of a start in life 
than his two hands and his thorough willing- 
ness to use them, he has been ver\' success- 
ful. He followed various occupations, and of 
late years has been farming. He was married 
Dec. 16, 1858, to Smyra A. Runyan. She 
was born in Jennings Co., Ind. Her mother 
was a Branam, and a native of Kentucky, and 
her father was a native of New Jersey, and 
came to Indiana in a very early dav. From 
this union there are three children, Charles 
S., Henrj^ W., and Lay ton H. Mr. Eaton's 
father resided in Indiana until 18.56, when he 
went to Illinois, where he died in 1874. He 
was a Baptist preacher, and preached the 
gospel for more than fifty years. The mother 
died in 1877. Mr. Eaton and wife are mem- 
bers of the Presbyterian Church and aim to 
lead exemplary lives. 

HENRY GOOD, farmer; P. O., Bellefon- 
taine; was born in Logan Co., March 16, 



1828, and is son of Jacob and Elizabeth 
(Houts) Good, who were natives of Loudoun 
Co., Va., and came to Logan Co. about 
1820. They settled in Harrison Town- 
ship, one mile west of Bellefontaine, on the 
farm where Henry Good now lives. They 
purchased this farm in the woods and im- 
proved it ; the father and mother both died on 
this farm. Mr. Good spent his youth and 
early manhood on his father's farm, receiving 
a good education, and at the age of nineteen 
went to learn the carpenters' trade, a business 
he followed for about twenty years. He has 
lived on the old homestead most of his life, 
being away some ten or twelve vears in his 
earlier married life. He was married April 
12, 1855, to Elizabeth King; she was born 
in Logan Co., April 27, 1833; her par- 
ents were natives of Kentucky and came to 
IjOgan Co., in a very early day, where 
they resided until their deaths. From their 
marriage there were six children, three of 
whom are dead. Maneroy J., Jacob K., 
John, Ella and Minnie E.; one of their chil- 
ren died also in infancy. Mr. Good began 
business for himself entirely upon his own 
resources, and by hard work and proper 
economy, and the aid of an industrious wife, 
he has accumulated enough to keep himself 
and family without the necessity of hard 
work. He owns the old homestead which 
has been brought to its present excellent 
state of cultivation, principall}' by his own 
work. 

WASHINGTON HAMER, farmer; P. O., 
DeGrafi"; was born in Lancaster Co., Pa., in 
1.820; is a son of William and Margaret Ha- 
tner, who were also natives of Pennsjdvania. 
They came to Green Co., O., in 1835, and in 
1831 to Logan Co. Mr. Hamer remained at 
home during his youth; he was married Nov. 
13,1845, to Margario Stewart, who was born 
in the adjoining county of Champaign. From 
this union there were two children, both of 
whom are now dead. His father died in 1803, 
and his mother in 1871. Mr. Hamer, by hard 
work and proper economy, has accumulated 
quite a fortune; he has always followed farm- 
ing and stock-growing for a business. 

JACOB HORN, farmer; P. O., Bellefon- 
taine; was born in Preble Co., Ohio, in 1818; 
is a son of John and Nancy Horn, who were 
natives of Virginia, and came to Preble 



^ 



^u. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Co. in about 1814, where they resided until 
1828, wlicn tlicy came to Logan Co., where 
tlie family have ever since resided. The 
father died about 1804, and the mother is yet 
living on the old homestead, north of Belle- 
fontaine. Mr. Horn was raised on a farm, and 
has always followed farming and stock-growing 
for a business. He has been more fortunate 
than the majority of people in tlie way of 
acquiring wealth; he began for himself, en- 
tirely upon his own resources, and is now in 
good circumstances, and has been able to give 
his children a good start in life. He was 
married April 2, 1844, to Eliza Lang, who 
was born in Washington Co., Pa., and came 
to Loiian Co. with her parents about 1830. 
From this union there were six children, John 
!>., William M., Nancy M., S. L., Columbia 
A. an<i .Mary E. The mother of these chil- 
dren died S pt. 30, 1879. Mr. Horn and his 
entire family are members of the Lutheran 
Church. Politically, he is a Repui)lican. S. 
L. Horn, his married son, resides on the farm 
with him. He is a young man of tine abili- 
ities, and is nnich respected by all. He was 
married in November, 1877, to Margaret A. 
Makcmson. Hcsr father was born in Logan 
Co., and her mother was a native of Virginia. 
They have one child, Tiry W. S. L. has 
always followed farming for a business; also 
deals some in stock. 

ALEX.ANDKK B. Il.VZEL, farmer; P. 0., 
Bellefontaijic; was bdrn iti .Maiyland, in 1800; 
his parents were natives of the same State, 
and where they died when he was quite young. 
He was cast on th(! charities of the world 
when he most needed the care that only a 
parent can give. He came to Logan Co. witii 
a friend when but 10 years of age, and has 
resided in the county ever since. The educa- 
tion he received was very limited. Left 
wholly upon his own resources in the world, 
lie set diligently to work, and so gained in 
time something of a fortune. He began in 
the woods, anil the farm that he now lives on 
was cleared an<l iiiq)r()Ved by him. He was 
married, in 1827, to Eliza Powell, who came 
Irom the State of Delaware to Logan Co. in 
a viry early day. They had a family of nine 
children, five of whom are now dead. Mr. 
lla/el is line of the oldest surviving settlers 
of ihi; county. He came in 1818, one year 
before the county was (irganized, and lias seen 



all the changes that have taken jilace in the 
county in that time. He and his wife arc 
members of the Gcrniati Ba])tist tyhurch. 

EDWAPD II.A.MSIIEH, lanner; P. O., 
Bellefoniainc; was born in York State in 1830, 
is a son of Peter and Al)aliiia Hamsher, who 
were natives of Pennsylvania. They went to 
York State in 1820, and from there tliey 
went in 1834 to Michigan, coming to Logan 
Co., in 1837, where the parents died — the 
father in 1842, and the mother in 1878. Mr. 
Hamsher was laiscd on a farm, and has always 
lollowed farming for a business. He was mar- 
I led, in 1854, lo .Margaret Houts, who was born 
in Logan Co. Her father was a native of 
Virginia, and came to the county in a very 
early day. From this union then; is one child, 
James. Thi! mother of this child diid in 
18,j5. Mr. Hamsher never married again. 
He began business for himself a poor man, 
and by hard work and ])roper economy h;is 
accumulated something of a fortune. The 
farm that he now lives on was cleared and 
improved by himself. 

JOHN IIOUTS, farmer; P. O., Bellefon- 
tainc; was born in Virginia, Jan. 25, 17'.t'.). 
His father was born in Pennsylvania; went to 
Virginia when (|uite a young man, where he 
raised his family, and in 1810 came to f-ogan 
Co., John coming with him. The father died 
here in 1.^24. .Mr. Houts spent his youth .-ind 
early manhood with his ])arcnts, and received 
such an education as the coiinnon schools ot 
those early days aflorded. He was nianii'd 
twice; his first marri.ige was to Catiiarine 
Wise, in 1825. She was born in Swil/erlanil, 
and came to America when 10 years of age. 
From this marriage there were ten childivn. 
She died March 27, 1842. Mr. Houts was 
again married, in 1843, to Elizabeth Sliawver, 
wlio came from ^'il•ginia to Logan Co. in a very 
early day, and from this marriage there were 
four cliiidren. He yet lives on the farm that 
his father purchased on coining tothe county, 
and which he ch^ared and improved. His 
secoiul wife died June 15, 1855. Mr. Houts 
now is among the oldest settlers of the 
county, and has vivid recollections of the 
hardships of the old pioneer.'*. 

JOHN M. IIUBEH, farmer; P. O., R.^llefon- 
taine; was born in Logan Co., Aug. 23, 1834; 
is a son of Joseph and Barbara A. Huber, 
the father was born in Baden, Germany, 



■< 1 

^^i r- 



^! 



IIARrasOX TOWNSHIP. 



g: 



ami tlie mother in Ohio. The fiithcr came 
to America in ItJ^SO, and settled in Looan 
Co. in 1831; he was a shoemaker liy trade, 
a business he followed for a great many 
years. .John M. Huber resided with his par- 
ents until of ag^e, learniiiir ids father's trade; 
he followed this business for about eleven 
years, and then went to farming, and has been 
farniino- for the last twenty years. He was 
married in 1S50 to Sarah 0. Aloor, she was 
born in the county, her father was born in 
Licking Co., O., aTid the mother in Pennsyl- 
vania. They came to Logan Co. in an early 
day. From this union there are eight children. 
Mr. Huber, by hard work and economy 
has gained a competency. Hi? wife is a mem- 
ber of the Presbvterian Church. 

JOSEPH HUiiEH, farmer; P. O., ]5ellc- 
fontaine; was born in Baden, Germany, in 
1809; he resided there with his parents until 
'^1 years of age. He v/as partly educated for a 
Priest, but iiaving no taste for the profession, 
he managed to be released from his studies, 
and came to America. His father was a shoe- 
maker, and .loseph had learned the trade of 
him, and afterwards followed that business in 
Bellefoutaine, O., for a great manv years; 
he came to America in 1830, and followed 
the cloc^k business for several years; he set- 
tled in Logan Co. in 1831, and has been in 
the county ever since; in 1861 he came to the 
farm that he now resides on ; he was married 
in 1831 to Barbara A. Smith, who was born 
in .Jefferson Co., O. Her parents were natives 
of Pennsylvania. From this union there were 
eight children, two now dead — John M., Mar- 
garet, Catherine, Hilary, Sarah, Lydia M.; two 
died when young. Mr. Huber began business 
for himself when he came to America, entirely 
u]5on his own resources, and, by hard work 
and proper eeononu-, has made quite a fortune. 
He and wife are members of the Lutheran 
Church. 

JOSEPH S. HOI^N, farmer; P. O., Belle- 
lontaine; was born in Logan Co., July 18, 
1848; is a son of Henry and Mary tlorn. 
The father was born in Preble Co., O., and the 
mother in Pennsylvania. They came to 
Logan Co. in a very early day. Mr. Horn 
■was raised on a farm, and has always followed 
farming for a business. He resided with his 
parents until his marriage, which was Sept. 
28, 1871, to Elizabeth Albright. She was 



bom in Pennsylvania, and came to J^ogan Co. 
with her parents when quite young-. They 
had a family of three children, one of whom 
is now dead — Dora P., lienrj' E. and Charley 
li. Mr. Horn has been very successful in his 
business, and is in good circumstances; begin- 
ing on his own responsibilities and making 
most that he now has by his own efforts. He 
and his wife are members of the JjUtheran 
Church. 

JOHN F. KAYLOR, farmer and miller; P. 
O., Bellefoutaine; was born in Rockingham 
Co., Ya., Aug. 1.5, 1829; his parents were also 
natives of Viiginia, and came to Logan Co. in 
1833. Mr. Ivaylor was raised on his father's 
farm, and received a common school education. 
He was married Dec. 25, 1845, to Eliza A. 
Baldwin, whose parents came to Greene Co., 
O., from Yirginia, at a very early day, and 
from there went to Ottawa Co., O., where 
her parents died, and where she lived until 
the date of her marriage. From their mar- 
riage twelve children, one now dead — .James 
R., Amy E.. Winliekl S., Ida M., Mary K., 
Frank B., Charles E., Immogena S., Pearl A., 
Leonidas, Arthur C, Hattie F. Mr. ICaylor 
began business for himself entirely upon his 
own resources, and by proper economy and 
industry has accumulated something of a for- 
tune. He now owns a farm of 50 acres, 
well improved. He has on this farm a grist- 
mill, which was the first mill built in his part 
of the county. It is run by water-power and 
was built in 1830 by Daniel Shawver, and 
was purchased froni him by J. R. Milliner, who 
remodeled it atid put in the later improve- 
ments of that day. J. F. Kaylor was the next 
purchaser of this mill, and he is the present 
owner. Mr. Kaylor has a business here that 
is profitable, although the old mill has not the 
business that it had in former years. 

JOHN MARCH, farmer; P. O., Bellefou- 
taine; was born in Germany ilaj- 19, 1825. 
He came to America in 1855, and settled first 
in Fairfield Co., where he only stayed a short 
time, going from there to Pickaway Co., where 
he remained two years, and in 1858 came to 
I^ogan Co. He received his education in the 
old country. He was married in Fairfield 
Co. to Caroline Gerstacker, who was also born 
in Germany and came to America in the same 
year with Mr. March. They were married in 
1855, and have a family of five children — 



-If 



V 



624 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



SiiUie J., Annie E., Mary, John W., and 
Cliarlev S. Mr. March began business for 
himself on first coining to America, a poor 
man, and, jjy that close attention to business 
for wliich the German is specially noted, he 
lias gained quite a fortune, and now owns 13'4 
acres of well improved land near Beliefon- 
taine. 

J. B. MILLER, farmer; P. O., Bellefon- 
taine, was born in Ciaremont Co., O., Oct. 7, 
1S04. His parents were natives of Pennsyl- 
vania, and came to Kentucky in a very early 
drty, and shortly after to Ciaremont Co., 
where the mother died in 1813. The father 
moved from Ciaremont Co. to Montgomery 
Co. shortly after the mother's death, where he 
resided until his death, which occurred in 
1805. Mr. Miller resided with his father until 
of age, at which time ho began business for 
himself; he was married, in 18"^8, to Cathar- 
ine Neer, who w;is born in Virginia in 1805, 
and came to Ohio with her jiarents when 
twelve years of age. From this union there 
were seven children — two of whicli are now 
dead — Annie, Sieplien, John, Samuel, Noah, 
Mary and Daniel. Mr. Miller came to Logan 
Co. in ]8;J4, and pnrcliased the farm that he 
now resides upon, and which he cleared and 
improved and which he has lately sold to his 
son Samuel, who was born on tlie farm and 
was desirous of owning the old homestead; he 
was born in 1840, and spent his youth with 
his father, and received a common school 
edutation, anil was married Dec. 2'i, 18U3, to 
Elizabeth A. Milliner, who was born in this 
county Oct. 7, 1841 ; her parents were born 
in Ohio. Fioni this marriage there were 
nine children — two now dead — Albert L., 
Annie A., AN'illiain H., Edward F., Charles M., 
Mary B., Harvey A., Andrew J. and Ada E 
Ho began business for himself entirely upon 
hisown responsdjility, and is now in independ- 
ent circuinstanei's, and owns a farm of 109 
acres of well improvi'd land. 

S. B. MYERS, farmer; P. O., Bellefontaine; 
was bt)rn in York Co., Pa., in 18'-J'2; his par- 
ents wore natives of the same State, and 
wliere ihey died. Mr. Myers is a cooper by 
trade, a business ho followed but a few 
years, his principal business being farm- 
ing. He was nnirried in 1843 to Sutan 
Elcook, who was born in the same coun- 
ty in Peiin>yivania. They have a family of two 



children — Alvina S. and Wesley C. Mr. Myers 
came to Logan Co., O., in 1853, where lie has 
since lived w-ith the exception of two and a 
half years that he resided in Champaign Co. 
He began business for himself cntireiy upon 
his own resoures, and is now in good circum- 
stances. 

WILLL\M H. NEER. farmer; P.O., Belle- 
fontaine; was born in Liiking Co., ()., in 1823; 
son of Adam and Elizabeth Neer, who were 
born in Lancaster Co., Pa., and where they 
resided until about 1803, when they left the 
place of their nati /itj' for that of Licking 
Co., and in 1832 they came to Logan Co., 
where the parents died; the father died in 
1801 and the mother in 1852; they had a 
family of twelve children, five of whom are 
now dead. Our subject, William H. Nei-r, was 
raised on his fa;her"s farm, and had the ad- 
vantage of a common school education; he 
was married in 1850 to Elizabeth Carnes; her 
parents were among the earliest settlers of 
Logan C'o. From this union twelve ciiildrcn 
also, the same as in his father's family; three 
of them are now dead. Mr. Neer begin 
business for himself, relying entirely upon liir 
own resources, and has made all he now has 
by his own hard work; he owns a good farm 
two miles west of Bellefont'iiiie, most of 
which he cleared and improved; he has al- 
ways followed farming and stock-raising for 
a business; he and family are members of 
the Christian Church. Politically, he is a Dem- 
ocrat. 

JOSEPH M. PORTER, P. O., Bellefon- 
taine; was born in Washington Co.. Pa., April 
14, 1824; his parents, Charles and Margaret 
Porter, were natives of the same county; they 
came to Licking Co., Ohio, in 1825, where 
they resided until 1832, ami came to Loiran 
Co., where the parents died; the father died 
May 14, 1803, and mother, Juno 2!), 1801; 
the father was a earpciilcr by tra<le, and held 
the oflice of Justice of the Peace in Bellefon- 
taine for nine years. Joseph Porter was 
raised princijially on a farm, and was married, 
in 1854, to Margaret S. Sullivan; she was 
born and raised in the county; li(!r father was 
of Virginia a'ld her mother of North Caro- 
lina; they came to the county in a very early 
day. From this union there were five chil- 
dren, two of whom are now dead — Aildie M., 
Ida M., Charles L., Lucy and Lilly J. The 



la 



HARRISON TOWNSHIP. 



625 



tvvo last named are deceased. Mr. Porter re- 
sided ill Lou;an Co. until 1849, when lie went 
to Michigan, where he remained until 185:2, at 
which time he returned to Logan Co., and 
worked on the railroad until 1855. He went 
to Ihinois in 1856, and resided there until 
1803, when he again returned to Log'an Co., 
and, always being willing to work, he found 
jjlenty to do, and by industry and economy 
has acquireil a neat fortune. In 1865, he was 
appointed Superintendent of Logan Co. In- 
iiruiary, a position he held until 1872, when 
ho was superseded by Benjamin R. Kemper. 
Mr. Porter went to h s farm, and farmed for 
himselfuntil 1875, when he was again appoint- 
ed to superintend tlie Inlirmary, and he has 
held that place ever since. Tlie people find his 
services invaluable in this respect, owing to 
his strict honesty and unswerving integrity. 
He and family are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. Politically, he is a Repub- 
lican. 

JOHX ROYER, farmer: P. O., Bellefon- 
taine; was born in Rockingham Co.,Va., Dec. 
7, 17'J4; is a son of Philip and Catharine 
Royer, who were also natives of Virginia. 
Mr. Rover spent his youth and early manhood 
on his fathei's farm, receiving an education 
such as the commoti schools of Virginia af- 
fiinled at that day; he was married in 1818 to 
Elizabeth LLirtman, whose parents were na- 
tives of the same county in Virginia. From 
this marriage there were ten children, three 
of whom arc now dead — John, Jeremiah, Wil- 
liam, Mar\-, Benjamin, Lucy A., Sarah, George 
and Elizabeth; one died in infancy. In 1831, 
Mr. Royer left Virginia, and came to Preble 
Co., O., and in 183;i came from there to Logan 
Co., where he has since resided; he purchased 
160 acres of land when he came to the coun- 
ty, all of which he cleared and improved; he 
resides on this farm at the present time; he 
served four months in the war of 1812, and 
had a son in the Mexican War, who died on 
his way liomr", after his discharge. Mr. Roy- 
er's wife died Sept. 9, 1855. He is a member 
of the Lutheran Church, and aims to live con- 
sistent with the teachings of the same. 

JOHN SMITH, farmer; P. O., Bellefontaine; 
was born in Jefferson Co., Ohio, Jlarch 15, 
1816; is son of Michael and Mary (Baird) 
Siiiith, who were natives of Northumberland 
Co., Pennsylvania, and came to Jefferson Co. 



in about 1800, where they resided until 1833, 
at which time they came to Logan Co., where 
they lived the balance of their days. The 
father died in 1861, and the mother in about 
1869; Mr. Smith was raised on a farm; received 
a common school education. In 1838, he was 
married to Indiana TulHs, who was born 
in Logan Co., Jan. 15, 1816; her parents 
were natives of Kentucky, and came to Ohio 
in a very early day. From this union there 
were eleven children, si.x of whom are now 
dead; the ones living are John W., George 
W., Robert R., Rebecca and James. Mr. 
Smith began business for himself entirely 
upon his own resources, and, by hard work 
and proper economy, has accumulated quite 
a fortune. He owns a farm of 320 acres of the 
finest land in I^ogan Co., and it is conceded 
to be the best improved and best managed 
farm the county can boast of. Mr. Smith has 
brought this farm to its present state of cul- 
tivation, making all the improvements, and 
clearing most of the land; he has always 
followed farming and stock-growing for a 
business, and iias shown himself to be master 
of the profession. He had two sons in the 
late \\ar, Samuel and Michael; they are now 
both dead. He and his wife are members of 
the Lutheran Church, by which faith they aim 
to live consistently. 

NEIL SLICER, farmer; P. O., B:dlefon- 
taine; was born in Maryland, Aug. 14, 1814; 
his parents, Nathaniel and Susan Slicer, were 
also natives of Maryland; Mr. Slicer resided 
with his parents until 15 years of age, at 
which time he went to learn the ])rinter's trade, 
and worked at this business for about 10 
years; he came to Bellefontaine, Logan Co., 
Ohio, in 1840, working here for a while at his 
trade, and at several other places in the State. 
In 1841, be quit his trade and went into the 
mercantile business in Bellefontaine, with 
Mr. Casad, and afterwards with Judge 
William Lawrence. Mr. Lawrence dropped 
out in a few years, but Mr. Slicer continued 
in the business until about 1852, when he quit 
the mercantile business and purchased a 
farm, and has since been farming; he brought 
this farm to its present state of cultivation; 
it is now a very valuable farm. He was mar- 
ried, Nov. 23, 1843, to Sarah A. Rhodes. 
She was born in Loudoun Co., Va., and came 
to Logan Co. in 1841. They had eight children. 



>s» 



626 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



one now (load, Marv C, Albert W., Georsre 
F., Mary E., N.>iviil W., Einiiia M., Sallie 
and Clarence. .Mr. iSiieor ami wife are mem- 
bers of the .Metlio list Kpiscopal Church. 

JACOB SHAW VEIJ, farmer; P. ().. Helle- 
fonlaiiie; was bom in Carroll Co., Ohio, (Jet. 1, 
181"-3; his father was a native of I'eniisylvania, 
and l>is mother of Vir<>iiiia. They came to 
Carroll Co. in a very early day, whore they re- 
sided until lSo6, when they came to Logan 
Co., where they resided until their deaths. 
Jaco!) resided with his parents until of age, 
at which time he began business for himself. 
He received a common sciiool education, and 
has always followed farming. He was mar- 
"ricd, in 1838, to Sallie Detiic'<, who was born 
in Virginia, and came to I^ogan Co. with her 
parents when quite young. From this union 
there were two children, Samuel, and the 
other died in infancy. The mother of these 
children died in 1840. Mr. Sliawver was 
again married, in 1841, to .Mary J. Carr, who 
was also born in Virginia and came to Ohio 
when young. From this marriage one child, 
Rosana (King), was bom. Mr. Shawver be- 
gan a poor man, and by diligently applying 
himself to his profession (farming) has gaineii 
quite a fortune. He has a well improved 
larm, consisting of 1;20 acres, all of which he 
cleared and brought to its present state of 
c dtivation. 

THO-MAS.r. TURNr':R, farmer; P. O., Belle- 
fontaiue. The svdiject of this sketch was born 
in l^ogan Co. in ISlvT; son of .l()se])h and Re- 
bc'ca Turner. The mother was a native of 
Pennsylvania, a"d the fiither w-as liorn at 
Chidicothe, O. They came to Logan Co. pre- 
vious to the war of 181"-i, !in<l resided in the 
county until their deaths. 'J'he mother died in 
1844, and the father in 18.");J. There were 
seven children. T. J. Turner resided with 
his parents until 25 years of age, and received 
a limited educalion. He was nuirried in 1854 
to Mary M. Horn; she was also born in Logan 
Co. Her parents were natives of Virginia, 
and came to Logan Co. in a very early day. 
From this union they had two children — Jo- 
seph A. and Ilaltii- E. Mr. Turner begarj 
business for himself cntirolj" upon his own re- 
sources, and, by hard work and jiroper econ- 
omy, has made quite a fortune. He now owns 
a farm of 158 acres of well improved land. 
He has always followed farming and stock- 



growing for a business; has held the office of 
Township Treasurer of his township for nine- 
teen years, also office of Justice of the Peace 
for a nundier of years, and is much esteemed 
bv his fellow-men. 
"DAVID B. TANGER, farmer; P. O., 
Bellefontaine; was born in Lancaster Co., Pa., 
in 184"2, he came with his parents, David and 
Elizabeth Tanger, to Logan Co., O., in 1848, 
and has rosiiled in the county ever since. He 
was raised on a farm, and was educated at 
Witenberg College, S|)ring-lield, O. He now 
resides on the farm that his father settled uiion 
when he came to the county, and which now be- 
longs to him. The father died in 1874, ami the 
mother is vet livinu-. Mr. Tangcr was mar- 
ried Oct. ?"■, 1801), to Martha R. Wheeler; her 
parents were natives of York State, and came 
to Logan Co. in about 18.")'J. P'rom this m tr- 
riage theie are four children — Winona A., 
Clarence E., Minnielulu and Aureoia. Mr. 
Tanger is now engaged in farming and stock- 
growini;-, anti, as ho is something of an inven- 
tive genius, he uses his leisure moments in 
tint diiection. 

ROBERT W. TAYLOR, farmer; P. O. 
Bellefontaine; was born in Cohnnbiana 
Co., O., in 1831 ; his father was a 
native of Pennsylvania, and mothei' of Col- 
umbiana Co. The father came to that 
county when quite young. The ])iirenls 
came to Wayne Co., O., where they re- 
sided until 1834, when they came to Loiran 
Co.; the father died here in 1840 and 
the mother in 1847. Mr. Taylor was 
raised on a farm, and received a common 
school education. He has been nuirried 
twice ; his first marriage was in 18(il to 
Sarah F. McCline ; she was boin in the 
county; her parents were from Virginia. 
From this union there were two children — 
John W. and Mary H.; the mother of these 
children died in 18G5. Mr. Tavlor remained 
a widower until 1875, when lie was again 
married; this time the lady of his choice was 
Mary R. M'illowby; she was also born and 
raised in Logan Co. Her plirenls were 
natives of Pennsylvania, and came to Logan 
Co. in a very early day. From this nuir- 
riage there were also two children — Sarah E., 
and James F. Jlr. Taylor began l)usini'ss 
for himself entirely upon his own resourci^.s, 
and has, by hard work and industry, gained a 



STOKES TOWXSHIP. 



C27 



competency. He and his wife are nieniljcrs 
of the Methodist Episcorial Cluiroli. 

J. C. YODEI;, fiiimer; P. O., Ben(>fontaine; 
was born in Pennsylvania, July 23, 1S33; is a 
son of J)avid C. and Martha Yoder. Mr. 
Yodercatne to Logan Co. with his parents in 
184:5, and settled in Liberty Tp., where the 
i)arents died, the father in 1849, and the 
mother in 1872. He received a limited edu- 
cation, and was married in 1858 to Farinie 
Kennagy, who was also born in Ponusylva- 



nia. She came to Logan Co. in 1856. From 
this xuiion there are eight chihlren — .lohn A., 
Sarah E., Martlia E., Eiraira, James D., David 
C, Eii and Lydia. In 1864, Mr. Yoder moved 
with his family to Michigan, where he resided 
four years, and from there went to Indiana, 
where he resided six years, when he returned 
to Logan Co. He began business for himself 
entirely upon his own r^^sources, and has been 
successful. He is a minister of the Orniish 
Church, of which his wife is also a member. 



STOKES TO.VNSHIP. 



G. M. CLOVER, blacksmith; New Hamp- 
shire; is a son of Joshua and Rachel Clover, 
and was born Dec. 8, 1833, in Franklin Co., 
O. His father was born and reared in Vir- 
ginia, and accompanied his parents to this 
State. They settled in Ross Co., and, while 
there, four of the sons entered the army and 
served through that memorable war, being 
with Hull when he surrendered. Jo.sluia was 
one of the number, and shortly after his re- 
turn was married. In 1815, they all moved to 
Franklin Co., where the father bought a sec- 
tion, and each of those who had served in the 
war entered a quarter section of new land. 
There were ten sons and two daughters of the 
fanuly, and, as they all located in one town- 
ship, the "Clover Settlement" was known for 
miles around. They nearly all lived there 
until their death, Joshua dying in 1842, and 
his devoted and loving companion in 1866. 
G. M. Clover was united to Saiah M., daugh- 
ter of Abraham and Jemima (Benjamui) 
Wright. She was born in New Jersey Sept. 
23, 1824, and came to Franklin Co. during 
her childhood. Their marriage was celebratetl 
Dec. 22, 1843, and he then went to the black- 
smith's trade in Madison Co., and after s -rv- 
ing an apprenticeship, returned to his native 
county, where he continued working at the 
trade until October, IS To, when he came to 
where he now resides. He has built up a 
good business, which speaks well for his rep- 
utation as a mechanic. His marriage has 
]5roduced a fanidy of eight children, five of 
whom are living — Benjamin, Zachariah T., 



Abraham, Maggie and Byron. The eldest 
two are married, the eldest being a faimer, 
the second a wagon-maker, and the thirtl a 
blacksmith and engineer. Mr. Clover held all 
the township offices while in Franklin Co., 
except one, being Justice of the Peace six 
3'ears, an office he is now filling, having been 
re-elected in April, 1879. Both he and wife 
belonged to the Methodist Episcopal Church 
in early life, in which he was class-leader 
seventeen years. Since the war they have 
belonged to the M. P. Church. He has al- 
ways been a Democrat, and voted first for 
James K. Polk. 

ADAM FRANK, carpenter and farmer; 
P. O., Bloom Centre; is one of our enterpris- 
ing citizens, and can trace the family history 
back to the time when they emigrated to the 
New World. Near the year 1763, a family 
of this name emigrated to this country from 
Holland, and one of the sons, who bore the 
name of Adam, was then about 10 years of 
age. The family were in straitened circum- 
stances, and Adam's services were contracted 
for a number of years in order that they 
might pay their passage and get started in the 
new country. He served through the Revo- 
lutionary war, and was married to an English 
lady, by the name of Elizabeth Dryburg; he 
lived for many years in Virginia, and from 
there moved to this State; he died in his 87th 
year, and his companion a few years later, at 
the same age. One of their sons, named James, 
was born in September, 1791, in Virginia, 
and accompanied his parents to this State; he 



'f- 



f' 



A±^ 



028 



BIOGRA PI IK 'A h SKETCHES. 



was niarnL'<l, in 1815, to Elizabeth Menill, 
wlio was born in Pennsylvania, but was tlieu 
living in Columbiana Co. Tiiey livod in tliat 
county until IS'iQ, \\\wn they moved to I.iclv- 
iiii; Co., and bouj^lit a tract of new land, on 
which they resided until the spring of liH-i?, 
when they moved to this county; he died 
Aug. 28, 184!), and his wife Aug. 1.5, 1851. 
Tiicir union jjroduced eleven children, our 
sul)ject being the fourth; he was born Feb. 
20, 1821, and was married Jan. 24, 1841, to 
Riioda A., daughter of Alva and Maria (Conk- 
lin) Page; she was born Dec. 17, 1825, in 
Broome Co., N. Y., and came to this State 
when 10 years old. In 1844, they went to 
Illinois, and lived there one year, then two 
years in Iowa, and returned to this county, 
where they have since lived, except the year 
1878 tliey were in Tmnessee. Mr. Frank has 
cleared a good farm, antl has also worked at 
the carpenters' trade many years. He served 
in Company F., 191st O. V. 1., and both he and 
wife belong to the First Clnistian Church, in 
which she has been preacliing since 1S02, her 
labors for the Master having been crowned 
with success. Mr. Frank lias served as deacon 
over twent}' j-ears. They have four children 
living — Adaline, Caiolino, Maria and Edward 
A., all of whom are married. Mr. Frank is 
at present identified with tin; Prohibition 
paitv. 

MOSES SMITH, fanner; P. 0., Bloom 
Centre; is one of the prominent and well-to- 
do farmers of this township, and is highly es- 
teemed b}' all), he was born Oct. 12, 181U, in 
Pickaway Co.; his lather, Jacob Smith, 
was born in 1792, in Lehigh Co., Pa., and 
■when 14 years of age accompanied his 
parents to this State; they moved here in a 
wagon, and bought a trait of new land in 
Pickaway Co., on which they lived till their 
death; Jacob si-rved in the war of 1812, and, 
in the above-named county, was niarned to 
Christina Smith, who was born in I'rnnsyl- 
vania, and came to Ohio at an earlv day; 
their union took place in 1812, and they al- 
ways lived on the farm on wiiich tin y com- 
menced housekeeping. TIumt union was 
blessed with nine sons and fiVe daughters, all 
of whom were living at the lime of liis d 'alh 
in 1871. His companion departed this life in 
1873. Moses commenced for himself shortly 
after he arrived at his majority, and for sev. 



eral years worked out and farmed; he rented 
property until ho possessed the means to buy 
a farm of his own. In October, 1851, he 
moved to where he now lives; the farm was 
partly cleared, but it was only by years of 
jiatient toil that it was brought to its present 
state of usefulness and value. Mr. Smith held 
the office of Postmaster for eighteen years 
after coming to this to%vnship, it being- known 
as the Miicliiiiijipi postoffice, and was discon- 
tinued a number of years ago. He has been 
well connected with the township olTices, and 
is now serving his twelftli term as Treasurer, a 
sufficient guarantee of his integrity and 
worth. He cast his first vote for Jlartin Xan 
Buren, and has never deserted his first love, 
the old Democratic party. His marriagi; was 
celebrated Oct. 14, 1847, and has produced 
seven children; those living are — Marinda 
Irene, George M., Andrew M., Christina E., 
Maggie S. and Moses A.; the eldest two 
daughters are married; Andrew and Maggie 
are schoolteachers, as was also their s;ster 
Christina before her marria^re. 

JACOB H. TAXXEHILL, tile manufac- 
turer; Lewistown; is the third of a family of 
eight children, and was born Sept. 27, 18411, 
in this township. His fatlier, Wibiam Tan- 
nehill, was born in 1809, in Cham])aign Co., 
and although ho often worked at the. coojiers' 
trade, and was an adept at otiiers, yet he ])aid 
his principal attention to farming. He secured 
a help-meet in the person of Miss Sarah Har- 
ner, and in 1838 moved to this comity, and 
soon after bought 120 acres of land in this 
township. It was all forest and he endured 
man}' hardships and privations while develop- 
ing it and sup|)orting his family of small 
clnldren. He died in October, 1853, and had 
just jireviously sold his property, but had not 
moved away. The family soon moved to 
Washington Tp., where they resided until 
1807, and then went to Minnesota, a part of 
them being there and part in Nebraska. The 
mother being in these two States alternately 
with her children. Since arriving at his ma- 
jority Jacob has been " shifting" for himself, 
and "has been a contractor for a large jiart of 
the time, engaging in any kind of business 
that premiised success. He has been unfortu- 
nate in some instances, but for the last six 
years has been engaged in the manufacture 
of drain-tile, with good success. He makes 



ZANE TOWNSHIP. 



629 



over 10,000 rods ever_y seap(iii and finds ready 
sale for all he can manufactuie. ll.>;diz- 
ing the truth of the saying : " It is not 
good for man to be alone," he, on June 19, 
ISrU, was united to Miss Aleda M. Bennett, 



of Shelby Co. She is a daughtfr of Lucius 
(j. aiid Clarinda Bf-nnett, and was born in 
Clark Co., Oct. 13, 1863. He has always 
been a Democrat. 



ZANE TOWNSHIP. 



WILLIAM BLACKBURN, farmer, stock- 
raiser and shipper; P. O., West ^liddleburrj; 
came from that beautiful island across the sea, 
which has sent so many stalwart and progress- 
ive sons to Zane Tp. Ireland, and especially 
King's County, is well antl honorably repre- 
sented in the farming interests of this section, 
and the industry and zeal of these sons of Erin 
speak volumes forthe Mother Country. William 
was born in County Kings, Parish of Clarrey, 
Feb. 1, 1819; his parents, William and Ann 
(Allen) Blackiiurn, raised a family of nine 
children, of which Wdliam was the j'oungest. 
The subject of our sketch received a common 
school education, but was compelled to re- 
main a large share of his time on his father's 
farm. However, he had the good fortune to 
to attend a good agricultural school for two 
years, and app!3'ing himself. with the perse- 
verance of one who realized the privilege that 
he was enjoying, he made most excellent prog- 
ress, and considers these two years the most 
beneficial spent while a boy; a short time 
after he was appointed Superintendent for a 
rich Quaker, named Kobert Goodbody, having 
from 50 to 100 men under him; he remained 
with Mr. Goodbody for two years, when he 
returned to help his father, remaining with 
him until he emigrated to America in 1849; 
he came to Zane Tp., and bagan to work at 
the meagre salary of 50 cents per day, and be- 
sides not having work more than half the 
time, he was compelled many times to accept 
store bills in lieu of payment in cash; he 
worked in this desultory uuumer for two years, 
and then, having aecumidated a small sum of 
money, bought a farm; he continued to add 
to his original purchase, until he owned at one 
time some 335 acres; at present his farm 
consists of 171 acres, well cultivated, well 
cleared and well drained, he being the first 



man in this township to ditch. Upon his farm, 
which is well adapted to the the raising of 
stock, he raises corn and wheat to a consider- 
able amount, but pays especial attention to 
his stock, having very fine slieep and as good 
cattle as can be found in this locality; he has 
a camp of 1,300 trees which also add to the 
value of his farm. As an incentive to labor 
and industry be it known that when he coui- 
nienced he had just $2 in his pocket. In 
18-l(j, he married Miss Maria Wilson, who 
was born March 3, 1825, and the sketch of 
whose father appears in another portion of this 
work. From this union one son, Talford, was 
born Aug. 19, 1848. Tallord has followed 
faithfully in the footsteps of his father, and 
imitating- his industry and prudence, has ac- 
cumulated considerable property, and with liis 
fiither does a large agricultural business. 
They are both good citizens, and although 
frequently solicited to hold ollice, have ever 
kindly but firmlv declined. 

JAMES. W. BALLINCiER, contractor and 
builder; West Middleburg; was born at 
Camden, New Jersey, August 21, 1837, 
and at the ag? of 18 came with his 
parents to Perry Tp. His father, William, 
and mother, Beulah (Ward), were natives 
of New Jersey. The subject of our sketch 
received his education partly here, and partly 
in his native State, but his present broad and 
liberal culture comes from assiduous reading, 
and his keen observation of men antl facts. 
His father by trade was a carpenter, and James 
when 16 years of age, also began to learn the 
trade, working for his father for several years 
after becoming of age. On November 17, 1 850, 
he married Ano-eline Curl, a sketch of whose 
father appears in another portion of these 
biographies, and from this union there were 
ten children — Warren, Joseph, Bulah, Lewis, 



030 



BIOGRAPfllCAT. SKETCHES. 



Ulysses, As:i, Ira, Porry, Jose and Maria 
GLTtriitle. Altlioviy;!! a carpenter by trade, 
he owns a farm of 42 acres, good land, 
well improved, and upon which be makes a 
speciality of raising fiuit; James W. was in 
tile llj^nd O.V. 1., under Col. Haines. He 
is a Mason, Lodge 247, Chapter 60, Logan 
Council, No. 34; he is at present Township 
Trustee, and is eminently respected bj' both 
parties for his honesty and integrit^^ In 
jjolilics he is a licpni) \:-.:n. 

SAMUEL BALLLXGER, fanner; P. O., 
West Middkbury; a son of one of the ear- 
li(!St settlers of l^ogan Co., w-as born Nov. 2, 
]!^o.5. His g-randfathi'r, Samuel Hallinger, 
was a native of the Old Dondiiion, and was 
one of the pioneer settlers of Logan Co., set- 
tling in Zane Tp., on the edge of what is now 
-Midilirburg, as early as 1810. He raised a 
family of nine children. Joshua, the father 
of the subject of this sketch, was born in 
A'irgiida in February, 1803. He married Miss 
Delilah Inskee)), the eldest daughter of John 
Inskeep. He first settled on the farm upon 
which Samuel Hallinger now lives in 1820. 
This farm, consisting of 450 acres, is one of 
the best farms in Logan Co. Weil watered, 
with an eNcellent under-drainage consisting 
1,200 rods of tile, it is adajited to the raising 
of all cereals, besides being especially faxor- 
able to the; ])rnpagation of sto<-k. Saniuel 
Ballinger and his l)rother Oliver run the farm 
cunjiiiiitly, owiniig and sharinij evervtliing in 
common. They are farmers in all that that 
word at present im])lies. They are energetic, 
taking a deep interest in all that appertains 
to till- welfare anil growth of agiieulture. In 
ISfil Samuel married .Marv Runyon, who. was 
born in Pennsylvania, A)uil it, 1.S3!), and came 
with her parents to Ohio, settling at Troy. 
I Jle has a family of six childn-n — two boys 
and four girls. Jenny, born in 1802; Wil- 
liam, 1863; Edward Everett, 1864; Edith, 
1873; Gertrude, 1874; Lydia Jane, 1878. He 
has occupied several positions of trust and 
honor, and in jiolitics is a l{e|)ublicaii. having 
cast his first vote for Fremont. 

<;E0RGE W. CREVISTOX, farmer; P. 
()., Mingo; was born |)i-c. 3, 1832., anil at an 
early agi- evinced that delibi-ration of manner 
and thought, now so characteristic of him; his 
fallii-r, John Creviston, was born June 18, 
1803, and came to Zane Township as early as 



1820. In 1830 John ('revist<in married Miss 
Elizabeth Miller, a native of Ohio, who was 
born April 16, ISOfi, and at the time of her 
marriage was li\ing in Champaign Co. 
John located in the southwestern part of 
Zane Township in 1840, where he resided the 
balance of his life. George W., the subject 
of our sketch, received a common school eilu- 
cation, spending one term at the LTnion 
School at West I^iberty; when hi^ arrived 
at his majority he " struck out" for liiinself; 
he married, February, 1852, Miss Mary E. 
Stewart, a native of this county, born in .\l:iv, 
1833, and who is now dead; her ])arents 
came to this locality from Virginia at an early 
date. George located on a jiart of the same 
farm that his father occupied iimiiediately 
after his marriage; he has raised a family of 
four children. The subject of our sketrh is 
a man held in high resjiect by his neighbois, 
and, although often solicited to acci ])t (illice, 
has persistently refused to dabble iu politics; 
he is a member of Jericho Grange, No. 2^7; 
his daughter Viola Jane, is married toTalford 
lilackburn. His oldest son, Thomas J., 1 orn 
Dec. 31, 1855, is farming in coimei-tion with 
his father; he married Miss Mary A. Connol- 
Iv, Jan. 1, 18i8; thcv have one child — Svlva 
Mav, born Jan. 0, 18rO. 

I'lARRlSON CURL, farmer and Ikuiicss- 
inaki'r; P. O., West Middhburg; in the front 
rank of those who by their labor and in- 
dustry deserve special and honorable nuii- 
tion as progressive citizens of Zane Tp., 
stands the above natne. He was born in 
Zane Tp., Oct. 24,1810; his father, Joseph 
Stratton Curl, was born on July 28, 1^'.)7, in 
the inuiieiliate vicinity of Lynchburg, \'a., anil 
moved with his|)arentstoColumliianaCo.,1^01. 
The hitter's father's name was Joseph Curl and 
his mother's name Sardi (Stratton) Curl; they 
were both natives of Virginia, and purchased 
the farm now owned by Harrison Curl of .lob 
Sharp in 18011 and located upon it immediately. 
The father eventually moved to Green Co., 
where he died, and .lose])h liought the home 
farm; he married Miss Hunt and by her had 
three children; ho next after her ihath mar- 
ried Lillah Gregg, one child blessing this 
union; after her death he married llulila Cul- 
ver, and had the following children — Jose H., 
Angeline, Ilulilah Ann, Harrison, .Sarah Re- 
becca, and Asa. At 30 years of age Joseph 



ZAXE TOWXSHIP; 



G31 



drove stajie from Url)ana to S|iiMig'fi(>kl; ho 
WHS elected Township Trustee, and took an 
active interest ni educational matters. Har- 
rison received a ji^ood common school educa- 
tion, teaching school when a younp: man for 
a few years. He remained at home until he 
was '21, when he enlisted in 18G1 in Company 
CJ, 17th O. V. I.; he participated in various 
battles during the war and was slightly 
wounded at the battle of Chickamauga; he 
marched also with Sherman to the sea. The 
brothers, Jose H., Marion and Asa, were also 
in the war; his brother Marion was especially 
noted fur his bravery; he was one time taken 
prisoner, but not until he had killed five of 
his assailants; he was killed at the battle of 
Winchester, Va. He upon his return from 
the army went to Iowa, but remained there 
only a short time, and then returned to 
Zane Tp., and married Miss Arrena ilcCamp- 
bell, whose parents were Robert and Eliza- 
beth McCanipbell; she was born in Union Co., 
in 1846. Five children bless this union — 
Alice, Lois, Mary, Robert Bruce, French G. 
Harrison has an excellent farm and is in 
every sense a progressive and wide-awake 
farmer; he has a fine sugar camp, and 
cultivates choice apples and pears. He is in 
politics a Republican. 

EUREM CARPENTER, carriage and 
wngon maker; West Middleburg; was born 
in Randolph Co., Va., April 21, 1813; he is of 
German descent, and is one of the oldest cit- 
izens of this place, having come here Dec. 9, 
]8:35, and begun business; he learned the 
wagon-maker's trade in Virginia with his 
father, and came to Ohio at the age of 20, 
and was followed two years later by his pa- 
rents, Solomon and Catherine Carpenter; he 
worked a short time in Guernsey Co., and 
July 9, 18,3o, married Miss Betsey Ann Allen 
— born in Union Co., July 9, 1819 — and a few 
months later located here. Mr. Carpenter 
owes his success in life to his close attention 
to business and the superiority of his work, 
every piece of which, if not ma'de by himself, 
])asses under his close observation, hence the 
superiority of his work is far-famed. One of 
the first carriages made by him was for Wal- 
ler Marshall, one of the earliest settlers, and 
has been in constant use in the family for 
about forty years. Can another carriage- 
maker cite a like example? He continued to 



follow his business here with good success 
until 18()8, when he moved to North Lewis- 
burg, where he remained until 1875, when he 
returned to Middleburg, and is now giving 
his exclusive attention to his business; he has 
had a family of five children, three of whom 
are now living — Franklin, a wood-worker and 
])ainter at Watseka, III.; George, a black- 
smith, with Warren & Gommer, Urbana, and 
Albert, foreman in the wheel department of 
Columbus Buggy Co. His daughter died in 
her 35th year, leaving four children. He has 
not aspired to lead in anything except his 
legitimate trade, in which he has mad; mi- 
conimon success. He has, in addition to his 
business, a farm of 78 acres in the outskirts 
of tha village. As a citizen he is highly es- 
teem i>d. 

JOHN BISHOP COWGILL, farmer and 
stock-raiser; P. O., North I^ewisburg; identi- 
fied himself with the agricultural interests of 
this count}', and by his force of character and 
honesty of purpose has done a great deal to 
give his connnunity its present enviable repu- 
tation. He was born in Union Co., Sept. 15, 
1835. His father, Elisha. was born in Colum- 
biana Co., in 1804, and came to Zane Town- 
ship with John Cowgill, his father, about 18015. 
John Cowgill was a native of Culpepper Co., 
Va. Elisha raised a family of ten children, 
having married Mary (Bishop). John Bishop 
received a common school education, and when 
he was 21, such had been his industry and 
economy, he purchased 85 acres of land. By 
caieful investment, but more by arduous toil, 
he added to his original purchase, until he be- 
came a large land owner. He possesses a 
farm of 19S acres in Logan Co., with fine 
water privileges, being well watered by two 
branches of D.irby Creek, besides a number 
of limestone springs. The land is well ditch- 
ed and under-drained, 500 rods of tiling be- 
ing used in the latter. He has a good barn 
and out-bulldintrs. He has a fine; sugar camp 
of some 1,500 vessels, and manufactures an- 
nually about 3,500 pounds of sugar. Besides 
this farm, John Bishop also possesses 240 
acres in Allen Township, Union Co., used more 
particularly as a stock farm, to which latter 
occupation he has been devoting more espe- 
cially his attention. The Logan Countvfarm 
is rich and very productive, both of wheat and 
corn. In the spring of 1867, John married 



c:;2 



BIOGRAPFIICAL SKETCHES. 



.Mi»"s Aniui S!iarp, daug-hter of John and 
Alcy (Bi)vvkcr) Sharp. Her parents were na- 
tives of tlie East. She was born in 1S:J3. 
From tliis vinion there are two children, Elisha 
.Fohn, born April 10, 1869, and Mary Alcy, 
bum Sc>pt. -i-), 1871. 

.lOKDUX DOWNS, retired farmer; P. O., 
N:irth Lewisbur<r; was born Oct. 20, 1824; 
his father, Joscjih Downs, was born in New 
Jersey, Jan. 23, KO."), and his father's name 
was Samuel, and his mother's name Abigail 
Downs. Joseph Downs came toOliio in 1S18, 
and located on Kings Creek, Chainpiiigii Co.; 
on .March 25, 181'J. he married Esther ^^'illianls, 
wlio was born Ajiril 2(1, 1^117, and came to the 
North Fork of Kings Creek with her parents 
in 1814; her parents were Silas and Marj' 
(Hunt) Williams, the latter being of Scotch 
extraction. Joseph Downs was a farmer by 
occupation, but by trade was a spinner, and 
assisted in establishing probably the first 
carilingand spinning mill in either Champaign 
or Logan Co., and resided in the vicinity until 
his death. The sui)ject of our sketch remain- 
ed with his father until his 24th year, wlien he 
" struck out" for himself. At th(! age of 2.") he 
had l)ut ^.")(I0 to invest in land in Zane T]).; 
lie continued to work earnesllv and faitlifullv 
until he possessed 202 acres of land on the 
J limestone ]Jelt, a jnrt of the rich wheat and 
corn land of Zane Tp., a worthy tribute to 
his intetrrity and hard work. He is now a 
farmer in excellent circumstances, surrounded 
with all the condbrts of life, and living in the 
light of a Ciuistian gentleman who has identi- 
fied himself with tiu; progress and improve- 
ment of his township. February 5, 1852, he 
married Miss Hester Inskeep, daughter of 
John Inskeep; she was born Dec. 31, 1828, 
ami lias materially assisted him by her counsel 
and ])rudence. They now reside in North 
I^ewisbiirg, in nn elegant home, enjoving the 
fruits of a life of iiidustry, surrounded by all 
the comforts to which such u life entitles 
them. They are members of the Methodist 
iVotestant Church. 

CIIAIJI.KS. E. EVANS, farmer; T. O. 
North 1-ewisburg; was liorn in Franklin 
County, <)li:t>, March 20, 183!); his ])arents, 
Isaiie Evans and Mi'hala (Gray) Evans, 
were natives of Maryland; he remain- 
ed on the farm tmtil he was sixteen years 
of age, when his father having died at the 



advanced age of eighty-sevmi, he came to 
Logan County, and immediately went to work 
for ten dollars a month; a y(!ar or two after 
coming to this county, he began to learn the 
tinner's trade at (jhiiiiey, working at the same 
some time in Detrrafl'; in 1858. having served 
his apprenticeship, he 0|iened a shop in Lewis- 
burg, and by j)ru(lence and economy he was 
able to add to his stock, until he hail a fine 
store and an excellent line of hardware; he 
continued in this business until 1878, when 
not being able to withstand the strong inllu- 
ence of liis earlier training, he traded his 
stock for the farm u]ion which he now n'sides, 
however, he worked at his trade a ml remained 
with his successor for some time. In the 
spring of 1880, he moved on his farm, and is 
at present busily engaged in its improve- 
ment. On Sejit. 19, 1802, he married Miss 
Frances J. Underwood, a native of Oliio, born 
May 29, 1844; from this union there were 
eight children — Sarah Etta, Auios, Emma, 
Catherine, Leroy, Fannie, Henry and Edna; 
of these, Amos, Emma and Catiierine are 
dead. The subject of this sketch servi-d in 
the 132nd O. V. L, and did garrison duty at 
Bermuda Hundred, and also ])articipafed 
in the siege before Pi-tersburg. All iu' is, 
and all tliat he ])ossessed, comes from his own 
individual exertions. A careful business 
man — he has don(> much to promote the in- 
terests of his commuiiitv. 

IIHJAM GARWOOD, farmer; P. O., 
West Middleburg; was liorn in Zane Tp., 
Nov. 12, 1827, and began his education in the 
first schoolhouse built in the township. His 
father, Jose H. Garwood, was born in the 
County of Culpejipcr, Va., Sept. 13, 1794, 
and at the age of 11 he came to Ohio with 
his father, who stopped near .Milford in 1805, 
and came to Zane Tji. in 1807. Jose soon 
after he came to Zane, followed millwrighting 
until he arrived at his majority, when his 
father died ami he took charge of the farm. 
He early identified himself with the interests 
of th(> to\vnshi]i. — was the first Postmaster, 
was Justice of the Peace, etc. He served in 
the war of 1812, and on account of his supe- 
rior mental acquirements was lield in high 
esteem by his neighbors. He married Nov. 
12, 1820, Miss Angeline Culver, born in Clin- 
ton, N. Y., Aug. 29, 1805, and who came to 
Ohio, via Pittsburg, in 1810. He was a very 



n- 



—T 



ZAXE TOWNSHIP. 



600 
00 



successful fanner, owning at one time 437 
acres of land. He died Marcii 10, 1879. The 
subject of our sketch engaged in surveying 
for some time, but when tlie "gold fever" 
broke out, he, in 1840, left for California, and 
was gone ibr nine years. He returned, after 
a varied experience, to Ohio in 1857. He 
was booked for the fated ship Central 
America, but by a Providential accident 
failed to take passage. On his return 
he engaged in millwrighting for one year, 
when he went to Texas, but remained 
there but a few months, when he went 
to Missouri, and there located, marrying Miss 
Mary Smith on Dec. 18, 1859. He engaged 
in the lumber business lor some time, but in 
December, 1801, he returned to Ohio. He 
again returned to Missouri, iu 1803, but after 
sjjending a few months he bade adieu to that 
country, and, coming back io his old home, 
located on his farm of 150 acres, and by per- 
severance he has improved it so that it is 
one of the best in the township. Mr. Gar- 
wood is one of the best posted men in ]iioneer 
history, antl is a worthy son of his most wor- 
thy father. He is a member of the Masonic 
(Jrder, Lodge No. 247. 

GJESOX GARWOOD, retired; P. O., 
West Middleburg; was born Nov. 21, 1834, 
and is the son of .Jonathan Garwood, who 
was born in Culpe])per Co., Va., April 1,1802. 
His parents Daniel and Polly Garwood, whose 
ancestois came from the county of Northum- 
berland, Eng., in 10i)8, and located in New 
Jersey, and in 1708 in Virginia; came to Oliio 
in 1805 and settled near Milford Centre, and 
two years later came to Zane Tp., then 
a part of Champaign Co. Jonathan Garwood 
married Miss Catharine Spears, Jan. 20, 1834. 
She was born in Madison Co., Dec. 21). 1815, 
and her father was a soldier of the Revolu- 
tionarj' War. There were two children, the 
subject of this sketch, and Marion, liorn P'eb. 
27, '1840, who joined the 17th O. V. I., Co. C, 
and died at Chatanooga, Tenn., March 1, 1805, 
after faithfully serving his country. Jonathan 
Garwood was a successful farmer and one of 
the best citizens of the township. He is 
spoken of as a man of most uncommon pub- 
lic-spiritedness and liberality. He died 
March 19, 1875, lamented by all who knew 
him. His widow still survives. Gibson mar- 
ried Miss Eliza Euans, a native of this town- 



ship, on Sept. 9, 1857, and shortly after moved 
to Bates Co., Mo. His wife died March 20, 
1801, and his only child, Ella Kate, Aug. 20, 
of same j-ear. He returned to his old homo 
in 1805, and continued to farm until 1879, 
when he retired from active business, and 
moved to Middleburg, where ho enjoys such a 
life as his ample means enables him to do. 
His agreeable ways, and kind and obliging- 
disposition, makes him the iriend of every 
one who knows him, and the writer of these 
sketches feels particularly indebted for the 
many contributions of items of history he has 
given him. He has for many years kept an 
accurate daily record of such things as came 
under his observation, which for dates, etc., is 
often consulted by others, and has been valu- 
able in the completion of the history of Zane 
Township. He has served the township as 
Trustee, and was tiie first Superintendent of 
the Bellefontaine and Columbus Pike. He is 
a member of East Liberty Lodire F. & A. M., 
La Fayette Chapter No. CO, R. A. M. and 
Lonan Council No. 34, R. S. M. 

AMOS GRIFFITH HUMPHREY, ear- 
jienter; West Middleburg-. Prtjininent among 
the mechanics who have added materially to 
the interests of this community, may be men- 
tioned the gentleman whose name heads this 
sketch; was born in Westmoreland Co., Pcnn., 
Feb. 10, 1817; he came to Garwood Mills, 
now East Liberty, with his parents when he 
was a babe; his father, Richard, and his 
mother, Nancy (Evans) Humphrev, were both 
l;orn in Wales, the former in 1774, and the 
latter in 1779. They emigrated to America 
with two children in 1802,, where the father 
of the subject of our sketch followed farming 
until his removal with his family to Oliio. 
Amos remained in the vicinity of Garwood 
Mills until 1828, when his father dying, he 
was compelled to seek his own living- in 
other directions. He worked around at farm- 
ing until 1839, when he learned the carpen- 
ters' trade, at which he has worked ever 
since; of his brothers, Richard enlisted in 
the Mexican War, probably the only man 
who entered that service from this locality; he 
enlisted in a regiment organized at Dayton, 
Capt. King commanding; 1st Lieut. .John B. 
Miller. Richard died at Pariote, Mexico. 
His brother Jacob was a first lieutenant in 
the late war, and assisted in raising Company 



ih 



.> 



G34 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



C, 17tli O. V. r.; Ill' died in December, 18G3. 
Amos has rn sod a family of three children, 
only one of which is now living; the oldest 
danpfhtor, Melissa Ann, married D. li. Sharp, 
of East Liberty; his son, James Stokes Huni- 
phrcy, married Bertha Aiken, from which 
union there was one son, James Allen, born 
AiiL'- IS, ISOC). Amos Griffith has been a 
resident of Middleburir for over forty years, 
and has been complimented by his neighbors 
with several positions of trust and honor, 
lie was a Whig in the halcyon days of that 
party, and then joined the Hepulilican 
party; at present he is a Prohibitionist. 
He is a member of the Christian Union 
(."luirch; he was married Dec. 13, 1840, to 
Ilepsabeth Stokes, who was born July 1, 
ISIIi. 

COLONEL JOEL IL-VINES, merchant; 
West Middleburo-; was born hero June 9. 
l.'<14, and is now the oldest citizen of this 
township, who was born here, and has al- 
wa\-s resided here; reared amid the vicissi- 
tudes of pioneer life, his advantages were 
liniitol, l)ut with a natural gt^nius and an 
inilomitable will, lie has kept steadily abreast 
of tin- times, leading in every advance move- 
ment for the benctit of Miildieburg-, and it is 
safe to say no man shows a mon; jiublic spirit 
or has done as much as has Colonel llaines, 
for the im|)rovem('nt of this thriving village. 
JJeing of an inventive turn of mind he early 
look up the cabinct-nniker's trade, at which 
he has worked with success for many years. 
He started the first woolen mill in the town- 
ship, but he especially deserves credit for the 
many useful articles ho has invented and 
])ati'nted, and have given him a great noto- 
rily abroad. The first was a washing ma<;hine 
which gave him a start, and this was followed 
by about fifteen others, among which were a 
cheese-bo.\, which will accurately weigh and 
divide the cheese, and three styles of fruit 
jars. He has very recently inventinl and ap- 
plied for a patent on a show-box, for exhibit- 
ing shoes on the shelves, a contrivance that 
will commend itself to any merchant. Pre- 
vious to the civil war lie had bei-iv u colonel 
in the militia, and when the rebellion came 
he raised a company, composed of the very 
(lower of the youth of the townshij), which 
was assigned to the 17th Regt. O. V. L, as 
Co. C, \nidcr Col. John M. Connell, and was 



mustered into service Sept. 7, l.Slil, at Camp 
Dennison, and in October joined th(! Army 
of the South under Gen. Thomas, and fought 
Zollicofler Oct. 'il at Camp Wild Cat. He 
served until June G, ISO'-i, when he was honor- 
ably discharged at Corinth, Miss., for jthysic- 
al debility. On his return home he ojiened a 
dry goods and grocery store in Mi<i(llel)urg; 
he had previous to this been eleetc(l Colonel 
of the -SSth O. N. G., and when this regiment 
was called into the service, he was com])olled 
to leave his bvisiness in the hands of one of 
his sons, who had been with him in the 17th 
regiment, and accom]ianied by his oth(>r bovs 
he went with the regiment to Bermuda 
Hundred, where they did garrison duty. He 
married, Dec. .31, 183(1, Miss Mary Haines, 
who was born Sept. 9, 1820, and whose ])eo- 
ple were among the earliest pioneers of this 
county; they have raised a family of four 
sons and one daughter — .lohn W., Jiorn Jan. 
11, 1838; Ali,Nov'. 7, 1841; Isnac W., Aug. 
r, 1844; William P., Feb. 14. 1840, and Clara 
Barton, .lune 8, 1804 ; the latter named after 
the lady who so kindly and tenderly nursed 
her father during his dangerous sickness in 
the hospital. She is a talented and accom- 
plished yo\ing lady, anil as a singer possesses 
a voice of rare sweetness and ])ower. Col. 
Haines is a ]irominent .Mason, a member of 
Lodge 247, Ijafayette Chapter No. GO, and 
JiOgan Council No. 34, of Bellefontaine. He 
is at present engaged in the mercantile busi- 
ness at Middlcliurg, and is Postmaster, a 
position ho has hcM manv years. 

THOMAS J. HELLINGS, merchant; West 
Middleburg; for business enterprise coupled 
with success, no one deserves more credit in 
the history of Middleburg than Thonnis .f. 
Hellings, who, although a j'oung man, is w(dl 
known in this ]iart of the county. In writing 
the industries of this township it is only just 
to say, Mr. Hellinis' store, for the elegance 
of the goods, for the carefully selected vari- 
ety and exquisite taste in the display of every- 
thing, has tew eipials in the county. This 
is all the more remarkable when it is known 
that it is all (he growth of the jiast eight 
years. In 1872, Mr. Hellings, in connection 
with his father, opened a small stock in a 
part of the room ho now occupies, which in 
connection with his father, and siiicf^ the 
hitter's death, which occurred Sept. 1, 1878, 



•J 






^'1^, 



ZANE TOWNSHIP. 



635 



he has gradually increased the business until 
his annual sales amount to about ^1;2,()00 per 
year, and still increasiiisr. To those who are 
acquainted with' Tom's careful business 
habits and his very oblig-ing disposition, 
treatino; every customer willi th(! utmost at- 
tention and courtesy, his remarkable success 
is not surprising. He is the only son of 
Sarah Ann (Euans) Heliin^'S, and was born in 
Middleburg, Oct. 8, 1848<aad after receiving 
a common school education, he graduated at 
Nelson's Business College, Cincinnati, in 
186G; his father, Harrison Hellings, was born 
in Bucks Co., Penn., Dec. 20, 1814, and was 
the son of John and Margaret (James] Hell- 
ings, and came to Ohio in 1833, locating Avith 
his parents near Mt. Moriah Church, and a 
year later in Middleburg, and married Miss 
Sarah Ann Euan?, April 4, 1838; she was 
born in Zane Tp. , March 1, 1820; her parents, 
Joseph and Rhoda (Heppard) F^uans, were 
among the first settlers in Zane Tp. From 
this union there were two children — Catha- 
rine Ann, horn Oct. 7, 1840, and married to 
I. M. Sh'irp, a native of this township, wliose 
farnilv history ajjpears elsewhere, and Tom 
J. the subject of this sketch. For the twenty 
years succeeding his irtarriage, Harrison fol- 
lowed the carpenters' trade, which he had 
learned in Pennsylvania ; in 1858 he engaged in 
the saw-mill business and run a farm, cbutinu- 
ing this about twelve years; in 1871 he opened 
a grocery in Bellefontaine, in connection with 
his son, and after about si.x months, removed 
to West Middleburg, where he continued in 
business as above stated, under tlie firm name 
Hellings & Son, until the time of his death. 
Thomas J. married Miss Amanda C. ISlatcpiis, 
Dec. 27, 1870. She was born in Zane Tp., 
Jan. 2, 1850, and is the daughter of Thomas 
and Marj' Ann (Stephenson) Marquis, tiie his- 
tory of whose family ajjpears in full else- 
where. From this union there is a daughter 
—Edna G., born March 18, 1874. Sh .uld 
you think our description of Mr. Hel ling's 
store the least overdrawn, just drop in and 
look through his large stock and get prices, 
and you will be convinced that the tenth has 
not been told you. He is at present the 
Treasurer of the township; he is also a mem- 
ber of East Liberty Lodge No. 247, A. F. & 
A. M., Star Chapter No.' 120, North Lewis- 
burg, and Logan Council No. 34, R. & S. M. 



LEVI INSKEEP, farmer and stock-raiser. 
P. O., West Middlebur<<. The Inskeeps 
are an old pioneer familv who were among 
the first to settle in this locality, coming 
from Virginia; Job, the father of the sub- 
ject of this sketch, was born in Culpepper Co., 
Va., and came to Ohio when he was 11 years 
of age. He received a common education at 
the old Quaker church, and when about 25 
years of age he married Miss Sarah Sharp, 
daughter of John Sharp, and who was born in , 
Chillicothe. Job located in Z:ine Township, 
on a woody tract of GO acres, and immediately 
began to improve it, adding as his financial 
condition would allow, until at one time he 
owned 510 acres of land. He served seven 
years as captain of militia, and was for a short 
time in the war of 1812. The subject of our 
sketch was born Sept. 5, 1821, and, when 25, 
married Miss Sarah Jane, daughter of Henry 
and Rachael (Wells) Reymer. Slie was born 
in Perry Tp. May 4, 1837, and her pa- 
rents were early settlers in Logan Co. 
Three children have blessed their union — Lu- 
cinda C, married to William A. West; Lvc;ir- 
gus, married to A^iola Grubbs, and Frank, 
who lives at home. Levi has an excellent 
farm on the famous limestone belt, rich, well 
watered, and possessing all the natural re- 
sources necessary to a fine farm, it being one 
of the best in the township. Two hundred 
rods of hedge adds its attractiveness to the 
farm, and a sugar camp of 3,000 vessels 
forms a paying industry. Ho is a successful 
farmer, and a man that stands well in the 
communitv. 

RUSSELL BIGELOW JOHNSON, farmer; 
P. O., West Middleburg; was born in Union 
Co., April 9, 1841; his father, John Johnson, 
was a native of Fleming Co., Ky., and in 
1809 came to Ohio, settling at the head waters 
of the Mackachaek; his first wife's name was 
Abigail Southard; he is a local preacher in 
the Methodist Protestant Church, and a large 
land owner. The subject of our sketch re- 
ceived a common school education, and after 
working for some time on the farm, he moved 
to Logan Co., settling on the line of Monroe 
and Zane Tp's. On April 20, 1802, he mar- 
ried Miss Lucetta French, who was bora 
Nov. 27, 1841, and is a native of Logan Co.; 
her parents were Elijah and Ilulda (Marmon) 
French. From this union there are two 



V 



41 



636 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



children livinf:r — Paris Frani{Iin,born Jan. 13, 
180r, ami Cassius Ellery, liorn Nov. 7, 1873. 
Kussoll IJitrelow owns a very fine farm, well 
watered and witii a siiperior undor-drainage; 
althougli iiis land js well adapted to the rais- 
ing of wheat and corn he pays more particular 
attention to the raising of stock; his farm 
also contiuns a sugar camp of some 500 trees, 
from which annually about 3,000 pounds of 
sugar are produci'd. He is a good citizen, and 
is esteemed bv all who know him. 

THOMAS MAUQUIS, farmer; P. O., West 
Middleburg; descendant Irom the old Irish 
family of that name; was born in Kno.x. Co., 
()., Jan. 37, 1813. In his day they had not 
the advantajjes of a school educational sys- 
tem that are possessed by the children of to- 
day. His schooling was received in the little 
okl pioneer log cabin which sat in a small 
clearing surnmndod by the necessary con- 
comitants of early limes. His father was a 
fanner, and TIiomius followed in his footsteps. 
At the age of 33 he married JMiss Mary Ann 
Stevenson. Shortly alter his uianiaje he 
moved to Zane T]>. and rent<id a small farm; 
he soon bought the farm wiiere ho now re- 
sides; when he first came into possession of 
the farm he found only live acres deadened; 
all the subsequent improvements ho has put 
on himself; he po.ssesses 95 aiires, of which (i5 
acres are under excellent cultivation and pro- 
duce abundantly; the land is well watered and 
drained; he has on the farm a lino orchard, 
and a ''camp" of 350 trees, manufacturing 
annually about HOO pounds of sugar; he, how- 
ever, pays attention to stock-raising. He has 
raist.'d a fauiiiy of eight, seven of whom are 
living — William Stevenson and Elizabeth 
Jane are marrii'd and living in Iowa; Meli.ssa 
is dead; Xewell, Sainuid and Oliver are mar- 
ried anil live in /ane Tp.; Amanda C and 
Silas \V. also live in this township. Xewell, 
conjointly with his father, carriesvon the farn). 
Thomas Marquis has achieved all his success 
from hard work, lie has held various posi- 
tions of trust in the townshi|i. and enjoys the 
happiness of an industrious Christian farmer. 

JAMES .\I A I{(^U1S, retired farmer; West 
Middleburg. Men are a success who win, and 
of those who by their industrious and intense 
application to business have now not only a 
large share of this word's goods, liut what is 
better the golden opinion and regard of their 



neighbors. The subject of this sketch and 
his loving wife stand second to none. He 
was born in Knox Co., Ohio, Aug. 37, 1810, 
and entering Logan Co. in 1837, locited at 
Bellefontaine, which at that time contained 
but few houses, and was not as large as West 
iliddleburg; he received what oilucation he 
then jjossessed in Knox Co.. and alter reach- 
ing Bellefontaine, began to learn the black- 
smith ng trade; he worked at his trade for a 
number of years, and it was wlule working at 
his vocation that he iissisted in the task of 
shoeing the Indian ponies belonging to the 
Wyandot Nation, on the departure of that 
tribe for the far West; in 183-1 he bought 
the land he now owns, and in 1840 moved 
upon the same. At the time there were but 
few improvements on the land, and he im- 
mediately began to fix things up, and has con- 
tinued to carefully cultivate the same until he 
has ail excellent farm, well drained and well 
watered. He also jiossesses valuable propety 
near Midilleluirg; he married, Dec. 0, 1840, 
Lydia Ann Dickinson, born Sept. 10, 1831, 
and it must be confessed that a largo share of 
his success in life is attributable to her energy, 
economy and loving interest. Her grand- 
father was an early .settler in Ohio, entering 
the State in 1806.>' Her father, Richard, and 
mother, Margaret (Henry) Dickinson, were 
married Oct. 37, 1817, and are still living, 
proliably the oldest couph- that have always 
lived in this county. Lydia Ann gained her 
education by going to a subscription school 
three miles from her house, where, in a log 
cabin, with greased pajier over an aperture in 
li<>u of glass, instruclion was given to the 
whites and Imlians. They have raised a fam- 
ily of two boys and two girls, namely — Rich- 
ard Addison, born in 1841; Erastus, 184(i; 
Bell, 184'.); Kelta, 18G0. Mr. ami Mrs. 
Marcpiis, with their youngest daughter, now 
reside -in the village of Jliddleburg. but Mr. 
Marf|uis' active disposition still im|)ids to de- 
vote a good share of his time to the care of 
his propi'rlv. 

SA.MLEL MAiJgUIS, deceas.-d; was born 
in Shenandoah Co., V'a., June 1(>, 1807 and 
was the son of VV'illiam ami Elizabeth 
(Newell) Marquis, who moved to Kimx Co., O., 
when Samuel was a babe. He nnirried Miss 
Lucinda Axtell, who was born March 3'.), 1808. 
Her parents, Lincoln and Sarah (Martin) 






ZAKE TOWKSIIIP. 



637 



Axtell, were born in New Jersey, and, as well 
as Mr. Marquis' parents, wereoi' Irish descent 
and moved from Pennsylvania to (Jhio and 
settled near Mai'tinsburg, where she was mar- 
ried Dec. 30, 1828. They moved to Logan 
Co. and settled on the farm where Mrs. Mar- 
quis now lives, where they raised a family of 
ten children, nine of whom are now living — 
William Maxwell, Sarah Ann (married to Dan- 
iel Gorham) Thomas Newell, Daniel Martin, 
Elizabeth (dead), Julia (married to Samuel 
Ray), Francis Marion, James Harvey, Samuel 
Hamilton and Argus Jackson. Here Mr. 
Marcjuis cleared up his farm of 70 acres 
and an adjoining one of 80 acres. He 
was a consistent member of the Presbj'terian 
Church, and died May 1, 1865. With Mrs. 
Marquis resides her granddaughter, Mary 
Francis, daughter of Thomas and Hulda 
(Curl) Marquis, who was born a mute, March 
16, 186G. She went to Columbus in 1874 to 
receive instruction in the asylum, a-id now 
writes readily, and is above the average in in- 
telligence, and can do all sorts of work. It 
was not discovered that she was a mute 
until she was 3 vears of age. 

A. W. MORTON, farmer ; P. 0., West 
Middleburg. Among the prominent and suc- 
cessful farmers Mr. Morton ranks with the 
first. He was born in Columbiana Co., O., 
July 31, 1832. His father, Israel Morton, 
was born in Pennsylvania, and mother, Han- 
nah (Conn.) Morton, in New Jersey. When 
A. W. was G years old his father moved to 
the village of Westville, where he kept a ho- 
tel nine years. He then moved to his farm, 
and one year later to Zane Tp., whicii was in 
18-18, and located on tiie farm now owned by 
Edmund Outland. The subject of our biog- 
raphy was married July 4, 1861, to Miss 
Sarah A. Inskeep, daughter of Job Inskeep, 
a native of Culpepper Co., Va., and came 
here among the very first settlers, with his 
father, Joshua, who figured prominently in 
the early history of Zane Tp. Mrs. Morton 
was born March 5th, ] 840. The_y have a fam- 
ily of three girls — Etta May, Rosa Myrtle 
and Edna Gertrude. Mr. Morton had an 
offer for an education for the law, but chose 
rather to follow the plow, in which he has 
achieved uncommon success. At the time of 
his marriage he had no land, and after pur- 
chasing a farm he found himself in debt to 



the amount of about $5,000, with assets only 
about Sl,200, but by careful attention to his 
business he managed in the course of four and 
a half years to clear his entire indebtedness. 
His farm now consists of 263 acres of good land, 
well watered and under-drained, and especially 
adapted to wheat-growing, in which he has 
been an exceedingly successful producer. 
He has a sugar-camp of about 2,000 vessels, 
and produces about 4,000 jiounds annually. 
He is a member of I. O. O. F. Lodge No. 
268, North Lewisburg. As a citizen, every- 
one speaks in the higliest terms of Mr. Morton. 
EDMUND OUTLAND, farmer and stock 
raiser; P. O., West Middleburg. Of the self- 
made men of Zane Tp. who have "dug. 
their property out of the ground," Edmund 
Outland occupies a prominent and lead- 
ing position. Commencing with onlv 75 
cents, his success and present high position 
is but a just tribute to his industry. His 
father, Josiah, was one of the jiioneers of 
this locality, and was a laige land owner. 
He raised a family of eleven boys and gave 
each of them a farm, with the single exc0]5- 
tions of Edmund, who, for some reason, was 
left without a start, and to-day Edmund may 
attribute his success in a great measure to the 
fact, that ho was compelled to work and save. 
Edmund was born November 29, 1814. At 
the age of twenty years and six months he 
married Rachel Stratton wlio was born in 
Zane Township, Oct. 7, 1813. Her parents, 
Joel and Rebecca (Ray) Stratton, were 
among the earliest settlers in this locality, 
coming from Culpepper Co., Va., as earlv 
as 1806. The result of the union of Edmund 
and Rachael was six sons and six daughters. 
Amizetta, Henry, Olive, John, Caroline and 
Charlotte are married and well settled in life. 
When Edmund first began, he rented the 
farm where he now lives for two years, and 
managed, in the meantime, to raise enough 
money to make one payment. He beg-an 
$6,000 in debt and in eight years had liqui- 
dated all incumbrances. At present he clears 
$1,000 a year. He owns 254i acres in one 
body of excellent land, being one of the 
best watered farms in this locality, there 
being no less than twenty-two running springs 
on his land. The land is also well drained 
and being part of the limestone belt, pos- 
sesses the richness of that famous rido-e in 



Is 






CSS 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



tlie production of wlieat and corn. His 
farm, h'lwevcr, is tlio loading stock farm in 
this towiisliip, lie niuking a specialty .of 
liojTs and sheep. There is a '' camp " of 
3,000 vessels, which produced in the spring 
of 1880, y,000 lbs. of sugar. He has good 
fruit and all the comforts of a well-kept and 
]>r(>iluetive farm. He is an exhorter in the 
Quaker Church, while his wife is a Free Will 
IJaptist. 

ISA .\C PAINTER, farmer; P. O., North 
Lewisburg. " Uncle Isaac," as everybody e.^lls 
the generous, warm hearted old gentleman 
whose name heads this sketch, was born 
in Frederick Co., Va., Dec. 5, 1809, 
and is one of the few survivors of that 
noble baud of pioneers who helped make 
this country what it is to-day. His father, 
Abraham Painter, was born Nov. 1. 1781, and 
Sarah (Branson) Aug. 8, 1785. M'hen he was 
two years of age his parents started to Ohio 
in a one-horse cart, and came as far as Lan- 
caster, O., where tlii'y remained over winter, 
and where another son, Walter, was born; 
his father then came to Garwood's Mills, now 
East Liberty, and engaged in the mill here; 
his father's family consisted of five boys and 
three girls, of wliom Isaac was the only one 
who ever located in Zane, as it is now; his 
father moved to Jefferson Tp., where he died, 
Sept. 4, 18J4, having been one of the first 
pioneers in Perry Tp., then a part of Zane, 
and was also one of the first in Jefferson, and 
was a soldier of the war of 1812, as mention- 
■ il in the history of the township. Isaac mar- 
ried .Miss Hope liallinger, Sipt. :2">, 1833, who 
was the daughter of Henry Bellinger, a 
])ii)n(!er; she was born Uec. 11, 1811. They 
forthwith located on the farm wiiere he now 
resides, consisting of oU acres, then entirety 
in the woods, and which he paid for with Ids 
own labor. From this marriage there were 
ft)ursons — Henry, born May 'i'-l, IH'.io, Thomas 
L., July '.iG, 1837; Isaac B., March ^!(;, 1845; 
James \\'esley Uec. 20, 184(1; all now married, 
and the two o!di-st now settled in this town- 
ship. His firsl wife dying, he married Miss 
Augusta Martin, Fib. 2, 1852; she was born 
Aug. 21, 1832, and is an accomplished and 
estimable lady, and formerly a teacher. They 
linve two children — Elizabeth Jane, born Feb. 
20, 1853, and Benjamin Everett, July 18, 18G7. 
He has served as Township Trustee, and is a 



member of Lodge 546, I. O. O. F., North 
Lewisburg; he has been a member of theMeth- 
odist EjHscopalt.'hurih since 1830, and he and 
his wife are members of Mt. Moriah Church. 

ISRAEL POOFj, carpenter and contractor; 
AVest Middleburg. To maintain the con- 
fidence and respect of one's fellow citizens to 
such a degree as to be continuously kept in 
one office for more than twenty years, is cer- 
tainly creditable to anyone; such is the his- 
tory of the gentleman whose name heads this 
sketch. He was liorn in Beaver Co., Pa., Oct. 
8, 1826. His parents were Phineas and Ann 
(Young) Pool, natives of Pennsylvania, the 
latter of Bucks Co., and came to Columbiana 
Co., 0.,when Israel and his twin brother Joseph 
were 18 months old, wiiere both were brought 
up to the carpenter trade, which they still lol- 
low in ])artnersliip, and inanvof the best public 
and ])rivate buddings in this township were 
built by them, among the former L'nion 
Chapel, Christian Church, and Mt. Moriah re- 
built, which attests the superiority of their 
workinaiisiiip. He married Miss Mary W. 
Fast, daughter of Joshua and Susanna Fast, 
ill 1849. She was born in Virginia, June 7, 
1831. From this union there are five chil- 
dren, as follows — Isaac N.; Sarah Jane, mar- 
ried Oliver Marquis; Joseph E.; Charles Sum- 
ner, and Lewis Mc. He came to Zane Tp. 
in 1855, and was elected Justice of the 
Peace soon alter, a position which he has ever 
since held. Of late years he has acted as 
peacemaker more than the presiding olficer of 
the court, in every case, whenever it was ])OS- 
sible, inducing his neigh!)ors to settle their 
disputes without coming to trial, thereby sav- 
ing costs and unpleasantness. Although 
Squire Pool received only a comnwn school 
education, he has by careful reading and 
study, aided by a wonderfully retentive mem- 
ory, become one of the best informed men of 
the country on history, law and general liter- 
ature, and his advice and judgment are Ire- 
quently sought. Although not a ])rofessioiuiI 
])olitician, he is well posted on the issues of 
the day, and occasionally takes tlie stump for 
the Republican party, of which he is an ardent 
supporter; and lieing a close thinker and cle;ir 
reasoner, his speeches are spoken of as credit- 
able affairs. He served several months as a 
meml)er of tho 132nd O. V. I., in the capacity 
Regimental Clerk. 



t 



f 



4. 



ZAXE TOWXSIIIP. 



639 



I. M. SHARP, deceased. Culpepper Co., 
Va., has furnished its quota to the solid farm- 
ing citizens of Zane, and the sons of the Old 
Dominion reflect credit and honor upon their 
Mother State. Among the pioneei-s who came 
to this locality about lf~03 was John Sharp, 
grandfather of the subject of this sketch, who, 
moving from Virginia at the beginning of the 
present century, settled first in Ross Co., and 
at about the above-mentioned date, came to 
what is now Zane Tp. John Shai-p's son, 
Isaac, was born in Virginia, and came to this 
section with his father. His wife was Jane 
(Austin) Sharp. He died in 1869. I. M. 
Sharp, the subject of this sketch, was born 
Dec. 21, 1834, and remained with his father 
until his 26th year. On Feb. 7, ISlil, he mar- 
ried Miss Catherine Ann Hellings, who was 
born Oct. 7, 18-40; he located upon the farm 
which he occupied at the time of his death in 
1861, and, aided by the industry of his wife, 
cleared and improved the farm, consisting of 
03 acres, until at present it is in good condi- 
tion, well drained, and exhibiting the care 
and prudence of a good farmer in the out- 
buildings, fences, etc. On July 22, 1879, Mr. 
Sharp died, leaving his wife the care of four 
children— Marv E.', born Dec. 19, 1861; Wil- 
liam M., Sept." 20, 1863; Charles M., Dec. 4, 
1864, and David M., May 29, 1866. She also 
has entire care and supervision of the farm, 
which, with its large sugar " camp " of 1,100 
buckets, is no small matter. She ships her 
own sugar, sells her own corn and wheat, and, 
in fact, transacts all the business appertaining 
to a flourishing farm. At the time of his 
death Mr. Sharp was a Trustee of the town- 
ship. He was also Steward in the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, of which denomination he 
had been a tnember since his 14th vear. 

JOHN DO^^'NS SHARP, farmer; was 
born in Zane Tp., Aug. 29, 1831. His 
father. Job Sharp, was born in Culpepper Co., 
Va., June 14, 1792, and came to Ohio with his 
father, John Sharp, an old Revolutionary sol- 
dier, as early as 1802, settling in Ross Co., 
from thence he moved into what is now Logan 
Co., about 1803, where his father, John Sharp, 
died at the advanced age of 98 years. Job 
Sharp married Miss Sarah Ann Haines, a na- 
tive of New Jerse}', who was born Oct. 15, 
1803. From this union there were nine chil- 
dren. He was in the war of 1812, was a suc- 



cessful farmer, having at one time 237 acres 
of land, and in politics he was an old line 
Whig. John Downs Sharp, remained with 
his father until the 26th year of his age. In 
1857 he married Amanda E. Kennedy, a na- 
tive of Logan Co., whose parents came from 
Brown Co. at an early day. From this union 
there were three children, two only sur- 
viving, namely — Job Nelson, born June 
8, 1861, and James Owen, born March 
26, 1872. John Downs Sharp has a farm of 
about JOO acres, well under-drained, forming 
excellent wheat land. He has a camp of 400 
trees and a fine orchard. Part of this farm is 
surrounded by a hedge, which, together with 
other improvements, materially increases its 
value, which at ])resent is about S65 an acre. 
J. D. Sharp is a member of Lodge, 546, I. O. 
O. F., and in politics is a Republican. 

CARMAN CHAMPION STOKES, phy- 
sician; West Middlcluu'g; was Ijorn in 
East Liberty, O., June 2, 1849,- and is de- 
scended from one of the oldest and most in- 
fluential families in this township, and in his 
successful professional and business career 
sustains the family reputation in every res- 
pect; his grandfather, Joseph Stokes, came 
here from Culpepper Co., Va., in 1808, and 
located on the farm where the father of Dr. 
Stokes, Joseph Stokes, Jr., was born, Oct. 25, 
1825; his mother, Susan (Austin) Stokes, was 
also a native of Logan Co. When he was four 
years of age his jiarents moved to Zanesfield, 
and here 3'Oung Stokes attended school, and 
in 1801 they again moved to Middleburg, 
where he completed his common school edu- 
cation, and entered the Ohio Wesleyan Uni- 
versity at Delaware, O., in 1867, where lie 
remained about a year. The year following, 
he etitered the office of Dr. William T. Sharp, 
and spent two years in the study of medicine, 
and then went South and spent a year to re- 
gain his.lost health; here he visited numerous 
battlefields and other points of war interest. 
Returning with renewed health, he entered 
the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Sur- 
gery, where he graduated, June 20, 1874; he 
located in the practice of medicine in Newton, 
where he remained two years, and j'ieldingto 
to the entreaties of his numerous friends, he 
came then to Middleburg, ' where his well- 
known abilities as a physician soon gained 
him a large practice. His business increasing 



CIO 



BIOGKAPUICAL SKETCHES. 



beyond his abilities to g-ive it propor at- 
tcMilion, lie invited his brother-in-law, Dr. D 
W. Sharp, to share it. lie was induced by 
the demand for a drujr store to open one 
here, in the spring of 1870, which at once 
commanded a g-ood patronage, while at the 
same time he retains his largo practice. Dr, 
Stokes married Miss Mary Sharp, Sept. 4. 
1873. She is the daughter of Joshua B. and 
Catharine (Norviel), whose history ap|)i'ars un- 
der the sketch of Dr. I). W. Sharp, and was 
born April 2tl, 1850. They have one child, 
Estclla, born July 9, 1874. He is a member 
of Lodge 247, A."'& F. M. Much of the his- 
tory of this township is the result of Dr. 
Stokes' research. 

DAVID WICKLIFF SHARP, physician; 
^Yest Middloburg; a great-grandson of 
Job Sharp, the first white settler in Logan 
Co., was born April 24, 1848, on the farm of 
historic fame, lirst settled by his ancestors; 
his father, Jonathan B., was also born here, 
Oct. 18, 1821, wln-re he followed farming and 
afterwards mercantile jjursuits, and for a short 
time served in the late i'el)ellion, and was 
j)rominently identified with the history of the 
township; he married Catharine (Norviel) 
April 20, 184o, who was born in Medina Co., 
O., March, 11, 1825. They raised a laniily 
of whom four grew to the estate of man. Dr. 
Sharp received an education in the schools of 
this vicinity, and attended the OhioWesleyan 
L'niversity during the years 1804 and 1805, 
after which he returned to engage iu business 
in this ])lace with his father, who was in the 
dry goods trade; he began the study of med- 
icine in 1870, under Dr. Sharp, of this place, 
and entered the Cincinnati College of Medi- 
cine and Surgery in 1873, and graduated in 
1874; soon after this lie entered ujion the prac- 
tice of his profess'on atPottersburg, Union Co. 
locating there July 14, 1874; he married Miss 
Mary Charlotte Stewart, Oct. 15, J 874; she 
was born in Lowell, Mahoning Co., Ohio., 
Nov. 2, 1852. There is one child from this 
union, Willie Howard, iiorn July 15, 1870. 
In 1879, ho left Pottersburg, and returned to 
Middleburg, and h:is had a growing practice 
among the people wiih whom he was reared, 
and aUhougli they familiarly address him as 
"Wick," yet as a plij'sician he has their 
III most conlidence and is recognized as one of 
the most promising members of the profession 



in which he taiies so much pride, and in which 
he has been in the highest sense successful; 
he has many of the qualities which peculiarly 
ada|)ts him for this particular calling, as well 
as the elements which would make him succes- 
ful in any nndortaking. He is a member of 
the Masonic Fraternitj-, of which his father 
was also ii member, and belongs to Lodge 
No. 247, at East Liliertv. 

GEOUGE W. STOKES, fanner and 
teacher; P. O., North Lewisburg. 

"Full many a gem, of purest ray serene, 
The (lark, unfalhomed caves of ocean bear." 

We oi'ton find persons with tact rather than 
talent, filling the learned professions, where 
merit should be the measure, while those 
whose natural gifts anrt act]uirements really 
fit them for such positions, quietly pursue a 
retired life. Of the latter comes to our mind 
the name of George W. Stokes, whom we first 
met at college. He early evinced more than 
an orduiary aptness lor learning, which, with 
a studious disposition, soon placed him far in 
advance of the boys of his age. Having ex- 
hausted the curriculum of the country school, 
he spent two years at the Ohio Wesleyan 
University, at Delaware, and even here what 
was a task of hours to otlicrs was but a few 
minutes' work to him, such was his jiower to 
grasp the most intricate subjects. Lideed, in 
his mind there is a remarkable combination of 
the power of close mathematical reasoning 
and an exceedingly retentive memory; hence, 
it would be ditheult to liiid one so familiar as 
ho with the details of ancient and modern 
history, so accurate is' he as to dates and state- 
ments. He was born in Union Co., Sept. 
17, ]847. His father, John Stokes, was born 
in Zarie Tp., Nov. 18, 1818, and married 
July 4, 1840, Miss Emma Holly, born in Jef- 
ferson Co., N. y.. May 18, 1818. Four 
children blessed the union — Oliver, George 
Weaver, Abram Holly,/ and Arminta Jane. 
The first is a well-to-do farmer of Union 
Co.; the second is the subject of this bio- 
graphy, and the two younger are still with 
their parents. George, on his return from 
college in J 80S, taught school, which he has 
followed up to the present time, during the 
winter, exc( pting two years, and almost ex- 
clusively in his home district; such is the 
attachment of his neighbors among whom ho 






'k^ 



ZANE TOAV^'SHIP. 



6U 



has nfrown up. On Independence Day, 1874, 
he led to tlie altar Miss Maria Elizabeth Cow- 
pill, who was born in Union Co., Nov. 30, 
1850, a descendant of one oi' the pioneers and 
an accomplished, amiable woman, of more 
than ordinary intellectual acquirements. Two 
sweet children came to their home to gladden 
their hearts — Willard Byron, born Nov. 9, 
1879; Florence Ga'e, .tan. 20, 1878. Six 
years of happy married life was given them, 
but ere the seventh had beg-un, early in the 
spring of ISSO, George Stokes was called to 
see pass from this life she who had been to 
him all a true and loving wife could l)e. The 
shock was almost greater than he could liear, 
and it was months ere he recovered from the 
effects of the ordeal. His residence is on the 
farm originally improved by John Warner in 
1809. The Stokes are from the very best 
iamilies of "Old V^irginia," and his grand- 
father, who had married Phoebe Euans, came 
to Zane Tp., it is said, as early as 1S05, 
when there were not a dozen white settlers 
here. He was one of the first to engage in 
sugar making on a large scale. He served 
with distinction in the war of 1812, and was a 
stirring, successful man, and ^'^^s usually 
known as Capt. Stokes. He raised a family 
of three sons and five daughters. 

SAMUEL WAP.NER; retired ; Potters- 
burg. Of all that noble band of pioneers 
to whom Zane Tp. owes so much of 
wiiat she is to-day, none remain of those 
who came here at the dawn of civilization, 
except "Uncle Sam Warner." He was 
born near the little town, Lumberton, on the 
Naucopus River iu the State of Now Jersey, 
May 28, 1803, and in May, 1809 his parents 
started for Oliio, then the "Far West," with 
their family, consisting of Isaac, then fifteen 
years old, and David and Jesse, younger than 
Samuel, and daughters Polly, Hannah and 
Ann, hinding at John Warners, in Zane, 
July 2ti, 1809, sick and tired. Of what 
they, in common with other pioneers suffered, 
we of to-day, surrounded by the luxuries of 
the 19th century, h;.ive no conception. He 
attended school about two weeks at the old 
schoolhouse at Inskeep's Mill, with its 
batten door and puncheon floor, and 
this completed iiis schooling, but not his 
education; his was too active a mind not to 
surmount such disadvantages, hence we find 



him well informed on all subjects and an en- 
cyclopedia of pioneer life. In 1812 he 
moved to the north part of the township 
and followed shoemaking awhile, but in- 
his own language, his principal occupation 
has been to foUovr the plow. On .July 4, 
182(5, ho married MissPhebe, eldest daughter 
of Joshua Sharp, born May 29, 1809, and 
the second female child born in Zane Tp. 
Here he resided over forty years, raising a 
family of three children; Abaishai ]., Liorn 
Dec, 12, 1828; Keturah, Oct. 13, 1830; 
married D. S. Norvill, and died .fan. 
25, 1880; and Miller, born Sept. 0th, 1832. 
In 1873 Sam Warner sold his farm and went 
to live with b.is younger son at Pcjttersburg. 
The latter married Frances Norvill, Dec. 
28, 1854. She was born Dec. 2, 1835, in 
Medina Co. Her father William, was a 
native of Connecticut and her mother, 
Diantha (Holly) Norvill, of New York Slate, 
and were married January ], 1834. He fol- 
lowed farming until 1871, when he moved to 
Pottersl-urg and opened a dry goods store 
the following year, just as the town was open- 
ing uj). His business career, which opened 
un<Ier so favorable auspices, was most seri- 
ously interfered with by three years' sick- 
ness. His disease was diptheria, which, after 
trying many remedies, he found one which 
efFectually cured him, and which he gener- 
ously offers free to any one. He, however, 
continued to sell goods, and farmed until 1875. 
He then sold his store, and has since then 
been giving especial attention to farming 
and breeding thorough-bred cattle, hogs and 
sheep. He is familiar with the stock liusi- 
ness, having been engaged in that business 
when a young man. He has a good farm of 
100 acres in Allen Tp., Union Co., and 
town property. Pie is a stanch supporter of 
the principles of the Reptddican party, as is 
also his father, who, like his father Abaishai 
to whom reference is made in the general 
history of Zane Tp., was an old line Whig. 
For generosity and hospitality the War- 
ners are fine exponents of the customs of 
pioneer life. 

BENJAMIN WILSON, farmer; P. O., 
West Middleburg. Among the influential ami 
prominent citizens of Zane Tp., whom it is a 
pleasure to note, have always occupied a front 
position in the rapid advance of this section. 



042 



BIOGRAnilCAL SKKTCIIKS. 



Benjamin Wilson, by his energetic ajiplication 
to business, and tlie promotion ol' tiio indus- 
tries of iiis community, deserves more than 
|)assing'notioe. Descendant from that good 
liisii laniily of Wilsons who have added so 
nuich to the" wealth of Zaiie Tp., he of course, 
necessarily partakes of their signal energy. 
He wasluirn in County Kings, Parish of Gil- 
len, Ireland, Nov. 7, 181d. The sketch of his 
father will be found in another portion of 
this work. In his fatli(>r's family there were 
four lioys and seven girls. He unfortunately 
was left fatherless at an early age, and receiv- 
ijig a coninioii school education, he began to 
work to help sujijjort his mother and sisters, and 
LOMtinued to help support them until 1839, 
when ho came to Ameiica, and worked in 
New York about a year. He then came to 
Milford Centre. In 184"v' he married Elizalieth 
Curl, daughter of Charhis Curl, whose sketch 
appears in another portion of this work. For 
aliout twelve yt-ars he renteil his landandthen, 
havingaccurnulated a sullicicnt sum of money, 
he bought out the farm upon which he now 
resides. The farm consisted of 100 acres, to 
which he added until at one time he owned 
about 400 acres. He has since, however, 
given to his children and bought land, so that 
at present he owns 305 acres of excellent land, 
well watered, with three miles of midcr-drain- 
age. The land is well ada]ited to the raising 
of corn and wheat; Mr. Wilson being the 
largest wheat grower in this township; he 
has "camps" of 4,500 vessels. He started 
with just §5, and his farms pay homage to his 
|)rudence. He has a family of five children 
— Thomas A., Charles C, .lohn E., Freeland 
atul .Vlaneti, wlio married Sylvester Devore. 
Benjamin is u member, of the Episcopal 
Church, and is strong in tli(! faith of the 
Mother Church. He is He])ublican. 

'J'HO.MAS M. WILSON, retir.d farmer; 
North Lewisburg; was born in Parish tnllen. 
County Kings, Ireland, Dec. 27, ISIU, and 
by occuj>ation is a farmer; he emigrateil to 
America at the age of 27, and after liis j)as- 
sage was paid, liad not a cent of money, ow- 
ing for the clothes he had on his back; he 
worked his way to Zane Tp., where liis 
brother resided, and worked for him and 
various other parties for some time. When 
the " gold fever " broke out he started for the 
diggings, crossing the plains with a wagon 



train, consuming three months and twenty-one 
days in his passage to California; he remained 
there for two years, and having accumulated 
§3,500 in gold, lie returned by steamer to 
New York, and from thence to his home in 
Zaiio Tp.; he, true to his instincts, ini- 
mediat(dy bought a farm of 110 acres, to 
which he has since added as his pecuniary 
condition woidd allow until tie now |)06sesses 
the best improved and most valuable farms 
in this locality, where a good faini is the rule 
and a j)oor one the e.\cepli(m. L'pon his 
farm is a valuable sugar eamj); he has put in 
1,000 rods of tiling, which forms an excellent 
drain, while to add to the attractions of the 
farm he possesses, in the Big Branch, a sup- 
])ly of water indispensable to a stockman. 
Sept. 18, 1858, he married Miss Maria L. 
Moore; she was born in New Jersey, her 
parents coming to Zane Tp. when she was a 
child; her jiarents were among the pioneers 
of Zane, and among the first ^lethodlsts. and 
have always identiti d themsidves with the 
growth of the township; her brother, Ed- 
mund Moore, and her brother-in-law. Job 
Bishop, being especially noted for their zeal 
anil ]irogressive s|)irit, the latter especially 
being a wiile-awake, intelligent and enthusi- 
astic farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are now 
enjoying their well-earned ease at tlieir liome 
in North L(>wisburg, contributing their share 
to everv good work; are consistent members 
of tli(> Methodist Episcopal Church. 

AEONZO P. A\'ES'J', farm.-r; P. O., West 
Middleburg. In noting among the younger 
men those who independently, by their in- 
dustry and strict business jirinciples, have 
accumulated wealth and added to the reputa- 
tion of Z;ine Tp., Alonzo P. West is espec- 
ially ilistiiiguished for the jirominent position 
he has taken in the material advaiu:ement of 
his townshi]). He. was born in Liberty Tp., 
May 11, ]S4(;; His father was born May 14. 
1818, in Massachusetts, and came to Ohio 
with his father, where he married .Miss Ann 
Norvill, also a native of Massachusetts. 
Alonzo received a limited educatitm, attend- 
ing school about two months in the year until 
he was 17 years old, when he entered the 
array. He joined Co. C, 17th O. V. I., and 
served two years. He participated in the 
battles of Mission Kidge, Buzzard's Koost, 
Kesacca, Kenosaw Mountain, and a numi)crof 



:r^ 



ZAX£ TOWNSHIP. 



C43 



minor entragements in North and South Car- 
olina. While on picket duty near Atlanta, 
Ga., he was wounded, and remained one 
month in the hospital. He relates an amus- 
ing incident of a foraging expedition soon 
after his recovery. He and a few others left 
the camp, and, after scouring the country, re- 
turned with quite a load of provisions. 
While crossing the river near Galesville, the 
boat upset and the men lost all their provis- 
ions, the heavier articles going to the bottom 
and the ducks, etc., going down stream with 
the current. The same night they reached 
tlie camp, and for some time the joke was on 
them. On his return from the war he entered 
I he Ohio Wesleyan University, where he re- 
mained but a short time, and then attended 
Northwood College for one term. After this 
he taught school for four winters. He bouglit 
the present farm from his father, in connection 
with his brother Allen, and after running it 
awhile conjointly with him, bought him out 
and became sole proprietor. Mr. West was 
married Feb. o, 1871, to Miss Hettie Inskeep, 
who was a native of Van Buren Co., Iowa, 
l)ut whose parents, Edward and Isabclle 
(Downs) Inskeep, were early settlers in Zane 
Tp. Jlrs. West was a teacher about live 
years previous to her marriage. Alonzo's 
farm consists of 120 acres of excellent land, 
and is one of the oldest improved farms in 
Zine Tp., having been settled in 1807. The 
buildings, although built as early as 1820, are 
in good preservat on, having been built by 
Joshua Inskeep. There are about 250 rods 
of hedge around the farm. He has a ctimp 
of 1,200 trees, from which he produces about 
5,000 pounds of sugar annually. He pays, 
however, particular attention to stock-raising. 
He has two children — Earl, born Jan. 21, 
1872, and Fred, Jan. 2, 1880. 

JOHN WILSON, farmer; P. O., North 
Lewisburg; was born in County'Kings, Parish 
of Gillen, Ireland. April 3, 1824. His parents 
were Joiin and ilary (iluqiliy) Wilson, and 
he was reared a farmer; he received a mod- 
erate education in Ireland, but was compelled 
to give the greater share of his attention to 
the farm, upon which he remained untd he 
was 2G years of age, when he emigrated to 
America on the steamship Silas Greenman; 
he landed at New York amidst all the be- 
wildering influences of that bustling city. 



Keeping steadily in view, however, the grand 
purpose of liis life, he started for Ohio, rea<!h- 
ing Zane Tp. about a year after his landing 
at Castle Garden. In three vears after his 
arrival in Znne Tp., such was his indefatiga- 
ble zeal and energy, he had saved enough 
money to purchase a farm of 50 acres, paying 
8800 down and liquidating the lialaiice by 
working his farm. Soon after locating in this 
township he married Ann Lowe, also a native 
of Ireland. From this uni(m there are six 
boj'S and one girl — Thomas, !Mary, John, 
George, Btnjamin, James and Edward, all 
now living and residing at home. About 
1871 he purchased the farm on the Lewisburg 
Pike, formerly Ijelonging to Widow ilore, 
jjaying for the same $0,000, mostly' money 
down, which \u: had made on his farm. Aug. 
28, 1873, his wife, to whom lie was devotedly 
attached, died. She was an estimable lady, 
and no small share of his success is attributed 
to the care, prudence and economy of his 
faithful companion, and in justice to Mr. 
Wilson be it said that he ever recognized her 
character and felt her loss as only a loving 
husband could. Mr. Wilson's farm is at pres- 
ent under excellent cultivation. He has a 
line home, with all the comforts of a thrilty 
and well-to-do farmer. His sugar-camp con- 
sists of 800 treps. 

JOHN R. WILSON was born in Ire- 
land, July 9, 1846, and came to America 
with his mother when he was 8 years of age. 
His father, Edward Wilson, was born in 
County Kings, Parish Gillen, June 11, 1814, 
The father of the subject of our sketch, in 
his 26th year, married Margaret Larkin, and 
in 1851 he emigrated to America, leaving his 
family at their home in Ireland — compelled 
to do so from a lack of funds to pay their 
passage to this- continent. For the fir.st few 
months after reaching America, he remained 
in the East, earning by daily labor, money to 
support his wife and lamily i:i Ireland; but 
graduallv working w-estward, he in October, 
1851, reached Zane Tp. After becoming per- 
manently settled he sent for his family, and 
theycame over, reaching here about 1854. Set- 
ting to woi k with all the ardor and zeal of a 
man who appreciates the privilege of inde- 
pendence in America, he soon accumulated 
quite a sum of money, which unfortunately 
was lost. . Coming from a stock which knew 



At 
JJJZ 



044 



BIOG R APIIICAL SKETCH ES. 



no such word as discourajrenient, he, thanking 
God fur liis gdod liealth, set to work again, 
;in<l in IStil liad eariie.d Hiid saved enoiigli 
money to huy a i'arrn of 133i- acres, excellent 
i;ni(l, now one of the best in the township, 
.lolin K. Wilson, partaking of the energetic 
character of his father, has a fine farm of 
loii acres, n])on which he lives with his wife, 
a charming lady, whom he niairied June 0, 
]87tS. Her maiden name was Miss Susan 
Ann Fox, and lier parents came from Penn- 
i-yivania at quite an early date. Mr. Wilson 
is a meinber of the Lewishurg Lodge of Free 
Masons, and of Maple Grove Lodge of Grang- 
ers. 

SETH S. WINDER, farmer; P. O., North 
Lewislnirg; was born December 14, 1841. 
His father, Thomas Winder, was born De- 
ct.'ndjer 24, 18U4, in IJnss Co., Ohio. The 
latter's father, Abner Winder, came from 
Pennsylvania and was one of the pioneers 
of the Northwestern territory, settling in 
Koss Co. about the beginning of the pres- 
(Mit century. His wife was a Ballinger. 
Thomas \\'indcr came to Logan Co. in 
1S41, purchasing 317 acres of land. The 
oidy improvements upon the same consisted 
of a doul)le log cabin, and two old log stables. 
He married Hannah Wildman, who was 
bf.rn in Clark Co. Sept. 12, 1802. By 
this union there were ten children. Seth S. 
was reared amidst all the influences of a 
primal but progressive farming district. He 
received a common school education, spend- 
ing six months in the High School, besides 
one term at Earlhain College, llichmond, Ind. 
lieturning home he again entered upon his 
father's farm, remaining with him until he was 
27 years of age, when he marrie<l Maggie A. 
Liuville, who was u native of Champaign 
Co., and whose parents J. H-. Liuville and 
Ann (Pennington) Liuville were respected 
settlers of that county. The subject of our 
sketch now possesses a farm of lljti acres. 
Well watered, very productive and adapted 
also to the raising of stock. He lias two 
children — Aldina born Sept. 28, 1873, and 
Seneca, Jan. 23, 1879. The AVinders have 
always been among the first to promote 
and encourage all those improvements wliich 
are necessary to the advancement, growth and 
ultimate wealth of any community. Being 
Quakers they partake of the integrity and 



industry so characteristic of that sect, 
and their excellent and valuable farms are 
fitting- tributes to industry and persevci-ancc. 
Thomas Winder is still living, a hale old man 
of 70. Time has dealt lightly with him and 
to-day he enjoys the robust health which a 
long life of temperance and ha|)piiiess, to- 
gether with honest toil naturally gives a man. 
On every hand he beholds his sons, progres- 
sive and iiifluenlial farmers. (Jur Edward 
Winder has done much to increase the repu- 
tation of the county as a breeder of line wool 
sheep. 

I3ENJAMIN FRANKLIN M'lHICK, de- 
ceased; was born Aug. 7, 1833, in Columbiana 
Co., and came to Logan C'o. when he was 10 
years of age, locating in Zane Tp. On Feb. 
7, 1856, he married Marv E. Green, born in 
Logan Co., Dee. 17, 1834. She was the 
daughter of Geor<rP K. Green, who was born 
in Kentucky in 171)8, and who came to Logan 
Co. with his father in 180o. George Green 
married Ruth Williaiiis, a native of Virginia, 
who settled in Logan Co. with hiT parents in 
1811, and raised a family of thirteen children. 
GcfiTge Green was a local jn-eacher in the 
-Methodist P^iiiscojial Church. His wife was 
raised a Friend, but joined the Methodist 
Episco])al Church. Tlie result of tlie union 
of B. F. Wirick and Mary E. Green was two 
children — Sarah Jane and Benjamin Frank- 
lin. Sarah Jane married George Bushong, 
and had by him two children — one only. Lulu 
Ellpn, surviving. The mother died Jan. IG, 
1880. B. F. Wirick was a member of the 
180th Reg. O. V. L, and served eleven months 
to the close of the war. He died Oct. 9, 1877. 
His wife lives on a beautiful farm of 141 
acres, well watered, and contains a line sugar 
camp, from which annually about 4 OOU 
])()unds of sugar are produced. There is an 
excellent orchard, )>roducing abundantly 
fruits in their season, and the buildings show 
the care of a well regulated farm. 

J. W. YOUNG, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 
O., W(!st Middleburg; was born in Columbiana 
Co., June 11, 1838, and came to Logan Co., 
when he was 12 years of age; his father was 
of Irish extraction and was born in 1810. in 
Beaver Co., Penn.; he followed teaming over 
the mountains until about his twenty-first year, 
when he locnted in Columbiana Co., (Jhio, and 
married Miss Ana Walton, born Aug. 25, 



PERRY TOWNSHIP. 



645 



1813. The}'- raised a faiiiil^y of iuii(> children, 
of whom four arc now living; J. W. Younr^ 
married Miss Amanda P. Outiand, April 13, 
1802; Robert, her father, was born in Znno 
Tp., Nov. 37, 1808, and died Sept. 1, 1871; 
her mother, Martiia (Freer), was born in Vir- 
ginia, Dec. 20, 1808, in Gates Co., and camo 
to Ohio with her parents when a small child, 
and located in Warren Co., and died in Zane 
Tp., April 21, 1880. The former was raised 
:i Friend and the latter a Methodist. Mr. 
Young's farm consists of 108 acres, well 
watered and under-drained, and under the 
very best state of cultivation, with good 
buiidino-s. He belongs to the most advanced 



class of progressive farmers, and never hesi- 
tates to take advantage of any improvement; 
he has raised as much as seventy-two bushels 
of corn to an acre; he has lately turned his 
attention to fine wool sheep, and has, perhaps, 
the best flock in the township, the majority of 
them costing about §100 each, and are regis- 
tered in the Vermont Register; lie has a 
choice collection of fruit, especially cherries 
and plums; he served about four months in the 
132ndO. V. I., and was Township Trustee 
five years; he is a member of East Libcrtv 
Lodge, F. & A. M., No. 247, and Star Chapter 
No. 126. Both he and his wife are members 
of the Methodist Protestant Church. 



PERRY TOWNSHIP. 



GEORGE ARMSTRONG, farmer; P. O., 
North Greenfield. Among the jolly, good- 
hearted souls who hail from thi' Emerald Isle 
is Geoi-ge Armstrong, who was born Feb. 15, 
1833, in Ireland. His piarents were Georgi; 
and Rose (Smith) Armstrong. George immi- 
grated to this country in 1849, coming west 
to Chicago; he remained a short time, and 
then drifted south, landing in Logan Co. In 
1855, hew;is married to Rachel Supler, who 
was a daughter of Samuel and Nancy 
(Campbell) Su]5ler. Samuel Supler came to 
this township about the year 1827, from Pick- 
away Co. He was one among the first who 
settled in this part of the township; was an 
excellent man, and highly respected by all 
who knew him. He died April 23, 1880; his 
wife in 1877. Mr. Armstrona; resides a short 
distance east of North Greenfield, and has 225 
acres of land, and is among the enterprising 
and successful farmers in the township. He 
has a family of seven children — David B., 
Martha, George R., Nancy, Mary E., Edward 
and Sarah. He is a member of Wapatoniica 
Lodue, I. O. O. F., No. 424. 

MRS. SARAH AUSTIN, retired;* East 
Liberty; was born July 21, 1811, in Philadel- 
phia, Pa.; she was a daughter of Henry and 
Sarah (Custer) Moore, wdio emigrated to this 
State in 1821, and finally located in Mount 
Moriah, where they died — he on Feb. 1, 1850, 



atid she on Oct. 24, 1SG9. On July 25, 1800, 
she was married to Rev. Carlisle A. Austin, 
w-ho was born in Now Jersey, Feb. 6, 1804, 
and moved to East Liberty, O., in 1820, 
and lor sixty years was a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he 
always took an active part. He was a con- 
scientious man, and one who never swerved 
from duty and the truth, and was a man- of 
acknowledged ability; for several years he 
held the offi,-es of Justice of the Peace, No- 
tary Public and Surveyor, and for forty j'ears 
was a local preacher, and many, through his 
instrumentality, were brought to the cross of 
Christ. In matters that pertained to busi- 
ness, he was successful, leaving after him a 
good farm and personal property; he died in' 
the trium])h of faith, April 10, 1870; he was 
first married to Rebecca Rea. Mrs. Austin, 
who survives him, resides on the homestead; 
she is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
CJhurch, and has been since six years cf age, 
when she was converted, and received into the 
church at the age of seven. 

HENRY BALLINGER, farmer; P. O., 
East Liberty; was born June 17, 1814, in 
Zane Tp.; is the eldest of a family of two 
children born to Henrj' and Patience (Bishop) 
Ballinger. His father's name was Joshua, 
who emigrated to this county during its first 
settlement, and settled in the woods south of 



^J. 



f.lG 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Mhldlf'hunr. lli'tir^-'s fatlier died bet'ore he 
was born, his motliiT inarrying again. She 
rai.sed Iht son to maturity, and Nov. 2.3, ISST, 
he was niairiccl to Xlebcoca C. Moore, who was 
born in Now .Jersey' April 15, 1817, and came 
west with her parents, Henry and Sarah 
(Ouster) Moore, wiicn she was five years of 
age. Her grand lather attained a ripe old 
age. Since Mr. IJaliingor's marriage he lias 
resided in Perry Tp. When he located, it 
was one dense growth of forest. Wolves and 
wild game wen: in abundance. Ili> first pur- 
chased eighty acres of Duncan McCarthy, of 
Chillicothe, and the surroinidings at the pres- 
ent time g-ive but sjight testiino .y of the in- 
coivenicnces and ob.stucles that attended the 
settlement of tliese now jiroJuctive lands, that 
respond annually to the demands of the hus- 
l>andman. Mr. Ballinger is now in the de- 
cline of life, and is enjoying the fruits of 
his honest toil in quiet and peaceful retire- 
ment. He has been for two score of years a 
member of the Mi-thodist Episcopal Church, 
and has endeavored to ornament his jirofession 
by a Christian-like walk and conversation. 
Four children have been born to him — 
Mary, Laynon. TlKMniis anil II -nrv. 

L. G. BALLING Kit, f.irmc^r; I'. ()., West 
Miildleburir; was boin .March 2.'J, 1843; son of 
John and .Margaret (Daugh'Ttv) Ballinger. 
John Ballinger was born in New Jersey, Oct. 
7, 17'.)('', and emigrated to Ohio, locating in 
Zane 'J'p.; his w.fe was born .May "29, 1811, 
she being his second wife. They were mar- 
ried on the farm now owned by Levi, whose 
father dieii Aug. 14, 18(18; and mother, March 
29, 1870. Seven children were born to them. 
During his life he was a member of the Free 
A\'ill Baptist Church. At the ajre of seven- 
teen, Levi enlisted in Co. C, 17th O. V. 
I., and served three years, and was a true and 
worthy soldier; he was wounded at the battle 
of Chickamauga; was struck in tiie nerk with 
a Minnie ball. The Federal army falling 
back, he was left on the battle-field and fell 
into the hands of the enemy. His brother, 
]3avid D., was in the same company, and was 
shot dead on the field, and was never seen 
afterwards. Levi, after being in the hands of 
the enemy a short time, was exchanged, and 
returned to his regiment. Upon his return 
home, he ri'Siime<I farm labor, and was married 
in 1800 to .Mary Sprague, who wa^^ born Sept. 



9, 1845; she was a daughter of Isaac and 
Sarah (Green) Sprague. Mr. Bal inger has 
101) acres of land. F ve children have been 
born >into him — Franklin, Thomas, Deloino, 
Klla M. and Louisa. The Ballingers are true 
Republicans. 

OLIVKR S. BALLINGER, farmer; P.O., 
Ea-st Liberty; was born Sept. 14, 18:i9; is the 
filth son and seventh child of Joshua anil 
Delilah (fnskcep) Ballinger; .Joshua was born 
in February, 18(12, in Burlington Co., N. J., 
and emigrated to this State with his father, 
Samuel Ballinger, who settled in wliat is now 
known as Zane Tp., in 1809, where he re- 
mained until his death, which occurred on 
Sept. 8, 1873. His wife was born in 180S, in 
Zane; they were both members of the Prot- 
estant Methodist Church. At the aire of 22, 
Oliver ejilisted in Co. C, 17th O. V. I., and 
served three years, and was a true and val- 
iant soldier, who participate 1 in nearly all the 
prominent battles in which his reginent was 
engaired; he was wounded at the battle of 
Chickamauga, and was there taken prisoner; 
he received his discharge, and, returning 
home, engaged in farming j>ursuits in connec- 
tion with his brother. At the age of 20, he 
was marrii'd to Louisa A. Garwood, who was 
boiri in November, 18.51, in Zane Tp.; she is 
a daughter of Lemuel and Angelina (Warren) 
Garwood; they have four children — Lydia I., 
born June 5, 1871; Samuel, June 20, I8r3; 
.\ugusta, June 28, 1875; Angelina, .May 30, 
1879. H(> is a memlier of the A., F. & A. .\1. 
He and hisbnjther have 450 acres of choice 
land-. 

ROIiFRT DFCKIN.SON, farmer: P. O., 
N<irth Greenfield; was born in JelTerson 
'J'ownshij), March 15, 1812, and is the eldest 
of a family of tifteen children, who were born 
to Th')mas and Maria (Lowe) Dickinson, who 
came to what is now Logan Co., about the 
year 1810, locating south of Zanesficld, and 
raised a large family. He was engaged in 
running one of the first saw-mills that was 
erected in that part of the country. As a 
business man he was not considered a marked 
success, yet his sons have arisen from poor 
boys to wealth and affluence, and are now 
among the most successful in the country. 
Having little or no school advaiita<res, yet they 
iniiuaged to si'cure enough to enable them to 
transact any business that comes in their line, 



'f 



't^ 



PERRY TOWXSIilP. 



C47 



and as "garners-up" of this -world's goods, 
they have few superiors in the county. Rob- 
ert was married Jan. 24, 1833, to Rchecca 
Stevenson, who was born Feb. 20, 1813, in 
Lake Tp.; she is a daughter of John and Jen- 
nie (Hatfield) Stevenson; she was a native 
of Virginia, he from Kentucky, and thcv came 
to this county before the war of 1812, and were 
among the number, who sought refuge in the 
block house from the Indians. Siiortly after 
Mr. Dickinson was married, he settU^d in Rush 
Creek, near the lake; he afterwards came to 
Jefferson and settled at the head of Mad 
River, purcliasing 103 acres; this he soon 
traded for land in Perry Tp., on the Grubb's 
place. In 1865, he moved to North Green- 
field, where he now resides. After years of 
hard labor and pioneer life, he is in possession 
of 6-10 acres of laud. Of the ten children 
born to him, eight are living — Ruth Jane, 
(Mrs. A. Grubbs), Susannah, (Mrs. Isaac 
Henry), Henry C. (attoriu'v at law), George, 
Eliza A. (Mrs. E. Powers), Deliverance, P^iliott 
and .Joshua. Mr. Dickinson and wife are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
His father was a member of the " Friends." 

L. C. FISHER, farmer; P. (3., West Mans- 
field; was born on the homestead farm. June 
3, 1850, being the youngest son of William 
and Ithoda Fisher. Lewis was 22 when he 
left home, which was in June, 1872, when he 
inairied Kate Critchfield, who was born 
-March 18, 1850, and is a daughter and 
eldest child of Resolve and Rebecca (Clark) 
Critchfield, born in Oiiio Co., Va., in Oc- 
tober, 1817. He was born in Washing- 
ton Co., Pa., Sept. 22, 1815. He was 
likewise a son of Resolve, who was a .son 
of John. Resolve, the father of Mrs. Fisher, 
is a promitient farmer in this township, and 
was for many years during the early part of 
his life a teacher and Superintendent of 
Schools in the South. In 1875 Mr. Fisher 
moved to his present home, situated in the 
north part of the township. Three children 
have crowned their union — Bertha C. born 
April 7, 1873; Florence, Sept. 20, 1875, and 
Gail, Sept. 2.5, 1877. Both Mr. and Mrs. 
Fisher are members of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church. Farming is the business in which 
he is engaged. 

SARAH J. FREER, farming; P. O. Zanes- 
field; was a daughter of Haines Austin, who 



was born in New .Jersey, Aug. 8, 1808, and 
was married to Rachel Garwood in 1833; she 
was born in New Jersey in 1812, and located 
in that county wdiere Sarah J. was born, June 
27, 1834; the family emigratingto this county 
in the year 1835, locating in Perry Tp. Here 
the family have since remained. Haines 
Austin was stricken down suddenly Nov. 18, 
1837 — had started to New Jersey on a visit, 
and while on the road to Bellefontaine he fell 
dead of heart disease. His wifj yet survives 
him, sjie residing with her son and daughter, 
Josiah and Elizabeth, in this township. Sarah 
J. was married Nov. 5, 1854, to Isaiah G. 
Freer, who was born Oct. 25, 1832, in JelFer- 
son Tp.; a son of Henry and Rachel (Out- 
land) Freer. After the marriage of our sub- 
ject to Mr. Freer, they remained on the Freer 
farm until the fall of J 800, when they located 
in the south-west part of Perry Tp., the farm 
consisting of 150 acres of land. Mr. Freer 
died of rose cancer May 1, 1879; his remains 
now repose in Marmon Valley graveyard. 
He was a member of the Free Will Baptist 
Church, and was an active member in tlie 
same; living a conscientious and upright life. 
I'^ive children were born to them — Henry C, 
l)orn Feb. 14, 1857; Rachel E., Nov. 4, 1858; 
Ida D., Aug. 28, 1800, now Mrs. Fin.ley 
Reams of Jeff^ersoii T|).; Mary A., born Sept. 
19, 185.5, and Charles A., born Oct. 20, 1807. 
JOHN E. GORDON, farmer; P. O., West 
Mansfield; was born May 29, 1831, in Lou- 
doun Co., Va.; is a son of .lohn W. and Eliza- 
beth (Randall) Gordon, both of whom were 
natives of the Old Dominion State. Upon 
their arrival in this county they located upon 
the Darby, and afterwards removed to Cham- 
paign Co., where after about twelve years' re- 
sidence, they moved to Adams, then to Clarke 
Co. John, after attaining his majority, began 
to "paddle his own canoe." In 1851, he was 
joined in wedlock to Barbara E. Keller, who 
was born in this township Jan. 10, 1834, and 
is a daughter of Frederick and Rachel (Skid- 
more) Keller; s^he was a sister of Joseph and 
Daniel Skidmorc. After John's marriage he 
located in Clarke Co., 111., but subsequently 
returned to the " Buckeye State," and in Jan- 
uary, 1862, enlisted in Co. B, 13th Ohio 
Battery, but was afterwards transferred to the 
14th Ohio, and was finally discharged on ac- 
count of physical disability. He has since 






•y 



it. 



CAS 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



b^'en a resident of Perry Tp., and en- 
gaired in liirriiing. His farm was formerly 
a part of the Bunks land. Of eight children 
liorii to him, seven arc liviiif!^ — Joseph E., 
Rosa E., John E., Ranson D., Mary E., Robert 
F., and Cliarles A. Josi'|)h E. is young and a 
xisefiil teacher. Both Mr. Gordon and wife 
are members of the Free Will Baptist 
Chureh. 

-MILTON GREEX, farmer; P. O., East 
Liberty; born in .Monroe Tp., Feb. 2G, 18^5. 
There were !'■> children in the family, all of 
whom lived to be married. The tirst death 
that occurred in the family was after the ]ier- 
son had attained the age of 40. Milton was 
the second of the family. His father's name 
was George R. Green, who immigrated to this 
State in 1800, stopjiingin Clarice Co. until the 
following year, and settled in what is now 
Logan Co., in Monroe Tp., on the Mackarhack. 
]-Ierc he settled and was one of the staunch and 
true men of that cmiIv time. He was for sev- 
eral years engaged in the local work of the 
Methodist Church, and attended to his tem- 
poral alFairs as well. He (.li'^d Sept. 7, 18i!"2. 
His wife survived him until Mav 7, 187t). 
Milton lived a bachelor until ho was 35. On 
Nov. 3, 1859, he was married to Mrs. Sarah 
Devore. She was a daughter of C. H. Aus- 
tin; her mother was Rebecca Rav. TIk-v 
S(;ttled here on the rami where Mr. Green now 
lives. Here his wife was born, in 1S:51. They 
have six children — Lillie, Peony, Rosa, Re- 
becca. Delia May and Milton M. Mr. Green, 
like his ancestors, is true to Republican prin- 
ciples. He has 400 acres of land. 

JOHN GWYNN, farmer; 1". O., West 
Manslield; was born Oct. X'T, IS4:!, in .Jeffer- 
son T])., and was the lifth chiM of .Fohn and 
Glielma (McMillen) Gwynn. In his'^'dth year, 
he enlisted in the llWd re-riment, Cn. I,0. N. 
G., and, serving out his term of enlistment, 
re-enlisted in Co. K, 88th O. V. L, and re- 
mained until the close of the war, receiving 
his discharge July 4, 18G5; returniuLT home, he 
engaged in farming. On Nov. :50, ISiii, he 
was united by nuirriago to Ann Eli/a llarri- 
man, only daughter of Stpj)lien and Harriet 
llarriman, who was born in this townshi)) in 
September, 1842; they reimiiiied on the home 
farm after mnrriage, until 18(i9, when they 
located on the pike, one mile west of Mans- 
lield, th ■ir presi-nt place of residence, having 



139A^ acres of latid; they have two interest- 
ing children — Minnie, born July 1(5, 1871, 
and Frank, July ^7, 1875. He is a member 
of White Lodge, L O. O. F., No. 57ii; both 
he and wife are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. 

HHL\M HARSHFIELD, farmer and stock 
raiser. One of the most pnnninent farmers 
in this township is Hiram Harslifiehl, who is 
prominently identifie I with (he agricultural 
interests of this township; he was born in 
Richland Co., Oct. 23, 1834; his parents were 
David and Elizabeth (Beckley); tlu; former 
was a native of Germany and emigrated to 
America to escape empressment in the army; 
he came to Virginia, and afterwards was mar- 
ried to Miss Becklev. The family emigrated 
to this State and located in Richland Co. 
Hiram was raised for farming pursuits, and 
remained with his parents until his marriage 
to Elizabeth Nash, which event occurred Oct. 
23, 180G; she was born in Clinton Co., Ohio, 
Aug. 29, 1840, and is a daughter of John I 
Nash, one of the highly respected citizens of 
this township. Five children have iieen lii rn i 
to them, who are — Estella, Orlando, Franklin, 
Omar and Pearl H. He and his wife are 
members of the Disciples Church. His farm, 
consisting of 375 acres, ranks among the best 
of the county, 300 acres of which is umler 
cultivation. Stock-raising is one of the in- 
terests in which he is enga<;ed. 

STEPHEN HARRI-MAX, farmer; P. O., 
Noith Greenfield; is the second eldest of the 
Harriinan family now living; he was born in 
Washington Co., Pa., Dec. 29, 1817, and is a 
son of Simpkin and Sarah (Green) llarriman, 
who were blessed with a family of tliirte(Mi 
children. Simi)kin's father was David Hani- 
in.in, who was liorn in Maryland and removed 
to Washington, Pa., ]irior to the war of the 
Revolution, where iMinpkin was born, 1788. 
He married in 1800, and emigvated west in 
1825, locating where David Harriinan, Jr., 
lives; here Simpkin remained until his death, 
i which occurred Feb. 4, 1872, and his wife in 
October, 1808. Stephen's grandmother was 
Phoebe Kirk belore mariiage, but she 
afterwards married Nehemiah Green, who 
served all through the wjr of the Revolution. 
Simpkin Harriinan was a graduate, and during 
iiiS life was mostly engaged in teachinir. Re- 
turning to David — he was raised to farming. 



PEKRY TOWNSHIP. 



649 



and at he age of 17 began for himself; at 
the age of 2'^, on Jan. 16, 1840, he was united 
in matrimony to Harriet Watkins, born in 
Jeffiirson Tp., Sept. 18, 1816; she is a daugh- 
ter of James Knd Nancy (White) Watkins. 
The Watkiiises are from Sussex Co., Va., and 
came west in 1816, and located in the south- 
ern part of Jefferson Tp. James W. died in 
1862; his wife in 1852. For a time after 
Stephen was married, he lived on the Harri- 
man farm, but in February, 1845, he moved 
to the northern ])art of Perry, where he has 
since resided, first purchasing sixty acres; he 
has now 268 acres. Of five cliildren born to 
him four are living — ^^'illiam H., born Nov. 
!l, 1840; enlisted in 1861, in Co. A, 15th U. 
S. Regulars; after serving three years in the 
war, he was taken prisoner at the battle of 
Chickamauga, anddied in Andersonville pris- 
on, a martyr to his country; Ann E.. Viorn Sept. 
20, 1842, now Mrs. John Gwynn; Shepherd, 
]Jec. 22, 1852, now a minister in Kansas; 
Thomas, Aug. 8, 1854, on home farm. Mr. 
Harriman and wife are members of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church. 

SAMUEL N. HATCHER, farmer; P. O., 
Zanestield; was born May 23, 1827, on the 
farnj he now owns, which is situated in the 
west ])art of tlie township; he is the eldest 
son born to Uaniel and Hope Garwood. 
Daniel was born in Loudoun Co., Va., 
and emigrated to this State with his 
ently in Logan Co., and purchased 500 
father Isaac, who finally located perman- 
acies of unimproved land in Perry Tp. Sain- 
ui'l was married in April, 1848, to Mary Ann 
Rhodes, who was born in Maryland, 1829, 
(laughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Siddle) 
Rhodes — locating on the farm he now has, 
and has since lived, with the exception of seven 
years spent in Montgomerj^ Co., Ind. He 
liked the country, and would have remained, 
but on account of his father's ill health he 
yielded to his solicitations and returned to the 
homestead. His wife died in 1869, leaving 
nine children, which are — Sarah Ann, now 
Jlrs. Aaron Taylor; Elizabeth H., now Mrs. 
John Mc.\tee; Mary A., now Mrs. Perry Tsen- 
hart, of Preble Co., Ohio.; Daniel, Samiiel N., 
Emma J., Carrie, Fannie, Anna Victoria, now 
Mrs, Jacob Stanley, of Monroe Township. In 
February, 1870, he married Sarah Outland, 
born in this county in 1837. She was a 



daughter of Jerry Outland, who married a 
But er. One child, Charley, has been born 
to them, whose age is now 6 years on the p;ist 
July 2d. Jlr. Hatcher has 199.10 acres of 
land, according to the late survey. The old 
log house yet remains in the yard which he 
assisted in building, and which was his first 
to keep house in. He and wife are members 
of the Free-Will Baptist Church. In 1872, 
he was burned out by an accidental fire, in 
which was lost his house and almost the 
entire contents. Politically he is not in the 
majority in his township, which is stroinj-K' 
Republican. 

A. G. HEATH, carpenter. East Liberty; 
born in Clinton Co., N. Y., Jan. 14, 1834; son 
of Jesse and Hannah (Allen) Heath. The 
former was born in Vermont, Juno 20, 1810. 
His wife is a relative of Ethan Allen of historic 
fame. The grandfather of A. G. was born in 
Hampstead, N. H., Dec. 25, 1782; his name 
was John, and he married Hannah Darling, 
who- was born Jan. 14, 1790, in the same state 
as her husband. A. G. emigrated west with 
his parents in 1835, to Tuscarawas Co., then 
to Stark, and while there learned the carpen- 
ter's trade with his father. Jn 1855, ho came 
to Logan Co., and the year following was 
married to Alary E. E. Austin, 1)orn July 27, 
1840, in Perry Tp., Ohio. She was a daughter 
of Caleb and Ellen (Shanks) Austin. Allen's 
father has since married Mrs. Austin, the 
mother of his (Allen's) wife. In August, 1862, 
Allen enlisted in Co. C, 45th O. V.'l., servino- 
as mounted infantry for eighteen months; was 
color sergeant in his regiment, carrying the 
same the entire; term of his service, and" flaunted 
the Stars and Siripcs to the gaze of the foe 
during every battle in which the regiment was 
engiged. U]i(m his return home, he resumed 
his trade and run the hotel for twelve years 
in East Liberty. He has four children living 
— Nellie, Ida M„ AVilmot and Jonah C. He 
is a member of I. O. O. F. and A., F. & A. M. 
at East Liberty, and census enumerator for 
1880. 

JOHN HEATH, farmer; P. O., East Lib- 
erty; was born Jan. 25, 1835, in Cuyahoga 
Co., Ohio; in early life he attemled school, 
having very good common school advantages 
afforded him; his parents were Jesse and 
Hannah (Allen) Heath, who were natives of 
Vermont; after a sojourn in several of the 



^ 



'A: 



6")0 



BIOGRAPHICAL -SKETCHES. 



inland counties, the family came to Loj^an 
Co. in 1S.5.'>; John's father was a carpenter, 
which Imsiness he followed for several years, 
a vocation which was never patronized by his 
son John, who for several years clerked in a 
store at Massillon. At the age of 28, lie was 
married to Eliza liandall, who was bnm in 
this township; she was a daughter of Josepli 
Randall; slie died December, 1875, leaving 
one child, Gary F., born August, 1870. His 
present wife is Hope Hatcher, born in this 
township in l.Sii'; is daughter of John 
Hatcher. Since 1870, he has resided on the 
farm be now owns, located west of East Lib- 
erty. He is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. 

DAVID IIOGUE, farmer; P. O., West 
Mansfield; was born in Liberty Tp. May 29, 
1844, and was a son of George and Jane (Bol- 
linger) Hoguo; they were born in Cumberland 
Co., Pa. and came west about the year 1834, 
and were parents to the major number of 
eighteen children, David being the youngest; 
his fallier died wlien David was a lad. He 
was thus thrown upon his own resources early 
in life. He lived live years with C'yi us Bell, 
of Bi)kes Creek Tp., who gave him employ- 
ment and good counsel. On Jan. 17, 18();5, he 
was marrieil to Susannah Hami.ton, who was 
born Jan. 17, 1)S:5'.J, in Fayette Co., Pa., and 
came west in 1800. Her ]>arents were ^\'il- 
liam ami Susannah (Bear) Hamilton, both na- 
tives of the Keystone State. In 18G4, Mr. 
Hogue came to this farm. He first bought 
fil'tv acres at S'24 per acre, and has since aug- 
mented his first purchase \nitil he now has 
\o'l}^ acres; the greater portion he has ac- 
quired by his own labor, assisted by his faith- 
ful wife, who has had the misroitune to lose 
her hearing from a severe illness since her 
marriage. She is a devoted Christian woman, 
a member of the Methodist E|>isci))al Cluirch. 
They have four chihlren — .Maiv J., Iinrn Nov. 
4, 18G4; Kmnui E., April 23, isOS; Kena V., 
Dec. 24, lb71; and Robert. Nov. 7, 1S71. 

GAPT. J. D. INSKEEP, farmer; ]'. O.; 
East Liberty; is a gramlson of John liiskcep, 
who was born in 1784 in N'irginia, and emi- 
grated to this State in liSllG, locating in what 
is now /aneT])., and at one time represented 
his district in Congress. Thirteen children 
were born to him; ten of the number arrived 
at maturity, David , Inskeep, his son, was 



born April 17, 1813, in Zane Tp., and was 
married Oct. 20, 1833, to Martha Downs, and 
in 1841 located in Perry Tp., two and a half 
miles north of East Liberty, where ho lived 
until his death, which occurred Aug. 24, 
18.51, leaving eight children — ,)ohn D., being 
the eldest; Catharine, Mrs. R.N. \'anhyning; 
Josephine, Mrs. H. C Dickinson; David F.; 
Elizabeth, Mrs. J. H. Skidmore; Esther, Mrs. 
Ezra t)utland; Mary, Mrs. J. W. Skidmore, 
and Hulda, at home. John was born in Zane, 
Se])t. 2, 1834, and was raised to farming pur- 
suits, and whose educational advantages were 
but ordinary', yet they were well improved. 
On Aug. 25, IfiOl, he enlisted as private in 
Co. C." 17th O. V. I., and on June 24, 
1802, was j)romoted to Second Lieutenant, 
and served as Adjutant until June 30, 180-!, 
when he was jiromoted to Captain, ami plac(*d 
in connnand of his company, until March, 
]8()5, when he acted as Major until the close 
of the war. During tlu> greater part of his 
last year's service he servi'd as Judge 
Advocate of courts-martial. There were no 
better soldiers or more competent officers in 
the positions he filled than he. Receiving 
his discharge July 20, 1805, he returned to 
liis farm, and has since been engaged in agri- 
cultural pursuits; is yet unmarried, evidently 
prel'<>rring the society of his mother and sister 
to those not akin. He is an enthusiastic and 
worthy inembcr of the Masonic order, a man 
of excellent information, a gentleman and a 
worthy mcnd>er of society, and stanch Re- 
publican. 

F. E. JAMES, merchant; P. O., East Lib- 
erty. Prominent among the substantial men 
of this township, who have since ilieir birth 
been identifiiNl with the interests of the coun- 
ty, is Frank E. .lames, who was born in this 
township March 0,182'.), the .second soncif 
Thomas and Mary (Smith) James. The 
James family are of Scotch, and the Smiths 
of Irish extraction. Thomas was born in 
York Co., Pa., at the beginning of the pres- 
ent century, and was carried acro.<s the moun- 
tains by his mother when the family wer<! mi- 
grating to this cour.ty. Mary Smith, the 
mother of F. E., was born in Waynesville, 
in 181)7, and was married about the year 1825 
and settled with her husb.inil, Thomas James, 

in this township, wlier r subject wjis born 

and was raised to farniina pursuits. Thonuis 



tn— 



PERRY TOWXSHIP. 



Col 



Jamo?, the grandfather of Frank, was a mill- 
wright, and assisted in building man}' of the 
• mills that came into existence at that time. 
Thomas James, his son, was for several years a 
Commissioner of this county, and quite promi- 
nently associated with it during his life of use- 
fulness. He was raised a Quaker, but was 
himself a free-thinker, and a man of a deal 
of originality. Politically, he was identified 
with Republican principles. He died in Oc- 
tober, 1806. Frank was raised to agricultur- 
al pursuits. At the age of 17, he went to 
West Liberty and learned the harness and 
saddlery business, with Riddle & Henderson, 
and remained with them five years; then 
came to East Liberty and set up in business 
for himself, which he continued for two years. 
In 3855, he engaged in the dry goods busi- 
ness at East Liberty, and since that time has 
been constantly engaged in that business. 
On Sept. G, 1857, he was united b}- marriage 
to Mary A. Allman, who was Ijorn in 1834, in 
this State; is a daughter of Isaac and Eliza- 
beth (Ellison) Allman, who were natives of 
the Middle States. Thr^'c children have been 
born to Mr. .fames — two died in infancy and 
the other dauj,hter, Carrie, at the age of 19. 
Mr. James first associated in business under 
the firm name of Hamilton & James, which 
lasted ten years. Since that time, Mr. James 
has carried on the business, and is one of the 
oldest dry ffoods merchants in tiie county. 

S. N. JAMES, xM. D., farmer; P. O., East 
Liberty. Among the representative families 
of this township, we find that of S. N. .Tames, 
who was b( rn Sept. 6, 1827, in this township. 
He was the eldest child of a f:imily of ten 
children borii to Thomas J. and JIary (Smith) 
James. The names of tin; children were — 
Spain X., France E., Maanda, West L., Jose- 
phine, Cook, Eintna, Sateline, Scott and North, 
all of whom arrived at maturity, but Sateline, 
-vho died young. Thomas James was born in 
Washington Co., Pa., Oct. 13, 1800, and was 
married to Mary Smith, who was born in 
W;iynesville in 1807. The James I'amily came 
to this township in 1812. Thomas died (Jet. 20, 
186.5, and his wife on Aug 20, 1876. He was 
not a member of any orthodox church, but a 
man of broad and liberal views, a free-thinker 
and a man possessing man}' sterling qualities; 
a true man and upright citizen. Sj^ain was 
raised to agricultural pursuits. In 1849 he 



began reading medicine, pursuing his studies 
until 1853, when he engaged in the practice, 
continuing actively employed until A])ril, 
1875. Since then he has been retired, and is 
now carrying on his farm, situated three- 
fourths of a mile north of town, consisting of 
110 acpes. It is under excellent cultivation, 
is higiiiy productive, and" for its size, one 
among the best in the township. On account 
of injuries received several years ago, he is 
unable to perform much manual labor. Aside 
from this, he is a fine specimen of manly de- 
velopment, and is a man of warm and gener- 
ous impulses, a jolly companion and worthy 
citizen. His wife was Nancy M. Howe; she 
was born in Vermont, April 1, 1836; daughter 
of Hiram and Lydia (Baiiy) Howe — a near 
relative of Howe, the historian. Their mar- 
riage was duly celebrated Sept. 6, 1855. 
Seven children were born to them, si.\ 
living— Burt, Cora D., Dorr H. Okie E., Ed., 
and Mary L. He is a stanch Repuldican. 
Three of his brothers were in tiie late war — ■ 
Cook, Scott and North. Scott served through 
the entire struggle, and died u])on his return 
home. The Doctor is not a memljor of any 

' church, having his own ideas of religion. He 
is a member of A., F. & A. M., No. 347. 

I JAMES JAMISON, farmer and stock- 
raiser; P. O., East Liberty; was born March; 
1809, in Monaarhan Co., Ireland; son of Andrew 
and Jlary McFadden Jamison, and emigrated 
to this State with his parents in 1833, landing 
in Canaila, where they remained one year; 
then moved to Cadiz, in Harrison Co., Ohio; 
here his father made a purchase of 100 acres 
of land, and was engaged on the National 
Road. At the age of twenty-three, James was 
married to Barbara Laport, born in Harrison 
Co., Ohio; she died in August, 1837. Nov. 
14, 1838, he was married to Elizabeth Mc- 
Crary, born Se])t. 10, 1821, in Ross Co., Ohio; 
her mother's maiden name was Mary Sum- 
mers, and was from Kentucky. Mrs. Jami- 
son's liither was a native of the Emerald Isle. 
Upon her parents' arrival in this township, 
they settled on the farm where William 
Fisher now lives, in 1836. Thev raised a 
family of t.velvc children, all of whom lived 
to be married. Their first purchase was thirtv- 
nino acres, which they subsequently traded 
for land where Es(iuire Akey now resides. 
Here they died, he in 1849, she in 1865. When 



.5) 
-r — *" 



G52 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Mr. Jamison began for himself, he was jwior, 
and woriied out i)y the month for several 
years. In 183(5, he came to this township and 
bought W.) acres, for which he paid ^'-i per 
acre. He has since added to his original pur- 
chase, until he now has G15 in all. He is one 
of the largest sheep-raisers in the townshij), 
and is a very successful farmer. He has 
several children — Mary, Mrs. George ^V'inner, 
of .Jefferson Tp.: Margaret A., Mrs. C. I). 
Wi?iner, of Henry Co.; Barbara E., Mrs. 
A. C McNeil, in Canada; Alexander, in this 
townslii]), niarri(nl Arie Sc-ott; Sarah J., Mrs. 
John Cobene; Eliza; Nancy .1., Mrs. W. Ad- 
ams, of Zane; Amanda, Mrs. Ilan Hatcher, of 
Perry Tp.; HozeUili, Alice and Eloze, at home. 
Mr. Jamison is a member of the Presbyterian 
Church, as well as his wife and several mem- 
bers of the familv. 

HHIAM JOIIXSTOX, farmer; P. O., 
East Liberty; is among the sell-made men of 
this township. He was born Aug. 11, 1824; 
is a son of Robert and Catherine (Harris) 
Johnston, liobert was born in the year 1800, 
and came west with his ])arents in 181.5. His 
father's name was NVilliam. In ISiT, they 
emigrated to Hardin Co. Robert .lohnston 
was a blacksmitli, and was an expert in ste(^l, 
making- the best liatid-sici<!es in the market. 
Hirini began for himself at 10, worked out 
by the month, first at ^T per month. He con- 
tinued on in this nuinner \nitil his marriage 
with Caroline Pollock, who wms born in Rich- 
land Co., Aug. 17, 18"2l). daughter of Thomas 
and Mary (Morrell) Pollock, who are natives 
of Pennsvlvania. In October, 1840, they 
came to Jefferson Tp., having some few house- 
hold goods, a small team, and a few dol- 
lars in money. He rented land three years, 
then purchased G"2 acres in I'nion Co., which 
he afterwards traded for tlu" tract now owned 
by Mrs. Winner, living on this farm four 
years; then he sold out, and ]iurchased 120 
acres where George I). Adams now owns, 
which he soon sold, and jiurchareil 120 acres 
now owned by Ezra R. Outland; selling this, 
he ]>urchased i.37acr3) in F^ake Co., where ho 
remained oi ly one y -ar. In 18C3, h(> came to 
Perry, wheie he pui chased IfiG acres of land, 
situated one jniie west of East Liberty. He 
has recently built new buildiiiffs thrfinghout, 
anil is one of the prominent and thrifty farm- 
ers in this township, and knows how every 



dollar he now has was obtained. Of a family 
of ten children l»orn him, but six are now liv- 
ing — Mary E., Adelia M., wife of D. .Manpiis; 
Irena, Elinor E., Emma, Robert F. Mrs. John- 
ston's mother has recently died. She was 
born in Huntington Co., Pa., Feb. 3, 1801. 
At the age of '.), the family moved to Bea- 
ver Co., where they lived until thi; close of 
the war of 1812. Her father and ehlest 
brother served in the same — were in the battle 
ot 'J'hamos and Ltuidy's Lane, and afterwards 
emigrated Xd the month of Black River, near 
Cleveland. While here, she washed four 
handkerchiefs for President Monroe, who gave 
her .50 cents, which she kept nniny years. 
She died inu<'h lamented bv all who knew 
her — a kind mother, and having many excel- 
lent virtues. 

JOHN KENNEDY, farmer; P. O., North 
Greenfield; born ,Iune 24,1823, in Harrison • 
Co., C).; son of Hugh and Catharine Kennedy, 
who were natives of County Tyrone, Ireland, 
and emigrated to America, and iimilly to Har- 
rison Co., antl died soon afterwards, leaving 
.lohn an orjihaii, who was bound out by the Ov- 
erseers of the Poor to a man by the name of 
Flemining, until he was twenty-one. After at- 
taining Hi years of age, 1)\- mutual consent he 
left Fleming, and attended school, to (mable 
him to read and write; after this he bound 
himself to Francis Burkham, and staid with 
him until his 2Ist year; he then hired to 
Edwanl Ball, for two years, in Mnskinu;um 
Co.; subs((|uentiy he went to Virginia, Penn- 
svlvania, Kentucky and Tennessee, and liiudly 
started for California in 184!). After reach- 
ing St. Joseph, Mo., his money was sjient, and 
he returned to Ohio; and after visiting Iowa, 
Wisconsin ami Illinois, he returned to Mus- 
kingum Co. in 18.50, ami worked out by the 
job. That year he was married to Martha 
Welch, a native of Muskingum, her parents 
being among its first settler.s. After his mar- 
riage ho rented land, and afterwards ])ur- 
chased fifty-seven acres at *;28 per acre, bnilt 
him a caliin, and cut off the tind)er. Five 
years afterwards he sold out j:nd moved to 
Thompson Tp., in Del.iware Co., and pur- 
chaseil KM) acres, which lie kept ten years, 
and, came to this township iii IS;:!, .Sept. 10, 
and pin-chased 117 acres, where he now re- 
sides; known as the Winner farm; since then 
ho has added to it, until he now has 242 



-.^ 



PERRY TOWNSHIP. 



653 



acres, and is to-day one of the stanch and 
able farmers of the townshij). His wife died 
M:iy 3, 1850, leaving two chihh-en— Jerome 
W., now of Union Co., and Alice F., now 
Mrs. H. Roberts. His present wife was Chris- 
tiana Ann Ashtnore, born Oct. 8, 1838, in 
Muskingum Co., daughter of William and 
Eliza (Cooper) Ashmore, who were from the 
Emerald Isle. Seven children have crowned 
this union, as follows^Mary I., Nancy J., 
Emma V., Clara E., John W., James R., and 
Dora E.; six of wliom arc now living. He 
and wife are members of the .Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. He is also a member of the 
Masonic Order, Mt. Carmel Lodge, No. 303; 
has alwavs been an uncompromising temper- 
ance man, and true to the political principles 
laid down bv Henry Clav. 

inCHAEL KLINE, "fanner; P. O. East 
Liberty; born in BelmOnt Co., Ohio, in 1831; 
son of Michael and Phebe (Condit) Kline; 
the former was born in Hagerstown, JId., 
March 8, 1789, and \*as wed to Phebe Condit 
Jan. 1-1, 1819, who was born Nov. 12, 1800, 
and by this marriage nine children were born 
— Ira, Michael, Isaac, Samuel B., Jonas, Mar- 
garet, Sarah L., Eunice and Hannah, all of 
whom lived to raise families of their own; 
George Kline, the grandfather of our subject, 
was a native of Germany, and there married 
Susan Bishop; Michael's father and grand- 
father both were blacksmiths, which vocation 
the former followed for thirty years; about 
the year 1820, the family removed to Belmont 
Co., and engaged in farming, to which busi- 
ness Jlichael was reared during his early boy- 
hood, but subsequently learned the tanner's 
trade; taught school several terms, and made 
the best use of his time. April 30, 1845, was 
married to Sarah Wcatherby, who was iiorn 
Sept. 36, 1826, near Middleburg, Zane Tp.; 
daughter of Benjamin and Sarah (Mathes) 
Weatherby; Mr. Kline has had a marked and 
varied career; was raised a farmer, taught 
school, learned the tanner's trade, was en- 
gaged in the grocery business at West Lib- 
erty; also run a bakery eight years in Picka- 
way Co.; owned at one time a farm in Union 
Co.; in 1869, moved to the southeast corner 
of Perry, and lias since resided, having 100 
acres of land and good improvements, and is 
a snug and successful farmer; in making his 
start, was poor and no backers, and although 



having security money to meet and other 
pecuniary difficulties to encounter, has at last 
made a success; has a good farm and no in- 
cumbrances. He is a member of the Metho- 
dist Protestant Church, and has served in a 
ministerial capacity in that body, being regu- 
larly ordained. Eigiit children have been 
born him, but three living — Sarah L., Han- 
nah M., Al. Louis Cletus. 

JOHN F. LUKENS, farmer; P. O., North 
Greenfield; was born Jan. 7, 1824, in Warren 
Co;, O.; is a son of Joseph and Elizabeth 
(Fawceit) Lukens. The Fawcetfs arc of 
Irish extraction, and came to Ohio in 1822. 
John's parents were married in 1819, and re- 
moved to this State when the country was 
new, and John was innured to privation and 
hard labor; having a keen thirst for knowl- 
edge, he applied himself closely, and soon 
mastered the common branches; in 1S45, he 
began teaching anil continued his course of 
study; one of his preceptors was A. G. Gregg. 
On Jan. 1, 1863, he was united by marriage 
to Miss Louisa K. Swartz, of Stark Co., a 
lady of talent and culture, a graduate of Mt. 
Union College, and daught:'r of Martin and 
Hannah (Southcard) Swartz; he was horn 
March 28, 1797, and was a local preacher for 
fifty years; his wife, Jan. 10, 1799; he died 
Sept! 1, 1878; she, March 2, 1880. Joseph 
Lukens, the father of John, was born Aug. 
31, 1795; Jonathan, his father, and the grand- 
father of John, was born June, 175S. Mr. 
Lukens has a large farm of about 250 acres, 
and he ranks among the best farmers in the 
county, and does a deal of head farming; 
neat and tidy in his work, he requires those 
in his employ to exercise the same taste; his 
fences and gates, as well as all the appliances 
that are about him, are models for imitation; 
he is a man of sound judgment, and has a mind 
well stored with facts and useful information; 
he is a progressive man and keeps pace with 
the times in literature and the improvements 
of the day; in short, he is one of the best 
scholars in the township; he is thoroughly 
jjractical, is as good a surveyor as necessity 
might require, somewhat eccetitric in his 
manner, yet of honest and intelligent convic- 
tions; a strictly moral man, temperate and with 
an innate regard for truth and ujirightncss; he 
has one child onlv, a youth of some promise. 

JANE P. MARMON; P. O., Zanesfield; 



it 



k.\ 



GJ4 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



is a (Imigliter of John and Elizabeth Johnson. 
Mr. Johnson was a native of North Carolina, 
horn about the year 1761, and emigrated to 
this State with the Maruion family, who came 
about the year 1807, making their permanent 
residence in Stark Co., where our subject was 
bom. May "^9, 1815. There were nine in the 
family — eight sisters and one brother — her 
father dying in 1836 and his wife in 1840. 
Joseph Marmon was born Dec. 2I1, 1818, in 
Jefferson Township, to whom our subject was 
united by marriage. He was a son of Eihiiond 
and Sarah Stanton, both of whom were natives 
of North Carolina. Since their marriage, they 
have remained on the ])lace wliere they set- 
tled. Ills death occurred Dec. "^7, 1876, leav- 
ing no issue. He was a member of the So- 
ciety of Friends, and was a warm friend of 
the bondmen, beincr ever ready at all times to 
serve them, giving his time and money with- 
out grudging, and at times placing his lile in 
j(?opiirdy in their behalf; was of a sympa- 
thetic and benevolent turn of mind, and ever 
ready to serve a friend. Since the death of 
her husband, Mrs. Marmon has resided on the 
farm, Mrs. Sarah A. Potee and husband resid- 
ing wiih her. She was a daughter of Fred- 
erick and Martha (Marmon) Sager. Mr. and 
Mr.-i. Potee have one son — .loseph M., born 
March 2.5, 1878. .Mrs. .Mainion was born in 
tiie Friends' Church. 

L. B. MlGEF, farmer; P. O., West 
Mansfield; is the youngest of a family of 
seven childn-n; he was born in Jeffersor! Tp., 
December, 1834. His father's name was 
William, who mariii.Ml .lane Pojie; he was a 
Keiituikian by birth; born in January, 1788, 
and emigrated to this State in 1811; was a 
soldier in the war of 1812, after which he 
settled on the farm owned by William Dunlap, 
of Jefferson Tp., where he purchased 164 
acres of land, about the year 1821. Here he 
lived until his death, which occurred in April, 
1S69, his wife tiying in November, 1864. 
Leonard was married in 1858 to Eusebia A. 
Ibirriman, who was born in this township, in 
A|iril, 1810, anil was a ilanghter of David 
and Elizabeth Ilarriman. After his marriage, 
he moved to the home i>lace, then to the 
Ilarriman farm, and lived there until 1875, 
when he came to his |>resent ])lace of abode, 
situated in the northwest jiart of the town- 
ship. The McGec family seems Ux have 



been always identified with Democracy, and 
its principles they have adhered to. He is a 
mendier of White Lodn;e, No. 576, I. O. O. F. 
JOHN NASH, farmer: P. O., East Liberty; 
was born Sept. 22, 1811, in Westmoreland Co., 
Pa; he is a son of Nathan, who was a son of 
Edward; they were born in Maryland. John 
emigrated to this State with his parents in 
1817, to Green Co., where they remained a 
short time; they then moved to Licking Co. 
His mother's name was Mary Jane Ward, be- 
fore marriage, wliose family came from Eng- 
land. The Nash family are descendants from 
"Erin's Green Isle.' John's grandparents 
on both sides, were soldiers in the war of the 
Revolution. John Nash, our subject, began 
life poor, his mother dying when he was very 
young. The family was broken up and he 
launched out to do for himself, and soon be- 
came innured to privation and severe toil. 
When he acquired means, he purchased a team 
and teamed several years to Cincinnati, be- 
fore the era of railroads. In Dec. 27, ]8;3S, 
he was married to Elizabeth A. Peterson, born 
in Hardy Co., Va., Dec. 13, LSOK, daughter 
of Jacob and Hannah Stoakly. all of Virginia, 
afterwards settled in Clintim Co. After Mr. 
Nash was married, he settled in Clinton Co., 
and was engaged in farming, where he lived 
until I860." He then moved to this townshij), 
where he bought 15() acres of land, one mile 
west of East Liberty, where lie now resiiles. 
He has five ehildriMi — Hannah E. born Aug. 
29, 1840 (now .Mrs. Hiram Haishlield); .\my 
C, born Feb. 7, 1842 (.Mrs. Preston J. Thorii- 
ton, of Siiliiie Co., Mo.); Mary .1., liorn April 
27, 1844 (Mrs. Marion Vunica, of .Monroe 
Tp.); Maria L., born July 13, 1846 (Mrs. L. 
Ballinger, of Hardin Co.), and William F., 
born July 11, 1849, was married July 24, 
1873 to Catharine Vogel, born in Dearborn 
Co.,Ind., .March 21, 1857, daughter of Michael 
and Barbara (Dellaman) V'o^el, both born in 
Germany. They had live children, Mrs. Nash 
being the eldest, lli-r moliier- is deceased — 
her father is a resident of Cincinnati. Three 
children were born to William F. Nash and 
wife — Charles A., born June 26, 1S74, Clar- 
issa B., July 12, 1878, infant deceased. Wil- 
liam resides with his parents. H.s father, 
whose name heads this page, is now fast 
approaching 70 years; he is an excellent citi- 
zen, a worthy and accommodating neighbor. 



J. 



^ 



PERRY TOWXSHIP. 



655 



and has this to say: he has noversuedrr been 
sued. He has an excellent farm of 100 acres 
in a desirable location, and a rare spring of 
White Sulphvir, and his orchard contains sev- 
en tj'-five varieties of apples. 

WALTER PAINTER, farmer; P. O., East 
Liberty; was born April 14, 1811, while on his 
way to this State from Lancaster Co., Pa. His 
]iarents were Abraham and Sarah (Branson) 
Painter, both natives of the Old Dominion. 
The family, upon their arrival here, first loca- 
ted at what is now known as East Liberty, 
making a purchase soon after their arrival. 
Jn 1817, they moved to Jefferson Tp., and 
located land where Alexander .Jamison now 
lives. This land was finally " swapped " for 
the ])!ace now owned by Philip Crouse, west 
of Zanesfield. This his father cleared up, 
and remained on the same until his death, 
whieli occurred Sept. 4, 1834. There were 
eight children in the family, Walter being 
the fourth in number. His father, Abraham, 
was born in Frederick Co., Va., April 1,1781. 
His wife, Sarah, was born in the same county, 
April 8, 1785. She died in Zane Tp., Nov. 
'i.i, 1845. Their marriage took place Sept. 3, 
1807. Walter left home at 32. On Sept. 11, 
1834, he was married to Hope Haines, who 
was born Feb. 19, 1816, in Champaign Co., 
daughter of Joseph and Rachel (Ballinger) 
Haines. He was born in Virginia — she in 
New Jersey. They emigrated West in 1800, 
and settled in what is now Zane Tp., Logan 
Co. After Mr. Painter was married, he 
worked near Middlebura: and settled where 
ho nov/ lives in 183G. It was then "all 
woods," he being the first settler in this "neck 
of woods." He has 150 acres. Of eight 
children born him but three are now living — 
Abncr. on Mill Creek; Abraham, in Indiana; 
Alfred, on farm adjoining. Mr. Painter has 
been a hard worker and seen a deal of pio- 
neer life. 

JOSHUA POWELL, farmer; P. O., West 
Mansfield; born Feb. 13, 1834, in Columbiana 
Co. His parents were Henry and Rachel 
(Fowler) Powell. He was born in Germany, 
and came to America when a lad, and was 
bound out to a man by the name or Nubo. 
Joshua was raised to farming pursuits. His 
parents were poor, and were unable to give 
their children any pecuniary assistance. At 
the age of 25 he was married to Lovina Fisher, 



who was born in Portage Co., daughter of 
Charles and Minerva (Alfred) Fisher, both of 
whom were natives of Pennsylvania. The 
first purchase of land Mr. Powell made was 
sixty acres in Summit Co., at §10 per acre, 
which was disposed of three years afterwards 
at 830 per acre. In 1853 he came to Logan 
Co., purchasing 113 acres at $0.50 per acre, 
which was across the line in Union Co. Four 
years afterward he sold it for $13 per acre, 
after clearing a portion of the timber. Since 
1853 he has been a constant resident of the 
county. He now has 183 acres of land, and 
well improved, large and commodious larin- 
house newly built, and everythinn- al)Out him 
are monuments to his industry and persever- 
ance. Beginning life poor, ho has worked his 
way up from poverty to comfort and plenty. 
Having enough of this world's goods about 
him for his maintenance, he is now leading a 
comparatively retired life, enjoying the fruits 
of his labor. He now has his- second wife; 
she was Minerva Fisher before marriage, and 
si.ster to his first companion, who died May 
18, 1867. Eight children were born them; 
but seven survive, who are Nancy A., now 
Mrs. James Skidmore, of Union Co.; Charles 
Henry, Thomas W., Melissa, Mrs. R. Hindle; 
Edgar, Sarah J. and Harriet E. He and fam- 
ily are all members of the Free- Will Baptist 
Church. His last marriage was in November, 
1809. His early educati(Ki was entirely neg- 
lected. Schools were scarce, and at subscrip- 
tion rates. 

JOHN REYMER, farmer; P. O., East Lib- 
erty; was born Jan. 17, 1831, on the same 
farm he now owns. His father, Henry, was 
born in New .Jersey, March 3, 1795, in Pem- 
berton Co., and niarried Rachel Wills, the 
mother of our subject, in 1817, and came west 
in 1830, and located permanently in the south- 
west part of the township, and cleared up the 
farm novT owned bv John, his son. He died, 
1853, one of the uprig-ht and worthy citizens. 
His father was born in Germany, and came to 
this country when nine years of age, and after 
his arrival in America, served nine years to pay 
for his passage over. John was raised to farm- 
ing, and to severe labor. On June 38, 1844, he 
was married to Lavina Black, born near 
Mingo, Champaign Co., in the yenr 1818. 
She was a daughter of John and Sarah (Tay- 
lor) Black, both natives of Pennsylvania, and 



GoC 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



[ 



came out to tliis county previous to the " '12 
war," ami was a participant in that luipleas- 
antness. Since tlie marriage of Mr. Reymer, 
he has resirlcd constantly on the lioniestead. 
Three children have been born to tliem, who 
are — Joshua S., born in 1845; died Feb. 5, 
lS7:i; .lames M., born Dec. 'H), 1847; Henry 
H., born Aug. '^S, lb53. He lias loO acres of 
land, well watered by the best of springs. 
Henry remains with liini on the farm, and was 
married to Viola Sharp, daughter of Joshua 
and Catherine (Norsille) Sharp. Henry is of 
an ingcnioiis turn. He is a worthy niend^er 
of the Protestant .Methodist Church. 

LINAL II. ROBSON, farmer; P. O., North 
GreenKeld; born Jan. 7, 18o'.), on the farm 
he now resides upon, situated two and one- 
half miles north of East Liberty. His pa- 
rents were William and Mary (McGary) Rob- 
son. William Robson, his father, was a na- 
tive of England, born Feb. 24, 17'Jii, in North- 
umberlamlsliire, and emigrated to America, 
landing in Pennsylvania, when a lad of six- 
teen. His mother was of Pennsylvania birth, 
born July 22, 1810. After his parents' mar- 
riage they emigrated to this county, in Octo- 
ber, IS.ili, and settled on the farm now owned 
by Linal, whirh was vmimproved. Here they 
made their liome, remaitdng initil removed 
by the hand of death — his death occurring 
about the year lS4j, on Aug. IG; her's Dec. 
10, 187G. l^inal has since remained on the 
homestead. t)n Aug. 2, 18(12, he was mar- 
ried to .Mary 1,. Wirnier, who was born in this 
township, January, 1844, She was a daughter 
of John and .Margaret (Snuth) Winner, both 
natives of Pennsylvania, and were among the 
earlv arrivals in this part of tlie country. 
Eiglit childreii are now living, who are — Mc- 
Clellan, Rogers, Irn, Maggie, Alamander, Or- 
pha, Jane, l^utitia and Elizabeth. His farm 
consists of 148A- acres of laiul. The Robson 
familv are Jeffersonian Democrats. 

MRS. ANN E. SIIARl'; P. O., East 
Liberty; was born in Columbus, Oct. '■), 1817; 
she is a daughter of Deiijamin and Sarah 
(Muthis) Wi.'alherby, who were mitives of the 
Atlantic Slates, and were among the early 
arrivals in tliis State, settling in this township 
prior to the yiar 1820; on Oct. 12, 1834, she 
was marru-d to .(i«b IL Sliaqi, who was born 
in Logan Co., .\pril 10, 181 1 ; he was a son of 
Joshua and Elizabeth (liallengcr) Sharp. 



Soon after their marriage they located near 
Middleburg, where they resided three voars, 
and subsequently made several changes, 
finally locating in Perry Tp., in 1841. where 
he remained until his death, which occurred 
April 29, 1880; ho was a member of the 
.Masonic Order; w\is a Royal Arch and was 
alliliated with the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows. Eleven children were born unto 
Mr. and Mrs. Shar]), nine living — Aaron W., 
Victoria and Eloria (twins), David R., 
Webster L., Lodusky C, Ileploria, William 
T. and Caleb B. She has 140 acres of land, 
and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. 

A. W. SHARP, farmer; P. O., East Lib- 
erty; was born in Zane Tp., Aug. 5, IS.'lo, 
son of Job H. and Ann E. (Weatherby) 
Sharp. At the age of 13, Aaron went to learn 
the tanner's tratle, which he followed for 
fovirteen years. In 18G1 he engaged in mer- 
chandising: at Lewisburg, which business lie 
conducted until 18G8. In 1870 he moved to 
Perry Tp. and purchased 150 acres of land, 
located one mile and a half southeast of town. 
On Nov. 2!), 18G1, he was married to Eliza- 
beth Evans, who was born in I-aiicaster Co., 
Pa., Feb. G, 183'.l, and was 9 years of age 
when she came out with her parents, Aaron S. 
and Rebecca (Danielj Evans. Three chiMren 
are the fruit of the marriage, who are — B;'S- 
sie R., born Jan. G, 18G3; Aaron W., Jan. 
3, 1871; Prentice H., Sept. 4, 1878. The Sharp 
family are among the first who cam(< into wh.it 
is now Zane T]>. The father of Job Sharp 
came from England to the Carol iiias during 
the reign of George IlL, and was commis- 
sioned by him as surveyor. Job Slnrp, who 
was the great-grandfath(>r of A. W., came 
from New Jersey and settled first in Culpep- 
per Co., Va., 1797, remaining there until 
1799, when he emigrated to Ohio, and reached 
what is now Zane Tp., on Christmas day of 
the same year, and settled on a tract of 1,000 
acres of land, which he had exchanged for 
lanil in Virginia. His son was nami'd Joslma, 
and was born in 1784, he was the lather of Job 
H., the father of Aaron W., who is now the 
oldest living representative of the Sharp family. 

DANIEL SKIDMORE, farmer; P. O., 
West .Manslield; was bora April 2, 1802, in 
Loudoun Co., Va.; is the fourth child of Wil- 
liam and Mary (Randall) Skidmorc, who 



Tls- 



<ij\i 



PERRY TOWNSHIP. 



Gj7 



emigrated to Columbiana Co., this State, in 
18()4, remaining there until ]816, when they 
moved to this county, and located on the farm 
iiowoccupicd by Daniel and John 11. Skid- 
more. Sixty acres was the first purchase, which 
was a dense forest. Urbana being their place 
of trading, until Curtis started his store at 
Zanesfleld. Daniel was raised to hard labor; 
schools were few, and sparsely attended, and 
taught at subscription rates. When he at- 
tained his majority he began for himself, and 
hired out at $8 per month; 50 cents per day 
was the highest price paid at that time. At 
the age of 25, he was married to Mary Bal- 
linger, born in 1809, in Logan Co. She was 
a daughter of Samuel and Ann (Walker) 
Ballingor. They were married in New Jer- 
sey, and emigrated West in 1809, locating in 
Zane Tp. After our subject was married, he 
moved to this_ township, locating on the farm 
now occujued by John F. Skidmore, remain- 
ing a short time, and then moving to whero 
his brother Joseph resides. Subsequently he 
moved to his present place, where he pur- 
chased 118 acres of land. Ten children were 
born to liim, but eight only now survive — 
Samuel, Joshua, Hope, Elizabeth, Gustavus, 
.Jaines, Newton and Sidney. Mr. Skidmore 
has now been a resident of this township well 
on to seventy years, and is among its most es- 
teemed citizens. 

DANIEL SKIDMORE, Ji:., farmer; P. 
O., West Mansfield; was born April 12, 
18:50, on tiie homestead, the eldest of a 
family of ten children. His father was born 
in Virginia, Sept. 2, 1803, and came AVest 
when thirteen years of age. On July 23, 
1827, he was married to Hope Ballinger, who 
was born in New Jei;sey, Dec. 17, 1807, and 
who was a daughter of" Samuel and Nancy 
(Walker) Ballinger, who came West about 
the year 1809, and settled in Zane Tp. 
After the marriage of Joshua and Hope, they 
settled in the Skidmore settlement, where his 
widow still survives him. He died Aprd 21, 
1879. Daniel, our subject, was married April 
17, 185], to Rachel McDonald, who was born 
in 1833 in this township, and is a daughter of 
John and Rebecca (Fitzsimmons) iMcdJonald. 
The McDonalds are from Scotland and emi- 
grated to Pennsylvania. In the fall of 1863, 
Daniel moved to White Co., Ind., and lived 
there until 1870, and then returned to the 



homestead. He has three children — PJhnira 
E., Rachel E. and Dura. Daniel and h s 
brother John H. now farm the homestead. 
John was born Nov. 30, 1845; is the ninth 
child of the family. At the age of twenty- 
three, April, 1808, he was man led to Eliza- 
beth Inskeep, who was born in February, 
1813, in this township, daughter of David and 
Martha Inskeep. But one chdd is living — 
Earl I., born in October, 1875. The home- 
stead consists of 21G acres. Daniel and his 
family are members of the Disciples Church. 
.John is of the Baptists. 

JOSEPH SKIDMORE, farmer; P. O., 
West Mansfiehi. Among the old and highly- 
respected residents of this township, whose 
interests have been identical almost since its 
beginning, is Uncle Joseph Skidmore, who 
was born March 23, 1799, in Beilford Co., 
Va.; son of William and Mary (R ndall) Skid- 
more; he was born in Vir<rinia, May 9, 1778; 
she in Pennsylvania Oct. 7, 1774. They emi- 
grated to this State, locating where East Lib- 
erty now stands, about the year 1813; remain- 
ing here a short time, they sold out and moved 
towards the north part of the township, and 
remained here until removed by death. There 
were eleven children in the family, Joseph 
being the second. Soon after attaining his 
majority, he was united by marriage to Re- 
becca Garwood, who was born in this county, 
daughter of Thomas Garwood; she died July 
18, 1835. Whe.i .loseph began farming on his 
own account he bought seventy-two acres, at 
13 per acre, and cleared the same. Si.\ chil- 
dren were born to him by his first wife, five 
living — William, Tliomas, Hope, Isaac and 
John. His present wife was Rebecca Whit- 
aker, born Sept. 17, 1810, in Clarke Co.; 
daughter of Josiah and Hannah Rudisill. 
They were among the early settlers. The 
Whitakers are from New Jersey. Seven 
children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Skidmore, who arc — Lydia J., Nancy, Joseph, 
Rebecca, Franklin H., Lavina and Josiah C. 
For forty years, Mr. Skidmore has been a 
member of the Free Will Baptist Church, and 
for many years a deacon, and now stands 
ready for h'S Master's call. 

WEBB L. THOMAS, fariner; P. O., East 
Liberty; was liorn May 10, 1832, in Adams 
Co., Pa. This branch of the Thomas family 
are descendants of Abel Thomas, a prominent 



658 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Quaker preacher, who was contemporaneous 
with ^Villianl Pi-tin anil otliers of his time. 
W. L. is the filth child of Isaac ami Hannah 
(Starr) Thomas, who were born in Adams Co., 
Pa., Ajjril 2, 17S4, and July a, 1700, resi)ecl- 
ively. Of the family of ten children Lorn, 
nine came to maturity. In 18'-i4, the family 
moved to Warren Co., this State. Early in 
life we find Webb enjfaged in a woolen fac- 
tory, where he labored about ten years. He 
then learned the wajjon-makinjj trade, which 
he followed six vears. On Oct. 24, 1844, he 
was married to Mary Vail, who was born in 
Butler Co., Pa., Dec. 10, 182.5. She was a 
daughter of Aaron and Eleanor (Siddons) 
Vail. The Vails hail from the State of New 
.Jersey. The Webbs are from tiie Empire 
State. Isaac Thomas died in 183:5; his wife 
died in Madison Co., Ind., .March 4, 1807. In 
1851, Mr. 'I'homas left ^Varren Co., and re- 
moved to Lee Co., Iowa, and after one year's 
residence, came to Lou'an Co., and purchased 
1 17 acres of land in Perry Tp., where he now 
resides, one mile and a half northeast from 
East Liberty. The land was formerly owned 
by Henry Else. He lias since his purchase 
erected all the buildinsrs that now grace and 
adorn the premises. He has three children — 
Albert D., born Se])t. 28, 1845; Edwin A., 
born Sept. 23, 1850; Rolla F., born Aug. 27, 
1858. Mr. Thomas has merited the success 
that has crowned his eft'orts in a business way. 
Beginning poor, he has attained a good'home 
and a reasonable competence for his declin- 
ing vears. 

(iKORGE P. VKRNON, fanner; P. 0.,East 
Liberty; was born in Chester Co., Pa., 
June 27, 1814; son of Geoige and Hannah 
(Baldwin) Vernon, both of whom were natives 
of same county and State. Mr. A'crnon emi- 
grated west with his )iarcnts to Columbiana 
count\', near Salem. Here his ]>areiits died, 
his father in 1843, and mother afterwards. 
IJ|)on the Vernon side of the liouse, the 
family came from England; uj)on the Bald- 
win, or mother's siile, they name from Ireland, 
in October, 1843. Mr. Vernon came to 
Logan Co., and located in Perry Tp., March 
'J, 1837. M'hile in Columbiana County he 
was united in marriage to Matilda Di.xoii, 
daughter of Henry and Ruth (Jackson) Dixon, 
Loth nativi'S of Rod Stone, Pa. Hit mother 
was the daughter of Samuel Jackson, who 



was an extensive manufacturer at Red Stone. 
Mrs. Verno?) died, leaving him nine children, 
all of them living — Minerva (Mrs. George 
Harper) of Polk Co., Iowa; Mary E. (Mrs. 
Richard Dickisoii); Ralph, at home; Levi, in 
Washington Co., Kan.; William, in Green 
Co., Iowa; Lucinda (Mrs. C. .lohnson); George, 
in Green Co., Iowa; Emilv (Mrs. William 
Brockerniaii), M. D., in Harjier; Erastus, at 
homo. His present wife was Miss Sarah 
Harshfielil, born 1835, in Riclilan<l Co.; 
daughter of David and Elizabeth (Bickley) 
Harslitiold. They have one child, Litta, l.)orn 
June 18, 1875. Mr. Vernon began poor, with 
nothing but his hands, but is to-day among 
the stanch and able farn.ers of the township; 
he has 321 acres of land. He still carries on 
his farm, but resides in East Liberty, and is 
in a maimer retired; was raised a Quaker, but 
is now a niemlier of tlu- Christ an Church. 

W1LL1.\M WKATHKKBV, farmer; P. 
O., North Greentield; wasiiorn in Burlington 
Co., N. J., Nov. 10, ISDl), Salem Tp. There 
were eight children in the family, he being 
the third of those that were born to Benjamin 
and.'^arah (.Mat his) Weatherby, who emigrated 
west to this State in the year 1810, and loi-ated 
in Coluuibus, remaining there two years. 
While here ^^'illiam drove a team which was 
hauling rock to be used in extending the walls 
of the Penitentiarv building. About the y<'ar 
1818, he moved with his jiarents t > Zane Tp., 
and settled near Middleburg. William began 
poor; he first hired out to work at ^9 per 
month; then worked three years at the car- 
penters' trade. On Aug. 25, 1830, he was 
unitefl by marriage to Ann K. Faulkner, who 
was born in Greene Co., O., March 30, 1818; 
her parents were Jesse and Hannah Shep- 
heard, wlio came from West Virginia. Af- 
ter \\'illiau\ married, he began renting. 
His first ])urchase was 28(1 acres of lanil, 
at ?il.50 per acre, in the "Green Woods."' 
which he paiil for i)y renting. Before mak- 
ing his jiermanent settlement where he now 
resides, he made several changes, but during 
all this time kept steadily at work, doing a 
g-reat deal of ))ioneer labor. In 1858, he 
located near North Greenfield, ])urchasing 
117^ ncr. s of land, and has accunndated 
272 acres. He has but om> child — Mary E., 
born in 184-1. Four children were born 
him; he lost one son, Davi<l, who died near 



7|i -f- 






^k^ 



BOKES CEEEK TOWNSHIP. 



659 



Viekslnirg; he was a soldier in the 96Lh O. V. I. 
JOHN S. WILGUS, farmer; P. O., New 
Jerusaiem; was born in Sussex Co., Dela- 
ware, Si'pt. 9, 1818. His father was 
Siinuel Wilgus, boin July 20, 1782, and 
married a Dorsey, wlio was the mother of 
.John. The WilL>us family came originally from 
England; John's mother's mother was Delilah 
Wright; his father's mother was a Taylor, 
.lolni was 17 when his parents came to this 
country and settled in the " woods." John 
was the eldest of a family of nine children; 
his father purciiascd 100 acres in this town- 
ship — not a stick had been cut on the place. 
John remained with his father until 25 3'ears 
of age. In ISi'-i he was married to Patience 
Haines, born in this township, and daughter 



of Joseph and Rachel Ballinger. She died in 
1870. Fifteen children were born, several 
of whom are dead; those living are — Nar- 
cissus, now Mrs. Jas. Blake, of Madison Co.; 
Henry A., in Union Co.; Emeline, Mrs. John 
Hughs, of this county; Lorenzo, in Union; 
Mary E., Mrs. T. Godman, of Madison Co.; 
Rachel J.; Hester J., Mrs. J. L. Farrington; 
Rachel A., Mrs. A. Davis, of Madison; David 
W., John B. and Charles L., at home. Mr. 
AVilgns' first purchase was 12 acres; he then 
added 44 and has now 100 acres. In 1872 
he was married to Cynthia Bliss, whose 
mother's name was Miller, born in Indiana 
March 10, 1821. All of Mr. Wilgus' family 
have been, and those living are, identified with 
the Methodist Church. 



BOKES CREEK TOWNSHIP. 



CHRISTIANA BATES, widow; West 
Mansfield; was born in Washington Co., Pa., 
in 1825. In 1842 she nuirried Gardiner 
Bates, of Rhode Island; her niHiden name 
was Christiana McDonald; her grandparents 
were from St:otlaiid, and came to the United 
Stiit(;s prior to the birth of her father, which 
occurred in 1778, and his death, in 1844. Her 
mother was boin in Washington Co., Pa., in 
179-3; was married in 1812, and died in 18G3. 
The McDonald family consisted of eleven 
children — cinht of whom are now livins: — 
George, James, ]3aniel A., William G., Mary, 
Christiana, Rachel and Caroline. The last is 
the wife of a Mr. Ballinger, of Elkhart, Ind. 
Christiana, the widow of Gardiner Bates, is 
the mother of five children, three of whom 
are now living, whose names are Clara, 
Christiana G. and Albert G. Her eldest 
daughter, whose marriage occurred in 1862, 
died, leaving one child, a daughter. Mrs. 
Bates is a member of the United Brethren 
Church, and has sustained a membership for 
thirty years. 

MILTON BUSHONG, farmer; P. O., West 
MansfioM; was born Oct. 22, 1826, in Perry 
Tp., this county; his father James Bushong, 
was born in Ross Co., O., but his mother came 
Irom South Carphna with her father's family 



when she was about 13 years old; they settled 
near Cliillicothe. Shortly after their marriage 
Mr. Bushong and his younir wife moved to 
Logan Co., and settled on Mill Creek, Perry 
Tp., in ]821; and there Mr. Bushong died, 
leaving a widow and three children, besides 
Milton, who was born a short time after his 
father's death; here the widow and fond 
mother clung to her home and children as 
none but a mother could, and supported and 
educated them as well as circumstances would 
permit; soon as the older ones became of age 
and married they sold out their interest in 
the estate, but Milton kept his, and with him 
their mother always tnade her home until the 
time of her derUh, which occurred Nov. 25, 
1869. While Milton was living on the old 
homestead he learned the carpenter's trade 
and worked at it, as well as conducting his 
farm; and at his trade he procured means 
enough to purchase 12 acres, which is now in 
the corporation of West Mansfield. Subse- 
queritly he purchased 18 acres more and then 
sold the 30 acres of the old homestead and 
bought a piece of unimproved land in the 
northern part of the township, all of which he 
traded for the farm of 118 acres where he now 
resides, which is a beautiful location and 
well improved; adjo ninj and partly iy the 



I , — 



0;>0 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



corporation of West Mansfield; to which he 
moved April, 18(jl. Hh has been twice niar- 
ri',-d; first with Louisa Moore, June 2'i, 1850. 
Slie was l)orn March 9, 1832, in Carroll Co., 
().; her death occurred Sept. 12, 1877, leaving 
five of her eleven children: William and 
Siniuel C. (deceased); Mary C, married .Ja^. 
M. Rnehlcn, of this township, Dec. 25, 1873, 
and died Feb. 15, 1878, leavino^ one child, 
Cliloe E.; Milton T. (deceased); Emma L. (is 
now Mrs. M'm. IJallinger, of Union Co.; they 
were married March 11, 1877); Clinton and 
.fohn W. (deceased); Sarah E., Charles W., 
Edwin I., at home with their father; Albert 
.1. (deceased). His second marriaff.' was cele- 
l>rated March 18, 1878, with Almira Hatha- 
way. She was horn S -pt. 27, 1832, in Dinh- 
ton, Mass., and was a wi<low of the late Jolin 
Elliott; he left three children: Elmer W., 
N. V.', and Flora S. Mr. U.ishonjr was elec- 
ted Justice ot Peace April, 18(15, and served 
continuously until this sprinp-; making 15 years 
in that oflice. With the exi.-eption of the 30 
acri^s, wliicli ho got out of the old honicistead, 
he has made all the rest of his coinfortal'le 
home by his own industry and economy. He 
has been a member of the Methodist Episco- 
]ial Church since 1850 — as is also his wife a 
member of the same Church. ' 

LEWIS DICKIN'SOX, farmer; P. O., 
Iiidgeway; is a native of Logan Co., born 
Nov. 20, 1827; he has twice been married, 
his first marriage occurring on March 4, 1852; 
by this union there were six children— Joshua 
N., Delilah A., Lydia M., Henry E., St. Leger 
and Mary C. liy his second marriage ho has 
tlirei? children — Minnie, Ella and Robert. 
Mr. DicUinson is a farmer liy pursuit an<l one 
of the sons of honest toil and industrv. lii the 
raising of stock his attention is nuire ]):irticu- 
larly directed to that of sheep, but includes 
the usual stock of all well-to-do agricultur- 
ists. He is a mcMulier of the Protestant 
Mi'lhodist Church, I'idgewav Circuit. 

IL H. ELLIOTT, fanner; P. O.. Rushyl- 
vnnia; wiis born Nov. 29, 1837, in Stark Co,. 
< )hio; ho is the son of Joseph and Mary 
(Slater) Elliott, who were natives of Penn- 
sylvania, and came to Stark Co. when vouiig, 
where tiiey were married, and reareil five 
children; they all moved to Logan Co. in 
1839. H. II. lived with his parents until of 
uge, 4nd was engaged in farm pursuits. His 



marriage was celebrated Aug. 17, 1805, with 
Nancy, daughter of Moses Hell; she was born 
in this county June 29, 1843. They are mem- 
bers of the Congregation of Friends at Zanes- 
field. They have four children — Lena V., 
Carrie li., Lucy E. and Murtie M., and one 
deceased, William L. Mr. Elliott enlisted in 
the late rebellion Aug. 11, 1802, in Co. H, 
90th O. V. I., and participated in many severe 
conflicts during his three years' service, of 
which we mention the following: Arkansas 
Post, Chickasaw Bayou, Port Gibson, Ray- 
mond, Jacksoii, Champion Hills, Biack R ver, 
Siege of Vicksburg, .fackson (again). Grand 
Cotcau, Fort Gaines, Fort Morgan, Sp inish 
Fort, Fort Bhikely and capture of ilobile; 
throughout the canip.aign, in all these engage- 
ments, he was singularly fortiniate, as he 
never receiveil a scratch, with the exception 
of a slight bruise (but not sullirieiit to cut) by 
a piece of shell; and being of a strong and 
hardy constitutiun, he was not sick a sin<>le 
day, and never took three doses of medicine 
duiing his three 3-cars' service; the war being 
closed, he got an honorable discharge, and, 
returned home July 27, 1805. They own a 
well-improved farm of 100 acres, with good 
buildings, all of which he has made by his 
own economy and in<lustrv. 

JOHN HATCHER, farmer; P. O., West 
Mansfield; was born .Tan. 1, 1S13, in the gov- 
erinnent fort. Mount Vi'rnon, Knox Co., where 
his mother, an elder child, and others, had 
taken refuge during diHirulty with the 
Indians. At same time his father (William 
Hatclier) was (>ngaged in the force endeavor- 
ing to subdue them; his pari-nts were natives 
of Virginia, and came to Ohio, locating in his 
native cotinty in 1811. His grandfather (Isaac 
Hatcher) came from Virginia shortly aftiT- 
warii, and jiurchased about 1,000 acres n(>ar 
East Liberty, in this county, and divided 
it with his family; this induced William 
(.lohn's father) to come to Logan when John 
was about five years old; there the family 
settled, and also purchased some land besides 
what he got of the old gentleman's estate, 
and subse(|uently sold all and moved with his 
family to so\ithern Illinois, wlii>re hf (William) 
died of (^lolera in 1855. When .lohn grew up 
to manhood he traveled considerables over the 
M'estern and Southern Slites, and saw nothing 
(consiiiering the condition of health with 



^: 



•k. 



BOKES CREEK TOWXSIIIP. 



661 



agricultural interests) that suited him any Let- 
ter than Ohio; he concluded to push his way 
back, and accordinjTly arrived in Lon-an Co. in 
1834; here he married Catharine Hess, and 
shortly after the}' rented a farm, as he h;id no 
means to purchase with; in 1851 his wife died 
leaving six small children-Rebecca J., Nancy, 
William H., Lucinda, Sarah A., and Lydia V. 
He married his second wife, Ann Peterson, 
but was unfortunate to lose her by death on 
Jan. 1, 1869, she also leaving six young 
children — Cordelia, .John H., Abbey, Hopey 
A., Abel and Elizabeth A. His third mar- 
riage was celebrated with Artlissa (Leonard) 
Bennett, widow of the late John Bennett; she 
has one son living by her first husbnnd. 
Mr. Hatcher has 130 acres of well iin|)i-oved 
land, which he has gathered by his own hard 
work and industry, notwithstanding his many 
drawbacks by death and the care of a very 
large familv. 

JACOB" KELLER, farmer; P. O., West 
Mansfield. Jacob Keller's grand-parents on 
his mother's side were fioni Virginia, and on 
his father's side from Germany, emigrating to 
tliis country about the }-ear--38()0. On his 
father's side were four children, he being the 
eldest; on his mother's side there were eleven, 
she being also the eldest. Jacob's parents 
were manied in 1815, in Columbiana Co., O. 
They were among the earliest settlers of 
Cham]iaign Co., when it also embraced whiit 
is now Logan Co. The family consisted of 
fourteen children, .Jacob being the second. 
The names of the children are Mary, Jacoii, 
Fannie, Shady, William, John, Joshua M., 
Joseph A., Amelia A., Rachel, Barbara, Re- 
becca, Liicetta and Ruth, twelve of whom 
are now living. Jacob Iveller was born in 
Logan Co. in the year 1817; he lived with 
his parents until 1840, when he commenced 
business for himself, and was married in 1839 
to Mary Davis, who was born in P(Minsyl- 
vania in 181:2, and came to Logan Co. in 1837. 
They are the ])arents of ten children, seven of 
whom are now living — Miranda, Amanda, Ra- 
chel S., Mary J., Frederick D., John A. and 
"William M. Jacob Iveller's father was twice 
married. By the last marriage he had two 
children — a son and a daughter. The son 
was killed at Johnson's by the falling of the 
barracKs. 

JOSEPH A. KELLER, farmer; P. 0., 



West Mansfield; was born Oct. 17, 1827, in 
Perry Tp., this county; is a sou of Frederick 
and Rachel (Skidinore) Iveller, both natives 
of Virginia, hut moved when young to Penn- 
sylvania, thence to Columbiana Co., O., and in 
1816 they came to Logan Co. When about 18 
years of age Joseph A. began to work out, and 
a year or so later he married Nancy A. Mun- 
sell, which event was celebrated in Februarv, 
lb47; she was born Oct. 14, 1828, in Huron 
Co., O., and came here with her father's fam- 
ily, who settled a little north of where West 
Mansfield is located; shortly after their mar- 
riage they rented the farm of his mother-in- 
law. Widow Munsell, and as the Munsell 
heirs became of age, he ]iurchased their inter- 
est in the farm, and also purchased 150 acres 
west of West Mansfield. He and three 
brothers opened a store in the new town of 
West Mansfield, which was the first establish- 
ment of the kind in the place, which they 
carried on successfully for about two years, 
when they sold out the store. He then de- 
voted his attention to dealing in live stock 
and farming for some time. And in 1806 he 
p\u'chased the stock of general merchandisino- 
i goods of James S. Robinson, and kept store 
again in Mansfield; when he had been in 
al)i)nt 18 months he sustained a heavy loss, 
the store and all the goods beinar consumed 
by fire on Feb. 5, 1868; the stock invoiced 
between §7,000 and §8,000, and all without 
being insured; an old adat^-e that "troubles 
never come singly " seems to be verified in 
his case; just following this loss were parties 
who had failed, for whom he had gone secur- 
ity for a considerable sum, which he had to 
pay, and with some bad accounts amounted 
to about $6,000, for which he got nothing in 
return. ' They lived in the village one year 
and then moved to the farm west of town, 
which was then in his possession, where thev 
resided two years; which he sold, with a 
view of straightening up his accounts well as 
possible, and also to move to 1-10 acres of un- 
improved land, which he had bought in 1862, 
to which he subsequently added by purchase 
of 150 acres, in all 290 acres, which constitute 
his present farm, to which he moved in the 
spring of 1871; it is very good soil, and con- 
sidering the heavy timber and inconveniences 
— not even a road open to it when he moved 
heie — they have done much in a short space 



t 



^tz^ 



Gi 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



(.>{ lime tOHiinl clearing ami puttin<vit in good 
iioTicultiiiiil condition. Bulore the fire swept 
Ills stock ol "loods out of his hand he was 
worth in ])r<)i)orty about §20,000. Shortly 
alter he found iiinisclf in poor circumstances, 
with a large family, but he did not sit down 
ami think of wiiat he once had, and repine 
over the loss, but struck vigorously and hard 
to get another start, and with much satisfac- 
tion, he may say, " 1 have succeeded." Eight 
of their twelve ciiildren are living — Oliver N. 
(^deceased); Martha E. (married L. T. Win- 
ner, but died in 1872); .lolin .M. (resides on a 
f.irui given him by his fatlier, nearby); Edwin 
II. (now in Kansas); Freilerick K.; Emma 
(deceased); Elenora (now .Mrs. Thomas AVal- 
lace); Emilj- F., t'hirence E., Clara M., Eraid< 
A. and Crete. Mr. Iveller enlisted in the fall of 
18!i2, in 130th U. S. Battery, and arrived just 
in time to participate in the battle of Shiloh; 
he was then transferred to the 1 00th Battery, 
but was taken sick witii jaundice and got a 
furlough home; after nine months service he 
was dischiirgcd and mjver returned to the 
fitdd. In 18(J0 he ,was (dectcd County Com- 
missioner from this Townshij), and held that 
office three vears, giving good s itisTaction. 

J. J. LEVALLV. fanner; P. O., Ridgeway. 
The Levally family had their origin in 
France. The gi :(ndfather of J. J. Levallv 
was a French soldier, and was imiler Commo- 
dort! Perry at the tin^e of his great victory on 
Lake Erie. The grandmother was born in 
Virginia, near Blue Kidge. Both his pare nts 
were natives of Virginia, and removed to 
Greene Co., Ohio. .1. J. Levally was born in 
Greene Co., Ohio, June 1, 182li, and came with 
his parents, when quite youn^r, to Logan Co., 
Ohio, and was married Feb. 24, 1S42, to Miss 
Wilklow, of Gi-auga Co., Ohio. Tliev have in 
idl nine children, six of whom are living — 
treorge W., Joseph II., John AV., Jonathan 
R., Clark W., anfl Lavinia A. .1. J. Levally 
was Justice of the Peace in Bokes Creek for 
six years, Townshij) Clerk for fifteen years, 
Constable for one year, and Land Appraiser 
for ISSO — there being but few years sincu' he 
iiecame a voter in which he has not hcdd som ■ 
jiulilic trust, and has attended every election 
but one since being a voter; thcTi sickness 
prevented. He and his wife are consistent 
members of the Protestant Methodist Church, 
to which they have belonged for thirty-one 



years. Mrs. Levally's parents were amongst 
the earliest settlers, her father being 81 years 
old and her mother 78. They cam ;> in 1826. 
Mr. Levally is a member of White Swan 
Grange, No. 512; also a mend)er of Rush 
Lodge, I. O. O. F., the numlier of the 
Lodge being 381. lie was a teacher for 
twenty-four years, commencing at the aie 
of 17. By occupation a farmer, and one who 
follows the business both for satisfaction and 
])rofit, believing industry to be honorable, and 
labor well directed to be remunerative. 

MARTIN McAIJAMS, farmer; P. O., 
Riilgeway; was born March 23, in the year 
1847, in Logan Co., O.; he, ever since his 
birth, has been a citizen of the county, and 
in October, 18G7, Mr. McAdams was imirried 
to Lucretia Bower; their family consists of 
the following children — Cora Tid(dia, Curtis 
Adams, Clarence Wilson, Carrie Amanda and 
Covert, all of wdiom are now living. By oc- 
cupation Mr. McAdams is a farmer, practical 
in the management and appointments of his 
farm and stock. lie is a miMubcr of White 
Swan Cirange, No. 512; his wife is a mendier 
of the l)isci])les' Church, one of the progres- 
sive and enlightened Christian organizations 
of the present time. 

WILLIAM G. MtI)()N.\LD, farmer: P. 
()., West Mimsfield. The ancestors of Wil- 
liam G. M( Donald were Scotcli-Ii ish. The 
time of their emigration to America is, how- 
over, unknown. The tlate of his father's birth 
is also unkru)wn, but is su[)posed to be about 
1784. He was married in 1813 to Rebecca 
Fitzsimmons. Their family consisted of eleven 
children — George, Elizabeth, Mary, William 
G., James, Daniel A., Rachel J., John (<le- 
ceased), Christiana, Rebecca (dece:ised) and 
Caroline. In 1S42, Wdliam G. McDonald 
mirried Ellen Whitiaker, of Clarke Co., O.; 
lliev have five living childr'ti and one deail — 
Hamilton, .Iose|ihine, V»'illiam A., Jane and 
Vj rtrude A.; the name of the dec<'ased was 
Josiah. In 1840, William G. settled in Logan 
Co., and jiaid for his first ]iurcluis.' of land 
! with the proceeds of sugar sold at 5 cents per 
pound. 'VUo entire lamily belong to tli<' 
Mi'thodist Episcopal Churcli. Hamilton, the 
eldest son, served three years in the civil war, 
under his country's Hag, for Ih •■ supjiression 
of the relxdlion. 

SUMNER J. MARSH, merchant; West 



^' 



BOKES CREEK TOWNSHIP. 



Mansfield; was born in Jciferson Co., Wis., 
Sept. 1, 1846; is the son of Sumner J. JIarsh, 
who was born in Vermont, and emigrated to 
Ohio wlien a young man; being a good me- 
chanic he located in the growintr city of 
Cleveland, which offered good faciliti(!S for 
willing and efficient workmen; during his so- 
journ there he formed the acquaintance of 
Mary R. Wilgus, who resided in Circleville, 
this State, but had come from Delaware to 
Ohio with her parents when quite young; 
they wore married and took up their residence 
in Circleville and remained there nearly two 
years, then moved to Cleveland, where they 
lived about four, when they, with their two 
eldest children, moved to Jefferson Co., Wis., 
where he carried on his business of ''con- 
tracting and building," until the breaking out 
of the war; he enlisted Apiil, 1801, in Co. E, 
4th Wis. V. I.; was discharged for sickness 
1803; he re-enlisted Co. K, f8th Wis. V. I., 
and was wounded at the battle of Altona, 
Ala., and was sent to State Hospital, Madison, 
Wis., where he died March 12, 1805; they 
had seven children — Charles H., Frances J., 
Sumner J., William H., Mary JI., John R. 
and Edison H.; the eldest son enlisted in the 
late Rebellion, 1801, Co. E, 4th Wis. V. I., 
and served one year, when he was discharged 
on account of sickness, but ere long he re- 
enlisted in 38th Wis. V. I., and served until 
the close of the war. Sumner J. also enlisted 
January, 1865, Co. H, 4?th Wis. V. T., and 
served until August of same year, when he 
got his discharge and returned to their home 
in Wisconsin, where he re-engaged in a chair 
manufactory, and was there until 1879, at 
which date he abandoned the manufactory of 
chairs to engage in the mercantile business, 
and in August of that year he came to West 
Mansfield, and formed a partnership with J. 
R. Skidmore; they carry a stock of general 
merchandise — dry goods, groceries and all 
staple articles necessary in a country store, 
under firm name of Skidmore & IMarsh. Mr. 
Marsii was married to Xarcissa Ashley, Mav 11, 
1869, in Wisconsin; she was born in Ohio, 
but had gone to Wisconsin with her father's 
family when she was about 10 years old; they 
have two children— S. Jay and baby. His 
brother, John R., came to this State and 7nar- 
ried here. Belle, duighter of Dr. William 
Ream, and is clerking for tlic firm of Skid- 



more & Marsh. The Marshes are the grand- 
children of Robert Wilgus, who, with his 
faniilv, were early settlers in Logan Co. 

SOLOMON McCOLLOCH, farmer; P. O., 
Rushsylvania; was born Nov. 17, 1832, in 
this county; his grandfather, Samuel McCol- 
loch, was a native of Virginia, and moved 
with l)is family (except a son, John, who re- 
mained in Virginia) to this county and settled 
in what is now Monroe Tp. in 18(13; the chil- 
dren were George, Benjamin, William and 
Jane. Here the family grew up. and William 
moved into Piqua, where he died; he had 
one son and one daughter; the former was 
killed in the late Rebellion. Benjamin never 
married, and died in 1878, in Crawford Co. 
George, the eldest (and Solomon's father), is 
the only survivor of the family; he was born 
Mav 1, 1790, in what is now Ohio Co.,Va.; ho 
still resides where they settled when the fam- 
ily came to this county. During his early 
life his attention was devoted to farming, and 
when quite young he married, which event 
was solemnized June 8, 1809, with Nancy, 
eldest daughter of George Henry. He was a 
native of Virginia, and came here with his 
family of four boys and five girls about 1806. 
Mr. McColloch's family consisted of eleven 
children, nine of whom lived to maturitj-; five 
of whom are surviving and reside in this 
county, viz: George. B^'uiamin, John, Mary 
J., now Mrs. Marquis, and So'omon. Being a 
man of considerable ability, and a devoted 
Christian, he was called as minister to care 
for the spiritual wants of his people, and was 
ordained in 1829, a Baptist of the "old 
school," his first charge being the " Tharp's 
Run " congregation. Solomon lived with his 
parents luitil about 19 years of age, when he 
entered the store of Patterson & McColloch, 
at Bellefontaine, as clerk, and remained with 
them about two years; ho then returned to 
the farm and worked about two years, when 
he was employed by Riddle & Rutan, of 
Bellefontaine, to go into Iowa and buj* and 
ship hogs for them direct to New Vork, which 
business he followed for one year. After his 
return he married Julia A. Wonders, Jan. i, 
1857; she was born Oct. 30, 1835, in Cumber- 
land Co., Pa., but came here with her parents 
before she was two years old. They have 
throe children — Norah E., Charles E. and 
Mary J. When they were married he rented 



V 



ili 



G34 



BIOGKAPIIICAL SKETCHES. 



a farm of his brotlier, where tliey lived seven 
yars, and then moved to what was tlie Daw- 
son estate, in April, 1864, and in 18lj!) they 
bouiiht 2'''.)^ acres of frood land, wliich he is 
fjettinrr in a jiood state of cultivation. Mr. 
.McCollofh is a momi)er of the I,odge of 1.0. 
O. F. No. 570, at West MansHeld. 

JOAB McGEE, farmer; P. O., West Mans- 
field; was born Xov. 5, 181S, in .lelVerson Tp., 
this county; is the son of ^\'illi:lm McGce, 
who came hero from Kentucky, and was par- 
ticipatinpr in the war of l<Sl:i, and admired 
this j);u't of the cauntry as tliey were marched 
over it to the Maiinu'e, nnd nt the close of said 
war he got his discharge at L'rhana, this state, 
in 1813; however, he proceeded on to his na- 
tive state (Kentucky), but still remembered 
the heavy forests and ferti'e soil of this locality. 
Therefore, he concluded to return, which he did 
and here married Jane Pope. They settled 
in the woods, and got along prett)- well for 
that early time. They had nine ciiildren, eight 
of whom grew to man and womanhood. They 
renniined in the same townsiiij) wh(>re they 
wi-re married until death called them both 
away at a good old aare — she in Novem!:er, 
1804, he following about five vears after. Joab 
remained with his ])ariMits until about 23 vears 
old; then lut n)arried Di'lilah AN'ilnfus, Ajiiil 
8, 1841. She was born May 30. iS-i'i, in the 
State of Delaware, and came hi^e with her 
father's family when (juile young. After they 
were married, they made their home on his 
father's farm for about ten years, and then 
bought and moved to 9t) acres, where they 
now live, which was in the woods, and without 
any improvements — not even a road into it. 
lie has cleared and improved and added bv 
purchase <4| acres more, until In- has a very 
comfortable and well inijjroved farm, whicii is 
worked by his two yoinigcr sons, who are 
married and reside on the farm. They had 
five children, four living — Charles ( '., .Mary 
.1. (now Mrs. Calvin Wkidmore). Aaron 15., anil 
Joab S. Mr. and Mrs. McG'-i'liavc both been 
members of the Baptist Church for over 
thirty-two years. In ])olitic», .Mr. Win. Mctiee 
was a life-long Democrat, voting for .Iiickson, 
and was hrndy attached to that parly; but 
when Jlenry Clay was the nominee, he then 
lost sight of the party, and cast his first vote 
in (~)hio for him, but then fell into the Demo- 
cratic ranks again. 



DR. J. R. SKIDMDRE, piiysician; West 
Mansfield. Dr. J. R. Skidmore's grand|)arcnts 
on his father's side were from \'irginia, and 
on his mt)tlier's side from New .lersv; his 
grandfather served in the war of ISp^; his' 
father was born in Virginia in ]8(l"^; his 
mother in 1810, in Oliio; her m liden name 
was Ballinger; they were married in 1827, 
and were the parents of several children — 
Samuel B., Rachel (decea>ed), Joshua R., 
Eliza (deceaseil), Hope, Davis, Josi'pliine, 
James M., Newton T. and Sidney G. Joshua 
R., the suliject of this sketch, was born in 
]>ogan Co. in 1832; he is a graduate of Miami 
College, Cincinnati, O.; he comiuenced the 
practice of medicine in 18.55 in Union Co., 
O.; after remaining about four months in that 
county, he came to Logan, where heh's prac- 
ticed ever since. He married Jane Whit- 
taker, of I^ogan Co. Thev are the jiarents of 
eight children, only two of whom are livin;r. 
The names of those living are Ella E. ami 
Ilornee A. Dr. Skidmoie and wife are both 
members of the Baptist (Free Will) Church. 
He is member of the I. (). O. F., No. 570; also, 
an A., F. & A. M.; was a foldicr in the civil war, 
eidisting iti the 13th ( )hio Battery, being dis- 
charged after nearly a ycar'ssiMvice on account 
of sickness. 

WILLIAM SWISSGnOD, farmer; P. ()., 
Ridgeway; was born in Franklin Co., (!)hio, 
in 1818, and removed to Login Co., Ohio, in 
1840; he was married to Miss Elizabeth 
.Fohnson, by whom he had seven cliihlren — 
James, Andrew, Ann Ellen, Ro^anah, Linda 
.Myra, Samuel and Elizabeth. His first wife 
died in 1857. Mr. Swissgood was a<rain m:r- 
ried to Emilv Kerns, by whom he has had nine 
children — Marv, Faimy. John, Josc])!i, .Jacoli, 
Sarah, Hamilton, Thomas anil Robert. Mr. 
Swissgood's farm consists of 384 acri-s of land, 
over which the htind of im]noveinent has 
])assed, and his seems at oncc^ the home of 
competence and satisfaction. As a stock- 
raiser his attention has been more particuhirly 
directed to the raising and han<llingof horses, 
although he has all the usual appointments of 
a well reiridated farm. 

DEXISON STEWART, farmer; P. O., 
Ridgeway; was born in Gctober, 1820, in 
Brunswick Co., Va., and is the son of John 
Stewart, who was the son of William Stew- 
art, who was "free born," and when about 10 



4 



BOKES CREEK TOWNSHIP. 



665 



vc:irs of aare ran awav from lionie ami en- 
listed in the lievolution, whore he served 
laithfullv until he received a wound on the 
lelt leg, which disabled him for life, lor 
which he received a pension during his 
life; at his death he was over 90 years of age; 
and none of his chddren or grandchildren 
were ever held in servitude. Donison mar- 
ried Susan A. Jackson in Virginia, in the 
year 1840. She was born in Virginia, April 
io, IS'i'i, and was also an exception from the 
fact that her parents were exomjit and neither 
they or their children were held as slaves. In 
iS-i'i Mr. Denison Stewart, his wife and one 
child emigrated from Virginia and came to 
Warren Co., O., where they lived three years; 
thence to Greene Co., where they rented a 
farm and lived there thirteen years; thence 
moved to Clinton Co., where he purchased a 
farm and remained there nine years, and in 
Marcli, 1867, he came to his present resi- 
dence, where he purchased 130 acres of good 
lantl and in good agricultural condition; he 
has accumulated all by hard work and indus- 
trv since they came to Ohio, as they were not 
linancially strong when they came here. 
Tliey have ten children living: James D., 
Mary A., Hattie, Euphemia C, John D., 
IJossellia, George W., Setli, Samantha G., and 
Levi; those deceased are: Ruffian and Marie. 
Although Mr. Stewart never spent a day at 
school in his life, he is a fair scholar and is 
much above the average, who had like oppor- 
tunity of studyinfr; and notwithstanding his 
povei'ty forty years ago, he is now one of the 
Wf'althiest colored men in this part of the 
county. He was elected School Director in 
Clinton Co. and held that office six years, and 
was elected to a like office in the spring of 
18i'7, which he held with satisfaction three 
years. He and Mrs. Stewart are members of 
the Methodist Church. Their eldest daughter 
joined the Presbyterian and another daughter 
joined the Baptist Church. 

EMANUEL WHITTAKER, physician aiul 
surgeon; West !Manstie]d ; the grandparents 
of Dr. Emanuel Whittaker are of German de- 
scent, his grandfather coming from the Pro- 
vince of Alsace, near the borders of Switzer- 
land; his name was Henry Rudisill; he was a 
Revolutionary soldier undei' Gen. Washington, 
aiid was in the battles of Trenton, Brandy- 



wine and G.?rniantown ; he was a jjrisoner in 
the hands of the British the winter they held 
New York Citv, but escaped frt)m them the 
following sprina:, svvimming the North River, 
and rejoining Washington's forces. He mar- 
ried and settled in Western Pennsylvania; he 
was the father of si,K children, Catherine, 
Lydia, Betsy, Henry, Jacob and Michael. Dr. 
Whittaker's father, Josiah Whittaker, was 
born in New .Jersey, in 1789, and emigrated 
to Western Pennsylvania^ afterwards remov- 
ino- to Ohio, coming down the Ohio River in 
a flat-boat to Cincinnati. He enlisted in the 
war of ISl^', and was present at Bufl'alo when 
Ft. Erie was blown up, and assisted in driv- 
ing a drove of hogs from Urbana to Detroit, 
before Hull's surrender. InniKidiatelj- after 
his return from the war he w.".s married to 
Lydia Rudisill, remaining in Clarke Co.^ O., 
until about lSo6, when he removed to Lcjgan 
Co., settling on Mill Creek, on a farm pur- 
chased from Christopher Grubljs; he ex- 
changed farms with Joseph Skidmore, previ- 
ous to his death, which occurred in 1804, on 
Sept. 1st. In his family were twelve child- 
ren, two of whom died (pjite youna'; the 
names of those living are — Nathaniel, Naiicv, 
Rebecca, Henry, Eleanor, Josiah, I>ydia A., 
Eiiznlieth, Jane and Emanuel. Dr. Emanuel 
Whittaker was born in Perry Tp., Logan Co., 
in 1839; he first apjjcared on the stage of 
pidjlic action as a teacher, at the age of 19, 
and taught, in all, thirteen terms; his last cer- 
titicate from the Board of E.\aniiners of Logan 
Co. being first-class, He attornled two terms 
at Hdlsdale Codege, Mich., and was married 
at the age of "Zl to Amanda J. Siieese, of 
Uinon Ci\ He enlisted for the war in the 
13th O. Battery, afterwards connecting with 
the l-tth O. Battery, after the disbandjng of 
the 13th at Pittsburg Landing; he served 
nearly four vears, enlisting afterwards in the 
Veteran Corps. He was in the battles of 
Pittsburg Landing-, ea))ture of Corinth, siege 
and capture of Atlanta, at Nashville, Tonn., 
and the taking of Mobile, Ala. After the war 
he studied medicine with S. U. James, of East 
Liberty, and attended lectures at Miami Col- 
lege, Cincinnati, and has ])racticed medicine 
ever since, being accounted a skillfid physi- 
cian and surgeon. 



V 



660 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



MONROE 

ANDREW IJL'RNSIDK, t:irnur; I'. ().. 
West Lilierty; was born Sejit. 17, 1805, in 
Pocaliontas, Va.; son of Alexander and 
Elizal)etli (Gillaud) Burnside; his father's 
name was John. The Biniisidc family emi- 
grated west to Oiiio in 1817, locatin<;f in Mon- 
roe Tp., near the place where Donn Piatt re- 
sides. Here the family remained for several 
years. Ale.vander, SiT, died at the ripe age of !)0. 
Our subject, being raised up to hard labor, 
beiran fr>r himself at the age of ^0, liavino- no 
jiatrimoiiy or financial aid. Anjoiig the first 
enterprises in which he was engaged was a 
contract for building the rTiill-race leading to 
A. S. Piatt's; also the Williams race. 'i"he 
cutting of the brush and tind)er, in the first 
one built, lost him monej-, but in the com])le,- 
tion of the second he earne<l enough money 
to purchase the land where he now lives, for 
which he paid ^i ])er acre. He was the chain- 
nnin at the time the original Ludlow road was 
laid out. He raised wheat on the Enoch bot- 
tom, liaulitig tlu! same to Sandusky, for which 
lie received 30 and 40 cents ])er bushel, sell- 
ing his com at 10 cents ]ier l)ushel. At the 
ago of 25 he was married to Anna Ewing, 
who was born in 181:3, in ^'ilginia. In 1830, 
he purchased 174acres<)f land, whore ho now 
resides. His wife died in November, 187U. 
The cliildren living are Andrew, .Me.\ander, 
Samuel. Franklin, Hebecca, Sarah .1. anilCar- 
<lia. He has Kid acres of land in Kansas; 
j'ot, since his arrival in (his Suite, he has been 
a constant resident of .Mi>iirf>e Tj>. He is a 
Democrat of the .luckson Ivpe. 

WILLIAM H. UVHI). farmer; P. O., 
Picken'ltown; was born Aug. 28, 1832, in 
Northampton Co., N. C; his father was 
Owen Byrd, wlio married Jennie Manly, and 
to them seven rdiildreii have been born, 
William H. being the senior member of this 
number; his pan-nls were both natives of 
North (Carolina, and emigrated to this State 
in IS34, during tin- fall of that year, first 
locating on " Bristh- Hi<lge." in .letVerson 'Pp.. 
on the farm where ],i'muel Watkins now lives, 
and afterward took a seven-year lease of K. 



TOWNSHIP. 

Artis, tiiially mnking a purchase of fiftj' acres, 
' then unimproved, of Walter Dunn, in this 
township, afterwards adding to it fifty acres 
more. "William H. Byrd began for himself, 
at 21, and visited several State's. In 18(14, he 
j enlisted in the service of the country, was 
with Sherman's army at the taking of Fort 
* Fisher, and was discharged after one year's 
service. In 1874, he was married to Eliza 
Mendenliall, who was born in servitude in 
Guilford (Jo., N. C; she was the daughter of 
Wiley and Eiiza Mendenhall, who were born 
in bondasje. Mr. Mendenhall was born in 
Pandolph Co., N. C; he was a siave for sixty- 
five years, and came West to ( )hio in 1854. 
Since 1874, the fath<>rof William has been a 
resident of \\'est Liln'rtv, and tli(> farm has 
been in his charge. He is a member of the 
Methodist E|)iscopal Church. 

C. C. CUOKSTON, faimer; P. O., West 
Liberty; was born in Franklin Co., Pa., 
March l(i, 1832, and emigrated west with his 
])arents in 1835 to Muskingum Co., and came 
to Logan Co. about the year 1841. At the 
age of 18 Charles began for himself, worked 
two vcars at the carpenter's trade, which, 
proving distasteful, he turned his attention 
to I'ainiing jinrsiiits. His ])arents were 
Thomas and Mary C. (Staley) Cookston; he 
was born June 20, l^OS, and was a son of 
Charles Cookston, of English birth. Thomas 
first settled in Union Tp., afterwards in Mon- 
roe, where our sid)ject now lives. Upon his 
first settlement, desiring to lay in a stock of 
white bread material, he ])urchased the entire 
surplus cro|) of three men, which ainoinited 
to ten busfiels! Thomas Cookston died 
March 24, 1871, and was an upright Christian; 
his wife died suddenly of aiiople.xy, March 
13, 1H44. For several years Charles (as above 
stHt(>d) worked cutting woi d at 20 cents per 
cord. At the age of 23 he was married to 
Margaret Strayer; their nuptials were cele- 
brated March IK, 1S45; she was born 1821 
in Berkeley Co., \'a., daughter of Nicholas 
and IJebecca (Whitenah) Slraver; he was born 
April 29, 171)2; she, Aug. 4, 1814. Soon 



'^^ 



MONROE TOWNSHIP. 



CG7 



al'ter Mr. Cookston's mairiHge he located in 
Union Co., near where De Grafl' now stands, 
which was at that time covered with timber 
and underbrush. Alter making several 
changes, and rentinsj some time, he boug-ht 
i)0 acres ol' land north of De Graif, where he 
lived six yeare; then moving to De Graff, and 
living there three years, he purchased IGO 
acres west oF the town, where he resided 
about six vears. In 18G4 he went out in the 
13::3d Regiment, Co. F, O.X. G. In ISOIJ he 
moved to the honiesteail where he has since 
remained; has 113 acres of land and is a suc- 
cessful fanner. In 18(7 he was elected 
County Commissioner, and was recently re- 
elected to the same position, which he is now 
filling with credit to himself and satisfaction 
to his constiluents. He has five children— 
.(oseph H., Mary E., H. Whitenah, William 
L. and Clifl'ord G. Mr. and Mrs. Cookston 
are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. 

JAMES N. DAVIS, fanner; P. O., West 
Liberty; was born Aug. ^4-, 1^37, on the farm 
he now owjis. His father was George W. 
Davis, who was born in Fayette Co., Ohio, and 
was married to \ancv Williams, whose ])a- 
rents emigrited from Virginia. George Davis 
located on this farm about the year 1834, re- 
maining on the sam(> luitil his death, which 
occurred in May, ISlil. On Feb. 12, IS(Jl), 
.James was married to Elizabeth Ann Wil- 
liams, who was born in this county, Mav 11, 
IS-tl, and is a daughter of Obadiah and Eliza 
M'^dliamsi Since the marriage of Mr. Davis 
he has been a constant resident of this town- 
ship. In 1808, lie purchased 90 acres where 
his father S(>ttled, which is farmed in a thor- 
ough and successful manner. Four children 
have been born to him — Henrv D., Georo^e 
M., Frankie, and Rosanna, who died at the 
age of 8 vears. 

MRS. MARGARET FOUST, farmer P. 
O., ZanesHeld; was born in Union Co., Pa., 
March 20, 1813, the second of a family of 
twelve children. On Sept. 24, 1829, she was 
married to Henry Foust, who was liorn March 
22, 1799; one year after their marriage they 
came West to Summit Co., this State, where 
they lived until 1839, when the)' came to this 
county, locating in Monroe Tp. Mr. and 
Mrs. Fcnist began life poor, yet succeeded, by 
economy and industry, in acc[uiring a good 



home and property; Mr. Foust died April 2, 
1879, in his 81st year; thirteen children have 
been born them, eight sons and five daughters; 
twelve of the number are now living, and 
one, Benjamin, deceased; those living are — 
.lohn, now in .lefferson Tp., Solomon, now in 
Cass Co., Mo., Hannah, ?iow Mrs. Dan Shaw- 
ver, Mary Ann, now Mrs. Weslev Sidesinger, 
of Monroe Tp., Sarrdi, now Mrs. Thomas 
Nichols, of Jefferson Tp., Samuel is in Iro- 
quois Co., III., George in Jefferson Tp., and 
Henry in West Liberty, Malenda, now Mrs. 
Samuel Bishop, Lucinda. now Mrs. Charles 
Worth, of Monroe T|i., Wilson in Kansas, and 
James at heme. Mrs. Foust has now 214 
acres of land; they came west to Ohio in a 
one-horse wagon, and when they started in 
life were as poor as "skimmed milk ;" when 
they began keeping house they had three 
chairs, half a dozen dishes, one bedstead and 
a few bed-clothes; th(>y never had a looking- 
glass in the house until 1848. Mr. Foust, 
during his life, was a member of the Presby- 
terian Church; Mrs. Foust, since the death of 
hei' husband, has remained on the home farm. 

MICAJAH GREEX, farmer and stock- 
raiser; P. O., Pickereltown: is the vounsrest 
son of George R. and Ruth (\^'illinms) Green, 
and was born on the homestead farm, wh.cre 
F"al)ius lives, Jan. 28, 1842. At the age of 
31, on Dec. 22, 1873, he was united in mar- 
riage to Mary E. Loveless, born Jan. 2, 1854, in 
this township, daughter of Sarah (Outland) 
Loveless, who was a daughter of .losiah and 
Kesiali (Marmon) Outland, who were among 
the early settlers. For a more comprehensive 
history of the Marmons see biography, of 
Amos P. Marmon. For three years after 
Micajah was married he lived on the home- 
stead farm. In the fall of 1870 he moved to 
his presinit ])lace of abode, where he has 327 
acres of land, which was formerly known as 
the Wallace Farm. About one-half of this 
land lies on the Mackachack Bottom. He 
and his brother, Fabius, are associated to- 
gether in the fine stock business, keeping 
pure bloods and graded cattle. He has one 
child, Mandie G., born Aug. 1], 1870. 

FABIUS GREEN, farmer and stock-raiser; 
P. O., Pickereltown; is one of the prominent 
farmers and stock-raisers in this township; he 
was born Nov. 30, 1838, in this township, and 
is the tenth child born to George R. and Ruth 



CG8 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Green; his father was a native of Kentucky, 
born in Fleniin<i Co,, April, 1798, and came to 
tliis State in 1801); Uuth Williams, liis wife, was 
liorn in Grayson Co., Va., in 180:i; he was a 
Methodist, and ministered to the people in a 
local way, yet farming was his chosen occupa- 
tion; he lived an honorable and uprii>ht life; 
was a conscientious and e.xemplary Christian, 
and raised a family who are an honor to any 
man, and valuable citizens to anj- community. 
He died Sept. T, 1802, and his wife -May T, 
lyr'i. At the an'c of 23, Kabius was married 
to Hannah E. Worrel, born in Zanc Tp., July 
7, 1844, and is a daughter of Samuel and Ann 
(.fones) Worrei; he was of New .lerscy, she 
of Pennsylvania. Since Mr. Green's marriage 
he has been a constant resident of the farm. 
In 18GG he and his brother, Micajah, associated 
in business together, liaving between them 
727 acres of lami, and are dealing in IJurham 
(tattle; breeding and growing the same; l<ee|)- 
ing ]»ure blooded stock, and are successful in 
handling the same, as well as general farmers. 
He has three children — Benjamin Allen, born 
.March 21, 1804; Gussie, March 17, 1807, and 
an infant, unnamed, born August, 1S80. The 
Green fimilv arc- all Hepublicans. 

LAN.<()\ (IHEKN, fiirmcr; P. O., Plck- 
ercltown; was born on the homestead Oct. 24, 
I.S2!); is the third son anil fo-.irth chilil of 
(ii'orge and Ruth (Williams) Green. Lanson 
was 24 years of ag<! at the time he left the pa- 
rental roof. .May 20, 18.50, he was married to 
Annaretta 15isho|), who was born April 1, 
1832, in IJurlinglon Co., N. .!., daughter of 
Thomas and Saliina L. (Schank) Bishop. 
Mrs. Green was .j vcars of age when her pa- 
rents moved to this county and settled in 
Zaiie Tp. She is the tliiril child of a family 
of eight children — six girls and iwo boys. 
Her bither die I Pel). 21, 1S:51; moth.'r, .Ian. 
2, 1877. JJoth were mend)ers of the Protest- 
ant Methodist Church, of which soi ietv .Mrs. 
(irei-n is also a uHMnber. Shortly aft t Mr. 
Green's niarriaa:e, they moved lo their pres- 
ent home, formerly owned by one Wdliams, 
and ])revious to him, David Norton was ihe 
owner. He first purchased 77 acres, having 
now 1:57 acres of choice land, 80 acres of 
wliich lir-s on the .Mackahack Bottom, nnd 
i.-i highly proiluctive. Mr. Green is I{ej)id)li- 
can in sentiment, lias served as Tov.nship 
Trustee liftecn years, and l.cen a mcnd)er of 



the Board of Education nine years. Pie has 
three sons — George F., born May 1, 1857; 
Marion, Aug. 15, 185!); H. Brownlow, Dec. 
11, 1801. The latter is a penman of some 
note, having taken ])reniiums as such at the 
county fair. While Mr. Green is not a mem- 
ber of any church or society, j-et he is, never- 
theless, a strictly moral and upright man, and 
a worthy and estimal)h> citizen. 

BENJA.MIN GPJ.MES. farmer and trader; 
P. ()., \V('st Liberty; first saw the light of 
day Nov. 15, 1827, in the Keystom- State; he 
was a son of .lames and Elizabeth Feagley, 
the former of whom was born Oct. 9, 1779, 
and the latter March 10, of the same year, 
and were mar:ied May 20, 1819. They immi- 
grated to this Slate about th(! year 1834, lo- 
cating where Mrs. Nancy Cullum resides. 
There were nine children of the family, Ben- 
jamin being the sixth in order. .lames Griuies 
was a consistent member of the Presbyterian 
Church. lie was for many years in ])nor 
health, and he ilied G.t. 12,1850, his wife 
following him Feb. 15. 1804. On March 1, 
1857, Benjamin was married to Susanna Han- 
del, who was born in this towiishi]) .May i'', 
1835. She is a daughter of Err Pandel, 
one of the oldest residents in the township. 
Since the nuirriage of .Mr. Cirimes. he has re- 
sided on the homestead, consisting of 121 
acres. For twenty years ]>ast, on account of 
im]>aired health, he has been engaged in 
trading the greater part of his time, yet still 
carries on his farm. Of fo\ir children born to 
him. but two are living — IJose Anna, born 
April 3, ISOO, and .losephine, .lune 5, 1808. 
C<'lia was born A])iil 23, 1803. and died Nov. 
3, 1878, the other dyii'g in infancy. .Mrs. 
Grimes is a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal (Muireh. 

JAMES IIENPV. farmer; V. ()., Belle- 
fontaiiu!; is among the worthy representatives 
of l^ogaii Co., and was born in .lelVerson Tp. 
May 24, 1815, on the farm where Newton 
Garwood lives; ho is the second of a family 
of seven children horn to William and Nancy 
(Stevenson) llenrv, who was born .lune 2(1, 
1705. William Meiny was born .luly 1, 1787. 
near the llapidaii, Cul))epper (".>., \'a., niul 
was n sen of George Henry, a Virginian, 
and of English (U^:rcent. The Stevensoiis 
were from Kentucky. 'I'his venerable eoujile 
were married July 2, 1S12, ne.".r Fairlield, 



^' 



MONROE TOWNSHIP. 



GjO 



Montgomery Co., Ohio; going to Dayton, 
they puroliased their outtit for housekeeping-, 
consisting of half a dozen plates, spoons, knives 
and forks, and one small teapot; these they 
brought on horseback to their home. The Henry 
family left Virginia and settled in Belmat 
Co. iu ISOT, remaining there one year; then 
came to Zanesfield in the fall of 1808, and 
lived that winter in Isaac Zane's kitchen. In 
the spring of 180'J, there was a cabin erected 
where Isaac Rogers now lives, and subse- 
quentlv one where Xewton Garwood lives, 
where .James' father settled; here he lived for 
fifty-two years, and tiien moved to tiio place 
where Noah Yoder now resides. He died 
July ."), 1ST5, and she April 5, 1800. He was 
once County Assessor, when his services 
amounted to but §137. James was married 
in his 20tli year to S;irah Ann Croupskop, who 
was born Aug. 31, 1812, in Delaware Co., N. 
Y.; her parents were George and Sarah (Cor- 
rington) Croupskop, who came West in 1813. 
Mr. Croupsko)) was County Auditor for six- 
teen V'ears, and a prominent teacher in the 
county as well. Upon their coming they set- 
tled one mile east of Bellefontaine, on the 
Zanesfield road, when there was but about 
four houses in the town. After the marrianfc 
of Mr. Henry, he located on the farm wheie 
John May now lives, which premises he 
leased for five years. Iu 1839, he came to 
the farm he now owns; he first purchased 
sixty acres of Sarah McCollough, for $7 per 
acre, and has now IGO acres. Of nine chil- 
dren born, but six are now living — Isaac, 
George, Samuel, Richard M., James and Zoar. 
Mr. Henry was elected Justice of the Peace 
in 1879, and is a member of Bellefontaine 
Lodge, No. 2()f), A., F. & A. M., and Chapter 
of R. A. M., No. 60. He is a Democrat. 

JAJIES H. HICKS, farmer: P. O., Pick- 
ereltown ; was born Fob. 10, 1824, iti South- 
ami)ton Co., Va. Of a family of fourteen 
children, he was the third. His parents were 
Jason and Mary (Mitchell) Hicks. The 
former was born April 10, 1790, in North 
Carolina. Mr. Hick's grandfather's name was 
Ntdson Newsoine. They emigrated to this 
county in the spring of 1835, settling on the 
Mackachaek, and finally located permanently 
in the southern ]iart of this township. Our 
subject, James Hicks, is one of the leading 
representatives in this count\', of his race. 



Free-born himself, jet he was raised under the 
dominion of slavery, and emigrated to this 
State with his people, that they might be re- 
moved from its influences. Coming here poor, 
when young, he " began at the bottom," work- 
ing at very low wages, and lower diet, living 
several weeks at a time upon buttermilk 
and potatoes; 37i cents per day, and -^11 
per month, were the prices paid at that 
time. Nicholas Williams was his friend, and 
gave him excellent advice, by which he prof- 
ited. From him he bought a colt, and from 
this start raised a team to commence with. 
On Jan. 10, 1849, ho was married to Judu,h 
Newsome, a natives of this countv, daughter 
of Henrj- and Dorothy (Byrd) Newsome. 
She died in 1804, leaving a family of four 
children — Jason, John, William and Fred- 
erick. Two years later, in October, 1866, 
he was married to Mrs. Slahala Demp- 
sey, whose maiden name was Stewart. Mr. 
Hicks'' first purchase of lund was in the 
IMarmon Valley, where he lived six years. 
He has been a resident (jf this township many 
years, and has 151 acres of land, situated a 
short distance; west of Pickereltown, upon 
which he has recently erected a suitable dom- 
icile, and is among the jjrudent and success- 
ful farnu'rs of the townsiiip. He has been a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
for thirty-three years, a mendior of Urbana 
Lodge and Chajiter of fh<> Masonic Ordei-; 
also of the T. O. O. F. 

JOHN HUNT, iarmer; P. O., West Liber- 
ty; was born Aug. 20, 1820, in Hunterdon 
Co., N. J., and emigrated to this State in 183"), 
with his parents, who were Daniel and Nancy 
(Williams) Hunt; both were natives of New 
Jersey. Their place of settlement was the 
southern part of Monroe Tp., where thev pur- 
chased 200 acres of land. Upon the father's 
side, the family are of English, and on the 
mother's, of Dutch extraction. The name 
of .John's grandfather was Daniel and he was 
a cabinet-maker liy trade, which his son David 
took up also. John, not caring to keep up 
the paternal trade, early in life resolved to be- 
come a farmer. He was united by marriage 
to Phebe Williamson on June 27, 1850. She 
was born Feb. 11, 1828, in Warren Co., N. J., 
and was a daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth 
(Fishbaugli) Williamson. After marriage he 
located on the home farm, remaining there 



070 



BIOGRAPHICAL 8KETCHES. 



until 1854, when he purchased 133 acres ad- 
joiiiin<j:, and has since made this his jierma- 
iioiit j)lace of residence. Ten chiklren now 
gather about the festive board, not iiaving 
had to this date a death in the family. Their 
names are: William D., Elizaiieth, Martha L., 
Alice, John W., Nancy A., Henry W., Mary 
L., JJenjaniin F. and Sallie. For many years 
Mr. Hunt has been a memlier of the Metho- 
dist Fpiscoi)al ClRU'ch, o'f which he served as 
Steward anil Trustee, and has endeavored to 
live a life consistent witii his professions. He 
has, for some time past, been in j)()or health, 
yet is subject to the will of the Master and is 
readv to iro at His biddin<r. 

JOSEPH H. JOHNSON, farmer; P. O., 
West Liberty; is among tiie successful and 
well-to-do farmers of this townsliip. He was 
born Oct. 19, 1833, in the south part of this ' 
townsh'p, on the farm now owned by the 
Wdliamson heirs; the ehlest of a fjim ly of 
three children born to George E. and. Anna 
(Southwell) .lohnson. He was married Nov. 2, 
1854, to Eli/iduth James, who was born in Mon- 
roe Tp. on the farm Henry Short now owns, 
Aunf. ~4, 1834, the dauo-hti'r of Isaac and Honor 
(Jones) James. Her fathi'r was a native of Ire- 
land, born in 1800, and came to C'ircleviile, in 
this State, with his j)arenis when a h'.d. Her 
mother was born in Pennsylvania in 1808, and 
came west when but a bai)e, her ])arent8 lo- 
cating in Champaign Co. She is the seventh 
child of a family of twelve. After Mr. John- 
son was married lie lived eight years on the 
place h's father now owns, when; h(; ha<l pur- 
chased fifty acres of land. He then |>urchased 
a tract of tMghty acres wiierc his father-in-law 
lived, and remained on this farm until 1867, 
when he moved lo his present place of resi- 
lience. From a start of ?<()')0, he is now the 
owni'r of 313 acres of land, which iseviilence 
of h s thrift, enterprise and nnirUed success 
as a farmer and business man. He has si.x 
ehildrcii — Mary J., Fli-tcher N., Garrett L., 
Eva May, Etlie, and Clarissa, (now .Mrs. M. 
Jones, of tliis township). Mr. Johnson is a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
George R. Green, the gramlfathiT of J. H., 
riised a family of ten cli Klren, seven boys 
at.d three girls. Three of liis.sons were prom- 
inent physicians — liandolph, Henry and 
Tliomas. l{iin lolph lived and jira -ticed in 
Ptckereltown for some time, and then wont to 



Fairfield, where he and his wife died of cholera. 
The ten children mentioned above, were — 
William, Kachel, Randolph, Henry, John, 
Morton, George, Thomas, Clarinda and Eliza- 
beth. Willuun settled in this county about 
the time of the war of 181:i. Rachel was the 
wife of Jacob Johnson, of Kentucky. .Mor- 
ton settled in Iniliana and was the last one 
who died. Clarinda an<l John never mar- 
lied; he died of what was then called "cold 
J)higue," now termed tvpliiid fever. 

THOMAS C. JOHNSON, farmer; P. 0., 
West Liberty; was born in Ham|)shire Co., 
Ya., Jan. 30, 1830; his parents were Hi njamin 
and Maiia (.Meais) Joiinson; his father was 
born in Fauquier Co., Va., Dec. 7, 180"^, 
being a son of Thomas Johnson, of Scotch 
and Irish descent. The mother of Tliomas 
C. was born Aug. 15, 1808, in the town of 
CoshocUton, in Coshockton Co., Ohio, and was 
married March 8, ISdO. There were three 
children born to them — -Mary E., who died 
when young; Sarah J., now Mrs. T. K. 
Thomjison, of Champaign; and Thomas ('., 
who was the youngest of the trio. Benjamin 
Johnson, the father of our suliject, dieil June 
28, 1875, and his wife Aug. "28, three yi ars 
later. Thomas came west with his parents in 
the fall of 1830; his father came poor, having 
a pair of old horses and fifly cents in money; 
subsec|uently made a purchase of a small 
tract of land, and raised his son Thomas to in- 
dustrious habits, who begin for himself at the 
age of 21. In I8j() he was married to El za 
Stuart, who was born in this towiislii]); 
daughter of James and Elizabeth Stuart; 
she died April 13, 18511, having no issue. 
Dec. 15, 18G3, he was married to Sirah 
Williams, who was born in Warren Co., N. J., 
May 11, 183li; she was a daughter of David 
R. "and Elizabeth (Fislibaugh) Williams; he 
was born in New Jersey, in 1795, she in 17'J8. 
Mr. .lohnson is among the solid and substan- 
tial farmitrs in this township; has an excellent 
farm, consisting of :i31 acre's, well iin|)rove«l, 
and the best of farm buildings thereon. He 
is a man of progress, and in favor of any 
enterprise which will tend lo advance the in- 
terosts of tlie community at large. 

GEORGE E. JOHNSON, farmer; P. O., 
AVest Liberty; was born in Licking Co., Ky., 
Nov. 14, LS08, and is the third child of Jacol) 
and Rachel (Green) Johnson, to whom were 



"^ 



r 



A 



JIOXROE TOWNSHIP. 



71 



born twelve children, all of the nniiiber, save 
two, living- to be married. Jaco!) .fohnson 
was born in Xcw Jer.sey, about the year ITT):!, 
and came west with his father, William, who 
settled in Kentucky. George li. Green was 
the irrandfather of our sidiject, on his moth- 
er's side. He was a native of England, and 
left there at the age of 10. He emigrated to 
Kentucky about the beginning of the war of 
1812, and was a participant in that struggle. 
His son, Jacob, the father of George E., came 
to this county in 1817, and settled on the 
farm now owned by Jo.seph H., his grandson, 
which place was a " wilderness of woods," 
remaining here until ISoJr, when he moved to 
Rush Creek Tp., remaining there luitil his 
death. Of the family of twelve children, five 
of the number were ministers — George, John, 
Peter, Henry and Hosea. George E. came 
from Kentucky with his grandfather, on horse- 
back — riding 1.50 miles witiiout a saddle — 
who settled on the farm now owned by Fabius 
Green, whose father was then but a lad. At 
the age of 17, George E. made his commence- 
ment in life, hiring out at So per month, giv- 
ing his father one-half of his earnings, which 
was one-half " store pay ; " continued thus 
two years, then worked by tho job for a 
time, and cropped with George R. Green. In 
18.j1, when past 22 years of age, he was mar- 
ried to Anna Southard, who was born on the 
Darby, in Champaign, in 1825. She was a 
daughter of Edward and Elizabeth (Miller) 
Southard, Ijoth families being from Virginia. 
After Mr. Johnson was married, he settled in 
the south part of the township, near the 
Champaign line. His wife died may 3, 1850. 
But three children lived to maturity — .Joseph 
H., Henry, now in Kansas, and Clarissa, now 
in Rush Creek. May 8, 1851, he was married 
to Mrs. Sarah Ann Baldwin, who was born 
Sept. 28, 182(i, in Perry Tp., and was a 
daughter of Simpkin Harriman. Seven chil- 
dren have been born them — Elizabeth, now 
Mrs. James Seaman, Lesta Jane, William L., 
George W., Sarah A., Lydia E., Stephen G. 
J. Mr. Johnson has been a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church since he was 21 
years of age. Has a farm of 220 acres of 
land. 

WILLIAM M. JACOBS, carpenter; West 
Liberty; was born August 18, 1841, in 
Pickereltown, this township; son of John 



Jacobs, who was born in Prince William's 
Co., Va., Aug. 10, 1807, and was mariicd to 
Sarah Pope, born October 1811, in the same 
count}'. Both the Jact>bs and Pope family 
are among- the early settlers in this county. 
William''s grandfather Pope sot out, it is said, 
the first orchard that was planted in the town- 
ship. ,Tolm Jacobs, the father of William, 
now resides in Rush Creek T|3., where he re- 
moved in 184 J. His wife died January 19, 
1857, leaving six children, William being the 
youngest. He enlisted at the age of 19, in ■ 
Co. D., G6th ( ). V. ]., and served eighteen 
months, and was discharged on account of 
disability. Being attached to the cause, and 
army life having an attraction for him, he re- 
enlisted in th(! 12th O. Cavalry, and served 
until the ex]iiration of the war. He was at 
fjne time a (-ajitive of .Fohn ilorgaii. In 1803, 
while liomi! from the army, he w-as married to 
Angenetta Williams, who was born JNIay 31, 
1840, and is a daughter of Jeffery and Lucy 
Williams, natives of Virgii'ia. Since his re- 
turn from the service, he has, for the most part, 
been engaged at the carpenter's trade. He 
has three children — Harrv A., born May 27, 
"1807; Alta M., born Aug. 2,1870, and" Effie 
B., born Feb. 7, 18i0. His lather, whose ex- 
ample ^V'illiam has endeavored to emulate, is 
a meud)er of the Baptist Church. 

JOUX KELLY, farmer and stock-raiser; 
P. O., West Liberty; is among the stanch 
farmers of Monroe Tp., and was born Oct. 8, 
1807, in Greenbrit^r Co., \'a.; was the elilest 
of a I'amily of twelve children born to John 
and Susan (Osborne) Kelly. She was a near 
tlescendent of .losiah Osborne, a noted Bap- 
tist minister. Peter Kelly was the grandsire 
of John, and was born in the Old IJominion. 
John, the father of our subject, was born 
July 10, 1781, and immigrated to this State 
in 1820, locating on the land now in posses- 
sion of his rejjresentative, which had been 
purchased in 1819, previous to his coining. 
Only twenty-five acres were cleared on the 
tract at that time. The Red Men's camp- 
fires still burned in Mad River valley, they 
making- frequent jia^sages through the valle^', 
on their road to Upper Sandusky. Bellefon- 
taino had just recently been laid out. After 
the family located here it became their per- 
manent settlement. He died in December, 
1859; his wife in 1844. The recollection of 



^t 



072 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCJIES. 



John Kellej' will ever remain in the minds of 
those livinjr, as tliat of a just aiul honorable 
man. Ho was for many yeai-s a consistent 
msmber of t"lie Jletiio list Episcopal Church, 
and of the Masonic Order. The subject of 
these lines lived a bachelor until 35 years of 
ag'e, and, perhaps, " inijvht have l)eeii " to this 
day, had he not met Painielia Downinfr, who 
led him captive to the iiymeneal altar. She 
was born April 10, LSI 8, in Aiijjfiista Co., Va., 
and inimiffiated to this State in 1835, locating 
on the Aspinwall farm. Since their marrias^e 
the}' have been constant residents of the firm 
they now own, consistiri"; of 310 acres, situ- 
at''d in Mad U.ver valley, two miles north of 
West Liberty. Farminn- and stock laising 
have been the business of his life, slu^ep hus- 
bandry being' his choice, at which he has been 
measurably successful. Of a family of ten 
children born, eitrht survive — .losiali. Addi- 
son, Darby, .fohn, William Koliert, Nathan- 
iel, Susan and Anna. For nearU' forty years 
he has been connected witii the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and has served his town- 
ship in an olfi(-ial way as C!crk, Justice of the 
Peace, and has always been recournized as one 
of its esteemed citi/.eiis and solid Republi- 
cans. 

JOHN LO\'ELESS, farmer; P. O., Pick- 
ereltown; was born in Monmouth Co., N. J., 
Dec. 28, IS'^i; was a son of Thomas and 
Sarah (Sprouels) Loveless; Thomas was a son 
of .Joseph, who was of Enfjlish birth and 
parentage, and served as baker during the 
war f>f th(! Ilevolution; also, John's grand- 
father Sprouels was a soldier in that strug-gle 
and served as gunner. John's great-grand- 
father, on his mother's side, was kidnai)ped 
and brought to tiiis country whin voung, and 
was put up an<l sold for the |)ric(^ of his pas- 
sage. IJi'fore leaving New Jersey, .fohn saw 
the first railroad and the first train that ever 
run u])on rails in America; it was c;dled tiio 
Trenton fc Amboy Railroad, the cars Ijeing 
propelled by horses; he saw the engine which 
WHS in construction at that time, which rude 
piece of meehanism was exhibited at tiie 
Centennial. At tin; ago of 7 John came 
west with his parents across the mountains in 
a wagon: the bed of the wagon was made of 
cedar which his fither cut and sawed out; 
John has a churn that he had made out of the 
bottom lioard. The family sloi)i)ed in Sum- 



mit Co., where they remained several years. 
In June, 1838, the\' landed in Logan Co., 
his father purchasing Of acres where John 
^Vatkins now lives; at tiio age of 17 
John went to learn the blacksmitli's trade, 
and after its completion worked as " jour" in 
Illinois, and other places. About the year 
1848, he s6tup a sliop'in Pickercltown, where 
he worked until his system broke down; he 
then abandoned the anvil and forge in ISfiO, 
and turned his attention to farming; he 
first purchased C7 acres north of Picker- 
cltown, living there seven years; in July, 
]8-)-7, he was married to Emeline Curl, bora 
18'.'!), in Perrv T]).; daughter of Josepii and 
Catharine (\\'illiams) Curl; she died Aug. 14, 
1805; three children survive her — Maande, 
now Mrs. James Smith. Hannah E., -Mrs. 
Zaeh. Taylor, and Frank, who, in 180'J, 
Jan. 17, was nnuried to Mrs. Eliza Ann Out- 
land, relict of Samuel J. Outland, who was a 
son of Josiah; she was born Sept. 13, ]83'-2, 
daug'hter of .John 13. and Maria Dickson 
Wirick; both were from Columbiana Co.; the 
Wiricks are of German extracli(Jn, the Dick- 
sons of English. Mrs. Loveless had two 
children by Samuel Outland, who were — El- 
wood and Leonora; soon after the marriage 
of Mr. Loveless to his present wife, they lo- 
cated on the farm they now own, sitviated in 
the northeastern part of the township; he 
and wifi! are mendiers of the Methodist 
Episcopal CInirch, his father having b(>en 
identilied with that Church, and was a class- 
leader for many years. John is a mendier of 
East Liberty llodge. No. 247, A., F. & A. M. 
WILLLV.M J. LONG, farmer; P. O., West 
Liberty; was born -NLiy 7, 1837, in a log cabin, 
which was situated on the farm hi! now owns; 
is the eldest of a family of seven childr<>n, 
four of th(! innnber living to maturity. His 
parents were Wdliam and Rebecca (Williams) 
Long. He was born July G, 1815, in this 
township; she in Champaign Co., near Mnl- 
dletown, in 1S14. Siie died in 1875. At the 
age of 22 William left home to do for himself. 
Doc. 25, ISoI), he was united in marriage to 
Ann E. White, born Aug. 27, 1841, on the 
farm now owned I))- Hein-y Outland, of this 
township. Her parents were Janu'S and 
Xancy (Williams) ^^'hite, born in Huron Co., 
and Ijogan, res|iectively. HediedlS48. Mr. 
Long has 50 acres of land; was elected Justice 



MONROE TOWNSHIP. 



G73 



of the Peace in 1868, served until IS?-!, and 
tlien deoliiied; but was re-elected in 
18?f). His grandfather, Benjamin Lonsr, 
was elected Justice of the Peace in 
I80O and served twenty years. Two 
children have bepn born — George W., 
born April 2, 18131, and Mary, Nov. 
8, 1SG3. He and family are all mem 
bers of the B:iptist Church. For many years 
past he has been in ill health, scarcely a day 
passing that he can truthfully say he is well. 
Air. Long is a man of good judgment, and 
more than ordinary intellectual attainments. 
REV. AMOS P. MARMON, deceased. 
Among the worthy representatives of the 
Marnion stock, who has since been called 
from his labors on earth to the mansion above, 
is Rev. Amos P. Marmon, who was born in 
Jelferson Tp., Aug. -l, 182G; son of Edmund 
Marmon. He was converted at the age of 
27, united with the Church Aug. 27, 18.53; 
held the office of church clerk over, a score 
of years,* and- of quarterly meeting twelve 
years; h.' was ordained to the ministry .June 
3, 1872, and while he never had a regular 
pastorate, yet filled the sacred desk in a local 
way up to the time of his death, which 
occurred Nov. 38, 187!); he was a worthy 
friend, a kind husband and an indulgent 
father; he always adhered firmly to the 
truth as he understood it, ever prompt and 
attentive to his church observances. On 
March 15, 1849, he was married to Cynthia 
A. Outland, who was borji in June, 1830, in 
Zane Tp.; a daughter of Jeremiah and Patsey 
(Butler) Outland; he (Jeremiah) was the 
eldest son of Josiah Outland. Mrs. Marnion 
still survives her husband, and resides on her 
farm, situated in the northeast part of the 
township, and has three children — Rosetta, 
now Mrs. Hezekiah Potee; Samuel L. and 
Mary M. At the time of Mr. .Marmon's death 
he was preparing a genealogical account of 
the Marmon family, which was left incom- 
plete. A synopsis is here given. The Mar- 
mons came from France, and one, John or 
Frank (the name then being called " Merry- 
moon"), had four sons — David, John, Frank 
and Peter; also three daughters — Peggy, 
who married William Reames, and Sarah, 
who married a man by the name of Lee; of 
the other, nothing is known. David had six 
sons — Benjamin, Jesse, John, Peter, Edmund 



and David, all of whom were born in North 
Carolina, in Northampton Co. .fohn had 
no children. Frank had three sons — Thomas, 
David and Joseph, and one daughter, 
Mournia. Peter had three sons — Robert, 
Samuel and Maitin. William Reames married 
Peggy ^[armon. He had a son by the name 
of William, who was the father of Caleb, 
.leremiah, Jessie, Aaron, Moses, Vincent, 
Wdliam, John, and one daughter, who mar- 
ried Thomas Stanfield. Peter Marmon, as 
mentioned above, aside from his sons (Robert, 
Samuel and ilarmoii) had five diughters— 
Betty, Kesiah, Rhoda, Rachel and Hannah. 
Betty never married; Kesiah married Josiah 
Outland; Rhoda married David Patterson; 
Rachel married Walter Brown, and Hannah 
Brown. Robert had four sons — Rich- 
mond, Stephen, Peter and .Joshua, and three 
daughters — Dorothy, Hannah and Obedience; 
another Robert is mentioned who had three 
sons and two daughters — Gustavus, Foos, and 
James; girls were — Adair and Jennie. 

J. W". MOliGAN, farmer; P. O., Mingo; 
was born in this township Aug. (i, 183G; is the 
eldest of a family of two children that were 
liorn to William and Elizabeth (Washington) 
Morgan. He was born in Frederick Co., Va., 
in May, 1804; she in Hampshire Co., same 
State. They came west in 1835. Our subject 
was left without means, and at the age of 17 
hired out by the month, being engaged in 
jobbing. On July 25, 1862, he was married 
to Susan Stevens, who was born July 20, 1844, 
in Isle of Wight Co., Va. Being born of 
color, there were no schools of that kind for 
their accommodation, and, as a result, his ad- 
vantages for education were exceedingly lim- 
ited. For a time he walked three miles to 
attend a school taught by a Quaker lady, who 
taught a small number of scholars in her own 
house. They have six children liviiig — Vint- 
ley A., Grace R., Omar J., Ollii;, Agus S., 
and William. ]Mr. Morgan has 133 acres of 
land, which is well improved, with good build- 
ings thereon, the farm being a model of neat- 
ness and good management. He is one of the 
best farmers in the neighborhood, and all his 
property has been made by his own hard labor. 
He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and of the J. O. O. F. Lodge at Ur- 
bana; also of the Masonic Order at that place 
— Blue Lodge and Chapter. 






/^t^— ^ 



674 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



JJEXJAMIX .MoCOLLOCn, fanner; P. 
O., ZaiH'sfi'Kl; is the six'tli child of Elilor 
Geor^^e .Mc'CdIIocIi; ]3cMijaiiiin was horn on 
the liomcstoad .Inly 'i, 1824. At the ajje of 14 
he left the iiarontal roof and lived with his 
hrotlior William the greater part nf the time, 
liiitil he was 24 years of ag'e, when he was 
nniteil in wedloek Feb., 1S4S, to Hester 
Dowilinii, who was horn in Harrison Co., O., 
Sept. i>, 1818, and whose parents were Bazil 
and .Matilda (.Jones) ])ownint>;. After Ben- 
jamin was married he resided on his brother's 
fari7i nntil Ik; purchased l.")0 acres in .Jeffer- 
son Tp., situat.'d in the western part, on the 
ZanesHeld ])ike. Ujion this farm he re- 
in lined nineteen years. lie then removed to 
Kichland 'J'p., where he purchased 1.30 aeres 
of land and where he lived until October, 18T9, 
when he returned to the humeslead to care for 
his ajjed father, who is nov.- past 90 years of asfe. 
Of live, cliil iren horn, but two are living 
— William, liorn .Inly 27, 1853, and George, 
horn April 18, IS')']. Those deceased were 
-Margaret, who died at 11 years of aire. 
Nancy and Lydia, the twa latterattaining one 
year each. Like his father, he isDem<icratii', 
and, though not a member of any orthodox 
church, is a worthy representative of tlie 
.Masonic Order, Bclici'ontaine Lodge, No. 20'.). 

GE(JHGE McCOLLOCII, retired; Zanes- 
field ; one of the oldest living jiioneers in this 
part of the county is tieorge McColloch, 
who was horn .May L IT'.IO, in Ohio Co., 
Va., son of Samuel and Nancy (McMerrill) 
McColloch, who was a son of George Mc- 
Cnlloch, a native of Scotland. The suJnect 
of this sketch came to this State in 1800, lo- 
cating with his ])arents near where Colum- 
bus now stands. In 1803 ho came to Loo-aii 
Co., with his father Samuel, who settled in the 
north part of Monroe T])., near Mad Kiver. set- 
tling on 2(jO acres of land, ]iurcliased of one 
Dcniiey, wlio located the land from warrants 
obtaiin'd through services in the Hevolution- 
ary War. At this time there was but one 
family from Zanesficid to Urbana ; that one 
was located on King's ("reek in Cham|Kiiirn 
Co. Capt. ^Villiam McColloch, the uncle 
of our worthy siiljject, had mairied a Zaiic 
who was a half breed ; her father, having 
b(!en taken prisoner by the Indians, had 
murrii'd among them, wliii^h tribe settled 
about Zanestield ; hence the reason why the 



McColloch family caine to locate where 
they did. Four of the McColloch family 
were in the war of 1812. Samuel was a 
contractor ; William was captain of a com- 
pany of scouts, and was killed near Detroit ; 
Silas was killed at Ft. Meiggs by the bursting 
of a shell; George was for a time stationed 
at Ft. McArthur, and afterwards a '■min- 
ute man," until the close of the war. Capt- 
McCoUoch rejiresented his constituents in 
the Legislature when held at Chillieoth(> ; 
Solomon was in the Legislature also, and 
served as County Commissioner when his 
compensation was only three dollars jier 
year. .At the age of 19, on .June 8, 
iSdil, (iiir subject was married to Nancy 
Henry, eldest daughter of George and Par- 
melia (Fiddler) Henry was horn in Cul|)c]i])er 
Co., A'a., in 17S9. She came west in ISOT. 
She died in her Tilth year, having given hiilli 
to thirteen children — live of the nuinlur 
now livhig — George, Benjamin, .John, Marv, 
and Soliimon. Since 1809 "UncIe'George" 
has been a constant resident of the townsliip. 
In ISl'.l he and wife joined the Church at 
'■ Thar])'s liun," was baptized on the fourth 
Sabbath in .June, 1823, by Eider .John Gut- 
teredge, one of the first ministers of the conn- 
try ; he was ordained in 1829 by .Joseph 
Morris, and at the request of the membersliip 
took pastoral charg(Mif Tharp's nun Chnii-h. 
He jireachcd in sevi'ial ailjoiniiig counties, 
rea:ularly for forty years, ami occasionally for 
fifty years. Elder .McColloch has been instru- 
mental in doing nnich good in the different 
fields of labor in which he has been called to 
work, and through his instrumentality nnniy 
souls fiave Ix en brought from darkness to 
light. Uncle (reorge is now in his (list year, 
and has many friends both on the other shore 
and on this. His name and memory will 
long he cherished in the community. He has 
for several years retired from activ(> life, and 
his farm, which consisted of about 200 acres, 
he divided among his children. For many 
years he Jias lived with his son .John, who 
was born in .January, 182i,and was married to 
Susan (lable, who was born in ( 'oliimbiana Co., 
ill J83.'3 ; has one child, Nancy M., born in Feb- 
ruary, 1802. .lohii and wile are members 
of the Lutheran Church. 

JOHN .MOOTS, farmer; P. O., West Lib- 
iM'ty; was born in Monroe T|i., April 10, 



MONROE TOWNSHIP. 



Gr.5 



1-825. His p'lrenls were Georg-e and Mar- 
garet (Hall) Moots. He settleil on the iarni 
now owned by Joim H., about the year 
1812, and he (.John) thinks that he was a 
teamster at that time. John H. was married 
Fel). 5, 1847, to Elizabeth Smith, who was 
a daughter ot Robert and Isabel (Burnside) 
Smith. Began poor, having one horse and 
§15 in money, and renting land alter mar- 
riage. After living tour vears on his father's 
farm, he moved to Paulding County. His wife 
<lying, he was subsequently married to Eliz- 
abeth Randie, l)orn in 1831, in this township; 
she is a daughter of Err Raiidle. After a so- 
journ of nearly three years in Paulding Coun- 
ty, he returned to the place he left, trading his 
land in Paulding- for some that he now owns. 
Came on the plac(^ he now owns in 1879. He 
lias six chikiien — Henry R., Benjamin E., 
Err R , Jennie E., Ida E., and Johnnie. Mr. 
Moots has now 133 acres of land as his re- 
ward for industry and persevenmce. Ho has 
bi^Qn a hard worker, and obtained what he has 
by honesty and good managi'ment. His fa- 
ther died in 1858; he was a member of the 
Lutheran Ciuu-ch, John H. being a member of 
the Methodist Episcoiial Ciiurch. 

SAMUEL L. .MARMON, farmer; P. O., 
Pickoreltown; was born Sept. 3, 1851, in tlie 
nortlieast part of the township; is the only 
son and second child of a family of three chil- 
dren, who were born to Amos P. and Cynthia 
Ami (Outland) Marmon. Samuel L. was mar- 
ried April 30, 1875, to Eiizabeth Watkins, 
who was liorn in this townsliij), A]3ril 30, 1851, 
and was a daufrhter of Rol)ert J. and Lydia 
(Cowgill) ^^'atkins. After their marriage they 
located on the farm where he now resides, 
Situated three-fourths of a mile north of Pick- 
ereltown, consisting of 79 acres. Two children 
have been l)orn to them — Evaliiie, born June 
~0, 1877; Francis, November, 1879. He and 
wife are members of the Society of Friends. 

PHILIP MOOTS, retired farmer; P. O., 
West Liberty; is a son of Conrad Moots, who 
was born in Lancaster Co., Penn., in 1775, and 
was married to Anna E. Linkswiler, who was 
born in Germany in 177G. This veneraiile 
couple emigrated to this State in 1798, locat- 
ing in what is now Ross Co., in whicli locality 
our subject was born, Oct. 12, 1805, and 
removed with his parents in 1810; they set- 
tled on the banks of Mad River, in this town- 



ship, in March of the same year, on the land 
now occupied by Piper's factory, living for 
some time in a tent, until a rude" cabin could 
be constructed, and they lived in the same 
without floor, doors or windows until circum- 
stances afforded them better acc(unmodations. 
Their near(?st store at this time was at Urbana, 
where there were but three business houses — ■ 
Reynolds', Heelan's and Gwyrni'si Indians at 
this time were more jjlentlfiil than the whites. 
Conrad, his father, was a soldiec '" ll'« war of 
1812. Philip attended the first school that 
was taught in the township; it stood on the 
bluff, near where Mrs. Martin resides, and was 
taught by one Ellis Minchell prior to the 
war of 1812. This primitive seminary was 
built of rough logs, with no floor; the light 
was admitted through greased papi-r, and the 
ilesks constructed of split slal)s, held against 
the wall with wooden ])egs; the seats were of 
the same material, which served the double 
])urpose of seats ami sleds for coasting. At 
the outbreak of the war, Minchell returiied to 
his home in Madison Co. The mode of trav- 
eling at this time was mostly on liorseback. 
One Oliver Co.x at that time enjoyed the lux- 
ury of a wagon, with wooden wheels, four 
inches thick, with not a particle of iron about 
them. Its owner's coming was heralded in 
the distance by its discordant creaking. At 
this time there were 400 Indians quartered at 
Zanesfield. Many instances are related by 
Mr. Moots which occuried in that early time, 
the recital of which must be omitted for 
lack of space, the substance of which will 
probably appear in ihe general historv of the 
township. Conrad Moots died in 1853; he 
was an excellent citizen, and for many years 
a member of the Lutheran Church; Philip's 
father was a blacksmith, but later in life 
turned his attention to farming pursuits. 
Philip remained at home until 32 years of age, 
and was then united in marriage to Eliza 
Moots, daughter of Philip and Catharine 
(Goodman) Moots. After marriage, he re- 
mained near the homestead until i8U2, when 
he moved a short distance east of the home- 
stead, on the bluff, and built a house, where 
he has since resided. Of throe children born 
to him, but one is living — Oliver C, born 
Nov. 4, 1849. Daniel L. went out in 18U2, 
in the9GthO. V. I., Co. I, and after serv- 
ing all through the war, died May, 1865, at 




r.Tfl 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Mobile, Ala. Mr. Moots has been a valuable 
citizen and wortiiv Democrat, a consis eiit 
inemlter of tlie Baptist Church and a zealous 
in''iiiber of the Jlasonic Order, ".lad Kiver 
Lodire, No. 101, A., V. & A. M. 

VVM. McDonald, deceased. Among 
the earliest settler.s of this county was Wil- 
liam McDonald, whose early companions and 
associates were Zane, Simon Kenton and 
Daniel Boone. He was born in Boone's 
Fork, Harrison Co., Ky., March 10, i;81. 
The McDonalds, as the name implies, are 
from Scotland. The father of our subject 
was named William, whose lather was An- 
drew, who was an officer in the war of the 
llevolution, and whose sword is now in the 
possession of his desirendants. The McDon- 
alds came first from Scotland to Virginia. 
Thence they mifjr.itctl to Kentucky, before 
the present century, and were among- the 
bravo and hardy pioneers, who not only con- 
tended against the dense forests and wild 
beasts, but were many times forced to take 
refuge in forts, and other places of refuge, 
from the treachery and fury of the Indians. 
He can.e, with his jiarcnts, to what was then 
Clarke Co., in 18ii2. He lived for several 
years in Url)ana, and helped to dig the first 
well in the place. He was married to Anna 
Moats, who was of German descent, and set- 
tled, in 1807, on Mad l\iver bottom, in the 
southwest part of Monroe Tp. During the 
war of 1812 — as related by his descendants — 
he was a "minute man," and acted in the ca- 
pacity of scout. He remained on the land 
lir- first settled up to the time of his de.ath, 
which occu:ri.'d on Oct. 'Z7, 1807. His wife, 
Anna, died .Ian. 10, 18.j0. Hi- was a success- 
ful nnm in his business relations, leaving at 
his death many broad acres, as a result of his 
industry anil business sagacity. Of the chil- 
dren born him, were — Philson, born Sept. 28, 
1S18; Charles, .lulv 5,1820; Are Ann, Sept. 
10, 1822; .lames. Jan. 20, 182.J; Klizabetli, 
.Fuly 20, 1827; Harriet, Aug. 20, 1832. and 
Eliza J., Feb. 23, ls:j,j, all of whom an; liv- 
ing. Those who died were : Elizabetii, Aug. 
4, 182!), and Harriet, July 10, 180O. Philson, 
James and Are Ann yet remain on the home- 
stead, and have 208 acres of land. 

JOHN NASII, farmer; P. O., West Liber- 
ty; W'as born in Limerick, Ireland. April 27, 
1828, son of Michael and Mary (Gahegan) 



Nash. He cmitrrated to this country with his 
parents when a lad of 17. His mother died 
in LS.Jlt and his father in February, 1873. 
Our subject, during his career thus far, has 
had a varied and somewhat checkered one. 
Soon after his arrival in this country he was 
enpaged as a clerk for some time in New 
York City, afterwards kee])ing books two vears 
for a firm in Philadelphia. Then coming to 
Ohio, he lived with .judge Piatt two years. 
For the next twelve or filteen years he was 
l)ook-kee])er for Keck & Davenport in Cin- 
cinnati. He then set up in business for him- 
self; was engaged in carrying on a foundry 
for several years, which, unfortunatcdy for Mr. 
Nash, was not successful financially. Since 
that time ho has beei: (-ngnged in farming, 
having a largo farm consisting of several 
hundred acres one mile east of West Liberty, 
which is well iinjiroved, having ni^w a. id ele- 
gant bviildings thereon. On Oct. 2."», 184.5, 
he was mai'ried to Ellen Cornelia, a lady of 
cvdture and i-efinement. She was born on 
the sea, Feb. 22, 183.5, while her jyarents were 
en route to this countrv. Her ])arents were 
Thomas and .Mary (Burk) Cornelia. He was 
born near Cork, was finely educated, and was 
a ])rominent manufacturer of farm imple- 
ments. She was born in Spain, and d eil 
when Mrs. Nash was but 4 years of age. Sh<" 
was then raised up by Mrs. Elizabeth Piatt. 
.Mr. Nash and family ca:ne to the farm they 
now occupy in 1800. Seventeen children 
have been born to them, and of that nundjerone 
died. Those living are Bessie, Bell, Alice, 
Nellie, Fannie, John, Kittie, Sallie, Maggie, 
Edward, Benjamin, Carioll, Matti(>, Hannah, 
Fred and Paid. Some of the girls have al- 
ready gradnati>d and arc interesting and 
amiable ladies. 

JAMES OUTLAND. farmer; P.O.. Pirk- 
ereltown; is the tenth chihl of a fmiiily of si,\- 
teen children, who were born to .losiah and 
Kesiah (.Marrnon) ( )ntlaiid. James was b<irn 
on the honieslead, in /aTic Tp., Nov. IS, 1,S21. 
At the age of 22, he was nnirried to l?ebecca 
Stralton. This event was duly celebrated 
Nov. 24, 1843. She was born in this town- 
ship, March, 1820, and was a daughter of Joel 
Stratton, whose ancestors were from \'irginia. 
After .lames was married, he bought 40 acres of 
hind at $10 per acre, ])reviously owned by 
Jaincs Watkins, a small portion of which had 



yi 



r 



4. 



MONROE TOA\'Xf^HIP. 



(57 



boon improved. This ])ioce w;is soon after 
iuicrmented by an addition of 10 acres. About 
the year 1S47, he returned to the homestead 
farm, which lie and his brotlicr rented for 
seven vears, when he returned to his first pur- 
chase, and soon after added 58 acres more. 
In 18.56, he moved to his present place of 
residence, located in the nonheast part of the 
township. On Dec. 18, 1809, his wife was 
removed by death, leaving him two children. 
His jiresent wife was May Watkins, l)orn in 
this townsliip, daughter of Robert .f. ami 
Lydia (Cowgiil) Watkins. Since his location 
in 18.')(i, he has lieen a constant resident. His 
career has been a successful one. Aside from 
enjoying the esteem and merited respect of 
his- neighb(M-s, he has accumulated a sulK- 
ciency of this world's goods, having over 400 
acres of land, aside from othcM- pecuniary C(jn- 
siderations. He is a mendier of the Jlethodist 
Episcopal Church; also of that institution 
whose principal supports arc; " Wisdom, 
Strength and Beauty." ^Ir. Outland is an 
enterprising and progressive man, sirouglv in 
favor of good schools and pdtes, and any en- 
terjirise which is beneficial to the; people. 

R. J. PIATT ; is a son of Gen. A. 
S. Piatt, l)orn Feb. 2'i, 1843, in Boone Co., 
Ky., and came to this state with his parents, 
when he was but two years of age. liaisetl 
up at home, to farming, and attended the 
common schools, also one year at Jit. Saint 
Mary's, under Bishop Rosencrantz; then re- 
mained liome until the outbreak of the war, 
when he enlisted in the loth Regiment, and 
went out for three months; was commissioned 
'id Lieutenant by Gov. Todd, and was detailed 
for staii' duty on his father's stafl', where he 
served until after the battle of Fredericks- 
burg, when he resigned and returned home. 
On Julj' 17, 1SG5, he was married to Anna 
Higgins, born 184C, in Ireland; after marriage 
he stayed three years in Pulaski Co., 111., 
where he was engaged in the lumber business. 
In 1871 he returned to Monroe Tp., and has 
since remained; six children are the result of 
this marriaire. 

MAHLOX PICKRELL, farmer; P. O., 
Pickereltown. Thiswoithy j-epresentativo of 
.Monroe Tp., was born in what isnow .lefferson 
Tp., Oct. 1, 1810, and was the youngest of 
the family born to Henry and Axie (Paxton) 
Pickrell. Henry Pickreil was born in Gray- 



son Co., Va., and emigrated West in the fall 
of 1805, and settled in Cliauipaign Co., re- 
maining a short time; he then came to what 
is now Logan, and settled on land he had ob- 
tained by virtue of a ta.x-title, which he had 
to restore to the owner after ho had made val- 
uable improvements, for wliich he was never 
recompensed. The grandsire of our subject 
was named John, and emigrated from Eng- 
land before the Revolutionary War. He 
raised several boys, among whom was Nicho- 
las Pickrell, the first Sheriff of the county. 
At the age of 23, Mahlon was married to Ra- 
cIk^I Williams, who was born Dec. 2, ]817, in 
Champaign Co., daughter of Silas and Susan 
(Cox) Williams, both of Grayson Co., Va. 
She died in 1843, leaving tour children — 
Henry, now in Delaware Co.; Hannah, now 
Mrs. M. V. Blackburn; Susan, now Mrs. ,1. 
Plyatt, of Iowa, and Esther, now Mr?. Clark 
Terrill, of Pennsylvania. Mr. Pickrcll's sec- 
ond marriage was to Estiier Williams, who 
was born April 20, 1818; she died, leaving no 
issue. His present vfifc was Mrs. Susanna 
Hariicv, a lady of cu'turo and of a fine fami- 
ly, who was born in Warren Co. Soon after 
his first nr.irriagc, he located on the farm he 
now owns, and since 1S33 has been a constant 
resident of the same. Of the farm of 230 
acres, he has reserved eighty acres for his own 
use. His parents were members of the So- 
ciety of Friends, of which Mahlon is a mem- 
ber also. Pickeieltown, which bears his name, 
was named after his father. Mr. Pickrell is 
one of the stanch men of the township. His 
sojourn of seventy years- in the county, his 
upright and manly character, his exemplary 
and Christian bearing, have won for him the 
high regard and esteem with which he is held 
in the communitv where he resides. 

GEN. A. S. PIATT, farmer; P. O., West 
Liberty. Among the most i)rominent firmers 
and business men of this township is Gen. A. 
S. Piatt, who was born ilay 2,1821 in Cincin- 
nati; being the son of Benjamin F. and PJIiz- 
abeth (Barnett) Piatt. He was born in New 
Jersey, and moved to Kentucky in 1790. 
Gen. Piatt was raised to farming pursuits. 
In November, 1840, he was married to 
Anna Piatt, who was born in Kentuckj', and 
was daughter of Abraham and Marv Ann 
(McCoy) Piatt. She died in 1800, h aving 
s^'ven children — Benjamii', Oak, .Abraham. 



_3 A- 



678 



BIOGRAPniCAT. SKETCHES. 



{deceasfnl), Williuni, Arabella, (now Mrs. Ric-h- 
iird Warriiio-ton, ol'L'liillicotlK'); Jacob, VVvkolf 
and Charles, who is now in France, a Consul. 
The present wife of A. S. Piatt, was a Mi.ss 
Ella Watts, of Cliillicothe, daiijihter of Dr. 
Arthur Watts. Gen. Piatt owned at one time 
about 1,.500 acres of land, and has now about 
000 acres, and is enaaged in fainiino; and 
niillinir. In ISGI he took an active jjart in 
raisintr men for the service. He raised and 
equipped one regiment himself. For a more 
extendeil account of Gen. Piatt, the reader is 
referred to tiie creneral histo: v of the county. 
EHK RANDKL, farm.-r;" P. O., West 
Liberty. The liiindel family are aiiior.sr the 
first settlers of this township, of wiiich Err is 
the eldc:?t representative now living; was born 
.Ian. 2, 1807, in Pickaway Co.; he came to 
this township in ISIO, with his father, Za- 
bud, who was born in York State, 1T89. 
and was married to Mary Coiw.n, and 
emigrated West about the year 1800, mak- 
ing theii' first stopping |)laco at Frankle- 
town, and finding the agvu' so prevalent, they 
moved down tlu; river, but finding the cliange 
no better, moved to the mouth of the J)arbv, 
and finally to Monroe Tp. in ISU), locatin;; 
just across the bottom from where Err's 
house now stands; he was a drummer for the 
ndlitia, and when the war of IXl'i broke out, 
was a ])Urtici])Mnt in the same, and died soon 
afterwards. Err, remaining on the home- 
stead, was married Dec. 2, 1830, to Celia 
Williams, who was born in Fayette Co., O., 
Jan. 15, 1810; her parents were Virginians, 
who came to this county in 1814, and settled 
on the Mackachack; since his marriage Err 
has been a constant resident of this town- 
sliij), having been on this farm seventy years. 
The land was purchased of one Thomas 
Worthington, at §2 per acre, ami was at 
that time consideri'd worthless. .Mr. Handel 
may be justly ranked amonir the pioiu'crs, 
having lived in lhoS(' days when tliey plowed 
the gruund with barshears atui wooilen 
mould-boards, cut the wheat with sickles, 
tlireshed it out with a "nigger flail," cli-aneil the 
grain with a sheet and then hauled it to San- 
dusky City or Da\lon (which trip would re- 
ipiire about two weeks), and then sell it for 
filty to sixty cents ])er liushel; then jmy it out 
for neci-ssaries — salt, !*«.") ])er barnd; calico, 
sugar, colTce and other things in ])roportion. 



Wages at tliat time were from twenty-five to 
thirty-five cents per day. Such was the con- 
dition of things when Mr. Handel starti.d in 

life. Four children have b i born to him, 

who are — Elizabeth, now Mis. .lohn Moats, 
born Jan 5, 18:S".J; Susan, now .Mrs. Benjamin 
Grimes, May 8, 180.5; Henry D., March 2-.>, 
1S41, and Luther C, May "'2, 1850, all ,of 
whom are marrii-il and SL>ttled near him, all 
adjoining. Mr. Handel has been long ami 
favorably known in the coinmunitv, and has 
lieen contented through life to make a n(>i)d 
living; he has not been eager after the vain 
things of this world, but his chief object has 
been to live an u])right life, to act well his 
part, and secure a reasonable competence for 
himself and family, all of which he has ac- 
complished, and thonsrh not a member of any 
church or society of any kind, yet his life has 
been characterized by honesty, sobriety and 
all that goes to .constitute a worlhv citizen, 
and one who will be lon<;- reini'inbered. 

REV. JAMES HANDLE, West Liberty; 
was born Feb. 21, ISoS, on the farm 
now owned by his uncle. Err Handel; 
James was the elilest child of a famdy of 
a family of three born to Elliot and Xancy 
Anil (Kelly) Handel; she was a daiighler of 
Col. Kelly of ('hampaign Co., who married 
Nancy Ann Gillaud, liothof whom came from 
Virginia. Elliot Handle was born in this 
township Oct. 5, 1810, and his wife, Nancy 
Ann, in Champaign Co., Aug. 2G, 1820. Her 
father, Col. David Kelly, was born Jan. 9, 
178li, and his wife, Nancy Ann, June 25, 
1 1 85. They raised a family of .seven children. 
Elliot Randle, from his birlli, was a constant 
resident of this township until 1805, when he 
moved to Lewisburg, where he dieil two y<."ars 
afterward, on Nov. 27, 1807, his consort hav- 
ing passed over on Feb. 0, 1841. James was 
raised to farming, haviiiii had only the usual 
common school advantages allnrijiHl him. At 
thea"£eof22 he was united bv niarria;re to I'^ii- 
ilv Wdlits, wli) was born in this township, Feb. 
2, 18:!2, and was a dauj^hter of Charles and 
Eliztibeth (Jones) Willit-^. r]>on arriving at 
manhood, our subject having been converted, 
became deeply impressed that it was his duty 
to procdaiiu the glad tidings of salvation to 
his fi-llow-man, ami, ac' lated by this feeling, 
in lh02 he engagecl in the ministry, and two 
years ia er he was reffularly ordainei.i, since 



MONROE TOWNSHIP. 



67!) 



which time he has labored faithfully in his 
Master's vineyard, and through his instru- 
nientalitv many souls have been led to turn 
from the error of their ways and find conso- 
lation through the atoning merits of the Sav- 
iour. He is connected with the Mad River As- 
sociation, his field of labor being mostly in 
Champaign Co. He has charge of one of the 
largest churches in the association. Brother 
Randle, with but the meagre advantages be- 
fore spoken of, has, by close study and appli- 
cation, risen from a farmer's boy to one among 
the ablest and most effective ministers in the 
association. He has two children, Nancy A., 
born in 1861, and Mary E., born in 186?. The 
farm of 100 acres he carries on in con- 
nection with his ministerial labors. He is 
a member of Mad River Lodge, A., F. & A. 
M., N... 161. 

.JOHN SIDESINGER, farmer; P. 0.,Zanes- 
field; born Feb. "^0, 18:^."), in AdamsCo., Penn.; 
his parents were Leonard and Nancy (Elcook) 
Sidesinger. He was born June 6, 1787, in the 
Keystone State. .John emigrated to this State 
with his parents in 1804, who settled in Miami 
Co. John has been a resident of this county 
since he began doing for himself. May "28, 1857. 
fie was mariied to Catherine Mcllvain, born in 
this countv. Union Tp., Nov. 24, 18:^3; dauo-h- 
ter of John and Ellen 13. Mcjlvain, wdio were 
born Jan. 2:], 1801, and May U, 1806, res- 
pectively, and were married April '2, 18"^9. 
In April, 18.57, John and his lirother Wesley 
began buying out the Hogue heirs' interest 
in a tract of land consistmg of nearly 300 
acres, and finally succeeded in paying for it; 
since, it has been divided, .fohn owning 136 
acres, where he now lives, bordering on the 
north part of the township. His father di«d 
Oct. 1, 1872. John has two sons, Alva F., 
born Feb. 16, 1858; and Alfred G., born Nov. 
3, 1859. 

ROBERT SMITH, farmer; P. O., West 
Liberty; December 3, 1821, on the Donn 
Piatt farm, in the southeast part of the town- 
ship, was the time and place wdiere our sub- 
ject first began taking his first observations. 
His paternal ancestors were Robert and Isa- 
bella (Burnside) Smith. The former was 
born in Greenbrier Co., Va., and emigrated 
to this state previous to the Indian war. The 
Smiths and Burnsides are descendants of the 
Emerald Isle. Robert, Sr., died in 1836; his 



wife in 1851. Our subject vvas raised to hard 
labor, and early in life was taught the lesson 
of frugality and self-depeniience. In 1846 he 
w-as married to Mary Williams, born in Vir- 
ginia in 1827; dauuhter of Jesse AVilliams, 
whose wife was a Hdl. Since 1849 he has 
been a constant resident of this township. 
His first earnings were invested in a small 
tract of land to which he has added until he 
now has 142 acres of land, and is to-day 
one of the best kept and managed farms in 
the township, its owner appro.ximating as 
near the "model farmer" as any in the coun- 
ty. His farm has been recently adorned by 
one of the best barns in the township, all' of 
which, including fences and other improve- 
ments, n-ive ample testimony of the thrift of 
the owner. His early education was much 
neglected — his school having been one of 
hard labor, and a life of persistent economy. 
It has been his rule in life never to go in 
debt, and has never had his farm encumbered 
by weeds or mortgages. His wife died in 
starch, 1875, leaving ten children (twelve 
were born).. Those living are William .!., 
Jesse, Lucy A. (Mrs. L. D; Davis), John A., 
Robert, James and Henrv (twins), Emma D., 
Marv E. and Effic B. 

-MRS. LYDIA WATKINS, farmer; P. O., 
Pickereltown ; is the relict of Robert J. 
AA atkins, who was one of the prominent and 
successful farmers of this township. Mrs. 
Watkins' maiden name was Cowg-jll; she was 
born Feb. 1, 1818, in AVayne Tj)., Champaign 
Co., the younge.st of a faniilv of eleven chil- 
dren who were born to Thomas and Sarah 
(Antrim) Cowgill. Thomas Cowgill was 
born July 7, 1777, in the Old Dominion, and 
tiiey were married in 1799, and came west to 
Columbiana Co., in 1800, and to Cham|)aign 
Co., the year Mrs. Watkins was born. They 
raised a family of eleven children, all of 
whom lived to the age of 40 before there 
was a death in the family; he died in 1845, 
and his wife survived him until 1859. Both 
of them were members of the " Friends." 
On April 19, 1837. Mrs. Watkins was married 
to Robert .1., her husband, who was born Feb. 
22, 1814, in Southampton Co., Va.; son of 
John W. and Elizabeth (.Johnson) Watkins. 
Soon after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. 
Watkins located in Monroe Tp., first making 
a purchase of 100 acres, then all covered 



V 



CO 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



with a heavy grout li ol' tiinbcr. Hero tliey 
made tlieir homo, and commonceil buildin<T a 
log house, iliey lal)ored hard, and were 
successl'ul in a lew years in securintj a larire 
tract of land. At tlie titno of his death, 
wliieh occurred June IS, 1S73, he had over 
J,U(U) acres of land in Ohio, 4(i(i beinn- in this 
township and 040 in Lucas Co., this State, 
besides some in Minnesota. Ot' the thirteen 
children born them, live are li\iii<r. Mr. 
Watkins was a member of tlie Friends' 
Church; he liad a peaceful death. Having 
been one of tiie best citizens of the township, 
he was loved and resjjected by all wlio knew 
him. 

HKXHV M'lLLTAMS, i'.irmer; P. ()., 
Pickereltown; was born .Maiih "JS, 1 8;i8, on 
the farm he now owns. The Williams family 
have been identified with the inter(!Sts of this 
county for nearly seventy-five years. His 
father, Henrj', was born in Grnvson Co., Va., 
in December, li<S7, and emiurated to this 
State in 1808, with an older brother, locating 
on King's Creek. (.'haiMp-.iign Co., and settled 
on this farm in the year 1815. He was mar- 
ried to Nancy I'a.xson, who was born and 
raised in this county. They came here poor, 
and entered 4U acres of hind. When he 
came, having no horse, he had to carry his 
rads njion his back to make his fences. Ho 
remained here until 1835, and while here he 
run one of the early water mills in this town- 
shi|). U|ion his removal from this ]ilaco, ho 
locateil whore Newton A\'dliams now lives. 
Here Ik; remained until his death, which oc- 
curred Sept. y, 1871, having; 'i'l-i acres of 
land. His wile died in ls:i8. Since Henry 
was 21, he has lieen doing business on his 
own account. At the age of '-i'-i, Aiird 11, 
]!"5I), ho was married to .Margaret I'ickrell, 
who was born on the homestead. Dee. 30, 
]S2'.). She is a daughter of .lohn and Tem- 
perance (Dunson) I'ickroll. The latter was 
born .[line 3, 18()(), and the former was born 
in Grayson Co., Va., Feb. 11, 17'.lli, and emi- 
grated to this State in 1818, locating on the 
firm now owned by .Mr. VViiiiams. .Folin 
Dunson was a son of Thomas, who was one 
of the early settlers. Six children have 
crowned the union of .Mr. and .Mrs. \\'illiains. 
Ill 1S51, he was electiMl Township Clerk, and 
served until 1870, and is now one of the 
Trustees of tlic townsliij). Ue has 103 acres 



of land. He and his wife are inombers of the 
Society of Friends. 

NEWTON WILT JAMS, farni..r: V. ()., 
Picki'reltown; was born in tliis townshi|), Feb. 
l(i, 1834, and is th(> ninth and youiigi st child 
of Henry ami Nancy (Pa.xson) AVilliaiiis. 
Henry Williams was a soldier in the war of 
1812, and received a land warrant in consid- 
eration of his services in that contest. Hi; 
dieil S'>])t. 7, 1871, and his wife died in 1830, 
when Newton was but a small lad. Newton 
was raised to fanning. On Aug. "24, 1854, he 
was united in matrimony to JIarv Marsh, who 
was born in Madison Co., Ohio, in April, 1834, 
daughter of .lelfery and Lydia (Paxsoii) 
-Marsh — both from N'irginia. The Williams 
family is of Welsh descent. N.>wton's grand- 
father came from Wales. He had six sons — 
William, Henry, .lolin, Jesse, Jonathan and 
A\bsalom. After Ni.'Wton was married, he lo- 
cated on the homestead where he now lives. 
PJeveii children have been born to him, ten of 
when are now living — Samantha (now Mrs. TI. 
Lovelace); Sarah (now Mrs. E. Outland); Aii- 
zaletta, Darius, Olive, Emma, Clara, Frank, 
Elias and Eugene; Firman L., deceased. He 
has 100 acres of land. 3ilr. \\'illiams cast his 
first vote for Fremont. Ho has served nine 
years as Justice of the Peace, and is now 
serving his third term as Township Clerk. He 
and his brother Henry have been very effi- 
cient and caiiabh* oiruers in the townshi|). 

JOHN W. WATKIX.S farmer; P. ( ).. Piek- 
oroltown; is the fifth child of luibert J. and 
lA'dia (Cowgill) Watkins, to whom were 
born thirteen chihlron, .lolm making his 
first observations Oct. 7, 1845, on the home- 
stead liiriii. At the time of the breaking out 
of the late I'ebellion, he was but a lad of 
15, and not old (Miougli to be regularly en- 
listed as a soldier, and, not being able to gain 
his ]>:irents' consent to go in as a musician, he 
was barred out, but determining to go to war, 
he rail off and enlisted, but was brought back 
by his father; this was rejieated for twt'lve 
consecutive eiilistments, but on the thirteenth 
he was linally mustered into the 132(1 Uegt. 
O. N. G., (.'o. I.; u|)on the expiration of his 
iiilistmiMit h(^ altended school two years, at 
L'banon. ().; n'tiirniiig home, he entered the 
store of Peiinock & Cru/.er. at West Liberty, 
witere he iiDiciated as clerk for four years. 
' ' 1SG8, he was married to Allie A. 






,1. 



MONROE TOWNSHIP. 



6S1 



Day. In the spring of 1869, he moved to Jas- 
per Co., Mo., and remained two years, when 
he returned in the fall of 1871, his wife hav- 
ing died the May preeeding, 1870. Feb. 23, 
1872, he was married to Jennie Tarbutton, 
born March 13, 1850, near Huntsville, this 
county, and is a daughter of William E. and 
Rachel Worknaan; who was born March 18, 
1812, in Maryland; he died September, 1878. 
Mr. Watkins ha;s 141 acres of land near Pick- 
ereltown, on the west, formerly owned by 
George Loveless. They have two children — 
Arthur, born Jan. 21, 1875; and Eddie, born 
April 18, 1877. 

ELLIS WILLITS, farmer; was born July 
18, 1832, in this township, the youngest of a 
fMUiily of two children who were born to 
(Jharles and Elizabeth (.fones) Willits. Charles 
Willits was born in Fairfield Co., in 181], and 
came; to this township in 1810, and settled 
where .James Randel now lives. His father's 
name was Richard, and he was a native of 
Pennsylvania. Elizabeth Jones, the mother 
of Ellis, was born in April, 1807, and still 
survives her husl)and, who departed this iife 
October 13, 1874. On December 6, 1857, 
Ellis was married to Hepsibah Hyatt, who 
was born Sept. 22, 1835, in this town- 
shi]i, daughter of John and Rutii Hyatt. Mr. 
Hyatt was a native of Grayson Co., Va., and 
liis wife of Logaji Co., O. After ICllis' 
marriage he resumed farming; he came to the 
farm he now owns in 18l!7; it was known as 
the Carroll farm, and consisted of 220 acres. 
Six children have crowned the marriage of 
Mr. and Mrs. Willits, whose names are — Wil- 
liam L., born Dec. 31, 1858; Maud L., June 
24, 1801; Aurie, June 8, 1805; Charles, Jan. 
1, 1807; Maud E., Nov. 3, 1872; Hattie F., 
June 3, 1870. Mrs. Willits, his wife, and 
three children are members of the Baptist 
Church. His father, likewise, during his 
life was identified with that organization, and 
was one of its valued followers and consistent 
members. 

NOAH YODER, farmer ; P. O., Bcllefon- 
tanie. Among the pniminent farmers 
and self-made men in Monroe Tp. is 
Noah Yoder, who connneneed his business 
career in this township without m 'ans or 
pecuniary aid, and has at length risen to the 
front rank of Logan County's agriculturists. 
He was born April 10, 1827, in .Mifflin Co., 



Pennsylvania, son of Christian and Mary (Sum- 
mer) Yoder, and emigrated with therti to this 
State in the spring of 1845; after two years 
residence in Champaign Co., they located in 
Monroe Tp., on the farm now owned Ijy 
Christian Zook, upon which place they re- 
mained until their deaths. Noah was first 
married to Barbara Hartzler, who was a 
daughter of Abraham and Martha (Zook) 
Hartzler; she bore him six children, who 
were — -Manassa, .John AV., A. Alonzo, Charles, 
Estilena and Fannie B. She died Feb. 10, 
1872. He was married to his present viife, 
Sarah Troyer, in March, 1874; she was born 
.July 12, 1830. in Wayne Co., O. ; daughter of 
Jacob and Fannie (Yoder) Troyer. Mr. 
Troyer was born in Somerset Co., and his 
wife in Mifflin Co., both of Pennsylvania. She 
was of a family of eleven children, si.\ girls 
and five boys. One child has crowned this 
union — ^lary M., born April, 1875. Mr. 
Yoder's farm is located in the northwest part 
of the township, four and one half miles from 
Bellefontaine, and consists of 250 acres of 
choice land, which is adorned with the best of 
improvements in the way of fruit and farm- 
buildings; the latter, newly erected, are sub- 
stantial and commodious. He and his wife 
are members of the Mennonite Church. 

JONAS P. YODER, farmer; I^ O., West 
Liberty. Among the prominent farmers and 
self-made men of this township is.Ionas Yoder, 
who was born in Mifflin Co., Pcnn., in August, 
1815; the second of a family of twelve chil- 
dren, who were born to Christv and Mary 
(Summers) Yoder, both natives of Pennsyl- 
vania. Jonas began doing business for him- 
self without money or "backing," his father 
having been unfortunate in losing his means 
by " backing," had nothing to bestow upon 
his family in the way of worldly goods. Jonas 
stayed with his father until 25 years of age, 
when, in February, 1842, he was mar- 
ried to livdia Sharp, who was born in 1821 in 
.Mifflin Co., Penn.; daughter of Samuel and 
Martha (Hostettler) Sharp. After renting six 
years, in order to better his fortunes he 
wended his way westward, in 1850, to the 
Buckeye State, lanciing in I^ogan Co,, where 
his pari'nts had preceded him in 1845. .Jonas' 
first purchase was 90 acres of land in the 
west part of Monroe Tp.; he removed to his 
present place in 1807. Mr. Yoder has now 



±=4^ 



682 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



550 acres of excellent land, all of which is a 
credit to his industry and t;oiid mauasrciiient. 
Not given tospecidation or trade, lie lias bent 
his entire energies to farming, and to this 
alone is to be ascribed the cause of his suc- 
cess. Attending to his own personal con- 
cerns, kind and accotninodating, he has the 
good-will and esteem of his neighbors and 
friends, and is among the stanch and reliable 
citizens in the community. Has raised a fam- 
ily of seven children, who are — Samuel, 
Christy, Mary, now Mrs. Hooley; Mino, 
Martha, now Mrs. Abram King; Kufus and 
Simon, all of whom, except ilary, are resi- 
dents of the count}-. He, his wife, and sev- 
eral of the family are members of the .Meii- 
nonite (^hurch. 

CHHISTIAX V. ZOOK, farmer; P. O., 
West Liberty; l)orn in Mifflin Co., Peiiii., 
Jan. 20, 1848; is the youngest child of 
Christian and Barbara (Voder) Zook, to whom 
nine children were born. Cliristian was 



raised to farming pursuits, his father being 
one of the prominent and well-to-do agricul- 
turists in that county. ( )ur subject left the 
parental h<inie at the age of 22, beginning 
farming in his native county, having a snug 
farm, which he afterwards sold for >>1T8 per 
acre, and in 18T3 came to this county and 
l)urchased 117 acres, where he now lives, af- 
terwartls adding to it until he now has 185, 
which is under excelli>nt improvement. In 
18G5 he was married to Malinda Voder, a na- 
tive of Mifflin Co., Pa., daughter of .Jacob 
Yoder. She died in 18(15, leaving one child, 
since deceased. In 18tj7, during the month 
of October, he was married to Mary Peight, 
who was born in May, 1848, in Pennsylvania, 
and came West to this State with her parents. 
Four children have becTi born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Zook — Ennna, Mary, Johnnie and Eldora. 
Mr. Zook and wife are members of the 
Menniinite Church and Republican in sen- 
timent. 



RUSH CREEK TOWNSHIP. 



JA^^<:S p.. ADAMS, farmer; P. ()., JJig 
Springs. The family line of James Rose 
Adams takes origin in this sketch with Robert 
.Vilams, a nativc-lxirn Kngiishnian, who, at an 
i^arlv (lav, came to the I'nited States, and died 
in Pennsylvania. His son, James Adams, 
married .Marv Kose, daugliti'roC Edward Ros(^, 
of I Jed ford Co., i'a., and was born in 17i)l; 
his son, .lames Rose Adams, was lioin in Na- 
pier Tp-, Medford Co., on the (itlidayof May, 
I SI 2. His father, befori' he had attained his 
second year, was brought by his mother's 
father, Edward Rose, to Peri-y Co., ( )lii(), in 
ISlH, thev moving into a caliin ]irepared with 
iMirt-holes, bv nu>ans of which they defended 
thiMiiselves against the attacks of Indians. 
At the age of 12, his grandmother <lying, ho 
went to live with his uncle. Joseph Ferguson, 
with whom he remained four years, at whiih 
time he was ai)preMticed to the blacksmith 
trade under John Guysinger. After the ex- 
piration of his ajiprenticeship, he n.'turned to 
I'eiin.sylvania, anil sold his interest in his 
father's estate, after which transaction he re- 



turned to Oliio ri<i Pittsburg, ^^'lleeling and 
Cincinnati by steamer, thence on foot to Day- 
ton, and from there to Perry Co. In 1888, 
another motive influeiu-ed him, and he came 
to Logan Co., and tiui ilays after liis arrival, 
nuirried Mary Myers, daughter of Solomon 
Myers. She was born March 8, Ihll. His 
family are — Harrist>n Adams, born .luly 27, 
1884, was in Co. I, Pith (). V. I., was in 
twenty-live battles, aiul in Libby I'rison four 
months; Sarah .lane. May 11, 1S8C; Nancy 
Ann, Jan. 17, 1888; Mary Elizabeth, .lune 2(!, 
1841; Clemeiisa. .\ng. 2, 1S48; died Oct. 10, 
1841; James Madison, born Feb. 4, 1S4(J; 
Amanda Etta. Dec. 22, 1S4S; Ella, Jan. 8, 
I8.')(), die<l Nov. 22, ]S70. On the 81st day 
of July, 1877, Mary, his wife, <lleil. On the 
20th day of .lune, 187H, he married again, his 
wife in this instance being .Marj- .lane Rose- 
brough, Josejih Rosebrough's widow. As 
before stated, he is a blacksmith by trade, and 
has followed the busiiU'SS at different jjerioils 
through life. For eight years he was engaged 
in the walnut lumber trade, and averaged 



7 



:^i 



i^ 



RUSH CREEK TOWNSHIP. 



fiS3 



forty car-loads per annum, which he sent to 
tlie Now York market. He has also followed 
farminjj; in connection with these pursuits, and 
all with an unflagging zeal, and a will that 
overcomes. He is a freethinker. 

REV. JAMES EDWARD ALEXANDER, 
minister, Rushsylvania. The Alexander family 
is one of the illustrious families of Virginia,who 
have well maintained tiie family name for near 
a century. The name comes fragrant with the 
odors of Caledonia, and Scotland is the land 
to which the present living descendants of 
this noted line must look for their origin. 
One of the most noted of the American born 
of this family is Dr. Archibald Ale.vantler, the 
founder of Princeton Theological Seminarv, 
Princeton, N. J. Much of the fame of this 
well-known institution is due to the al)ility of 
this very able divine, and his memory still lin- 
gers in the recollection of those who witnessed 
his example or received his instructions. 
.James Adair Alexander was born in Wash- 
ington Co., East Tenn., in 1800, and married 
Miss Jane Duncan, who was born in Ken- 
tucky, but who, at the time of her marriage, 
was a member of one of the leading families 
of East Tennessee. The descendants of James 
Adair and Jane Alexander are — .Joseph, 
Rhoda Ann, Elizabeth J., T^ucinda, Eliza, 
Sarah, John D., Francis Marion, Margaret 
Adeline, Clarinda Clementina, James lid- 
ward, William .Jefferson, Mary Arminta, and 
two others, who died in infancy — fifteen mem- 
bers in all. Rev. James Edward Alexander 
was born June 5, 1849, in Blount (now Lou- 
don) Co., East Tenn. Until his 17th 
year young Alexander was a farmer boy who, 
although he patiently toil-.Ml, entertained a 
burning desire for the acquisition of an edu- 
cation. The propitious time arrived, and in his 
17th j'ear he began his course of study at 
Friendsville Academy, a Quaker institution, 
and after t)ne year's attendance at this point 
he entered Mary ville College, East Teni)essee, 
graduating in 1873 in the same class with the 
Rev. T. T. Alexander, now a foreign mission- 
ary; the Rev. .J. J. Duncan, now deeeaseil; 
the Rev. B. F. Lee; the Rev. Milton .Mat- 
thews, and the Rev. W. F. Rogers. In the 
fall of 1873 he entered Lane Theological 
Seminary (Presbyterian), where he graduated 
after a three years' course of the most thor- 
ough training in 1876, and immediately after 



he graduated went to Rushsylvania, Logan 
Co., O., as minister of the Presbyterian Church 
at that place, where, after a ministry of three 
years, he was installed pastor. He found the 
church with a membership of fifty, which is 
now increased 100 per cent. Prominent in 
connection with the Rev. .James E. Alexan- 
der, and coming from the same college to 
Lane Seminar3', are the Revs. C. A. Duncan, 
C. E. Tedford and the Rev. A. X. Carson, 
who is now pastor of the Presbyterian Church 
at Westervide, Franklin Co., Ohio. 

ENOS B. ANSLEY, farmer; P. O., Rush- 
sylvania; was born March 28, 1857, in Logan 
Co., O. He is the son of J. S. Ansley, born 
June 2, 1828, in Kentucky, who was the 
son of William T. Ansley, born also in 
Kentucky, and who was the son of Jo- 
seph T. Ansley, born on the eastern shore 
of Maryland. In 1822, William T. An- 
sley married Lydia Johnson, and in 1831- 
removed to Logan Co., O. J. S. Anslev, his 
son, married Melinda Williams on the 5th day 
of April, 1848. They have had four children, 
as follows — William H., boi'u A])ril 23, 1853, 
died Nov. 18, 1803; Jesse W., born April 23, 
1855, <lied .Jan. 0, 1875; Enos B.,'born March 
28, 1857, and Henry C, born Jan. 14, 1871. 
Enos B. Anslev, on the 20th day of April, 
1877, married Sarah E. Cox, born Dec. 22, 
1850; she was the daughter of .John and 
Rachel Cox, of l^ogan Co., O. Enos has but 
one child — Carle Foster, born Dec. 11, 1879. 
As one of the busint^ss men of Rush Creek 
Tp., he farms e.xtensively, besides dealing 
largely in stock of difterent kinds. His an- 
cestors can tell the pioneer story of wolves 
howling, seeing Indians, deer and wild turkey, 
the usual tale of a home in the wilder- 
ness. 

BENJAMIN BEAVER, Rushsylvania. The 
history of this family runs thus: Martin 
Beaver was a native of the State of Mary- 
land, and removed to Licking Co., O., early 
in the history of that county. Benjamin 
Beaver, his son, was born March 5, 1829, 
and died Aug. 2, 1805. He was twice mar 
ried, his first wife being Rachel Ann Pit- 
zer, whom he married Jan. 20, 1850. The 
children by this marriage were as follows: 
Jesse Oliver, born Oct. 23, 1850, and who died 
Aug. 26, 1805; John Martin, born June 5, 
1853, and on March 10, 1880, married Emma 



'C s 



^! 



(;,S4 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Hopkins, of Sunbui y, Delaware Co., O,; Man- 
uel Wilbor, l)orn ()(-t. ^6, 183-t, and who mar- 
ried Susie M. Bridge, daughter of N^'arner 
Bridge, of Hardin Co., O., Dec. 21, 
1875'; Asa Milton, born Oct. 16, 1850; 
Rosa Arietta, born June 10, 1858, and Mary 
Liza, born Dec. 21, 1859; ske is a teacher, 
now teacliing at Big Springs, with an en- 
gagement already made, by wiiich she enters, 
as teacher, the Union Schools of Kenton, Har- 
din Co., 0.,tlie coming fall. On the 10th day of 
November, ISGl, Uacliel Ann, wife of Benja- 
min Beaver, dit-d, aiul was l)uried in the ceme- 
tery at Kenton. On the 2-tth day of February, 
1803, he married Miss Louisa Smith, who was 
born in Licking Tp. J, ickingCo.,()., on the 10th 
dav of OctobiT, 1837. She was the daughter of 
James Smith and Sarah Masters, his wife. The 
birth of Francis Emma Beaver, Jan. 20, 1800, 
completes the record of the births of the fam- 
ily, there being but one child born to the last 
union. It was on the 15th day of February, 
1805, that Benjamin Beaver removed from 
Hardin Co. to the farm now occupied by his re- 
lict, Mrs. Louisa Braver, called Pleasant View. 
The two sons, .John Martin and Manuel Wil- 
ber, are married; .lohn and Mary Liza are 
teachers; .lohn is a minister of the gospel as 
W(dl. "I'leasant \'iew" is an appropriate name 
for this place; the beauty of the landscape is 
indescribable, being of unusual variety. The 
farm is at present iiiider the management of 
Asa Milton, the youngest son, who, heretofore, 
lias been engaged in the raising of cattle, 
shoe]) and hogs, as a business. In her 15tli 
year .Mrs. Louisa Beaver lujited with the Pres- 
byterian Church at Fairmount, Licking Co., 
O. After her marriage, in harmony with the 
religious predilections of her husband, she 
uniteil herself with the New School Baptist 
Church, at Kenton, O., making one of its most 
conscientious and consistent nieml)ers. Two 
sons an<l a daughter are also mend>ers of the 
same r'hurch. 

PKTEH BOWKH, farmer; P. O.. Big 
Springs; Peter Bowi-r, Sr., was a nativ(> of 
(iernuiny, and came to the United States 
many years ago. Jacob Bower, Peter's son, 
is a iiativ<Mif Pennsylvania; his wife's maidi'ii 
name was Susan Mosier, a Peiinsylvanian by 
birth, and shortly after their marriage they 
removed to Licking Co., O., where, on the 
14th day of December, 1817, Peter Bower, 



Jr., was born; on the first day of April, 1838, 
the nuptials of Peter Bower anil Amy Rogers 
were celebrated; she was a native of Dela- 
ware Co., O., and was born Dec. 13, 1820. 
The names of Peter's children are — Levi, 
Anderson, Susan, Lucrotia, Joseph, James and 
Mary, seven in all. Peter's second marriage 
occurred on March 22, 1805; in this marriage 
his wife was the daughter of George Heath, 
and the widow of Joseph Starbuck, her birth 
occurring on Sept. 28, 1831, in Richland Tp., 
Logan Co., O. Peter Bower first settled 
north of the village of Rushsylvania, on the 
farm now occupied by Mrs. Louisa Beaver, 
and afterwards removed to the pleasant |)lace 
he now occupies; by handicraft, Peter is a 
plasterer, but has made farming a special oc- 
cupation; like many of his neighbors, his 
favorite stock is hogs, and his farm jiroducts 
such as further this interest. In the late civil 
war Peter was not without reiiresentation, 
his son, Anderson Bower, being a member of 
Co. 1, 13th Regiment, O. Y. I.; Mrs. Bower 
is a mendier of the Christian Church. 

WILLIAM BRUCE, farmer; P. O., Rush- 
svlvania. Thomas Bruce, Sr., was born in 
Scotland and emigrated to America. Thomas 
Bruce, Jr., was born in Harrison Co., Va.; his 
wife's maiden name was .Mary Coon, and she 
was born in Harrison Co., Va. William Bruce, 
son of Thomas Bruce, Jr., was born Oct. '.I, 
1824, in Harrison Co., Va., and came to 
McArthur T])., Logan Co., O., in 1831; on 
April 10, 18-14, he niarrii'd Mary Frances 
Bales of Virginia; by this nuirriage his chil- 
dren were — Sarah Aim, born .lum- 21, 1845, 



and who died Aug. 28, 1872; .li 



lleinv, 



born Feb. 2, 1847, and died Sept. 15, 1800, at 
Ft. Riley, Kansas, a member of Co. G., 7th 
Cavalry," U. S. A.; Lewis Leander, born Aug. 
21, 1848; George Nace (named for his grand- 
father), born April 11, 1843, die<l Oct. 23, 
1850; Joshua Co]>eland, bom March 24,18.52, 
died Dec. 13, 1853; Mary Malinda, born Jan. 
28, 1854, died Nov. 10, 180i); Georgi- Nace, 
Jr., born Aug. 28, 1850 (called for the tienrge 
deceased). .Marv Frances, wife of William 
Bruce, died .luly 2.5, 1857. On Oct. 27, ls5r, 
he mariod Elizabeth Ann Huntington, who 
was killed by a lunaway horse on Sept. 10, 
185'J; on J\nie I'.J, 1800", he married his third 
wife, Marv L. Selders. The children were — 
Elizabeth" Frances, born March 11, 18G1, died 



^'- 



A. 




EUSH CREEK TOWNSHIP. 



685 



April 4, 1879; she was the wife of Elias 
Rumer; Marv L., wife of William Bruce, 
died JIarch 30, 1879. On Feb. 19, 1880, 
William Bruce married his fourth wife in the 
person of Emma Adelaid(> Canaan. By oc- 
cupation William is a farmer, stock-ljreeder 
and shipper, devoting his attention more par- 
ticularly to hoEjs. He is a member of the 
Disciples' Church; has been a member of the 
Order of Masons, and of the Odd Fellows, of 
the Sons of Temperance; of the Union 
League, and lastly a member of the Patrons 
of Husbandry. Durina; the war of the 
Rebellion, he and two of his sons served in 
Co. F., 23rd O. V. I. William served under 
Gen. Phil Sheridan, was wounded in the 
battle of Cloyd Mountain, and captured by 
Gen. .John Jlorgan, May 9, 1SG4; he was in 
captivity three months, and escaped in 
August, 18G4. As a civilian he has held 
several offices, and was the first commissioned 
officer in the county, being- commissioned a 
lieutenant of militia. 

ROBERT C. CLOUGH, tile maker; P. O., 
Rushsylvania. John Clough was a native of 
Connecticut, born on the 28th of August, 
1788; his wife was Deborah Slumlord, born 
Dec. 8, 1785, and daughter of Lillibridge Mum- 
ford. John Clough removed from Connecti- 
cut to Pennsylvania, settling in Wavne Co., 
that State. David Clough, John's son, was 
born in Wayne Co., Pa., July 12, 1812. In 
1835 David Clouerh married Derinda Kinof, 
daughter of Benjamin King, Escj., of Rhode 
Island, and she was born Sept. 25, 1808. 
Robert C. Clough was born Dec. 1, 1838, in 
Wayne Co., Pa. On the 28th day of Feb- 
ruary, 18G7, he married .luiia E. Dix, daughter 
of David Dix, of the county and State afore- 
said. In 18(;)8 he came to Champaign Co., O., 
and on the 24th day of December," 1809, lo- 
cated at Rushsylvania, in Logan Co.; they 
have no children, the family consisting of Mr. 
Clough and wife only. Robert C. Clough is 
one of the business men of the county; he is 
largely engaged in the manufacture of drain- 
tile, and this industrj' he has carried to a high 
degree of perfection, having perhaps the most 
extensive establishment in the county, or 
equal to any in central Ohio; the permanent 
and extensive buildings and fixtures on his 
premises for the prosecution of the business 
in which Mr. Clough is engaged, are inost 



potent evidences of the energy and enterprise 
of the man. Himself and "vvife are members 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of Rush- 
sylv.inia, and Jlr. Clough is also a member of 
the order of the Patrons of Husbandrv. 

GEORGE ORR DAY, miller; Rushsyl- 
vania. The Day family was one of the stand- 
ard families of New .Jersey. Joseph Day 
married Susanna White, who was born on 
Long Island; he removed from New Jersey 
to Washington Co., Penn., where, during his 
residence, all of his children were born; their 
names were Cyrus, Louis, .Josiah, .John and 
Mary, five in all. From Washington Co., 
Penn., he removed to .leftVrson Co., Ohio, where 
he died aiul was buried; his widow removed 
with her son, .John Day, to Licking- Co., Ohio, 
where she died and was buried. The chil- 
dren all, save John, Mary and Louis, died in 
.Jefferson Co., Ohio; Mary died in Muskingum 
Co., Louis removed to Illinois, and Jolm is 
now a resident of Rushsjdvania, Logan Co. 
■John Day's first wife was .lane (Jrr, of .fefl'er- 
son Co., by whom he had two children — 
Thomas and Martha Jane; his second wife 
was Margaret Wilkins, by whom he had eight 
children — Julia Ann, Susanna, Elizabeth, 
Mary, George Orr, .James Renwick, Isabella, 
Allison and John Cameron. Margaret Wil- 
kins was the daughter of Matthew Wilkins, of 
Harrison Co., Ohio. In 1852, John Day came 
to Logan Co., Ohio; his family are George 
Orr Day, born May 4, 1829, in Licking Co., 
and ou the 20th day of Se])tend)er, 1851, mar- 
ried to Hannah ^liti-hell, the daughter of 
David and Nancy Mitchell, and whose maiden 
name was Nancy Aikin, likewise of Logan 
Co., Ohio. George O. Day's family are — 
David Stewart, born Sept. 1, 18G0; John 
Wylie, Nov. 1, 1864, and Nancy Aletta, 
March 10, 18G7. The occupation of George 
O. Day is that of a miller, and he controls the 
only industry of that kind in the village, and 
one of the leading establishments of the kind 
in that part of the county; its contiguity to 
the railroad track gives it every facility for 
trade, and its efficient management renders it 
one of the most useful institutions of the 
place- He is connected witii the Reformed 
Presbyterian Church, of v.'hich he is an elder. 
His ideas as to what constitutes the true citi- 
zen are of a high moral and religious order, 
and to this end and aim he lives himself. 



TU 



--['i' 



086 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



JOHX R. DEAUl)ORFr<\ farm'er; P. O., 
Bisr Sprino-s. Henry Di-anloiff was a Ger- 
man, wliose ancestors settled m v iririnia, in 
an early day. Abraham Deardorff, his son, 
came from Bedford Co., Va., and setth^d in 
Lo<)-ai\ Co., in ISIil ; Henry Deardorfl" had two 
other sons, Peter and Jacoh Deardortf. Abra- 
ham Deardorff liad five ohiidnMi: Samuel, 
Abraham, Mary Frances, John R., and Susan 
Catherine. Samuel resides in Pauldino: Co., 
Ohio; Abraham in Kosciusko Co., Ind.; .Mary 
Frances married Georjnje Predmore ami re- 
siiles in Bokes Creek Tp., I^ogan Co., Ohio. 
John R. was born in Rush Creek T]).; nuir- 
ried in tliat townshij), and ever since his mar- 
riaj^e lias resided in that township; Susan 
Catherine, the wife of Charles Titus, is a resi- 
dent of Rush Creek Tp.; the wife of John R. 
Deardorff was one Rebecca Jane Predmore, 
who was l)orn Nov. 21, 1834, in Guernsey 
Co., O. She was the daughter of John and 
Susaiuiah Preilmore, of tiie State of New 
Jersev. Susannah's family name was Dn(»r; 
her family were of j^nijlish nativity. John R. 
Deardorff was born Jan. 'J, l.s:!::^, in 1/On'an 
Co., O., and his marriage occurred Jan. 11. 
18.')5, in Rushsylvania, Logan Co., O. The 
names of his family and the dates of their 
births are: Nicholas Jasper, l)orn Sept. 16, 
IS.J.i; died Se|)t. 24 of the same year. 
Ostrella, born Se|)t. S, 1S.5(>, in I^ogan Co., O., 
and married to Geoige Fergusdii Feb. ."), 18i4. 
Littleton, born June 1,.1H.JS; died June 28, 
18T3. John Milton, born Jan. li, 1801. Joseph 
Henry, born .March 15, 18015. Rosa Ellen, 
l)orn BVb. 1, 180.). Charles William Bran- 
don, i)orn Aug. 21, 1808. Benjamin Stanton 
Allison, l)orn Sept. 10, 1871. Samuel Edwin, 
born .March 31, 1878, in Logan Co., (3. By 
handicraft John l{. Deardorff is a carpenter, 
which trade he followed prior to and for 
some tinn^ al'ter his marriage, when he l)e- 
came a farmer and ever since has so contin- 
ueil; he rears all kinds of farm stuck, but 
makes a S]iecialty of cattle at present, and 
hereafter makingsh<>ep iuisbandry his cardinal 
aim. The family's cluu'ch connections are 
with the Protestant .Methodist Church. In 
Aug\ist, l.S(;2, .Fohn R. Deardorff eidisted in 
Co. K, 121st Regt., O. V. L; he was in the 
battle of Perrysville, Ky., so well remembered, 
and was with the regiment at that point for 
about a miintii, when he was removed with 



the regiment to I.,ebanon, by a forced march; 
.soon after his arrival he was taken sick, and, 
on tlie removal of the regiment, was left in 
the hospital; after about si.\ weeks, he was 
sent to r^ouisville, Ky., and remained there 
until granted a discharg«!-fnrlough; he re- 
turned home the latter part of February, 
1803, ajid in May following he received his 
final discharge. In 1801 he removed to the 
farm where he now resides, acting in the 
dmdjle capacity of tenant and agent for Col. 
C. W. B. Allison, who removed from Belle- 
fontaine to Wheeling, West Va., in 1.S70, 
where he has ever since been living-. He h: s 
reared and educated his family, |)urchase(l 
and improved a farm of 78 acres in Hardin 
Co., and thus shown Avhat integrity, iiulustry 
and energy may aceomj)lisli, notvvithstanding 
the disadvantage of bad health. 

DR. ISAAC A. DORAN. physician; Rush- 
sylvania. The Doran family was one of 
the French Huguenot families who came over 
before the Rt>volution and settled in .Vmerica, 
in the State of New Jersey* Thomas Doran, 
Sr., was fine of the first American desc<Miclants 
of this family born in New Jersey. Thomas 
Doran, .Ir., was a Jerseyman, likewise, who 
married Jane Hayes, the daughter of James 
Hayes, an Irish emigrant, who settled in 
Beaver Co., Pa.; from Beav(^r Thonnis movetl 
to Westmoreland Co., Pa.; James had two sons 
born in Pennsylvania — Dr. I. .\. Doran, lidrii 
July 23, 1820, in Grei-nsburg, Pa., and .lames 
H. Doran. The family then removed to Ohio 
in 1829, and settled in Butler Co., in the 
village of Bethany, twenty miles from 
Cincinnati. Here the remaiinler of the {-Inl- 
dren, Thomas S., and llaniuih Doran, were 
i)orn; in 18:i3 the family came to Shelby Co., 
near Sidney, where the father, mother and 
James H. Doran all died; James' death, how- 
ever, did not occur \intil March 12, 1877. 
Hannah married Joseph Johnson, who resides 
four miles cast of Sidm'v; Thomas lives 
twelve miles west of the same ])lace, and Dr. 
I. .\. Doran resides in Rushsylvania. Dr. 1. 
.v. Doran has twice been marrieil; his first 
wife was Sarah .(. Elam, whom he nnirricd 
.fan. 10, Il^.Jl; she was the daughter of .lames 
Klam, the first white child born in Greene 
Co., Ohio; she died June, 1877. The children 
by this union were — Thomas, born .Inne 14, 
18.")2; Klam, born July 30, 18.57, and Delia, 



f 



-A^^ 



RUSH CREEK TOWNSHIP. 



687 



born Dec. 31, 1863, and who died March 31, 
1870. His second marriage was Feb. 19, 1878, 
with Miss Elizabeth Stephenson, daughter 
of John and Elizabeth Stephenson, of 
Darke Co., near (xreenville; she was born 
Feb. 5, 1837. In 1819 Dr. I. A. Doran settled 
in Rushsylvania, in the practice of medicine, 
when tlie village contained but seventy-five in- 
habitants; he was the first druggist in the 
place; has erected five buidings in the village, 
dug four cellars, four wells and four cisterns, 
put down the first permanent pavement in 
1853, planted the first evergreen trees, the 
first shade trees in the streets; has alwavs 
been an advocate for puljlic iniproveni'^nts, 
such as railroads, turnpikes, school-l)uildings, 
etc., three of which have been erected since 
his residence in the village. He was the first 
eclectic physician in the county, and has 
steadfastly adhered to his jirofession and his 
practice, in one instance walking tliirtv times 
to Ridgeway and back again, a round trij) of 
fourteen miles each time. The village at 
that time continued one cabin, the only ludld- 
ing in the place. He has held the office of 
postmaster since ] 8.il, lieing the fourth ap- 
pointed in the ])lace. During his term of 
twenty-six years he has handled about 800,000 
letters. At his residence and on his grounds 
abound fruit trees and ornamental shrubbery 
in great profusion. He has a large collection 
of relics, notwithstanding his having already 
given sixty jiieces to the State rjeologist. 

.lOSEPH EDWARDS, physician; Rushsyl- 
vania. Robert Edwards, ancestor of Joseph 
Edwards, was a native of Wales, and, \n-ior to 
the Revolution, emigrated to this country and 
settled in New Jersey. .Fohn Edwards, his 
son, was a Jerseyman born, and following him, 
in 1787, was his son. Justice Edwards, who was 
taken to Philadeljjhia by his parents, where 
he attended school under Dr. Benjamin 
Franklin. He was educated for a physician, 
and attended lectures when but 17 3-ears of 
age, but formed a dislike for the profession, 
and abandoned it. He then served an appren- 
ticeship at the saddlers' trade, under one Mc- 
Kinzie, and had the honor of making the sad- 
dle, bridle and martingale that bedecked the 
horse of Aaron Burr, so well known in his- 
tory, and it was doubtless Burr's glowing 
account of the Northwest that put Justice 
Edwards and one Lathrop in motion west- 



ward ho! in 1810; they came to Pittsburg by 
wagons; to Cincinnati by skiiF down the Ohio 
River, and found the village composed of 
twelve dwelliiig-s and a few fur-trading shan- 
ties; it was here that Justice Edwards formed 
the acquaintance of one lieroy, with whom he 
came to Champaign Co., Ohio, to a point qear 
the waters of Mad River, in the Kavenaugh 
settlement, four miles south of West Liberty. 
The war broke out, and soon after Justice 
eidisted under Gen. Tri])per, Col. Simon 
Kenton having charge of 1 ,3t)0 friendly Indians 
whom he comiuaiuled. Objection was raised 
to Justice enlisting as a soldier, and he was 
made Cornndssary Clerk; the war being over, 
he was discharged, and came back to Urbana, 
where he worked at his trade for a time, when 
he went from there to West Liberty, and after 
a titue to Belleville, one mile south of Belle- 
fontaine, where he formed the acipiaintance 
of Joel Smith and James McPherson, and 
obtained a school in this neighborhood, where 
he met Miss Margaret Smith, one of his most 
amiable scholars, whom he afterwards married. 
About that time, William Powell and .Major 
Tillis laid out Bellefontalne, and thither Jus- 
tice Edwards removed with his young wife, 
working at his trade and teaching school 
alternately, teaching in one end of the first 
jail in the county, and, as a joke, is claimed 
to have been the .'^econd man incarcerated in 
that jail; with this incident the name of 
Vaehel Blaylock stands connected. Justice 
Edwards lived in Bellefontaine and vicinity 
until his death. He was a teacher by pro- 
fession, a saddler by traile, read and ])repared 
for the practice oi medicine, and for a time 
held the office of Justice of the Peace. His 
aged widow now resides at Huntsville; she 
came with her parents from Rockingham Co., 
Va., to Warren Co., Ohio, afterwards going 
to Logan, settling on the farm where she now 
lives — Hopewell. Dr. Joseph Edwards, eldest 
son of Justice Edwards, is a physician and 
traveler, born Sept. 7, 1822, on the site of 
Hopewell. He was taken by his grand- 
mother Smith, when 9 months old, and with 
her remained until his 13th year, when, his 
grandfather dying, he returned home at his 
father's request, and made an ineffectual 
attem])t to learn the tailor's trade with Sam- 
uel Mason, but abandoned it and learned the 
wagon and plow-making trade with James 



f 



683 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Walker, and in 183!) worlceil uitli James 
Lemon at West LiNerty until the lueaking 
out of the small-pox in the village in 184".2, 
when Joseph, with about ninety others, con- 
tracted that loathsome disease, and came near 
dying. Three members of the LemoTi family 
fell victims to the disease, when Lemon be- 
came discouraged, broke up business, and 
Joseph took the shop, tools and materials as 
his successor. About this time he formed 
the acquaintance of Miss Lucinda Byrd: he 
pro])Osed, was acce|)ted, and, in 1843, she 
became the wife of Joseph Edwards. He con- 
tinued the business of wagon-making at this 
place for one year, and tiien removed to 
SpringliiU, si,\ miles west of NVest Lib(Mtv, in 
Cliampaigii Co.; this locality proved very 
unhealthy, and the prevalence of malarial 
disorders caused Josej)h to form the acquaint- 
ance of Dr. Thomas Pringle, of that village. 
The Doctor gjive Joseph free access to his 
fine medical lil)rary, a privilege .(oseph availed 
himself of with avidity. ]Jr. Pringle removed 
to Clarke Co., Ohio, and was succeeded by 
Dr. Clayson, to whose library .Joseph also had 
access. He remained at SpringliiU ten years, 
and then returned to IJellefontaini;, still con- 
tinuing at his trade, with occasional e.vercise 
of his medical skill, until the breaking out of 
the civil war, when, in comjianv with one 
Pollack, he started for Lexington, Kv. Learn- 
ing at Cynthiana that Kiriiy Smith had taken 
Lexington, they took the back-track to Cin- 
cinnati, and thence home. He wrote to Skvles 
Gardner, c<inimandant at Clarksburg, W. Va., 
and was invited to that point; about a month 
thereafter, the sniall-])o.x broke out at that 
point, and Joseph was ordered to examine 
and report at headrpiarters, upon which he 
was ordered to taki' two nurses aiul treat 
those diseased; he treated successfully those 
cases occurring in the army at that post, and, 
in addition, voliniteered his seivices to the 
sulTering citizens aniviiul Clarksburg, ('apt. 
Gardner was superseded by Ca])t. Dodge, and 
took command at Harper's Kerry, on the 
Potomac. After a brief visit honu-, Jose|)h 
went to Harper's Ferry, and took the |iosition 
of Assistant Surgeon under Dr. Kamsey, the 
army Smgeon at (hat point, where he stayed 
until July 8, ISti'.i. Here he contracted "the 
camp fever, atul received free transportation 
home, where he lay for six weeks under the 



care of his old preceptor, Dr. Clayson. In 
November of the same year, he went to Canqi 
Nelson, Ky., where he stiiyed one month, 
then returned home and remained four days, 
and started, in eoiiq)any with .John Edwards 
and .bijui Shepler, for the city of Atchison, 
Kan., tci work at his trade for ^4 jier diem. 
The town contained about 1,500 souls, ;uid 
four days after his arrival the small-pox 
ap])eared, and Dr. hMwards having had that 
disease, on recommendation of Shejiler and the 
solicitation of the City Council, took chargi; 
of the city hos])ital, with some forty cases 
under his care; he had charge of this depart- 
ment for six weeks, and then entered nigu- 
larly upon the ])ractice of medicine at this 
]ioint, and remained for eighteen months, 
when he returned to Bellefontaine, and, after 
a brief interval, came to Ivushsylvania, in th(> 
em])Ioy of S. ]5. Stillwell, and ever since has 
remained at this place. July 8, 1875, in com- 
pany with his brother .lolin, he visited Can- 
ada, via Detroit and Chatham, where he vis- 
ited thi- Thames battle-ground; he went from 
thence eighty- miles to Comoea, and finding 
here whole communities bearing the name of 
Edwards, cjiiiniing- connection and soliciting 
further ac(piaiiitan('e, they tarried three 
weeks and visiting in this community. It 
was here he met Dr. John Edwards, ])ro- 
fessor of medicine, from AVales, from whom 
he obtained his celebrated cancer and diph- 
theria cures, which have contributed so much 
to his notoriety. His wife, whose name was 
Lucinda Byrd, was a native of Jefferson Co., 
Va.; her mother anil two sisters died of the 
cholera; she was brought by her aunt to 
Cliauipaign Co., Ohio, in 1831; s!ie was then 
in her ninth year, being born Oct. 13, 182^. 
At her marriiige. she was the owner of nine 
slaves, all af whom slu' liberati'd by hiring 
and ap]>lving the procec-ds of their labor to 
that purpose. Dr. .loseph Edwards has two 
chihlren; his iddest, .\ngeline, born (_)ct. 28, 
1844, is the wife of Kdwanl Thornton, of the 
city of Chicago, engaged in the ilry goods 
business. Ifiioda, iiis second ilaughter, was 
born Oct. 31, 1851; she is the wife of John 
(^)uigly, of tialion, Ohio, an enginei'r on (he 
C, C, C. & I. I{. K. 

CUIJiEltrSOX ELDER, merchant; Rush- 
sylvania. W'e commence this family line wilh 
John Elder, who was born in Peimsylvania, 



'k 



RUSH CKEEK TOWNSHIP. 



689 



and removed from there with his family to 
Columliiaiia Co., O., where he died. Abra- 
ham Elder, his son, also a native of Penn- 
sylvania, married Jane Johnson, the daughter 
of Robert .Johnson, and then remo\od with 
his family to Perry Co., O.; his children 
were — Cnlbertson, born June 22, 1S07, and 
.fane (now dead), who married John Pol- 
hjck, of Logan Co., O., .folin, deceased, 
Margaret, who married .lohn Coulter, 
now deceased, but whose son. Dr. John 
Coulter, Jr., is the present Recorder of 
Logan Co., .Tames, deceased, Robert, who 
married Martha Keers, of Logan Co., Dr. 
Abi'aham, who married Mary Wallace, and 
who is a practicing physician of Hunts- 
ville, Logan Co., Maria, who married David 
Torrence, of Greene Co., O., and Rebecca, 
who married David Laughhead, of Greene 
Co.; she is now deceased. On the Tth day of 
May, 1829, Culbertson Elder married Miss 
Eliza Ann Stewart, whose father, Roliert 
Stewart, came from Ireland in his lOth year, 
settling in 15ucks Co., Pa., and who, with his 
wife, Mary, removed to Perrj-^ Co., 0., which 
will bo n(jticed hereafter. Eliza Ann was 
born Oct. 17, 1800. Culbertson Elder's fami- 
ly consists of Milton S., born March 1, 1830, 
now a dry-goods merchant and postmaster at 
Mt. Victory, Hardin Co. He received his ap- 
pointment as P. M. under James Buchanan, 
and has retained the appointment over since. 
Sarah Jane, born Jan. 7, 1832, and who was a 
teacher for a mnnber of years prior to her 
marriage with James Raj', of Illinois, now de- 
ceased, his widow being at this time a resi- 
dent of Rushsylvania, Logan Co. Eliza Ann, 
born in Bellefontaine, July 12, 183G, married 
Milton Smith, of Hardin Co., in 18.56, and 
died about a year after marriage. ^largaret, 
born June 22, 1848, in Har<lin Co., and nuir- 
ried to Edward Sebring, ( f Indiana. Two 
unmarried daughters, one of whom is a teach- 
er, remain at home. In 1817 Culbertson El- 
der became a resident of Somerset, Perry Co., 
and in his 1-lth year he entered the dry-goods 
store of King & Rogers, of Lancaster, Fair- 
field Co., O., and after remaining in their em- 
j)loy for two years, returned to Somerset, and 
entered, as clerk, the dry-goods store of Jacob 
Myers, remaining in his employ until the re- 
moval of Mr. Myers to Putnam, Muskingum 
Co. Culbertson then began in the employ of 



Judge C. C. Hood, of Somerset, who, at the 
expu-ation of eighteen months, sent him to 
New Lexington, in Perry Co., to open a dry- 
goods store in that place, and in this he was 
the first merchant, and also the first post- 
master in that place. It was here that he be- 
came acfjuaihted with the amiable and intel- 
ligent daughter of Robert Stewart, whom he 
married on the 7th day of May, 1829. A year 
after marriage he brought a stock of goods to 
Bellefontaine, and commenced business at that 
place, where he continued for nine years. At 
the time of the removal of the deposits frcfin the 
United States Bank by President Jackson, 
Culbertson had to take fifty-two iiead of horses 
from Bellefontaine to Philadelphia, and saw his 
prospects blighted by the withering effects of 
the President's action on the markets, and the 
consecptent financial crash which followed. 
He returned to his home, succnndied to fate, 
ami after utter failure removed to Hardin Co. 
ami took up his abode in the wilderness, to 
commence as a backwoods farm(^r; here fame, 
ifnot fortune, followed him, and two years after 
his arrival he was clothed with the dignity of 
Escpiire, which mantle he laid not aside for 
twenty-one consecutive yeais. In 1804 he 
removed from his farm toMt. Victory, in Har- 
din Co., again engaging in the dry-goods busi- 
ness and continuing therein until his removal 
to Rushsylvania, in 1873, where he again en- 
gaged in the dry-goods business and continued 
in it for two years, when he sold out. On the 
27th day of June, 1878, he again entered the 
arena of public busitiess by opening; a grocery 
and notion store, since which time he has 
steadily advanced in business, and, although he 
has passed through the trials and vicissitudes 
of 73 years, yet he evinces the vigor and ener- 
gy of those many years his junior, a man of 
conscientious scruples and generous inijjul- 
ses. The Church of his adoption is the Uni- 
ted Presbyterian, of which his household 
are all members. Prior to the formation of 
the U. P. Church, he was an elder in the 
Seceder Cliurch at Kenton, O., and after the 
union of the two ecclesiastical bodies which 
composed the U. P. Church, he continued 
as elder until his removal to Rushsylvania. 
For half a century ho has witnessed the 
progress of events in Logan Co., and the 
changes wrought by the onward flight of 
time. 



eh 



<fj\(!l «w_ 



U90 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



CxEORGE WASHINGTON ELLS- 
WORTH, farmer; P. O., Uig Springs. Jac-oh 
Ellsworth was a native of the Slate of Dela- 
ware anil came from thence to Clark Co., O.; 
his wife was one of the celehraterl " Fletcher 
family "' of that State. Isaac Ellsworth was 
horn in Clark Co., April 15, 1S02; he married 
Lovina Garfield (a cousin of the present 
nominee, James A. tirarfiehi), the nuptials being 
celebrated .lune 19, 18-13, in his own house, 
fitted u|) especially for the occasion. She 
was the daughter of Thomas Garfield, of 
Massachusetts. Fourteen years after marri- 
age, Isaac Ellsworth removed to Cass Co., 
Mo., and remained there until his violent 
death at the hands of the guerillas; he; was 
compelled to kneel in his own door-yard to be 
shot in the back of the head. His death oc- 
curred May 10, 1865. The children are — 
Thomas .leiferson, born April 14, 1844, in 
Clark Co., died Nov. 21, 1S4G; William 
Enos, born Oct. 12, 184G, died .fan. 1, 1849; 
Tabitha .Melissa, '-infant," died Aug. 14, 
1.S5G; Angeline, born Dec. G, 1849; Georges 
Washington, born .fan. 10, 185G, and benja- 
min Franklin, born Fel>. 9, 1S59. Isaac Ells- 
wf>rth was twice married; his first wife, Hachel 
Ellsworth, was born March IG, 18:30. Bv oc- 
cupation G. W. Ellsworth is a farmer, who 
raises horses, cattle, hogs, and the usual farm 
productions. He is a second cousin to the 
late lamented Col. Ellsworth, who fell at the 
hand of an assassin, whilst haiding down the; 
rebel flag at Alexandria, Va., May 24, 18G1. 

A.MBHOSE .1. FAW'CETT, farmer; P.O., 
Rushsylvania. The Fuwcett family, which 
consisteil of three brothers, came from Ireland 
about 1G75, and settled in \'irginia, in 
Frederick Co. .lohn Fawcett, oni' of the 
first descendants, born in the Shenandoah 
N'alley, in 1751, was a native of Frederick 
Co., \'a.; his children wore — Isaac, born in 
1782; Elijah, born 1784; Sarah, born 1785; 
Nathan, burn 1787; David, born 17s9; Eliza- 
beth, l)orn 1791; .fesse, born 1793; Susan, 
born 1795; .Vlban, born 1799; all in Fred- 
erick Co., \'a. John Fawcett, father of the 
above, died in Frederick Co., Va., in 1814. 
About 1H21 Isaac emigrated to the State of 
Tennessee, and was drowned shortly after his 
arrival liy the sinking of a steamboat on the 
Mississippi river. In 1824 David removed to 
Inilraiia and fell a victim to the malarial 



died. The widow of John 
son, Elijah, her daughters, 



climate and 
Fawcett, her 

Elizalx'th, Sarah and Susan, and her youngest 
son, Alban, removed to Clinton Co., Ohio, in 
1822; Jesse followed in 182G; Nathan in 
1827 ; Nathan and Alban never married ; 
.fesse in the latter part of 1814 married 
Philadelphia Holloway of Frederick Co., 
twelve y<'ars before his removal to Ohio; 
she was Abel HoUoway's daughter. Jesse's 
family w(>re — Ambrose J., born Sept. 2G, 
1810; Robert B., Owen and Archibald born 
in Frederick Co., Va.; Ann .lane, Piiscilla 
and Edwaril, born in Clinton Co., Ohio, and 
Sarah, born in Logan Co., Ohio. In ls;i2 
Jesse settled in Logan Co., Rush Creek Tp., 
and on the 1st day of July, 1870, in his 77th 
year, he dejjarted this life, and was buried 
near Zanesfield. On the 2Gth day of .May, 
1880, Philadelphia, his wife, died in her 8r)th 
year, and was buried besi<le her husband. 
On Nov. 9, 1841, Ambrose J. Fawcett married 
Mary Gwinn, davighter of John Gwinn of 
Logan Co., Ohio; his children are — Ellwood, 
born Oct. 21, 1842, he enlisted in .August, 
18(!1, and on .fune 1, 18G2, he came home on 
a short furlough, but sickened and ilied before 
the expiration of it, on .luiK? 115, 1SG2; h'staline 
Fawcett, born May 8, 1S45, still resides with 
her parents; Ella, born .\ug. G, 1849, died 
Oct. 20, 1851; Oscar 1,., born Jan. 2S. ],S55, 
married Mary Melvina Leelh. By occupation 
Ambrose J. Fawcett is a farmer, is in a thrifty 
condition, and all his appointments have th(^ 
air of im|)rovenient ami (>nergy; ho jirefers 
the raising of horses and cattle to any other 
stock, and this department receives marked 
attention from him. He is a member of the 
Friends' Society, and, as is their maimer, 
is noted for his ])eaceful proclivities, gem'ral 
infornnition and imlustrious habits. I lis 
daughter, Estaline, is a lady of culture and 
rare music:d <pia!ilications and talents, but, 
like Ossian, must " sing without seeing." 

DR. C. .M. FISHER, physician; Rushsyl- 
vania. .fohn H. Fisher, son of IL'nry Fisher, 
was a native of Berks Co., Pa. He married 
Elizabeth Marshall, who was a daughter of 
Conrad Marshall, who was a son of .lohn 
Marshall, who came to France ])rior to the 
Revolutionary war, and served as a soldier in 
that war. Conrad Marshall married Elizabeth 
Hoover, of Schuylkill Co., Pa. She was born 



-k^^ 



RUSH CREEK TOWNSHIP. 



691 



Aug. 19, LSOr, ill Berks Co., Pa. .John H. 
Fisher had three children — Dr. C. M. Fisher, 
horn Dee. JO, 183'J, and who, after coiiiplctiiiff 
his nducation at Beih^foiitaine, attended the 
Ecleetie Medical College of Cincinnati, Oiiio, 
and was one of the graduates of 18G2, since 
which time he has been a resident of Kush- 
sylvania. The ne.xt son was John M., horn 
.Jan. 31, 1842, and James M. Fisher, born Jan. 
27, 1844, and who died Aug. 10, 1845. On 
the 3d day of AEarch, 186), Dr. C. M. Fisher 
married Mary E. Ansley, the daughter of 
Georg-e and Deliverance Ansley, who were 
natives of Kcntuidiy. The birthday of Mary 
E. Ansley was June 5, 1841, in Logan Co., O. 
The Doctor's family are Anna May, born May 
31, 1807, in llushsylvania; George Fl, born 
March 14, 1870, in liushsylvania, and Mary 
E., born Doc. 25, 1872. The Doctor's father, 
John H. Fisher, died Dec. 11, 1874. His 
mother died May 29, 1879. Dr. C. M. Fisher 
is a physician and surgeon, full of energy and 
a coiid)ination of rare qualities that cannot fail 
of success, and is an ardent friend of educa- 
tion, the devoted advocate of intellectual |)rog- 
r(>ss, willing and reatly at all times to nuike 
])ersonal sacrifices for the public good, and 
the advancement of learning. He held the 
office of school examiner in the progressive 
county of Logan. 

MICHAEL GEORGE, farmer; P. 0., Rush- 
sylvania. Henry George, Sr., was a Scotch- 
man, who, with his wife, Sarah Hoosack, emi- 
grated to this country and settled in Penn- 
sylvania. Henry George, Jr., was born iti 
Washington Co., Pa., and united in marriage 
with Maria Dolman, daughter of John Dol- 
man, of Washington Co., Pa. After marriage 
he settled in .Muskingum Co., O.; his family 
consisted of Mary, born in Washington Co., 
Pa.; Michael, born in the same i-ounty, Oct. 
15, 1822; Joanna, born in Washington Co., 
Pa., and Alexander, Margaret, William, Eliz- 
abeth, Sarah, Henry and Maria, born in Mus- 
kingum Co., O. The deceased niendjers of 
this family are^ — Mary, James Renwick, Han- 
nah ilaria, Alexander, Elizabeth, Argyle and 
Robert, seven in all. In 1837 HenryGeorge, 
Jr., removed from Muskingum to Adams Co., 
in southern Ohio, and in 1850 to Logan Co. 
During his residence in Adams Co., his wife, 
Maria, died, and was buried in Locust Grove 
Cemetery. Henry died aft^r his settlement 



in Rushsylvania, in 1875, and was buried at 
Northwood Cemetery, Logan Co. In 1845, on 
the 17th day of Februar\', Michael George and 
Hannaii Hutciieson were married. She was 
the daughter of James and Sarah Hutcheson, 
of Guernsey Co., O., and for one year after 
marriage they resided in Pittsburgh, Pa., and 
then came to Adams Ct)., O., where tiiey re- 
mained uiiuHcen years, and then came to Lo- 
gan Co., where he has resided twenty-two 
years. The children of Michael George are — 
Sarah E., born Aug. 9,1846, and who married 
J. R. Wylie, of Guernsey Co.; Hannah M., 
born March 10, 1849, in Adams Co., and who 
married A. W. Patterson, also of Guernsey 
Co.; Sanuu'l A. George, born S(!])t. 28, 1851; 
James H., born July 7, 1854, and died Oct. 
22, 1855, in Adams Co., O.; Mary .Fane, born 
May 25, 1801, and Agnes Isabella, boiti Feb. 
25, 1865. By occupation Michael Goorg(> is a 
farnu'r, who more particularly directs liis at- 
tention to sheep husbandry, in which he is 
largely engaged. His fine farm, which is 
called "Fountain Farm," on account of the 
fine flowing fountain on the premises, is near 
E(]uality Church School and Cemetery, two 
miles from the enterprising village of Rush- 
sylvania, on the Bee Line Railroad, and about 
an equal distance from the village of Big 
Springs. In point of location it is a most desir- 
able one. Mr. George is a member of the Re- 
formed Presbyterian Church, and his position 
as elder in that church is the best evide?iceof 
his Christian standing. His son, Samuel 
A. George, now located at xMansfield, is a 
minister in the aforesaid denolnination and a 
graduate of Geneva College, at Northwood. 
On the 12th day of January, 1880, Mrs. 
Hannah George died and was buried in the 
cenietorv at Northwood, Logan Co., O. 

DR. WILLIAM M. GO'ODIX)VE, jihysi- 
cian; Rushsylvania. Conrad Goodlove was 
born in Germany, and, coming to the United 
States, settled in Berks Co., Pa. He married 
Catherine McKinnon, of Clarke Co., O., ami 
after marriage he removed to Ohio, settlino- 
on Buck Cieek, near Yazell's Mills, in Clarke 
Co. The family are John, who married Mar- 
garet Staples, then of Clarke Co., but v.!,o 
was born in Baltimore, Md.; Nancy, who 
married Dr. Milton Hunter, of Catawba, who 
lives in the same house in which he resided 
when he was married; Joseph Goodlove, who 



^1^ 



fjf 



692 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



married ilargaret Hollingshead, of the town 
of Pemherton, Shelby (J().,0., and William, 
who married in Iowa; John Goodlove was 
born in L'larke Co., O., Nov. 2, 1825, and 
married Margaret E. Staples, who was born 
July 1, 1831. She was the daughter of Cap- 
tain William F. Staples, who was lost at soa in 
18:58. The death of .(ohn Goodlove occurred 
at Quincy, in l^ogan Co., in 185(j, and he was 
buried in the cemetery at that ])lace. His 
willow married I ). II. McKinnon, then of I-ogan 
Co., O., now of Clny Co., 111. On this fanuly 
line comes Dr. William AI. Goodlove, horn 
Oct. 15, 184(j, in Clarke Co., O., near Spring- 
field, and also near Pleasant Hill t'hurch, 
where all the deceased relatives of the late 
•John Goodlove are interred. At the ago of 
15 years, Dr. William M. Goodlove enlisted 
as a soldier in the 5Tth (J. V. I., and served 
to the close of the war in the loth Army 
Corps, under Gen. .lohn A. Logaii, ''Sherman's 
Army," and was discharged at Little Hock, 
Ark. In the fall of 18G5 Dr. Cioodlove en- 
tered the University of Ann Arbor, Michigan, 
took a regular coiu'se of education at that in- 
stitution, and in 1808 entered the Medical 
College of Ohio, at Cincinnati, and took a 
progressive course, graduating in 18(>8, and 
commen<iiig the ])ractice of medicine in the 
town of Montra, Shelby Co., O. He became 
a member of the State Medical Society during 
its session at Toledo, in 1874, and also of the 
National Medical Society, held at Detroit, 
Mich., in the same year. On May 23, 1809, 
Doctor William M. Goodlove married Miss 
Mary L. LeFevrc, daughter of Eliasand Hen- 
rietta LeFevre, of Shelby Co., O. She was 
the sister of Gen. lienjamin LeFevre, mem- 
ber of Congress from the .")th Congressional 
District of Ohio; .(an. 1, 1870, he removed 
to Uuslisylvania and connncnced the jtractice 
of medicine at that j>lace, and, as might be 
expectecl from his diplomas, his lil)rary and 
liis experience, his field of labor enlarge,*, his 
])ractice extends. In ])reparing liiniscif for 
Iiis ])ri)fession, he has patronized leading seats 
of learning in each department. Cool and 
deliberate in method, close in application, 
and determined in purpose, he moves to the 
music- of progress. His family are Charles 
Willis, born .March 7, in St. Henry's, Mer- 
cer ('o., 0.; liiMijumin P'ranklin, born March 
22, 1871, in Lewistown, Logan ('".; Laura 



Hellen, born Dec. 20, 1873, and died Sept. 
2, 1878, and was buried in the cemetery at 
Uuslisylvania; Covert, born Nov. 28, 1879, in 
Pushsvlvaiiia, Lou-an Co., O. 

JACOB GIt.\151FL, farmer; P. O., Rush- 
sylvania. John tirabiel, who was the father 
of John Grabiel and the grandfather of .lohn 
and Jacob Grabiel, came from Shenandoah 
Co., Va., in 1814. .lohn Cirabiel, the father 
of Jacob Grabii'l, was born in Shenandoah 
Co., Va., in I78(), and married Mary Haas; 
ilaughter of .lohn Haas, of that county, and in 
1812 left Virginia and came to Licking Co., 
O. Jacob Grabiel, the third son of .lohn 
Grabiel, was born .fan. 12, 1820, in Licking 
Co. On the 14tli day of February, 185."), 
Jacob married Mary Jane Westlake, dang-liter 
of Zeiihaniah Westlake, and Isabella, his 
wife, of Union Co., O. Zephaniah was the 
third son of Samuel and Elizabeth Westlake, 
wliose maiden name was Elizabeth Peid, who 
was born in New .(ersev, of Irish parentnge. 
Mary .lane, now Mrs. Grabiel, was born .\ug. 
31, 1831, in Union Co., O. Samuel was the 
son of George and Mercy Westlake, whosi! 
maiden name was Wellanii; born in England. 
George and Mercy Westlake were the great- 
grandpar(>nts of the aforiMii(>ntioned West- 
lakes. Isabella ^^"ostlake, daughter of 
William and Mary Gregg, born in Kentucky, 
June 3, 1818, and whose maiden name was 
Mary Goldsberry; married Zephaniah West- 
lake, Nov. 12, 1829. Mrs. Gregg was the 
daughter of John and Sallv Goldsberry (.Miss 
Sally Potts, of Philadelphia, Pa.). In lS4(i i 
Jacob Grabiel came, in company with his 
brother John, to Logan Co., ami iiurchased, in 
jiartnership, the lands where they now resid(!, 
and for three years boarded with George 
Ansley, when they made arrangements to 
keep "bach(dor's hall" together, which felici- 
tous plan they followed for two years, .laiob 
acting in the capacity of cook, until, satisfied 
with this stu])id ]>rogramine, married and set 
up in life on a higher plane, and has the fol- 
lowing family: Ell wood Lawrence, born 
March 5, 1850, and married Nannie Early 
Jan. 21, 1879; (iilbert C, born March 22, 
1858, now in Kansas; Zephaniah Orlaiid, born 
April 20, 1800; Peuben Ellsworth, born Jiily 
13, 1803; Josejih Gordon, born Feb. 20, ISOO; 
\'iriril Leon, born April 10, 1868; Calvin 
.I.HVrs, born Oi't. 17, l^^'l. l^v occupation 



RUSH CREEK TOWNSHIP. 



693 



Jacob Grabiel is a farmer; he raises stock and 
buys and sells cattle, sheep and hogs. He 
has all the necessary appointments of a well 
arranged farm; moral, intellectual and re- 
ligious improvement are assiduously cared for 
by the parents, who, together with theii- four 
eldest children, are members of the Presby- 
terian Church in Rushsylvania. 

JOHN GRABIEL, farmer; P. O., Rush- 
sylvania. Jacob Grabiel was of transatlantic 
origin, and was a citizen of Shenandoah Co., 
Va. ; John Grabiel, Sr., .Jacob's son, was born 
in the same county, in the year 1786; he 
married Mary Haas, daughter of .fohn Haas, 
of Shenandoah Co., Va., and in 181;i removed 
to Licking Co., Ohio; John Grabiel, Jr., was 
born Dec. 7, 1SI.5, in Licking Co., ()., and in 
I84G came to Logan Co., and purchased the 
lands on which he now finds himself so com- 
fortably situated; he continued to improve his 
lands until on the 31st of Decein])er, 18")?, 
tired of single blessedness, he married the 
lady of his choice. Miss Sarah D. Tharp, 
daughter of William and Mary Tharp, of 
Jefferson Tp., Logan Co.; she was born Nov. 
"28, 183-1, in the aforesaid township, and at her 
marriage was a member of the Baptist Ciiurch. 
John GrabiePs family are — Luthera (Juindaro, 
born Nov. 8, 1858, and died Nov. 15, 1861; 
Mary Emeline, born Nov. 33, 1800, and died 
Nov. 7, 18G1; William Hillman, born Aug. 
5, 18(>i; Elma Vidella, born Dec. 3, 1804; 
John Welling, born March 17, 1807; Herman 
Honneli, born July 0, 1800: Rachel 0\gA, 
born Feb. 9, 1873; Sarah Elizabeth, born 
Aug. 30, 1875, and Annah Lois, lioi'ii .March 
14, 1878. By occupation John Grabiel is a 
farmer, who not oidy raises all farm stocks, 
but Iniys and sells it, and as an agriculturist 
is active and energetic in the production of 
the usual farm products, such as wheit, corn, 
etc. Around his home there seems to linger 
an air of thriftiness, and a spirit of generous 
hospitality pervades the household. His 
church connections, which are Presbyterian, 
and his household education are marked char- 
acteristics of his Christian aims, and moral 
and intellectual intuitions, both as it regards 
his position in the community and his kind 
intentions to his family and posterity. 

JESSE JENKINS, farmer; P. O. Rush- 
sylvania. William Jenkins is a native 
of Wales, and left that country and set- 



tled in Washington Co., Pa., iluring the 
Revolutionary war. His son, Samuel, 
was born in Washington Co., prior to their 
removal to Ross Co., O., in 1778. It was, 
however, in 1803, that the family removed 
to Ross Co., O. Here Samuel married Anna 
Cooney, who was born in the State of 
Maryland. A part of Samuel's family 
was born in Ross Co. — Amanda, born 
in 1818; Rebecca, born in 1830, and Jesse, 
born Aug. 18, 1833. In 1834 the family left 
Ross Co. and came to Marion Co., O., settling 
on the waters of the Little Scioto, in Greene 
Camp Tp. Here four children were born and 
died. In 1833 Samuel removed to McArthur 
Tp., Logan Co., settling on the waters of the 
Cherokee. In this township .fane audi John 
Jenkins were born. Another removal occur- 
red, which located the family on the Dry 
Fork of the Miami, at Northvvood. Here 
David, Catharine and Minerva were born. 
.Icsse Jenkins was born in Oldtown, Ross Co., 
and married Miss Elizabeth Bennett, Jan. 30, 
1859; she was the daughter of Henry and 
Mary Bennett, of Logan Co., and the childnm 
by this marriage are — Samuel Fremont, born 
Oct. 37, 1859, in Rush Creek Tp., Logan Co.; 
Clarabel, born in 1801; Marietta, born in 
1863; Amanda Jane, born in 1864; William 
Stanton, born in 1800; Lizzie Minerva, born 
in 1808, and Carrie May, born in 1870, all in 
Rush Creek Tp. By occupation, Jesse Jenk- 
ins is a farmer, being one of the early settlers, 
and, in consequence of three removals, he has, 
of necessity, hewn three farms out of the 
hitherto unbroken forest, two of them prior 
to his marriage. After his marriage he set- 
tled where he now I'esides, and began to 
gather around him the comforts and conven- 
iences of a well regulated home. He received 
but a j)ioneer's education in the pioneer 
schoolhouse, built of logs, with clapboard 
and weight-pole roof, paper windows, punch- 
eon desks, seats and floor; and, in fact, the 
family mansion was a similar edifice, and 
where, instead of a Chickering piano, or an 
Estoy organ, the howling baritones of wolves 
could be heard. Now how changed! His 
farm blossoms as the rose; the wild woods 
have forever disapjieared. Horses, cattle and 
farm stock roam over his pleasant fields, and 
as regards the raising of horses, he is second 
to none in Rush Creek Tp. in the quality of 






an 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



his stock. He is progressive in oflucational 
inovenients, a consisti'iit iiieniln-r of the Ciuin'h 
of tiio Disciples, and besi(h>s aiming to give his 
lamily advantages to wiiich, in his j'outh, he 
was a stranger; he has lor them preserved this 
record and his fair fame. 

MAirriN .lOlLXS'l'OX, farmer; P. O., 
Rusiisvlvania; came from Trehmd at an early 
day, and settled in Pennsylvania; his son, 
Gi'orge .Johnston, came from Pennsylvania to 
Wayne Co., Ohio, settling near Wooster. 
Martin .Johnston, Georg-e's son, was born in 
Wayne Co., Ohio, .Ian. 14, 182G. The family 
history embraces Thomas Scott, one of the 
earliest settlers in Licking Co., Ohio, and his 
son, Thomas Scott, Jr., born in Jvicking Co., 
but who was among th(> earliest of the I.,ogan 
Co. pioneers; and is the owner of the first 
do 'k brought to lacking (Jo. It was owned 
by liis father, and is now running in the house 
of Thomas Scott, .Jr., and, although it is over 
1(1(1 years old, it is one of those tall wooden 
clocks denominated "wall swee[)ers," and a 
fit subject for any museum. Nancy I'attorsoTi, 
the daughter of Abraham Patterson, a native 
of Ireland, came with her father to Mercer 
Co., l^enn. Abraham was a refugee from the 
rebellion of 17!lS. Martin .Johnston and 
Martha Scott were married .June 21, 18-19, in 
Logan Co., Ohio. To render the line com- 
plete, is to [idd that Peter Dorr, a I'ennsyl- 
vaiiian, settled in ^\'ayne Co., Ohio; then 
Martin's mother was Peter Derr's daughter, 
.Mary, wlio married George .Johnston, Martin's 
father, in JS"^4. Martin Johnston's children — 
George (Jillespie, born Julv 5, IH/iO, died 
July 31, IK.JI; Nancy, born Oct. :J, 18.51, 
di(Ml Sept. "^4, 187.5; Thomas Abraham, born 
Au!i. 'i'i, 18.");j; .lames Kenwick, Feb. I, 18.")(); 
.Mary Jane, Jan. I'.t, 18:)8, die.! .Fan. 'i, 1870; 
William .loseph, born July 12, Is.")'.), died 
July :il, 1S(J(); Sarah Kliza, born Aug. 29, 
ISIJl, ilied Feb. Kf, 187(1; .lohn Knox, born 
June 19, 181)7. l$y occupation, Martin .lohn- 
stoii is a farmer, and raises the stock usual tn 
all well-ciinducted and prudently arraniifecl 
farms. The family are members of the Ki- 
formi'd I'resbyterian Church, in l{ushsylvania, 
and linn believers in the iloctrines resvdting 
friim till- grejit L'l'furmation. 

.lOlIX KAITZ.MAN, Sit., was bom in 
I^ancasler Co., Penn., on the l.")tli day of .May, 
1782, of German parentage; wh le young, he 



removed to Franklin Co., where, at the age 
of 23, he was married to May Cook. In the 
fall of 1812, moved to Shenandoah Co., Va.; 
he owned the mill on Cedar Creek, which 
was burned In-'Gen. Sheridan's troo])s during 
the rebellion. In 1814, he moved to Augusta 
Co., where he lived until the fall of 184.5, 
when he moved to F^ogan Co., Ohio, and S(.'t- 
tled upon the land he iiurehased before leav- 
ing Virginia, what is known as the Gravellv 
Spring. He died May 17, 1S74, at the agcMif 
94 years and 2 days. His wife died on the 
7th day of the February preceding, at the 
age of 92 years and 2 days. There were born 
to them Kve sons and three daughters, one 
girl dying at the age < f three years. Daniel 
enlisted in Co. II, 9(jth O. V. I., and died at 
Vicksburg. Barney Kaut/.inan died on the 
farm upon which his father settled June 4, 
1872, aged 42 years. George Kaut/.man is 
living iji Guthrie Co., Iowa. One girl is living 
in Montrose, in Henry Co.; Morora, .lohn and 
Peter are living in Uushsylvania; Anna is 
living about two miles east of Rushsylvania. 
.John an<l Peter have both filled many posi- 
tions of trust in civil and niilitarv life. 

JOHN KKRNS, farmer; P. "O., Rushsyl- 
\ania. .Michael Iverns was a native of (ier- 
many, who, with his^ family, emigrated to 
Hedford Co., Va., in 17.5.5; George Kerns, son 
of .Michael l-vcrns, was born in Be<lfor<l Co., 
and had seventeen brothers, several of whom 
settled in Botetourt Co., Va., others in 
Kentucky, and the remainder came to Ohio. 
Jacob Kerns, son of George Kerns, came to 
Ohio, Nov. 20, 183.5; he was married the sume 
day to Margaret Woods, a descendant of two 
distinguished Virginia families, the Woods 
anil the ])ot)leys. Thomas Woods was at 
Dudley's defeat, and was taken prisoner with 
manv others; he was the oidy prisoner escap- 
ing: massacre, and that because of his resem- 
blance to an Indian. Jacob Kerns settled 
)ii'rmanently in the north part of l{ush Creek 
Tp., on the water-shed, where the waters of 
the .Miami. Taylor's Cn'ck, and I'ainter's Creek 
llow in ililferent directions from or near the 
same point. .lacob's children were — George, 
born 1810; Phebe Ly.lia, Mary .\nn, So])liia 
.lane, Nathan I)., Kmily, .lohn, .Margaret and 
-Martha .Mildred, .lohn Kerns, whose ancestors 
we have just traced, was born July 29, 1820, 
in Bedford Co., Va.; on Sept. 18, 1850, he 



RUSH CREEK TOWNSHIP. 



695 



married ^[ary Johnson, daughter of William 
and Eli'anor Johnson, and who was horn April 
12, 1830, in Belmont Co., Ohio. John's 
children are — Sarah Ann, born Sept. 8, 18.')1, 
in Logan Co., Rush Creek Tp.; Franklin 
Pieree, Jan. 7, 1853, and was killed by 
the cars Nov. 11, 18G9. This sad event oc- 
curred in this manner: In company with 
his sister, Sarah Ann, he came to Rushsylvania 
in a two-horse spring wagon, and at Kumer's 
Crossiriu: on the Bee Line Railroad on their 
return the team became unmanageable, and 
they were run into by the locomotive, and 
Franklin P. and one horse were instantly 
killed, the wagon was totally demolished, and 
his sister, though seriously injured, miracu- 
lously escaped instant death; llary Ellen, 
born Dec. 26, 18o4; Margaret Alice, Dec. 
29, 1858; John Wylie, June 6, 1806. By 
occupation John Kerns has been a farmer, 
stock-raiser and stock shipper, the latter 
business, especially, he has followed for 
twenty-two years. He has held the office of 
Justice for two terms, and in his church rela- 
tions holds the office of Elder. He enters 
intelligently into the investigation of general 
topics for public prosperity and good. In the 
spring of 1870 he removed from his farm to 
Ruslisylvania, and the spring following was 
elected to the office of Justice of the Peace. 
He joined the Masonic fraternity in 1856, at 
Kenton, ()hio, and in 1862 was a charter 
member of the Lodge at Belle Centre, and 
Master of that Lodge for six years. He 
joined the I. O. O. F., at Rushsylvania in 
1872, and has been a member ever since. 

ARCHIBALD LAMENT, farmer; P. O., 
Rushsylvania. Robert Lament was the de- 
scendant of a Covenanter, who left Scotland 
in consequence of the persecution, anil settled 
in County Antrim, Ireland. Roliert J^ametit, 
second, was born in County Antrim, and 
married Nancy Creilman, and both Jied 
in Ireland. Robert Lament, third, was born 
in County Antrim, and came to America in 
1833, settling first in Washington (.'o., N. Y., 
and in 1838, removing to Fairfield Co.,- Ohio. 
In December, 1845, he removed to Logan 
Co., and settled on the head-waters of the 
Miami River. He married Mary McDaniel, 
a ladj' of Scotch descent; she was the daughter 
of Archibald and Jane McDaniel. The fam- 
ily of Robert Lament, third, are Archibald, 



born iVpril 10, 1823, in County Antriiu, Ire- 
land, and who came to America in 1833 with 
his parents, and removed with them in all 
their changes, finally settling with them in 
Logan Co. Archibald married Miss Amy 
Johnson, Nov. 27, 1847; she was the daughter 
of George and Mary Johnson, and her grand- 
parents were William and Mary .folmson, 
unitina: families whose oriffin was transat- 
lantic, and whose systems of faith were 
impregnated with the Calvinism and rigid 
orthodoxy of the two countries, and so it 
comes on down as a hereditary but healthy 
system of religious sentiments, as strongly 
marked in the present as in the past genera- 
tions, respecting the last parties above indi- 
cated. William was Irish and Mary German 
bv lineal descent. Now Archibald Lament's 
family genealogy ends by giving the names 
and births of his children, the deaths and 
marriages, also. First, we have Robert Fillis, 
born Oct. 11, 1848, married Sally Carter, and is 
now a resident of Hardin Co.; William Boyd, 
born Oct. 14, 1849, died July 25, 1850; Wil- 
liam Boyd, second (named for his deceased 
brother), born Oct. 27, 1850, now in Pawnee 
City, Neb.; Euphemia Jane, born March 10, 
18."i2; Mary Ann, March 12,1854; John, April 
27, 1857, died Sept. 9, 1877; Sarah, born Aug. 
21, 1860; George, May 15, 1862; Elizabeth, 
Aug. 16. 1864; James'Wriglit, Feb. 8, 1867; 
Archibald Alexander, Sept. 6, 1869; Samuel 
Martin, March 13, 1872. Archibald Lament 
is a farmer by choice, and delights in agri- 
cultural pursuits. Like many Hibernians of 
Protestant parentage, hi' has received a liberal 
education, as well as Christian training, and 
received his catechism from his parents as 
regularly as his food and raiment. A Cov- 
enanter then, he is one still, a deacon in the 
church, and with determined precision travel- 
ing on to Heaven in the way his fathers trod. 
He is a natural-born mechanic, being a car- 
penter, a mason and plasterer of more than 
average proficiency. Nothwithstanding ho 
never served an apjjrenticeship to either trade. 
He raises cattle, sheep, horses and hogs, and 
uses more care in their improvement than is 
usual with farmers in general. He not only 
has a share in the Public Library, but sub- 
scribes for all good books, and, with true 
intellectual foresight, places himself in the 
list for his county's history, and thus sends 



.k 



696 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



the record and genealogy of Archibald I^a- 
ment adowii the lines of generations who arc 
coining. 

ANDREW D. LEAS, farmer; P. O., Har- 
per. Jacob Leas was a native of Germany, 
and emigrated to Pennsylvania prior to tha 
Kevoliitionary war. Stephen I^eas, his son, 
was born in Pennsylvania, and came to Ohio 
in 1812. His wife was Susan Gates, who was 
the daughter of .lohn Gates, whose father also 
came from Germany. Andn^w D. I^cas was 
Stephen's son, and was born May 35, 1818, in 
Logan Co., O. On the 4th day of October, 
1845, he married Catharine Strickland, dauLrh- 
ter of George Strickland, of York Co., Pa.; 
she wjis born Oct. 10, 1818. The children of 
A. D. Leas are — Stephen C, born Jan. 18, 
1847; Mary Ann, July 5, 1854; Susan, July 15, 
1855, and Sarah, Oct. 14, 1800. By occupa- 
tion, Andrew D. Leas is a farmer, and many 
of his broad .acres arc the rich alluvial de- 
posits of the historic Rush Creek bottom 
lands, and near the romantic lake of that 
name; he raises and deals in stock, making 
sheep a S|)ecialty, but the other stocks also, 
to an unusual extent amongst farmers; he is 
a member of the Patrons of ILisbandrv, 
Rush Creek Lodge, No. 24, and the church 
connections of the family an> with that branch 
known as the Christian Church. By this, the 
name and example of A. D. Leas are handed 
to the succeeding generations of those who 
take descent from him. 

LEVI N. LEIDIGH, farmer; P. O., Rush- 
sylvania; Jacob Rudy was born Jan. 28, 
lTf»2, in Montgomery Co., Penn.; in 1818, he 
married Harriet liastian in the citv of Phila- 
didphia, and in the same year removed to 
Circlevillc, Pickaway Co., Ohio; in 1823 his 
wife died, leaving three children — Catherine, 
.losiah and Harriet. In 18211, he returned to 
Phiiadi'lpliia on foot, walking from Circle- 
villf to Philadelphia in just two weeks, ar- 
riving in the city on New Years' Day. In 
the spring of 18:5:1 he again married, his wife 
being .Mrs. Anna Zcigler, a widow la<ly. In 
1h;J8, lie removed to where Ik; now, in his 
8!tth year, still resides with his son-in-law, 
.Mr. Levi I>i>idigli, a sturdy old gentleman of 
some fio suniTuers, who was born Sept. 4, 
181.5, in Durham Tp., Bucks Co., Penn.; 
Jacob Rudy has but one child living — Mrs. 
Catharine Leidigli. Levi Leidigh was mar- 






ried on the 20th day of July, 18:^9, in l-ogan 
Co., and, after marriage, returned to Philadel- 
])hia; he remained there two years, and again 
went to Ohio, where he remained two years, 
and returned to the '• City of Brotherly Love " 
again, remaining there until 184'.), when he 
again came to- ( )hio, where he has since re- 
main(>d. The children of this family are — 
Henrietta B., born Oct. :50, 1840, died Nov. 
10, 1840, in Philadelphia, rVini.; Jacob Rndv, 
born April 14, 1845, and died Dec. :51, 184:), 
in Philadelphia, Penn.; .loiiathan, born .lulv 
12, 184:, died Sept. 4, 1848, in Philadelphia"; 
Anne Adelaide, born Aug. 2:i, 1849, in Phil- 
adelphia; she married Andrew M'ren, Oct. 

14, 18(!9; Philip Henry, born Feb. 19, 1852, 
in Logan Co., Ohio; Franklin Goldmati, Jan. 
19, 1855, in Logan Co.; George Corwin, .Ian. 
28, 185?, in Logan Co.; Clarissa PJst<dla, July 

15, 1859, in Logan Co., married Isaac Bram- 
W(dl; Titus, Oct. 16, 1879, a citi/.en of this 
county. The history of this family is some- 
what remarkable; Jacob Rudy, now in his 
89th year, is a man remarkable for his clear 
and vivid recollection of dates, whilst his 
daughter, 151 years old, and her husband, 115 
years old, recount events of their childhood 
with remarkable jirccision, and a recital of 
the sami' strikes the listener at once with 
surprise; Jacob Rudy states that he was ap- 
])r(Miticed four years, seven months and thir- 
teen days to learn the shoemaker's trade; 
this was in 1808; he followed that occu])ation 
for five years in Pennsylvania, ami for some 
time in Circleville, Ohio, tiinilly settling down 
in Logan Co., where he now resides; Levi 
Leidigh is a thrifty farmer, held in high es- 
teem in the comnninity in which he resides. 
The family are members of the Lutheran 
Church at New .Jerusalem, f^ogan Co., Ohio. 

WILSON M. ADAMS, Sr.,' farmer, P.O., 
Rushs^dvaiiia. ^Vilson Mc.Xdams was the son 
of .lames Me.\dams, of North Carolina, who 
afterwards removed to Tennessee. Wilson 
was born in T(>iniessei>, and from there catne 
to Ohio, settling in Logan Co. His wiA; was 
Anninda Melvina Brockerman, daughter of 
William BrockiTinan, of Germany, who came 
to I'hiladelpliia, Penn., and afterwards to Lo- 
gan Co., O. Wilson McAdanis, Jr., was born 
Feb. 22, 1844, in this county, and on the PJth 
day of December, 1808, he assumed the bonds 
of wedlock with Elizabeth Henrietta White, 



T' 



M 



(S. *^ 



-k. 



RUSH CREEK TOWNSHIP. 



697 



of Auglaize Co., daughter of Jeremiah and 
Elizabeth White, of Franklin Co., O. Elizal)eth 
Henrietta was born May 31, 1840. The 
children are — Franklin McAdams, born Oct. 
la, 1869; Clark White, April 1.5, 1871, in this 
county; Viola Melvina, Aug-. G, 1S7'2; Robert 
E. Lee, Dec. 27, 1873, and Emma Elizabeth, 
Nov. 4, 1875. Wilson McAdams raises 
blooded horses and fine cattle, and has be- 
stowed especial care on the improvement of 
swine. Although a farmer, he is yet a man of 
bold, inventive genius, as is evidenced by a 
lock which he has patented, and other models 
in his possession. The pbwer to originate 
and invent seems with him one of nature's 
own bestowments, and not the result of cul- 
ture, or as inherited, as none of his people 
appear to have partaken of this rare quality. 
MATTHEW .MITCHELL, farmer; P.O., 
Rushsylvania. Matthew Mitchell, Sr., was a 
native of Eastern Pennsylvania; a Revolution- 
ary soldier under Gen. George Washington, 
and after the war moved to the forks of 
Youghiogheny River, from there to Beaver 
Co., Pa., and from thence to .Muskingum ( 'o., 
O., where he died at the age of 82 years, and 
was buried in the cemetery at the village of 
Concord, in that county. Matthew Mitchell, 
Jr., was his son, who came to Youghioghenv 
with his father, and where he marriecl Miss 
Elizabeth M'ylie, daughter of Samuel Wylie. 
During his residence at this place, five of his 
children were horn. Samuel was born in 
November, 1799; Mary was born in 1800; 
Flora was born in 1802, and died when young; 
Matthew was born .June 20, 180-t, and .Joim 
was born 180G. He then removed to .Musk- 
ingum Co., O., settling on the farm adjoining 
the village of Concord, or the farm on which 
it now stands. The balance of the family 
were William, l)orn 1808, and who died when 
6 years of age; .Fames, born in 1810, and who 
died in Logan Co.; David, born in 1812, who 
removed to Logan Co., and died; Ann, born 
in 1814, who married Joseph Patterson, now 
deceased, his widow being a resident of Belle- 
f(mtaine; Rebecca, born in 1810, married 
James French, both she and her husband are 
dead; Jane, born in 1818, died when 20 
years of age. June 18, 1829, Matthew 
Mitchell married Margaret M. Spear, a 
daughter of Stuart Spear and Jane Scott, his 
wife, whose grandfather was Stuart Spear, 



who came from Ireland in an early day; on 
her mother's side, Margaret's grandfather was 
Abraham Scott, of Scotch descent. Now, the 
family of Matthew Mitchell, son of Matthew, 
Jr., are — Stuart Spear, born .Tune 20t 1830, in 
Muskingum Co., O., died May, 1833; Eliza- 
beth Wylie, born Nov. 3, 1831. in iluskingum 
Co., married Thomas .Martin Hutcheson, 
whose family consists of eleven children — • 
Margaret, Jane, .Tames, Matthew, Robert, 
Ellen, Elizabeth, Anna (two sons dead) and 
Rutherford. Elizabeth resides in Kansas. 
William Stuart (named for a deceased brother) 
born Nov. 22, 1833, married Mary Jane Mc- 
Cullough. Their family are — Ellen, John, 
Matthew and Margaret McCullough. Matthew 
Ritchie, born Nov. 10, 1835, and married 
Melinda Fulton, daughter of Dr. Fulton, once 
a physician of Rushsylvania, but who died in 
Bellefontaine. Matthew Ritchie Mitchell is a 
physician at Topeka, Kan., and has but one 
child living — Poiter McClain. Then John, 
born Oct. 27, 1837, married Mary Ellen Day, 
daughter of John Day, of Rushsylvania. 
Their son Walter is vears old. Alexander, 
born Nov. 30, 1839, "died June 2G, 1841; 
Rutherford, born Sept. 1 1, 1841, died Aug. 
27, 1842; Nancy Jane, born July 20, 1843, 
died Feb. 9, 1855. Mary Ellen, born Oct. 15, 
184."), is a mantua-maker, jiroficient in her 
business, and practical in manner. Maggie 
Spear, born Sept. 29, 1847, is a teacher in the 
city schools of Topeka, Kan. James Fin- 
ley, born June 10, 1850, married Sarah Ellen 
Stephenson; she died in January, 1 879, leaving 
little Ernest Chalmers and Laura Genevra 
motherless. It was in October, 1832, that 
Matthew Mitchell removed from Muskingum 
to Logan Co., O., settling in Rush Creek Tji., 
on the waters of Miami. Born on a farm, 
reared and educated on a farm, it was quite 
natural that he should be a farmer and de- 
lighted therein. Besides the im]5rovement 
of his farm, he has paid strict attention to the 
improvement of his family, by liberally edu- 
cating them, some of whom have attained 
honorable positions in the professions, one 
being a ])hysician, (me a teacher of distinc- 
tion, and one a professional mantua-maker. 
His household regulations are of a high Chris- 
tian order, and after a long life of toil he 
rests upon a competency. All the farm 
stocks are raised and sold, but sheep and 



^i 



l\^ 



G98 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



liogs receive especial attontion. He is one 
amongst the oldest citizens of Rush Creek 
Tp. 

AZARTAS SILAS BALDWIN TUGH, 
farmer; P. O., Ruahsylvsuiia; was born Sept. 
30, 184!); he is the fo'urtii son of David Pugh, 
who was the son of Eli Pugh, who was the 
son of Tiiomas Pugh, who was the son of 
Ellis Pugh, the family line comiuencing in 
Wales. David Pugh was born in Frederick 
Co., Va., in 1801; his wife was a distant rela- 
tive and of the same name; she was the 
daughter of Thomas Pugh, of Newbury 
District, S. C, and came to Warren Co., O., 
in 1801. On the 1st day of November, 
183:2, David Pugh and Rebecca Pugh were 
married; Mrs. Pugh's birth occurred .May 27, 
1814, in Warren Co., O.; David's fam- 
ily were — Eli, born Nov. 15, 18311, Job 
Thomas, Aug. 15, 1838, David ]?alcs, Feb. 7, 
1848, A. S. B., Sept. 30, 1849, Mary .lan>!, 
July 17, 1851, and .Malcenia Lunette, 
June 19, 1855. On July 24, 1876, David 
Pugh, the father, died, and was buried 
on his 'own farm. Azarias Silas Baldwin 
Pugh, on the lIHh day of April, 1870, in 
Paulding Co., 0., married Miss Florence 
Jeanette Ginger, the daughter of Daniel and 
Mary Ginger, of Blackford Co., Ind. Florence 
was born June 17, 1800. The family of 
A. S. B. Pugh has one son, Clarence Loring 
Pugh, born Nov. 4, 187'.l, in the ])ioneer 
cabin occupied by his grandfather, David 
Pugh, in 1833, and built by Scpiire Samuel 
Ruth, the joists of which were hewed on the 
Sabbath day by mistake, the Scpiire believing 
it was Saturday'. By occupation, A. S. B. 
Pugh is a fanner and stock-raiser, especially 
<if hogs. Having a farm of unusual fertility, on 
a grav<d liase,some jiarts of which are underlaid 
utiil mi.ved with immense shell deposits and a 
decomposition resembling lime; it is especially 
ailapted to the raising of corn, and, conse- 
«|ucutly, the stock aliove mentioned. In 1878 
135 head were raised and fattened for market 
on this farm, .\nother industry on this farm 
of more than ordinary interest is the making 
of tna|)le syrup from the extensive camp on 
the farm. The farm is rich in fossiliferous 
remains. A moose's head an<l anlh-rs were 
taken from Rush Creek ditch whilst digging 
through the singular white de|)osit land on 
said farm. A more extended account will be 



given in the township work. The farm is 
called Moosehead Farm. 

JOB THO.MAS PUGH, farmer; P. O., Big 
Springs. The Pugh family originally came 
from Wales. The family line comrm-nces 
with Ellis Pugli; then through Thomas Pugh 
to Eli Pugh; then David I'ugh, born in Fred- 
erick Co., Va., in 1801, whose wife was Re- 
becca Pugh, born May 27, 1814, in ^Varren 
Co., Ohio; she was the daughter of Thomas 
Pugh, of Newbury Dist., S. C, who came to 
Warren Co., Ohio, in 1801; their marriage 
occurred Nov. 1, 1832, and on Jan. 7, 1833, 
they settled on the farm where Mrs. Pugh 
now lives, in Rush Creek Tp. The children 
are — Eli, horn Nov. 15, 1830; Job Thomas, 
Aug. 15, 1838; David Bales, Feb. 7, 1848; A. 
S. B., Sept. 30, 1840; .Mary Jane, July 17, 
1851; and Malcenia Liniette, June 19, 1S55. 
The father, David Pugh, died July 24, 1870, 
and was buried on the farm where he died. 
Job Thomas Pugh married Priscilla lli'len 
Reeder on the 12th day of May, 1800. She 
was the daughter of John and Mary Ann 
Reeder, and was born Aug. 20, 1843, in Lake 
Tp., Logan Co., Ohio. Her family line were 
— Abd(>l Reeder, who died in August, 1843; 
his wife, ?]lizabeth Reeder; his son, John 
Vance Reeder. was born Feb. G, 1815, in Knox 
Co., Va. On IViscilla's mother's side, James 
Henry was her grandfather; his wife was 
Priscilla Wagant. Mary Aim Henry was the 
wife of John Vance Reeder; they were mar- 
ried Dec. 27, 1840. 

JOB THO.MAS PUGH, farmer; P. ()., 
Rushvslvania. The family of Job T. Pugh 
are — Edwin Orlando, born March 3, 1802; 
Willis Grant, Nov. 9, 1.S05; Mary Rebecca, 
March 20, 1809, and died Dec'. 25, 1870; 
Sarah Elizabeth, born Jan. 2, 1874, and died 
Aug. 25, 1875. Job Thomas Pugh is by oc- 
cuj)ation a farmer and stock-breeder, especial- 
ly of shee]), which, with constant care and at- 
tention, he has raised far above the common 
standard. His farm, called Homcdale, wliich 
is located about a mile and a (piarter east of 
Big S])rin<rs. besides its beautiful location, 
has a distinguishing and valualjle feature in 
the running wells wliich overflow, alVording 
am|jle supplies of water at all times. The 
water is white suljihur. The depth of the 
well in liis yard, from which the sulphur water 
constantly issues, is 43 feet, and of the one 



RUSH CREEK TOWNSHIP. 



699 



on the southwest part of his farm, it is 45 feet, 
the inequalities of surface accounting for the 
ditference in deptli. Job T. Pugh and his 
wife are members of the Protestant Methodist 
Church, and are of that class of societ}- whose 
aim is the elevation and advancement of all 
to a higher plane. In stock, otherwise than 
sheep, his farm has all the usual appoint- 
ments. 

CHARLES QUINN, farmer; P. O., Kush- 
sylvania. Charles Quinn was born in Cham- 
paign Co., O., in 1818. On the 9th day of 
October, 1838, he married Clarissa Chamber- 
lin, who was horn in Monroe Co., N. Y., on 
the 23d day of May, 1819. The same year in 
which ho was married he settled in Logan 
Co., where he remained until his death, which 
occurred Aug. 7, 1865, leaving a widow anil 
four children to mourn his loss. The chil- 
dren were — Caroline, born July 33, 1840; 
family, May 18, 1841, and who died Oct. 11, 
1804, nearly a year prior to her father's death; 
Mary, Oct. 14, 1843, and died in July, 18(Ji); 
Harriet, April 18, 1844, died June 7, 1878; 
Catharine, Feb. 33, 1853, and married George 
W. Lash, Jan. 14, 1875, who resides with his 
mother-in-law and manages the afl'airs of the 
I'arm. The residence of Mrs. Quinn stands 
exactly on the line of the old road called 
HvdTs Trace, which was visil)le at that time, 
and the red man often loilged in her house. 
Their huts still remained on the farm, and 
wolves howled in all directions. She has seen 
bears, wildcats, deer, and other denizens of a 
wild forest, in their native state, and jirior to 
her marriage heard George McCulloch preach 
in a cabin which stood on the farm where she 
now resides. The raising of wheat and fine 
horses is a specialty on this farm, and hospi- 
tality and kindness are among the virtues of 
this household. 

NATHANIEL RAMSEY, farmer; P. O. 
Big Springs; John Ramsey was a native of 
Irehxnd, who came to Virginia at an eai-ly 
period, and died in consequence of being 
hotly pursued by Indians, and whilst heated 
drinking cold water lo excess; his son, Alex- 
ander Ramsey, was without any nationality, 
so to speak, being born on the Atlantic 
Ocean during the passage from Ireland to 
America; his brother John and sister Polly, 
separated from him, and going to the South- 
ern States, all trace of them has been lost; 



Alexander came to Lexington, Ky., and there 
learned the blacksmith trade. He afttrward 
married Elizabeth Cutright, a German lady, 
and removed to the Scioto Valley, Ross Co., 
when there were but two cabins in Chilli- 
cothe; from Ross Co. he removed to Fayette 
Co., and from thence, in September, 1833, to 
Logan Co., in what was then Perry Tp.; his 
family consisted of Polly, John, Cynthia, 
Andrew, Rosanna, Catharine, Anderson, Na- 
thaniel and Alexander, Jr., now deceased. 
Nathaniel Ramsey, the subject of this sketch, 
married i\nn Sidney Starbuck, a resident, 
born in Logan Co., Ohio; the family are — 
Clarissa ^now dead), Sarah Ann, John (de- 
ceased), Jane and James, twins; James is 
now deceased, William now in Kansas, and 
Abraham; Sarah Ann married Leonard Ho- 
gle, of Iroquois Co., 111. It was in the wil- 
derness that Nathaniel Ramsey reared his 
cabin, which was ofttimes visited by prowling 
wolves; his recollection of this and other 
picmeer reminiscences is vivid; he names the 
first settlers with alacrity and precision; in 
him are found the genial s])iritof the pioneer 
and the courteous and hospitable disposition 
of the people of his native State; age has 
not impaired his vivacity, nor labor bowed 
him down; like all the early settlers, when ac- 
costed regarding the history of the past, his 
soul takes fire and youth seems again to be 
his; as an honest son of toil he farms for a 
livelihood, raises good horses, hogs and cat- 
tle, and leaves this record of himself for his 
children and children's children to rally by, 
when he shall cro hence to ])e seen no tnori\ 
CHARLOTTE STRINGFELLOW ROB- 
ERTS, widow, P. O., Harper; is the relict of the 
late Jesse Roberts, the preacher and historian, 
who was born Nov. 37, 181G, in Clinton Co., 
Ohio. John Roberts was the father of James 
Roberts, of Tennessee, and James was the 
father of Rev. Jesse Roberts. The father of 
Lawson Rudasill was from Germany; but 
Lawson was born in Rappahannock Co., Va., 
east of the Blue Ridge, Jan. 4, 1798, and 
July 30, 187(J, at the age of 78 years, 6 months 
and 1() days, died. On the 10th of September, 
1840, .Fesse Roberts, son of James and Mary 
Roberts, married Charlotte Stringfellow Ruil- 
i-.sill, who was born May 15, 1833, the daugh- 
ter of Lawson and Harriet Rudasill. The 
family record runs thus — Isaiah Allen, born 



J'- 



700 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Au<j. 7, 1841; Lawson Leander, Oct. 6, 1842; 
Milton \Ycllington, Aug. 2, 1844, died Aug. 
8, 1849; Mary Ann, born Sept. 7, 184G; Har- 
riet, July 7, 1848; Calvin, Aug. 8, 18.50; .Jesse 
Fulton, Jan. 'Zd, 1852; Barclay, Jan. 28, 1854; 
Judson, Dec. 11, 1855; the twin brothers, 
Johnson and Jonatiian, were born Nov. 25, 
1857; Johnson died March 18, 1859, at the 
age of 1 year, .3 months and 2."5 days; Lucy 
Jane, born Jan. 17, 1801; Franklin, Dec. 27, 
18G2, and Lottie Ida, Oct. 28, 1804. The Rev. 
Jesse Roberts was one of the early ministers of 
the gospel in Rush Creek Tp. In rudely 
constructed churches and cabin school-houses 
here he preached to audiences clad in the 
homespun garb of the pioneer. He was the 
parish minister and the historian as well, with 
capabilities which lacked but development to 
]ilace him on a plane with Bennett, or Head- 
ley, or Twain. He attempted poetry with a 
degree of success. ' His writings are familiar 
in every household in this community. Many 
were the marriages he solemnized, the funer- 
als he preached, the words of consolation he 
uttered. For thirty-eight years he labored as 
a minister of the Discijiles' Church, and on 
the 24th of March, 1879, his lifeless remains 
onlv were left, to be soon consigned to the 
tomb. Mrs. Roberts survives him, together 
with a large family, who arc scatterea in dif- 
ferent localities, one being in Harper, one in 
Rushsylvaiiia, one near Ho|)ewell, one in 
Missouri, two in Iowa, and a daughter mar- 
ried in this township, whilst over the four 
youngests he has y(!t to exercise a mother's 
care. 

CONNER ROLLINS, farmer; P. O.. Rush- 
sylvania. A'irgiiiia, which has very appro- 
priateij' been called the niotlier of Presidents, 
has furnished, also, many of the pioneer fam- 
ilies of Ohio and other States; the history of 
Logan Co. is rich with mi'mories of Virginia, 
and the Rollins family, like many others 
there, coTninence their history in Culpepper 
Co. John Rollins was l)orn in Culpepper Co., 
and rcinuvi'd to Ohio, arriving at Zanesfield 
Doc. 25, is:j:i, and after staying in that ]ilace 
over night, he started the ne.xt morning for 
Rush Creek Tp-, where lie settled, and where. 
Fob. 17, ISOl, he finished his course at the 
ago of S2 years. 7 months and 1 7 days, and 
was gathered to his fathers; his widow, who 
hail borne life's burdens and cares with him, 






Still survives him. at an age far more ad- 
vanced than that at which her husband ceased 
his labors. John Rollins was twice married; 
his first wife was a descendant of the Monroe 
laniily of Virginia, by whom he had si,\ chil- 
dren — .lolin, Catharine, Sarah, James, Mary 
and Elizabeth. His second bride was Matilda 
Golden, the mother of Conner liollins, Fanny, 
Ashbay and George Washington, four in all; 
Ashbay and George Washington are minis- 
ters of the gospel, Ashbay in the Discijiles' 
Church, and George Washington in the 
Protestant Methodist Church. Conner Rol- 
lins was born in Culpepper Co., Va., Se])t. 1, 
1830, and came to Ixigan ('o. with his parents 
in 183:}. On Aug. 15, 1801, he married Miss 
Anna Musselman, daughter ol Michael Mus- 
sehnan, of Rush Creek Tp.; his daughter 
Jane constitutes his entire family, and her 
l>irthday was Oct. 22, 1800. Conner is a 
farmer, well-to-do, but who knows the value 
of his property, having acquired it all himself 
by honest industry; of steady and indus- 
trious habits, he lives contentedly b}' stock 
and farm products; now directing- all his 
energies and bending all his purposes t( - 
ward sheep hi s')aiidrv for future operations; 
he reads forhimself, and draws his own 
conclusions; he is sober, honest, truthful and 
industrious. 

ALDRIDGE RUDASIIJ,, fanner; P.O., 
Rushsylvaiiia. The Rudasill family came 
from Germany, and settled in Virginia, in the 
Shenandoah S'alley. Lawson Rudasill was 
born in Rappahannock Co., Va. After his 
marriage witli Harriet Odor, he came to Ohio, 
and settled in Logan Co. The-family were — 
Charlotte S., James Wesley, John Winfield, 
Jerome, Amanda, Aldridge, I,ouisa and Har- 
riet by his first wife; and by his second wife, 
Marv, who was the daughter of .Tames Dobie; 
she had four children. Aliriilge Rudasill, born 
June 22, 1837, in I^ogan Co., and married 
to Samantha Ste])lienson, the dau^rhter of 
N\'illiam and Louisa Stephenson, on the lltli 
day of October, ISOO, and who wa« born .luly 
20, 1837. His children are — Louis Henry, born 
Dec. 10, ISOl; Kenneth. Jan. 13, 1804, died 
Sept. 21, 1870; Lorena, born March 22, ISC,'.); 
I.cona, Nov. 5, 1S72, and ]']lkin Jerome, .Ian. 
10, 1875. Aldridge Rudasill is a farmer who 
is more of an agriculturist than a stock-raiser. 
He lai'gely cultivates the cereals usual to the 



RUSH CREEK TOWNSHIP. 



701 



country, and is one of those reading, thinking 
men who must have a reason for everything 
before arriving- at conclusions. In his cliurch 
connections he is a member of the Christian 
Church. In the fall of liSGl, at Bellefontaine, 
he enlisted in the 1st Missouri Regiment, 
called at that time Birge's Sharpshooters, 
which was intended as a body-guard for Gen. 
John C. Fremont. With the regiment he 
went to Missouri; then from Missouri to Ten- 
nessee as a musician in the regimental band. 
He received his discharge at Ft. Donaldson, 
and came home in April, 18(32, re-enlisted the 
next vear, and served until .lulv, ISfj."). 

JOHN PHILANDEK KUDASH.l,, farm- 
er; P. O. Rushsylvania. Lawson Rudasill's 
father was a native of Crermany and settled 
in Eastern Virginia in liappahaimoek Co., 
where, on the -tth of January, 1798, Lawson 
was born, and on the 20th day of July, 1S7G, 
he died, aged 78 years, 6 months and IG 
days. His son, John Winfield Rudasill, was 
born in Rappahannock Co., \'a., also during 
the month of August, 1825. His wife was 
Lydia Ann Sutton, daughter of Jonathan 
and Rebecca Sutton, of the State of Ken- 
tucky, who, prior to the birth of Lydia Ann, 
on the 8th day of June, 1828, had removed 
to Rush Creek Tp., J-ogan Co., O. The mar- 
riage of John Winfield Rudasill and Lydia 
Ann Sutton occurred Feb. 8, 184G; two years 
thereafter he removed to Missouri, and died 
Feb. 5, 1865. His family are — Jonathan Sut- 
ton, born Jan. 2G, 1848, n^arried Agnes Lamp- 
son April G, 18G(); Harriet Summerville, 
bom June 4, 1848, and died Aug. 24, 18G2; 
Mary UiHy, born Jan. 2G, 1850. and married 
William B. Wallace, Sept. 27, 1871; George 
Dowling, born Feb. 20, 1852, and married Emi- 
ly Torbert, of Illinois, in April, 187G; John 
Philander, born June 27, 1854; Elizabeth 
Jane, Fel). 21, 185G, and married Albert 
G. Day in December, 1878; Leah Rebecca, 
born April 23, 1858; Llewella Olive, 
Feb. 20, 18G0, died Sept. 2, 18G2; Horence 
May, born Sept. 21, 18G2; Winfield J., 
Jan. 8, 18G5, died Feb. 18, 1878. By occu- 
pation, John Philander Rudasill is a farmer 
and stock-raiser. He is also a gentleman of 
fine mechanical talent, who lacks but culture 
in that direction to develop ability rarely 
manifested. Like many of the farmers of 
Rush Creek Tp., he evinces a decided prefer- 



ence for the handling and sale of hogs, and to 
this end his energies are mainh' directed. In 
early life, the fates decreed that he should 
assume the responsibilities of his deceased 
father, and his fidelity to his widowed mother 
and the other members of the family, who 
have been dependent upon him for support, 
have enabled him to manifest to the world 
the true principles of manhood and call forth 
the admiration of all who have been witnesses 
of his very amiable demeanor, as he has thus 
been the supj)ort of the widowed mother in 
her declining years. 

SAMUEL STANFIELD, farmer; P. O., 
Harper. Thomas Stanfield, Jr., was born 
the 9th month, 2Gth day, 1790, in the State 
of Tennessee; Margaret Reames, wife of 
Thomas Stanfield, Jr., was born the 9th 
month, 9th day, 1790, in South Carolina; 
they were mairied on the oOth of the 
0th month, 1814. Thomas Stanfield, .Ir., 
1 departed this life the 11th month, 12th 
day, 1839, aged 49 years. His children 
were — Lydia Stanfield, who w^as born 11th 
i month, 24th day, 1814, married to George 
; Parker the 1st month, 9th day, 1834. Sarah 
l Stanfield was born 5th month, 21st day, 1817; 
died Gth month, Gth da}-, 1828, aged 12 years. 
Mary Stanfield was born 10th month, 2nd day, 
1818, and died 8th month, 10th day, 187G; 
was married to Isaac Ray in 1837, but her 
husliand dying, she married William Reames; 
she left five children. .John Stanfield was 
born the 8th month, 10th day, 1820, and died 
the 2nd day of the 5th month, 18G1. William 
Stanfield was born the (Jth month, 2Gth day, 
1822, and died the Sth month, 11th diiy, 
1853; was married to Mary Jane Milligan the 
10th month, 14th day, 1849. Thomas Stan- 
field, 3rd, was born 8th month, loth day, 1824; 
was married to Sarah E. Littler 5th month, 30th 
day, 1847. Jesse Stanfield was born 8th 
month, 31st day, 182G, and died 11th month, 
9th day, 18G3. He was in the Union army 
and fell in the battle of Carrion Crow on the 
date above given. Naomi Stanfield was born 
the 8th month, 1st day, 1829, and died the 
9th month and 10th day, 1855; she was twice 
married, her first husband being Thomas 
Richards, and her second husband James 
Cummins. At her death she left three chil- 
dren. Samuel Stanfield, the subject of this 
sketch, was born the 11th month, 23rd day, 



'-9 

r 



-^1>^. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



IS'i'i, and was married to Martha Douglass, 
daughter of Samuel aiul Kebecca IJoiiglass, 
the nth month and 9th day, 1853. David 
Stanfiehl was horn the Sth month, ]lth day, 
183G;died the 11th month and 11th (W, 1S55, 
aged 1!) years and 4 months. Martha Doug- 
lass, wife of Samuel Staiiheld, was born Jan. 
2, 1837. The family of Samuel are — .lohn 
W., born Oct. 18, 1854; Margaret Alice, born 
Feb. io, 1857, and married George "NY. Ens- 
h-y, Feb. 21, 1878; Franklin E., born July 1, 
1S59. Margaret Stanfield, wife of 'Th mas 
Stanfield, Jr., died 7tli month, 4th day, 1859, 
aged 08 years. Sarah Kebecca, born Jan. 4, 
l'8(;4; Samuel Ewing, Sept. 27, 1S68, 
and died July 19, IS^G; Charley Oscar, born 
Se])t. 3, 1874; Arthur Harold, Jan. 8. 
1880. This sket.'h which embraces the first 
and the latest periods of the history of Rush 
Ureek Tp. holds in its records a voice from 
the past. It claims the first church (or an in- 
terest in it), the first school, the first cabin 
and the first graveyard. The representative 
of this ancient family, Samuel Stanfield, still 
holds the name, and makes a maiilv eft'ort to 
han<l it down to his descendants untarnished. 
A sturdy son of toil, a farmer, and a man de- 
voted to stock-raising, he trusts the patient 
hatuls of industry lor a livelihood, and, like 
his ancestors, lives in the non-resistant faith 
of the Quakc>rs, that he may die like them 
and be gathered to the venerated burial-place 
of his fathers. 

JOKI, THOMAS, fanner; V. (J., liushsyl- 
vania. Joel Thomas was a native of Wales, 
who emigrated to America, and died in the 
city of Detroit, Mich., and Joel Thomas, his 
son, was a native of New York, but who, emi- 
grating to Ohio, was one of.tho earliest set- 
tlers of Cliain[)aign Co. He settled on 
"Pretty I'rairic," in said county, and, with his 
father. f(j|lowed driving cattle to Detroit dur- 
ing the warof 1812. Joel Thomas, son of the 
latter and grandson of the former Joel Thomas, 
was born Dec. 25, 1811, on " Pretty Prairie," 
Champaign Co., Ohio. On the 1st day of 
July, 1S3.S, he joined hands with Ha<-hel Leon- 
ard, born May 2tl, l.SKl, m Washington Co., 
Pa., and thes!- pioruHTS have passed through 
forty years of their country's history together. 
They have had the following children, who 
were born as follows — Phebe .lane, born May 
H), 1.S39; Miirv Ann, \..v. 3. |s4n,died wheli 



FT« 



11 months old; Sarah Ellen, born Jan. 17, 
1843, died Jan. 8, ISGIi; Gt^orge Washington, 
born July 17, 1845; William L., Sept. 14, 1847; 
Elizabeth, April 9, 1851, died Sept. 12, 1879; 
.fohn B., born April (J, 1853, and Angeline, 
Aug. 12, 1855. Our subject was one of the pio- 
neers of Logan Co., and of Hush Creek Tp. 
He settled on the head waters of Miami, which 
was then a wilderness, and what is called 
Miami farm was ])aid for with money earned 
at the rate of three shillings per daj'. The 
head spring of the Miami was on his farm. 
He heartl George McCulloch preach his first 
sermon, and heard Dr. Gray Eyes, the Indian 
preacher, ])reach in the cabin of his father-in- 
law, Ebenezer Zane. lie was an eye-witness 
to the terrific tornado of 1827, and has eaten 
bear meat in the cabin of Ebenezer Zane. 
Although bowed with the infirmities of age, 
his memory is still rich with pioneer reminis- 
cences, which he relates with the vigor of 
youth. Of this family, three are dead, and 
the balance, all save one, are married and set- 
tled in dilTerent sections of the country. Two 
reside in Hardin Co., one in Sandusky city, 
one in Livingston Co., 111., and one, a son, re- 
mains at home. Farming pursuits and stock- 
raising, cs])ecially horses, engross his atten- 
tion in his declining years. 

SAMUEL TUFECE, farmer; P. O., Rush- 
sylvania. The Treece family came from Ger- 
many originally, and settled in Peiuisylvania. 
Pet<'r Treece, one of the lirst Am(>rican born 
of this family name, was born in Beaver Tp., 
Union Co., Pcnn. Samuel Treece was the 
son of Pi>ter Treece, and was born on the 11th 
day of December, ISOC), in Beaver Tp., Un- 
ion Co., Penn. On the Gth day January, 
1846, Samuel married Jane Craig, who was 
born Nov. 11, 1827, in Clarke Co., ().; the 
chihlren of this tamilv are — Eliza Ann, born 
Jan. 3, 184!i, William' Lyman, Dec. 25, 1852, 
and -Mary Ellen, .Ian. 11, 1858. Samuel 
Treece came from Columbus, ()., to his |)res- 
ent location in 1844, and settled in the wil- 
derness; he was oiu' of those sturdy Penn- 
svlvania (ternums who came to subdue the 
wilderness and make it to blossom with the 
fruits of iiulustrv and the reward of labor; 
h<' was a blacksmith by trade, and for nine 
years prior to his arrival in Rush Creek 
'Pp., foiloweil that business in the city of 
C'obiinbus; his neiirhbors were few, as Daniel 



RUSH CREEK TOWNSHIP. 



703 



Vassar, .Tacol) Kearns, Peter Bowers, Jacob 
Bovvers and Joel Thomas constituted all of 
them. There were no roads near him easy of 
access, and his home was like a "lodge in 
some vast wilderness." When in Coiuinhus, 
Samuel saw the train which removed the San- 
dusky Indians to the western reservation. 
The train consisted of more than 200 wagons, 
in which they and their effects were being 
transported. He has helped to open the 
roads of the township, and, as is the cas(^ with 
all pioneers, bore his part in the necessary 
improvements of the county; his only son, 
William Lyman Treece, who married Sarah 
L. Nash, daughter of Samuel Nash, of Logan 
Co., on the ^3rd day of November, 1875, ex- 
tends the family line. Yet one remove in the 
jierson of his son, Frank Wilbur Treeee, liorn 
Sept. 0, 1876. William is naturally indus- 
trious and frugal, a farmer in the true sense, 
who, provided with stock scales and the 
necessary means for business purposes, turns 
in an especial manner to the raising of hogs, 
in one instance producing one that weinhed 
903 pounds, the acknowledged champio of 
his species; the improvement of his farm 
stock is his constant aim, and devotion to 
business is his passport to success. 

WILLL\M WHITE WATKINS, farmer; 
P. O., Rushsylvania. James Watkins Sr., was 
an Englishman, who came to the United States 
about the middle of the eighteenth century, 
settling in Sussex Co., Va. His family con- 
sisted of — .lohn, Reuben, James, Benjamin and 
Roliert, sons; the daughters vyere — Sarah, 
Susan and Winnie; all of whom emigrated to 
Ohio at diiferent periods, excepting Robert, 
who went to Indiana. James Watkins, Jr., 
emigrated to Belmont Co., (_)hio, in the begin- 
ning of the year 1809, and, after remaining 
about a year, he returned to Sussex Co., Va., 
and married Nancy Ann White, of Sussex 
Co. Their marriage occurred April 10, 1810. 
James Watkins was born June 6, 1786. His 
wife was born March 11, 178.5, both in Sussex 
Co. There were six children b)' this union — 
Polly, born March 10, 1811, in Sussex Co., 
Va.; Hein-y, May 3, 1813, in Belmont Co., 
Ohio; Harriet, in September, 1816, in Bel- 
mcmt Co., the same year in which the family 
removed to Logan Co.; Elisha, Oct. 9, 1819, 
in Logan Co. The last child born in this 
family was William White Watkins, Oct. 13, 



18-:*5, in Jefferson Tp., near Zanesfield. Wil- 
liam W. Watkins married Rebecca J. Elliott, 
daughter of .loseph and Elizabeth Elliott, of 
Stark Co., Ohio, April 23, 1847. William 
W. Watkins' family are ten children in all, 
nine of whom are living. Their names are 
William Jas])er, born April 10, 1848, in Jef- 
ferson Tp.; Charles Wesley, May 2, 1849, in 
Jefferson Tp.; Nancy Elizabeth, Dec. 22, 
1850, in Perry Tp.; James Hamilton, Oct. 

24, 1852, in Perry T]).; Joseph Milton, April 

25, 1854, in Rush Creek Tp.; Mary Melissa, 
June 9, 1856, in Rush Creek Tp.; Eliza .Jane, 
Feb. 18, 1858, in Rush Cr(!ekTp.; Isaac New- 
ton, Nov. 14, 1859, in Rush Creek Tp.; Har- 
riet Adeline, Dec. 2, 1861, and died .Ian. 3, 
1862; and Aaron S. AVatkins, born Nov. 27, 
1863, in Rush Creek Tj). William Jasper 
married Mary O. Robb, of Logan Co., for his 
first wife; his second wife was Sarah Kelly. 
Charles Wesley married Irene Wickersham; 
he is now an attorney at Huntington, Ind. 
Nancy Elizabeth married David Harriman,of 
Logan Co. James H. married Martha Kelly, 
of Logan Co. Joseph Milton married Mary 
E. Kearns, of Logan Co. Margaret M. mar- 
ried Spain. A. Skidmore, of Union Co., Ohio. 
By occu]iation, \^'illiam W. Watkitis is a 
farmer, handling in a business way horses, 
cattle, sheep and hogs, latterly turning his 
attention to sheeji more particularly. He has 
paid special attention to family education, 
eight of his family having already been teach- 
ers, and a ninth member of the family now 
holds a certificate of iiualification; one is 
already noted as an attorney at Huntington, 
Ind. Mr. Watkins settled in the wilderness, 
cleared his farm, assisted his neighbors at 
raising cabins and log-rollings where were 
3,000 acres of almost unbroken wilderness, 
save two squatter improvements. His church 
connections embrace l)oth the Protestant and 
Methodist Episcopal Churches. 

PROF. JOSEPH HARVEY WYLIE, pro- 
fessor and teacher; Rushsylvania. The his- 
tory of this important family commences 
with the removal of William Wylie from 
Perry Co. to Muskingum in 1823, and where 
he remained until his death in 1875, in his 
77th year. William was married three times; 
there were two children by his first wife, 
none by the second, and six by the third. 
The Rev. Preston H. Wylie, his son, was 



J, 



704 



BIOGEAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



born ill April, 18:^3, in Perry Co., O., aiid, 
when soiiietliing over two years of age, he 
ami his infant brother James were left moth- 
erless. He remained in Muskingum Co. until 
ISi'i, when he married Mary A. Georg-e, who 
was born in 1830, and who died in February, 
1861; he afterwards removed to Northwood, 
Logan Co., O. His family consisted of two 
children — Martha Rachel and James Ren- 
wick. Prior to his removal to Northwood, he 
was engaged in farming and teaching, and at 
Northwood commenced a course of study 
preparatorv for tlie ministry; he was licensed 
as a minister in the Reformed Presbyterian 
Church in 185;^, and in 1S")-1 removed to T^ake 
Co., Ind., where he remained until 18()0 as 
Pastor of I.,ake Eliza Church, in that county. 
In 18()() he became pastor of tlie Reformed 
Presbyterian Churches of Rushsylvania and 
Macedon, the latter being in Mercer Co., O. 
In February, 1801, liis wife, whose death we 
before alluded to, was buried in Northwood 
cemetery. In 1803 he married Rebecca 
Adams Hayes, of Greene Co., (). At this 
timi- he was a resident of Rushsylvania, and 
after his marriage he removed to Nortiiwood, 
where he remained iintif 181)4. In the win- 
ters of 1808, '(i',1 and '70, he was a professor 
in Geneva College at Northwood; in 1870, he 
resigned his ])astoral charge at Rushsylvania, 
and retnov(>d to Macedon, Mercer Co., O., 
where he at this writing resides. His family are 
Martha Raclud, Ixjrn in 1840, and who, grad- 
uating at Geneva College, in 187."), left the 
land of her nativity in the fall of that year, 
and embarked as a missionary to Latakiyeh, 
in Syria; William Melancthon, born in 1848, 



entered Geneva College in 1803, and died iii 
18(57, in his senior (college) year; .lames Ren- 
wick, born November, 1850, entered Geneva 
College in 1807, and was teacher at the Or- 
))han's Home at Dayton, Pa., during the 
school year of 1871-3; he entered Geneva 
College again and graduated in 1873; he 
was licensed as a minister in 187(), and made 
Pastor of three charges in Mercer Co., Pa., in 
1877; in December, 1879, he married, at 
Parnassus, Pa., Miss Nettie Armstrong, of 
that place; he now resides at Mercer, in 
Pennsj-lvania. Thomas Ale.\ander Hender- 
son, born November, 18.54, entered Wright's 
Normal School in 1871, and Geneva Col- 
lege in 1S73, and graduated in 1875, and 
was made Professor of Morning Sun Academy 
from 1875-0; lu; was licensed to jireach in 
1879, and for six months was Pastor at St. 
.Johns, N. B.; in 1880, he was a])))ointe(i as 
missionary in a Western work at Burlington, 
la. Prof. Joseph Harvey Wylie, a young 
man of sterling (pialities, was born in T.,ake 
Co., Ind., on the 13th day of November, 1858; 
he entered Geneva College as a jireparatorv 
student in 1875, where he remained three 
years, com])leting the Sophomore course, 
when he taiight for a year and a half, ami, 
returning to college in 1879, completed his 
junior year in 18<S0, and, upon the resigna- 
tion of Prof. Galbraith, succeeded to the 
Superintendency of the Public .Schools of 
Rushsylvania. .John Henry is the oidy chilil 
of the last marriage, and was born in 1804, 
and is the only mendier of this intellectual 
family remaining at home. The family are 
scattered from Syria to the Mississippi ijivcr. 



LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 



D. B. Af.I-EN, physician; West Liberty. 
In all professions, and more especially the 
medical, we (ind men of diH'erent tpialiHca- 
tions. There are those who claim the title of 
.M. D. upon the fact of a diiiloma having been 
granted them, and others who have earned 
the title by years of hard, com]>rehensive 
study. Incluiled in the laltiT cla.ss is Dr. D. 
B. Allien, who is a thoromjhlv educateil gentle- 



man in literary lore as well as in the science 
of medicine. He is a luitive of L'nion C.i.. 
this State, anil was born Dec. 1, 1833. He 
attended school in the county until he 
was 17, afterwards entering at Norwalk 
Seminary, where he remained three years, 
making a sjiecialtv of matiiematics. He then 
taught school at Mt. Ciilead, < )hio, and during 
the' time he was reading medicine with 1 >!■. 



V 



LIBJEETY TOWNSHIP. 



705 



Sapp — continuing- three years — he then atten- 
ded the Willoughby College in 1845-413, and 
afterwards began practicing- at Millville, 
Delaware Co., where he remained one year; 
transferring- thence to Sunhury, in the same 
county, a:id then engaged with Dr. Sapp 
until 1840, when he came to this [jlace and re- 
mained until IS.JU; he then went to Monte- 
zuma, Iowa, and practiceil there and at 
Winterset vuitil 18()1, at which time he applied 
to the professors of College at Keokuk for an 
examination, and was granted a diploma by 
paying a matriculation fee; was soon com- 
missioned Assistant Surgeon of the First Iowa 
Cavalry, in which position he remained 
eighteen months, and was then commissioned 
surgeon of the 30th I. V. I., where he re- 
mained until the spring- of 18G4, when he 
resigned his commission, returned home, and 
soon after settled again in West Libertj-, 
where he has since resided, and has a lucra- 
tive practice. He was married in 1848 to 
Sarah, daughter of Wilber and Hannah 
(Lewis) Caswell, by whom he has had three 
children, two of whom are living — ililler S., 
assistant editor on the Xew York /Sfni; and 
Charles W. B. Dr. Allen has been an active 
member of the School Hoard at this place, and 
is now a member of the town council. He 
and his wife are members of the ilethodist 
Episcopal Church at this place. He is a 
member of the State and County Medical 
Societies, and is an active Republican. 

SAMUEL ARMSTRONG, miller; West 
Liberty; was l)orn Dec. "^4, 18"21, in Cham- 
j)aigii Co., O. His father, Anilrew, was Ijorn 
in Pennsylvania, and his mother, Mary, in 
j"Lentucky; they settled in Chamjiaign Co., 
in 1818, and iinally in Sheiby Co., 1838. They 
had five children: William, lives now in In- 
diana; Samuel; Sarah .1., nuirried Wm. K. Hel- 
vey, and is living in Delaware Co., Ind. ; Lewis, 
died when young; Elizabeth, living in Mem- 
phis, Tenn. His ])arents were ijoth members 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1843 
(the father having died in 1840), our subject 
and his mother moved back to Clark Co., 
where they had formerly lived. In a short 
time, Sarah .1. was married, and the mother 
went to live with her in Indiatia, and there 
died iu 1846. Samuel was married, ilarcli 9, 
1845, to Catharine, a daughter of George and 
Elizabeth Roller, who was born, 1823, in Vir- 



ginia; by her he had six children — Joseph, 
deceased, Melissa J., George H., William, 
James E. and John R. They lived but a 
short time in Clark Co., and then moved to 
Shelby Co., where he farmed and worked as 
a blacksmith for some time. In 1850 he built 
a mill in Ft. Jefferson, that county, in which 
he engaged for two years and then traded the 
same for a farm iu said county. He farmed 
it for two }-ears, afterwards trading for a grist- 
mill costing ^14,501', known as the " Maxwell 
Mill;" here he remained for ten years. H(! 
again traded for a farm, and entered nu-al life 
for another period of two years. In 1876 he 
came to West Liberty, and bought the present 
mill, which has been here over sixty years. 
He has been engaged here ever since. He 
runs four sets of buhrs by Turbine water-power 
wheels, having plenty of water during the 
year; he does mostly custcMii work, and ships 
(juite an amount to New York. He is identi- 
fied with the Democratic partv, and cast his 
first presidential vote for Jackson. Mr. Arm- 
strong is the architect of his own fortune. 

GEORGE F. BAILEY, cooper; West Lib- 
erty; is the son of .lames and Catharine 
(Vandegrift) Bailey; his father was born in 
Harford Co., Md., Feb. 10, 1795, and his 
mother in the same county July 7, 1797; thev 
came to Ohio in 1840, settling at Cambridge, 
Guernsey Co., and in 1844 came to Licking 
Co., settling in Alexandria, where the father 
is still living, the mother haviug died .June 
'ii, 1865; she was the mother of JMary E., 
George F., Edwin and Sarah A.; the father 
was again married; his parents were Presby- 
terians. George F. was born Jan. 13, 1850, 
in Harford Co., .Md., where he spent his boy- 
hood days attending school. At the age of 
15 he began learning- the cooper's trade with 
his father, which he continued until he was 
21 years old; he then started on his own re- 
sources, having a few tools, onlv, to begin 
with. He situated himself at Roscoe, Co- 
shocton Co., where he remained until Nov. 2, 
1849, when he went to California, there en- 

Sfasrinar, durinof the summer of 1851, in the 

,. ,.-1 

gold mines, and at his trade in Sacramento 

Citv. Jn Se])tember, 1851, he returned by 
water, ami again wtirked at his trade at Ros- 
coe. July 1, 1852, he went to Licking- Co. to 
visit his parents, and on Aug. 20, 1852, he 
came to West Liberty, where he has since 



i V 



706 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



reniaineil. He was married June 28,1853, at 
Al'ixandria, Licking Co., to Susan Van Jius- 
kirk, 1)V whom lie had four children, two of 
whom survive — Oleeta and ])onn C; his wife 
died June 12, 1859; was again married July 
22, 18G0, to Ann M. Vanliuskirk; by her he 
has one child — Van Hnskirk. He enlisted in 
Co. G, 132 O. V. I., and ranked as Sergeant; 
was elected to the town council for nine 
years, and is now serving his third term as 
Justice of the Peace and Township Trustee. 
He was early identified with the Whig i>arty, 
having voted first for President Taylor, and 
at tile organization of the Republican party 
he entered its ranks, and has been a valiant 
soldier in the cause ever since. He is now a 
member of the Pepublican Central Commit- 
tee, and is now a local member of this town- 
shi]). Mr. Hailcy has a remarkably good 
memory, and has been for the past few years 
writing up his trip to California, which is a 
very fine j)roduction. He was one of the 
suflerers of the great fire during the summer 
of ISSO. but he is not given to despair, and 
is now rebuilding some magnificent build 
ings. 

ENOS BALDWIN, hardware and gro- 
cery; West Liberty; was born July 22, 
1818, in Cham[)aign Co., O. He ob- 
tained a limited eclucation — as much as 
was afforded in the log cabin of those 
days. At the age of 11 his jiarents moved 
to r^ogan Co., settling in Monroe Tp-, 
where our subject engaged in rural ])ursuits. 
His father, Daniel, was l)iirn in 17113, in Ten- 
nessee, and came to Highland C<i., this State, 
when a mere boy. His mother, Hannah 
(Williams) was a native of Virginia and emi- 
grated to Logan Co. at an early <Iay. The 
)iarents of Mr. Baldwin remained in .Monroe 
T|». for seven years, transferring then to 
Hardin (V)., where the mother died in 1848. 
The father was again married, to Sallie 
Stewart, and removed to Logan Co. in 1858 
or 185!). By his former marriage he had 
eleven children, nine of whom survive — Knos, 
Mary (deceased); .lohn, who was four years in 
the S2 (). V. 1. during tiie Civil War; Uriah 
(was also out in the war), P'rances J. (de- 
ceased), William H. (was in thi' 100 days' 
service), Pliilander K. (was in thi' service from 
Iowa), Kichard ('. (stock-dealer in .Merrick 
(Vi., Nebraskii), .lesse (was in an b.wa regi- 



mei t), Nicholas W. (was in the 13th O. V. L), 
and Eli/a A. The boys who served in the 
war returned uninjured, save one slight 
wound, received by Nicholas W., at the bat- 
tle of ( 'hickamauga. The father served in the 
war of 1812; was once Associate Judge of 
Ilanlin Co., and some time Justice of the 
Peace, which positions he filled with credit to 
himself and to those who chose him; he and 
his wife were niendDers of the Methodist 
Church; their parents were raised Quakers. 
ICnos remained on the farm until he was 
alxmt 19 years of age, at which time he be- 
gan teaching school, which he continued but 
a short time. In April, 1843, he sought a 
heljimate in the person of Sarah J., a daughter 
of Henry and Abigail (Brown) Buckniister, 
natives of New Hampshire, who came to 
Wyandot Co., O., in 18-.'8, and afterward to 
Hardin Co., wdiere the mother died and the 
father is still living. Mr. Baldwin had by 
this Union two children; only one survives — 
Enos L. His wife died in 18C8, and he was 
again married, December, 1870, to Margaret 
Jane, daughter of James and Mary Jones, 
by whom he had two children — James H. 
only living. His present wife was born in 
1837. His life was spent in rural pursuits 
until 1801, when he cnt(>red into the hard- 
ware and grocery business at this place, 
which he continued alone until ISOC, when he 
enlarged by taking in Mr. Elliott as a partner, 
and since that time has merchandise<l under 
the firm name of Baldwin & ?]lliott, having 
now a full line f)f all kinds of hardware and 
groceries. He has served as Township Trustee, 
Councilman and Cemetery Trustee, and lias 
held olliee in the Presbvterian Church, of 
which denomination himself and wife are ac- 
tive members, as was also his first consort. 
He has always been identified with the He- 
])ubliean ]>arty, having cast his first vote for 
\V. H. Harrison. In all the varied experi- 
ences of the above hastily sketched life, its 
])ossessor has been particularly fortunate. He 
started life with :J500, given him by his 
father, with whom he iiad remained five years 
af.er attaining his majority. He now pos- 
sesses, outside of his ])n!scnt larg(! business, 
125 acres of well improved land in Logan 
Co., and 80 acres in Iowa. Tliough now his 
years are nearly three score and ten, he re- 
tains tlie api)earan<e and aetivitv of those 



•*—r 



k. 



LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 



707 



twenty years his junior. The hand of time 
has touched him lightly. 

J. R. CROCKETT, tanner; West Liheity; 
was born Feb. 28, 1841, in Logan Co., in the 
.same l)uilding he now occupies. His younger 
daj-s were spent somewhat in attending school. 
His father being a tanner, it was natural for 
him to turn his attention in that direction, 
and, at the age of 17, he devoted his entire 
time to the l)usiness, under the instruction of 
his father. In 1801, he formed a partnership 
with his father, which continued until 1871, 
when our subject took the whole control, and 
has since been extremely successful. He was 
married, in 1872, to Hattie R. Secord, a native 
of Michigan. She died in 1871, havinsr 
blessed him with two children, both deceased. 
He was again married, in 187'J, to Belle, a 
daughter of Samuel and Mary (Walker) 
Thatcher, now residents of De Graff, this 
county. By his last marriage he has one 
child, Mary Louisa. He and his wife are 
members of the Presbyterian Church. His 
father, Houston, was born at Manchester, 
Clark Co., Ky., and came to Liberty Tp. about 
the 3'eHr 1816, having emigrated, wlien 13 
years old, to said locality. His mother, Louisa 
Turner, was born in Champaign Co., this 
State, in 1815, and had, by her union with Mr. 
Crockett, eight children, five of whom are liv- 
ing — Lucy, now Mrs. Kelley; James A., a 
physician at Elkhart, Ind.; J. R.; Eleanora, 
married to William Petty, and Esta, married 
to Samuel Taylor. The father died Jan. 20, 
1880, in the faith of the Christian Church. 
The mother is still enjoying life's pilgrimage 
here. His grandfather. Black, was a soldier 
in the war of 1812. His grandfather. Turner, 
emigrated from England, and served the Col- 
onies all through the Revolutionary war. The 
Crockett famil3' are descendants of old David 
Crockett, the noted hunter, of Virginia. We 
may mention Houston Crockett as one of the 
early singing school teachers of this county, 
and an early and prominent member of the 
Masonic fraternity of tlijs place. He was also 
an active element in the Republican party. 
We mention elsewhere in the township his- 
tory many imjiortant reminiscences connected 
with the Crockett family, and will, therefore, 
desiit from further mention here, otherwise 
than to say they have constituted one of 
the most interesting and enterprising fani 



ilies it has been our pleasure to record. 

A. D. CULBERTSON, farmer; P. O., 
West Liberty; was born Sept. 4, 1817, in 
Champaign Co., O. ; his father, John, was 
born in Pennsylvania, and his mother, Susan 
Douglass, in Virg-jnia. They emigrated to 
Ohio by means of a flat boat which tlie father 
had built; they landed at (Cincinnati, and 
were there met by his brother-in-law, Zepha- 
niah Loose, who brought them by team to 
Champaign Co., where the father entered 
160 acres of land, getting his patent from 
Thomas Jefferson. Here this old pioneer be- 
gan in the woods in a log cabin with scarcely 
anything save a team which he brought down 
by boat. One of these horses was sold at his 
sale, at the age of thirty. The father died in 
183.5, and the mother five years prior. They 
had three children — Caroline, who married 
James Black, and A. D. survive; Lucy is 
deceased. Our subject attended the old 
pioneer schoolhouses, many of which are de- 
scribed in this work. He was a witness of all 
the hardships that were allotted the pioneers, 
but the busy wing of time wafted him to a 
ripe old age, where he now enjoys the fruits 
of his early days' industry. At the death of 
his father he made a home with his brother- 
in-law, Alexander Black, who had married 
Lucy (deceased), and there remained until 
he was married, on Feb. 25, 1847, to Sarah, 
a daughter of John and Lucretia Boyd Hurd, 
natives of Virginia, who came among the 
earliest of the settlers of this section of the 
county. His wife was born January 6, 1829, 
in Logan Co.; b\- her he has had three chil- 
dren — James M., born Feb. 2, 1848; died 
Jan. 18, 1856; Samuel, born Ajn-il 21, 1852, 
and died Nov. 16, 1853; ]\Iary E., born Feb. 
13, 1850, married H. A. Hill, and lives with 
her father. His wife died, and he was again 
married to Lucinda .F. Bovd, who was liorn 
March 30, 1815, and died .Ian. 30, 1879. He 
now owns 103 acres of well improved land, 
which he has attained by his own labors. He 
is a member of the McKee's Creek Christian 
Church. He has been, afflicted with light 
spasms for forty years, yet he attains a re- 
markably good memory, and the hand of time 
has touched him gently. He has retired from 
the active pursuits of life, having renteil his 
farm to a Mr. Whit more. 

1. X. DILLE, farmer; P. O., West Liberty; 



7 



•V 



708 



BIOGKAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



was born Sept. 10, 1827, in Richland Co., O. 
His fatluT, Amos, was born in Washinjrton 
Co., Pa., and his mother, Anna De Camp, in 
New Jersey. They came to Ohio in 1816, 
and settled in Richland Co., where the father 
entered 100 acres oi' land, gettino- his patent 
from Thomas Jefferson. In tiie fall of 1S34, 
thev sold out and removed to Hardin Co., and 
there bou^rht lUd acres. In ISIiU, they came 
to Loffan Co., and settled where our subject 
now lives. Here they boufrht 1 GO acres. The 
father died in 1845, and was buried in this 
township; the mother has remained sinjrle 
since, and is now 89 years old. She has had 
eight children — John M., Martha, Sarah, Han- 
nah, I. N., Josephus, Emma J. and Zenas. 
She is a member of the Christian Chin-ch. I. 
N. traveled along with the family in the 
hardships that the pioneers hatl to encounter. 
He was married Feb. 17, 1853, to Rachel, a 
(laughter of Daniel and Amelia (Holliday) 
Williams, natives of Berkeley Co., Va. They 
came to Champaign Co. in ]83U, and to Lo- 
gan Co. in 1830, on the hill where Robert 
Parks now lives, l)uying hrst ItJO acres, and 
afterwards another tract of 124 acres. The 
father died in 1844, and the mother six years 
prior to him. They had nine children, four 
of whom are living — Rachel, Uavid, James 
and Mary. Her father was Township Trustee 
for many years before his decease. The 
mother was a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. Mr. and Mrs. Dille settled on 
their present farm of 101 acres immediately 
after marriage, and have since remained. He 
was elected Township Trustee in 1874, and is 
th(! present incumbent; he has also served in 
other minor offices. His amiable companion 
holds a miMubership in the Methodisl Episco- 
|ial ( 'hurcli. They have had nine children, 
si.t of whom are living — Gilbert B., Martha, 
Mary .\., Laura, Ida and Belle. Those de- 
ceasi'd arc Ara F., Lucv .1. and Carrie M. 
H(,' has always been idcntilied with the Re- 
publiiaii |iarl\. 

BENJAMIN ELLIOTT, hardwans West 
Liberty; was born Feb. 4, 1835, in Chester 
Co., Penn. His father, Jolni, was born Nov. 
2, 17"J5, and died Sept. 8, 1828, in the same 
county, as was also his mother, Marv Brogan 
Elliolt, her birthday being Feb. 28, 17110; she 
died .March 22, 1831. The father died when 
B 'njamin was three years old, and in two 



years the mother, too, " followed that beck- 
oning hand to the shore" of that cold, dark 
river, leaving five children to fight lif(>'s battle 
alone — Mifflin, born Feb. 6, 1815; Wilson, 
April 14, 1817; Hannah, Sept. 7, 1819; Eliza, 
June 17, 1822; Benjamin and Sarah died 
April 20, 1828. Benjamin lived with his uncle, 
Daniel Elliott, for two years, and then made 
a home with George Hoopes until 10 years 
old; during this time he took advantage of the 
cabin schools; he began then to learn the car- 
penters' trade with Charles Sloane, with 
whom he contituied for three years, getting 
board and clothing for his labor, and two 
weeks during harvest, transferring thence to 
the employ of James B. Gibson for one year, 
at the expiration of which' he worked at the 
same for John Davis, a brother-in-law; at the 
age^ of 21 he went to work at his trade at 
Mingo with his uncle, William Elliott, for 
eighteen months; he then, in com])any with 
Job Salkeld, took a steamer at Cincinnati. ( )., 
after liaving worked at that place a short 
time. They landed first at Vicksliurg, and 
worked a short time at carpentering, and 
thence to Natchez, Miss., and there witnessed 
the recei)tion of Gens. Taylor and Quitman, 
who were just returning from thi> Mexican 
war; they then went to New Orleans, and in 
a short time took ship for Galveston, Texas, 
where they stopped but a short time, and, 
finding business dull, they soon sailed for 
Port Lavaco, which then contained alwmt 
thirty log houses, but they did not unload 
their baggage, but returned to New Orleans, 
and thence to Natchez, where they resumed 
their traife, afterward engaging at ^'icksburlT; 
from there they transferred to Greenvdle, 
Miss., where they worked until the spring of 
1849; they then took steamer for St. Louis, 
Mo., there engaging a short time, and then 
returned to Oliio, finally stopping at Urbaua, 
where our subject contiinu'd his trade, making 
his home with William Thomas, in Logan ( 'o. 
He soon after sought a companion in the per- 
son of Rebecca Wierman, the marriage tak- 
ing place .May 27, 1852. Her parents, John 
and Jam- Moorehead Wierman, were natives 
of Pennsylvania, and came to Cliamjjaign Co., 
O., in 1835. They had nine children, of whom 
six survive. Mr. Elliott farmed for some time 
in Champaign Co. after his marriage, and then 
went to Kansas, b\it in six months returned 



LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 



709 



to West Liberty, and engaged at carpenter- 
ing:, which he continued until 1868, when he 
abandoned it, and has since devoted his at- 
tention to his partnership business with Enos 
IJaldwin. His marriage blessed him with six 
children — Addie, Willis, Eva, Nellie, Maud 
and Benjamin. Himself and wife are mem- 
bers of the M; tho list Episcopal Church of 
West Liberty. When Mr. Elliott was 21 
years okl he started to Ohio, taking the cars 
at Penningtonville, Penn., and at Holliday's 
Ferry took a stage, and about midnight they 
run into a big snow-drift, and the passengers 
were compelled to wade the deep snow to a 
tavern a mile off. In the morning the stage 
came up and they started on for Pittsljurg-. 
There he took a steamboat for Cincinnati, O., 
and from there took a, stage for Davton. The 
next morning alter arriving, he started on foot 
for Mingo Valley, a distance of tiftv miles. 
At the end of the second day he landed at 
his Uncle William Elliott's, with a %i> gold 
piece. It is the privilege of but few to wit- 
ness the varied scenes that have made up the 
life of Benjamin Elliott. The disadvantages 
of his youth made him energetic and a close 
thinker, of vigorous frame and an active, in- 
vestigating turn of mind. His varied expe- 
riences have been treasured up for future 
profit. He has always been active, and is hon- 
ored for his unwavering adhesion to jjrinciple, 
and for his zeal and liberality in the promotion 
of all worthy objects. Benjamin's father was 
one of seven children — Marj-, born .May 13, 
];9o; Martha, .Tune 16, 1797; Daniel, .Jan. 15, 
1795; Benjamin, .May 16, 1802; Ann, Dec. 13, 
1804, and Robert, Feb. 1, 1807. 

W. R. FISHER, banker and g-rain dealer; 
West Lil)erty; was born .June 26, 1S26, in 
Hunterdon Co., N. .J.; during early life, his 
educational advantages were limited, but by 
study, observation and experience, he has 
acquired a good business education; at the 
age of sixteen he began the trade of carriage- 
making, which he followed at Rosenburg for 
four years; he then mined in California for 
three years, at which he was somewhat suc- 
cessful. In 1851 he returned to New .Jersey, 
and there remained until 1853, when he came 
to West Liberty and engaged in buying grain 
under the firm name of Runkle & Co.,"con- 
tinuing about two years; he then merchan- 
dised under the firm name of Fisher & Kelly, 



continuing one year, when 'Kelly withdrew, 
and the firm changed to Fisher & Greer, con- 
tinuing four years. They then sold, and Mr. 
Fisher engaged in his present business, under 
the firm name of Taylor, Fisher & Co., and is 
doing a fine business in banking and grain, 
etc. He was married in 1854 to Eliza- 
Elizabeth M. Sieg, a native of Virginia; they 
have one child — Kate, who graduated at the 
Female Seminary at Staunton, Virginia, in 
188(1. Mr. Fisher has been a member of the 
School Board, and is now a member of the 
Town Council. He is a member of Liberty- 
Lodges, Nos. 161, F., & A. M., and 96, I. O. 
O. F., and has been treasurer of the latter 
since 1862. He takes an active interest in all 
improvements, and his sterling worth as a 
friend and neighbor, and as a successful 
business man, is recognized by his friends 
and acquaintances. His father, John, and 
mother, Susan (Runkle) Fisher, were born in 
New Jersey. They had three children, but 
two survive — .facob and W. R. The father 
died 1832, and the mother was again married, 
this time to Archibald Kennedy. She died in 
1876, a member of the Presbyterian Church, 
as was also her husband. Mrs. Fisher's 
grandfather was in the Revolutionary war. 
She has a fork that was used by him during 
that struggle. Mr. Fisher started life with 
nothing. While he was serving his apprentice- 
ship he worked for $25 per year, and at the 
terminaticjn of his four years he had only $30 
left. This little treasure has been improved, 
and he now ranks amono-st the wealthv. 

CHARLES F. FOX,^hardware, ^Vest Lib- 
erty; is the son of .Julias and Paulina Diet- 
zel Fox; the former was born in 1823 and 
died July 17, 1859; he latter was born March 
17, 1829, both in Germany; they emigrated 
to America in 1853 or 1854, and settled at 
Springfield, Ohio, where the father engaged 
in cabinet-making, in which he continued un- 
til his death; he was buried by the Rover, 
No. 4, Fire Company, of Springfield, and was 
the first one to depart that organization, and 
was borne to his silent resting-place on a hose 
wagon by his faithful comrades, who deeply 
mourned his loss; he was the father of Charles 
F. and Ernest E. (deceased). The mother 
was again married, March 7, 1865, to George 
J. Walker, who was born Jan. 21, 1828, by 
whom she had three children, two of whom 



J) >y 



710 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



survive — Anna and George. Charles F. was 
born .July 14, ll^oG, in Sprinnrfield, Oiiio, 
where he atteiiiled the pay school; at the age 
of 14 years he began learning the tinner's 
trade with his uncle, P]dwin Dietzel, at his 
native city, which he continued three j-ears, 
and then engaged to a man by the name 
of Otto for two years, transferring then to 
the emi)loy of Humphrey & Carter for two 
years. In 1S78, he began business at West 
Liberty, and is running a full line of stoves, 
tinware and house-furnishing goods. He 
was married, Sept. 10, 1878, to Maggie 
Ha.\, of Springfield, who was born .June 
21, 185G, and has blessed her husband 
with one child — Theodore F. Her parents, 
Frederick and Elizabetli Gorman Ilax, were 
natives of Germany, and had nine children; 
her father is a lal)orer in the ( )hi Champion 
Reaper Manufactory at Springiield; her pa- 
rents are both members of the Lutheran 
Church, as were also his ])arents. Our sub- 
ject and wife are active members of the 
]>uther,in Church at this place, in which he 
has been Trustee. He has always been an 
active Hepublican. He is comparatively 
}-oung, yet he has, by careful management, 
accumulated a nice little fortune to make him- 
self and family comfortable the rest of their 
days. His gentlemanly apjiearance has won 
for him a trade merited by but few in Logan 
Co. 

IJEN.IAMIN GIJSIN, hotel; West Liberty; 
was born, .Jan. 13, 1809, in Mason Co., Ken- 
tucky. His school-days were spent in a log 
cabin; at the age of filteen he bi'gan learning 
tailoring, at Washington, in his native county, 
his prece|)torbeing the liev. William Vaughn, 
with whom he continued until he was eighteen 
years old, at which period he came by a four- 
hurse team to West Liberty, and soon after 
engaged at his trade at this place, and was the 
first to work at that business here. In 1814 
he embarked his financial means in a wider 
field of labor, going into the grocery business 
with Mr. Clement, to which he devoted his en- 
tire attention; in three years he withdrew 
from the firm of Ginn & Clement, and en- 
gaged in the hotel business at this ])Iaco, in 
which he continued with success until 18.5"4, 
when he withdri'w, and engaged in merchan- 
dising at Uidgeway, Hardin Co., this State. 
cunliiiuing the same for six years. In 1862, 



he returned to this place, and again entered 
tlie grocerj' business, continuing until 1804, 
when he began in his present business, that of 
hotel-keeping, which vocation he intends to 
follow until time wafts him away. He was 
niarri(Hl July '.."J, 182!t, to Jane Newell, by 
whom he had nine children, all of wiiom are 
living. P^lizabeth, married P. W. Colvin, and 
living in Kentucky; Martha; William, nt)w a 
salesman in I)es Moines City, Iowa; Carrie; 
John A., printer <m the Chicago Times; Hugh, 
now of Urbana; Ettie, Julia and Henann. 
Mr. Ginn has been Mayor of this town for eight 
years, and Justice of the Peace twelve yeai-s; 
was once a member of the I. O. O. F., and is, 
now, of the F. and A. M., at this place. His 
amiable wife is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. He cast his first vote lor 
President for Henry Clay, and has mostly 
voted the Republican ticket. The evil effects 
of intemperance that have come under his ob- 
servation, likewise those that he has ex- 
perienced, have made him one of the strongest 
of Prohibitionists. His ])arents, Benjamin 
and Lucy Triplett Ginn, were natives of Cul- 
pepper County, \'a., and emigrated to Ken- 
tucky, where they died; they had eight chil- 
dren, of which two only survive, Benjamin 
and Thomas; the father was always an old 
" Jeffersonian School "Democrat. The grand- 
father, Triplett, was a captain in the Revolu- 
tionary war, and was of English descent; the 
graiulmother Triplett was of Scotch-Irish des- 
cent. 

MRS. SUSAN GLOVER, West Liberty; 
is a daughter of James and Letitia (Randall) 
Stafford, natives of lialtimore, Md. They 
emigrated to Pennsylvania, ami there the 
father died. The mother aiul three children 
came, in 183."), to Springfield, Ohio, and, iti 
1831), she came to West Liberty, and here she 
died, in 1830. She had by .Mr. Stafford thir- 
teen children. The three that came with 
her were — Eliza, Julia and Susan. At the 
death of the mother, Susan went to live with 
Mr. Glover, whom she afterwards married. 
John -NL Ghiver, her dcccase<l husband, was 
born in 1811, in Portsmouth, Ohio, and moved 
with his parents, Nathan and Mary, to Pike- 
ton. There the jiarents died, when he, was 
about 10 years old, leaving him with neither 
brothers nor sisters. He came to West Lib- 
erty with Thomas P. Miller, at the age of 21, 






ii£: 



LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 



711 



for whom he clerked in a dry-goods store. In 
1834, he married Isabel, a daughter of Mr. 
Miller. She journeyed with him until 1855, 
when she died, being the mother of four chil- 
dren, two of whom are living and two de- 
ceased. Mary I. married John E. Smith ; 
Hester A., deceased ; Thomas W. had his 
name changed to Miller, in honor of his grand- 
father, Miller; and Fanny S. Mrs. Glover, 
deceased, was a member of the Presbyterian 
Church. Mr. Glover was again married to the 
present Mrs. Susan Glover, by whom he had 
two children — John M. and Almena K. He 
died March 20, 1880. He was the oldest Elder 
of the Presbyterian Church at this place, and 
was one of tlie leading elements of the town, 
and became very wealthy, but ere his allotted 
time had elapsed he became financially em- 
barrassed. The Glover family are of English 
and Welsh descent. Mrs. Glover's mother was 
of English, and her father of Scotch descent. 
She is now located in a magnificent dwelling, 
which was built by her husband at a cost of 
about $40,000. The family are in possession 
of an orchard, the trees for which were car- 
ried from Kentucky years ago. This is, per- 
haps, the oldest orchard in this part of the 
country. Her deceased husband was for many 
years President of the Pioneer Association. 
JOHN T. GRIBBLE, book-keeper; West 
Liberty; was born Nov. 9, 1830, in Logan 
Co., in what is now West Libeity, whcKe 
he attended school as much as he could con- 
sidering the circumstances of the log cabin and 
the limited means of his parents. He early 
embarked in the mill of Mr. Glover at pack- 
ing lliiur. In 1854, he graduated at Bacon's 
Commercial College, at Cincinnati, O., and 
then entered the warehouse of Mr. Glover, 
as book-keeper, with whom he continued un- 
til it burnt. He then transferred to the em- 
ploy of Cornell & Co., dry-goods merchants, 
with whom he continuedi one year, and then, 
in partnership with J. E. Smith, rented the 
Glover mill for two years. He then withdrew 
and took a position as book-keeper for Tay- 
lor, Fisher & Co., in which he still continues. 
He has charge of the accounts of the warehouse 
business, also the railroad and express busi- 
ness (Fisher and Taylor being agents for 
those companies). He was married Feb. 21, 
1800, to Margaret Kelley, who was born in 
1831, by whom he has six children — Elmer R., 



Howard, Clark, Atta, Lester and Lois. The 
family attend the Lutheran Church. Mr. 
Gribl)le has always voted the Republican 
ticket. His father, Abner, and his mother, 
Catharine (Bombaugh) Gribble, were natives 
of Cumberland Co., Pa. The former was born 
April 7, 1797, and died May 11, 1867, the 
latter was born June 16, 1804, and still sur- 
vives. They were married and came to 
Champaign Co. and settled on a farm in the 
" green woods," which was improved but lit- 
tle, the father having soon after taken a jiosi- 
tion in the Miller mill, and there he continued 
until his death. He was the father of Hiram, 
now a grocer in California; Jane, married J. 
T. Ricks and is living in Florida; Harriet, 
married Francis Seaman, now living in Elk- 
hart, Ind.; Maria, married .John Elcook; 
Rufus, is deceased; John T., William, pub- 
lisher of the Daily News at Urban a, Cham- 
jiaigi) Co.; Isabel, married Henry Dorn, and 
Joseph, grocer at this place. The father is 
deceased, the mother still living and a mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcojial Church. 

HARRY W. HAMILT(3N, editor Gazette; 
West Liberty; was born at Xenia, O., on 
the 18th daj' of .lune, 1847; youngest son of 
Henry A. and Sarah A. Hamilton. At the 
age of 13 years his father died, leaving the 
subject of our sketch dependent upon two 
.older brothers for support, and from that time 
forward he was deprived of the benefits of 
even a common school education, but in a 
very short time thereafter he commenced the 
conflict of life. At 14 years he went to 
Springfield, O., and there obtained a situation 
as clerk in a boot and shoe establishment, be- 
longing to J. H. Phillips, and, by honesty and 
close attention to business, soon ingratiated 
himself into the good graces of a large pat- 
ronage. Being endowed by nature with a 
skillful use of the pen, at the age of 17, this 
accomplishment ffiinid him an excellent posi- 
tion in the Auditor's office, Fayette Co., 
which was tendered him, unsolicited, by Abel 
McCandless, the Auditor. There young Ham- 
ilton developed the fact that he had inborn 
(jualifications for the intricate work of this 
office, and those who knew him best inform 
the writer that he appeared to grasp all the 
arduous duties of the Auditor with the greatest 
ease, and that he performed the same with 
eminent ability, foresight and care; that his 



n "^ 



712 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



work was always reliable, and that the ut- 
iiiDSt coiilidence was imposed in his skill as 
an accurate accountant by everyliody having 
business with the county. Mr. Hamilton was 
soon deputized by the Auditor and vested with 
the full power of Auditor. We not only find 
such leading citizens as Hon. Mills Gardner, 
ilon. ^Villiam Millikan — the able editor of 
the Fayette County Herald — Judges Priddy 
and Gray, and others from Washington C. H., 
O., speaking highly of this young gentleman, 
but in his possession we find flattering en- 
comiums of his talent as an accountant from 
such distinguished men as Hon. William 
Lawrence, Hon. J. Warren Keifer, Hon. 
.lames Williams, ex-Auditor of State, Hon. 
Milton ]}arnes, present Secretary of State, Dr. 
Henry S. fiabbitt, ])resent Cashier of the 
Slate Treasury, , Mr. C. .M. Nichols, editor of 
the Springfield Jhiilij Republic, and others of 
equally- high authority. In the Auditor's 
office in Fayette Co. Mr. Hamilton served 
eight years, during which time he did con- 
siileralde local correspondenc(? for the Cincin- 
nati (iazette and Cincinnati C/ironicle, after- 
wards the Times, and (hiring the vigorous 
jidlilical camjiaign of 1S70-71, he supplied 
these ])apers with many stirring reports. 
Leaving the Auditor's office in 1872, Mr. H. 
wont to Cincinnati, but returned to Washing- 
ton C. H. again, and thiMi removing to 
S])ringfield, O., remained there until January, 
l!^:s. On the 0th of Janmiry. 1878, he can'ie 
to West Liberty, and on the 11th day of that 
Mionth he |)iirchased the oflice of the West 
Liberty J'rixs — owned by E. T. Davis, and 
pnblislied by W. P. Clarion and Charles 
Davis. The office was taken under dis- 
couraging circumstances, and with meagre 
hopes of success, but on the Kith day of that 
month the West Liberty Gazetle, a neat, 
twenty-eight column paper, made its first 
bow to an astonished multitude. Some said 
it could not survive thirty days; others more 
generously fixed vipon six months as the 
]>robable limit of its existence. A less de- 
tiTuiined man would have given up the ship 
amidst so many discouraging ]>ropheeies of its 
inevitable wreck; few would have cared to 
brave the storm, but Mr. Hamilton was of 
dilVereiit mettle. The sea might be turludent, 
but the man at the rud(h-r was resolute, and 
success could ordy follow. On the 30th of 



Januarj-, 1878, D. C. ]iailo\' purchased an in- 
terest in the Gazette, and the two young men 
clung to the ship tenaciously and j)ulled it 
throutrh the rapids. On the ■^7th day of June, 
187!»,'Prof. P. W. Search, Suix-rintendent of 
the West Liberty Union Schools, a gentleman 
of high literary attainments, purchased the 
irdzette office, and immediately re-associated 
with himself Mi'. Hamilton. ])lacing him at 
the head of the ])aper as editor, and complet- 
ing such arrangements as rendered them 
equal partners in its publication and control. 
The (jetzette now ratd<s as one of the leading 
papers of the county, and its success, week 
after week, is aglowing tribute to'the energy, 
talent and enterprise of Mr. H. W. Hamilton, 
who is honored by the business men and citi- 
zens generally for the noble work he has so 
ably and well done. He was married to Miss 
Exie E. Eckmann, of Greenfield, Highland 
Co., O., daughter of Judge John Eckman, on 
the loth of November, 1870; two little 
daughters being the issu<! of the union. 

STEPHEN HANNLTM, saw mill; West 
Liberty; was l)orn April 8, 1811, in Chester 
Co., Pa. He spent his yomiger days attend- 
ng school in the old log cabin, that was used 
by a tenant. At the age of 1(>, he began 
milling with Elisha Phipps, with whom he 
continued for six years. He then went to 
the State of Delaware and worked on the 
Brandywine mills for one year, afterwards 
engaging as a millwright with AVilliam 
Staiuj), with whom he continut'd for about 
two years, transferring then to the em- 
ploy of a man by the name of Harvey, 
continuing some time, and then attended a 
boarding-school at West Bradford, Pa., for 
eighteen months. In 1830 ho came across 
the mountains, with one horse hitched to an 
old Dearborn wagon, and settled in Cham- 
paign Co., O. Here .Mr. Hannum taught 
school for al)out six'montlis, and afterwards 
erected a combined saw and grist mill at 
Zanesfield, Logan Co., for John Finn. He 
continued building mills for nniny years. In 
1852 he erected on the present site of his mill 
a ff)Uinirv, ma<hine-sliop, and a saw ami ])lan- 
ing mill. In 18.'i(i this jiroperty was de- 
stroy('<l bv fire. He has sime replaced the 
saw and ])laning mills an<l repairing shoo; J. 
A\'. Wright is his partner in the latter, ami de- 
votes his time to the superintendency of the 



^. 



LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 



713 



same. Mr. Hannuin was married in 1840, to 
Ann Harlan, of Champaign Co., by whom he 
had one child — deceased. His wile died in 
1841, and he was again married, in 1845, to 
Magdalena Wagner, a native of Philadelphia 
— being born within a few miles of that city 
in 1827. Her father was a native of Fenn- 
sylvania, and her mother of Switzerland. By 
his last marriage he has had seven children, 
four of whom survive — Hannah, Eugene, 
Mary and Ben. Mr. Hannum is one of the 
pioneers of this place, having lived here 
while yet remained many wild animals. He 
has served the township as Trustee. He early 
identified himself with the Friends' Church. 
He owns fifty-four acres of iinely improved 
land adjoining town, and the present milling 
property, which is in a flourishing condition. 
His parents, Obediah and Hannah (Taylor) 
Hanrmm, were natives of Chester Co., Pa. 
They had seven children — Dinah, Thomas, 
St -phen and Joseph only survive. Though 
Mr. and Mrs. Hannuiu have almost reached 
the allotted span of life, yet they bid fair to 
enjoy a few more years of usefulness. 

P. E. HARNER, farmer; P. O., West 
Liberty; was born March 18, 1834, in Lan- 
caster Co., Pa.; his father, J. A., was born 
.Jan. "-25, 1T95, in Chester Co., and his mother, 
Elizabeth Emery, in the same couiitv. They 
emigated to Ohio in ]84(), stopping for a few 
days in Champaign Co., and then on the farm 
now owned by Daniel Yoder. In 1858 they 
moved to West Liberty, where the father died 
in 1869, and the mother in 1875. They were 
early members of the Presbyterian Church at 
this place. The father was for some time 
director of this county's Infirmary. The 
Creator gave to them eleven children, four of 
whom are living — A. R., Maria, Jacob C. and 
P. E. The latter attended school as much as 
convenient until 22 years old, abovit which 
time ho began learning the carpenter's trade, 
which he continued some time. He was mar- 
ried Dec. 28, 1857, to Elizabeth, daughter of 
Jacob and Diana (Huber) Miller, natives of 
Rockingham Co., Va. They came early to 
Logan Co., and settled near De Graft', where 
the mother is still living, the father being 
deceased. Her parents had seven children — • 
Margaret, Elizabeth, Polly, Barbara, Susan, 
Martin and Abednego. Her parents early 
identified themselves with the German Baptist 



Church. Mrs. Harner was born Feb. 7, 1832, 
in Logan Co. She has blessed her husband 
with four children — Marion C, Charles B., 
John A., and Jacob M. Mr. Harner settled, 
when first married, where Daniel Yoder now 
lives, renting the same of his father for eleven 
years; he tiien bought his present farm of 
217 acres of C. Yoder, and has since remained, 
and has made many valuable imjirovements. 
He is a member of the 1. O. O. F., of West 
Liberty, in which society he has served in all 
offices. Himself and wife are members of 
the Presbyterian Church. He votes the Re- 
publican ticket, and paid off a ])ortion of this 
township's draft. His brother, George S., was 
in Co. L, 9Gth O. V. I.; he was from this town- 
ship, and died near Young's Point. Mr. 
Harner is making a specialty of the Poland 
China hogs, and has some of the finest stock. 
He has always taken a deep interest in educa- 
tion, believing that a well improved mind al- 
wavs finds occupation. 

C. R. HILDEBRAND, farmer; P. O., 
M est Liberty. The somewhat eventful his- 
tory of the present subject compels more 
than the usual brevity. We can truthfully 
call him a pioneer here, as well as numy other 
])laces. It seems that he has been on the 
frontier the greater part of the seventy-two 
years he has sojourned through this country. 
He was born in Lebceuf, Erie Co., Pa., 
on April 8, 1808. His father, Jacob, was a 
native of Westmoreland Co., same State, and 
his mother, Emily Miller, of Baltimore, Md. 
They were married in Lebocuf, where they 
remained until 1813, when they went to Erie, 
where the father was engaged at building the 
fleets then being fitted out for Commodore 
Perry. The mother was also engaged for the 
troops in making flags and flannel sacks in 
which to charge their cannons. The father 
belonged to the militia under Cajttain Morri- 
son, and was called into service, during which 
he contracted a disease, and in 1814 died. 

The mother crot a land warrant for his serv- 
er 

ices, which she afterward sold to a Mr. 
Crockett, who located ICO acres in Iowa. 
The mother remained with her two sons, 
C. R. and Edward, in Erie, and maintained 
herself and them by plying her needle at 
whatever she could get to sew. Her brother, 
Thomas P. Miller, who was living there, had 
lost his wife, leaving him with two children, 



^ u- 



i \ ' 



>>. 



714 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



and he made a proposition that hewould 
soil out, and himsell' and children, and Mrs. 
Ilildehrand and sons, would come to Ohio 
and there make a home together; this 
she accepted, and a flat boat was constructed 
by which they were transported to Ports- 
nioutli. The time of lanilinir was 1817. They 
did not remain at Portsmonth very lonsr, but 
moved on a farm in a settlement called French 
Grant, in about KSIJO Mr. Miller came to Ur- 
bana, O., ami Mrs. Hildebrand remained there 
until 18:il, when she came with her sons to 
West Liberty, where she died in 1808. She 
was a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church of this place. Our subject's hardships 
were more than usual, such as going to mill 
on horseback, etc. When at Portsmouth a 
man by the name of Hopkins came from New 
Jersey and started a pap(!r called the Scioto 
Ttletiraph, and Mr. Hildebrand was then 
about ^0 years old, and worked for this 
editor. During two days each week he would 
deliver the papers over the country on horse- 
back. He and his brother Edward learned 
tailoring at Portsmouth, andafterward worked 
at Franklin Furnace at their trade. He 
was married in May, 1831, a short time prior 
to their moving to this county, and when 
they settled liere he engaged for some time 
at his traile in a small frame house which 
stood on the southwest corner of the ])ublic 
square, where is now the present site of 
George Gorton's jewelry store. This build- 
ing is now being used by Mr. Grier for a 
kitchen. In 1839 he withdrew from this 
business, and engaged in a grocery in a brick 
building that was consinned in the fire, but is 
now being rebuilt by Dr. Ordway. This he 
continued for three years, and afterward 
bought l.JO acres of land in Hardin Co., un- 
improved, and moved on the same. In 1844, 
he returned and farmed a short time in Lib- 
erty Tp., ami then bought a tract of land in 
Champaign Co., where ho farmed until 1851, 
when he traded for "-iOU acres where he now 
resides, getting the amount from T. P. Miller 
at ^15 per acre. Here he has remained ever 
since, and has still kept rolling the wheel of 
irn|)rovemont. Se|)t. 11, IS^'.I, his wife, who 
hail b(!en the companion ef his sorrows and 
joys for over lorty-oiglit years, was stricken 
from life's roll and gathered into the life 
eternal. She had blessed him with eijrht 



children, seven of whom are now living — 
Isaljella, has taught school at West Liberty 
for many years; .Jacob, married liebecca IJurn- 
side, native of this county, now of Morris 
Co., Kan.; Charles, married Kate Beemer, 
of Kenton, residents of this county; Emily; 
Lucy; Gwenn; Thomas, married Charlotte 
Mason, of this county; Milton, died 18(i4. Mr. 
Hildebrand has served as Townshi]) Trustee, 
and other snuill olhces; cast his tirst vote for 
J. Q. Adams, and has always been a Whig 
and Kepuljlican. His grantlparents Hilde- 
brand weri! of German descent, their ances- 
tors coming to America about 173"2. His 
descendants by his mother (Miller and Pym) 
were of Irish descent, and belonged to the 
Quaker denomination. Their ancestors prob- 
ably came over with William Penn. His 
brother Edward was married and died in 
West Liberty, leaving a widow and si.\ living 
children. She yet resides in this place. Mr. 
Hildebrand is now seventy-two years of age, 
and enjoys uniform health, saying with .lob of 
old, " All the tlays ol my a])poinled time will 
I wait till my change come." He remendiers 
almost everything that ha|)pened since he was 
three }-ears old. Many of his leisure moments 
he has spent in catching deer in the rivers, 
by means of a canoe. These animals were 
driven in there for that ])urpose. Ho has in 
his j)ossession a snuill dictionary that was 
given him by Lieutenant Packet!, of Perry's 
crew, of Lake Eiie, as a Christmas gift. He 
had but little chance of education, but most 
fortunate has he been in rearing a [tlcasant, 
intelligent family, educated and reiineil. 

D. B. HALE, M. 1).; West Liberty. Every 
city has its representative men in all ])rofes- 
sions; of the great number who represent 
some profession, and more especially that ol 
the medical, there are comparatively few who, 
by hard study, almost constant practice and 
time devoted wholly to their ))rofession, have 
reached a degree of eminenci^ jilacing them, 
in the mind of the public and by the venlict 
of their medical brethren, among the lirst. 
This position has beiMi attained and earned 
by Dr. D. B. Hah', of West Liberty. He is 
a luitive of Champaign Co., ami was born 
April'.), 1844. His youniri-'' days were spent 
on the farm and in attending school in the 
log cabin. At the age of 13, Ik; began att<'nd- 
ing school at Urbana; remained nearly three 



e.pV 



LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 



715 



years, and afterward taught one year; he 
then entered the OhioWesleyan University at 
Delaware, Ohio, where he remained about 
one year; he then enlisted in Co. G, 94th 
O. V. I., in which he ranked as high private; 
in three years he returned from the war, hav- 
ing witnessed many hard-fought engagements, 
of which we mention Perryville, Ky., Stone 
River, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Mis- 
sionary Ridge and Sherman's Atlantic cam- 
paign; he was slightly wounded at Resaca, 
Ga., and was confined in the hospital at Chat- 
tanooga until able for service; his return from 
war was in 1865, when he began reading med- 
icine with Dr. J. M. Butcher, at North Lew- 
isburg. Champaign Co., continuing the same 
for two years, and then entered the Eclectic 
Medical College at Cincinnati, graduating in 
May, 1869, and at once began practice at 
Greenfield, Highland Co.; remained there 
about one year, and then went to Indianapo- 
lis, Ind., and practiced and read the honiceo- 
pathic system. He graduated at tiie Hahne- 
mann College, Cliicago. In 1875, he began 
his practice at Mechanicsliurg, Champaign 
Co., and in 1877 came to West Liberty, Lo- 
gan Co., where he has since been, and is 
enjoying a very fine practice. He was mar- 
ried in 1871 to Marietta Bonesteej, a native 
of Urbana; she was born July 28, 1852, and 
by her he has two children — G. B. and I. G. 
He is a member of Liberty Lodge, No. 161, 
A., F. & A. M., in which hie is S. W. His 
father, .lohn, was a native of Clinton Co., 
Ohio, and his mother, Irena (Lewis), of the 
State of New York. They had a family of 
six children; three only survive — .loshua A., 
D. B. and Thomas P. (practicing medicine at 
Spring Hill. Champaign Co.; graduated at 
the Cincinnati Medical College). The father 
died in 1852, and was a minister of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. The early death 
of the father threw the young sons out on 
their own resources, a position which they 
sincerely realized, and soon fouml that then 
was the time for them to prepare for the 
world's riper ages. The mother was, however, 
married to a Mr. Smith, with whom they had 
a home. Dr. Hall has, by careful manage- 
ment, attained some nice property in West 
Liberty. He bears the reputation of being 
one of the most substantial and reliable of 
the inhabitants of the pleasant little village 



in which he resides. He is fast demonstrat- 
ing to the community that homoeopathy is 
the true system of treatment. 

J. M. HUNTER, dealer in farming imple- 
ments. West Liberty; was born March 22, 
1838, in Champaign Co., where he attended 
school in the old pioneer loff cabin. He also 
attended for a while at this place, by riding 
on horseback. He was very apt at his studies, 
and, at the age of 20 years, he taught one 
term, and then began farming, renting of his 
father. He was married Nov. 19, 1862, to 
Sallie Baldwin, and soon after bought 60 
acres of his father, on which he remained two 
years. He then went to Urbana, and there 
engaged under the firm name of Gearheart & 
Hunter, in the grocery business, continuing 
at it two years. While thus engaged he was 
unsuccessful — however, not through his own 
financiering. He then returned to his farm, 
which had been reduced somewhat by the 
failure previously mentioned, and remained 
on the same until 1872, when he sold out and 
purchased 30 acres in Liberty Tp., this 
county, and has since remained on the same. 
In 1878, he began dealing in agricultural im- 
])lements, which he still continues, making a 
specialty of buggies and wagons, as well as 
threshing machines, engines, saw-mills, etc. 
He is honest and upright, and merits the pat- 
ronage of the connnunity where he resides. 
He has been no office-seeker, hence has not 
trifled away his useful moments in aspiring 
for petty offices. He and his wife are active 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
of which he has been class-leader and Super- 
intendent of Sunday Schools. Both positions 
he is now holding. His Creator has given him 
three children by his union — Frank E., Nellie 
M. and Ralph W. He has always been an 
enthusiastic Rej)ublican, having cast his first 
vote for Abraham Lincoln. He takes deep 
interest in all temperance movements, and 
every thinsj that tends to promote morality. 

STEPHEN .lACKSON, boots and shoes; 
West Liberty; is a son of Amos and Rachel 
Goodenough .laekson. His father was born 
in Vermont, March 5, 1796; and his mother 
in the same State in 1797; they were married 
at Darby Plains, Union Co.; moved to Buck 
Creek, ('hampaign Co., and remained there 
until 1841, when they came to West Liberty, 
where the father engaged in blacksinithing, 



'C fi 



716 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



which he continued until 1864. He is the 
father of si.\ children, three of whom are dead; 
the three that survive are Henry, Clarinda 
and Stephen. The father served as drummer 
in the war of ISVi, and was captured, at Lake 
Chainplain, by Col. Clark, and was held a 
prisoner for three months; the father yet sur- 
vives, but the motiier is deceased; they early 
united with the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
Stephen was born Sept. 14, 1825, in Cliani- 
paig-n Co., where he sj)ent his boyhood days 
attending school, and working in the shop 
with his father, with whom he completed his 
apprenticeship as a blacksmith, which avoca- 
tion he followed in connection with his father 
and brother Henry; he was in partnership with 
the latter but two years, and with the former 
all the rest of his time until 1864, when he 
then enjjasred for himself and continued until 
1879, when he began in the boot and shoe 
business, which he still continues under the 
firm name of Ziegler & .Jackson; carrying 
on a full line of custom-made Ijoots and shoes, 
also running a regular rej)air and uuiinifactur- 
ing department. He was married, Nov. 10, 
1847, to Elmitia, a daughter of Isaac and Jane 
Austin Sharp, of Logan Co. Her parents 
were natives of New Jersey, and emigrated to 
their present abode in an early day; she was 
born in 1825, and died Sept. 1, 1849; one 
child, Robert H., was given them by the Cre- 
ator. He was again married March 10, 1853, 
to Delilah J. Hayes, by whom he has one 
daughter living — Mary, who married Henry 
Jones; and three died in infancy. He has 
been Councilman two terms; is a mendier of 
Liberty Lodge, No. 165, F. and A. M., and a 
member of tlu; Methodist K])isc(ipal Church, 
as is also his wife. He has taught music, and 
occasionally amuses the communitv by select- 
ing a chcjir and rendering a number of the 
old style songs; in this mode of instruction he 
is pronounced very el1ici(!nt. By careful man- 
agement he has accumulated some good prop- 
erty on Newell street, and is also in ])osses- 
sion of a good smithing trade, conducted by 
Charles Overdorff. 

M.UtVlN JEWELL, farmer; P. O., Belle- 
fontaine; was born .lune 'i, 1822, in liake Co., 
O. His father was t)orn in Connecticut and his 
mother, Sallie .Miller, in Pennsylvania (her 
father was one of the early settlers of the 
Western Reserve). His parents carae to 



Logan Co., and settled near Rushsylvania in 
18.37, anrl in May, 1870, the father died on 
the farm where Marvin now lives. His amiable 
consort, \)'lio had been the witness of his sor- 
sows and joys, left hiniryears before, to reap 
her reward in another sphere; she had four 
children — two of whom are now living — 
^larvin and Miranda. The father was mar- 
ried again to Abigail Fenton, by whom he 
had one child — David H. She ilied prior to 
her husband. Mr. Jewell left his father's 
home, near •Rushsylvania, when 18, without 
one cent in his possession, and but one suit of 
clothes, and sought employment with a man 
in Belmont Co., on the farm, at ^7 per month. 
For seven years he was teaming with six 
horses, hauling wheat, corn and tobacco to 
market. He was married .Jan. 9, 1845, to 
Catharine De Ford, of Pennsylvania, and con- 
tinued his labors in Belmont Co. until 1801, 
when he returned to I.,ogan Co., and rented 
for some time. He then bought 85 acres, 
wh(>re he now lives, and has since added un- 
til he possesses 171.V acres of well improved 
land, attained entirely by his own labors, and 
has lately erected a fine tlwelling on the same. 
He has eight children living — .Sarah E., El- 
wood, Alonzo, St. Clair, Alice, Sidney Brady, 
Ida and Ada (twins), and one deceased, Mary. 
Himself and wife have been mendjers of the 
Disciples' Church for thirty-five years. He 
has always been identified with the Whig and 
l{epid)lican party, ami has made ail he has 
by his own hard lal)ors and i)usiiu^ss manage- 
ment, coupled with that of iiis industrious 
wife. 

J. A. JONES, farmer; P. O., West Liberty. 
This industrious old farmer was born Jan. 20, 
lSll,on his father's farm in New Jersey. 
His father, Thomas, was a native of Hunter- 
don Co., same State, and always livcnl there. 
His mother, Grace Anderson, was also a na- 
tive of the same county. His grandfather 
Jones emigrated from Wales in an early day, 
and serve i as a Ca|)tain during the revolu- 
tionary struggle. His grandmother (pater- 
nal) was a Bray, and th(^ descendants by 
his mother were Irish — nniking th(! Jones 
fanuly of to-day of those two distinguished 
nationalities — Welsh and Irish. Mr. Jones' 
l)arents ha<i five children, four of whom are 
living — -Mary, married to Joshua Lance; Re- 
becca A., married to George Probasco; Eliza, 



LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 



married to Isaac Manning, and our subject, J. 
A. The mother died in about 1813 or 1814, 
and in about 1815 the father again married, 
Elizabeth Henry, and had by her seven chil- 
dren — George (deceased), Clarissa, Thomas, 
David M., Ann, Sallie and Margaret. When 
our subject's mother died, he was left in the 
care of his grandparents (Anderson), and 
there remained until his father's remarriage, 
when he was again taken home. At the age 
of 13 he had finished his education, which 
was obtained in an academy conducted in one 
end of his father's dwelling. This building 
had been built especially for school purposes, 
by Johnson and Taylor, to educate their own 
children. Mr. Jones' father afterward bought 
this property and had the school continued. 
He at the time mentioned left the school-room 
and sought employment in a blacksmith-shop 
with John Greene, of Clinton, N. J., with 
whom he continued for seven years, getting 
only his clothes and board. At the e,\j)iration 
of said time Mr. Greene hired him for three 
years, at from |!l36to§192 per year. During 
this period, or in 1834, he was married to 
Mary A. Metier, a native of Hunterdon Co., 
X. J. His first transfer from the employ of 
^Ir. Greene was to Bloomsbury, same State, 
where he followed smithing on his own ac- 
count for some time, afterward transferring to 
Asbury, a neighboring town. He next came 
to West Liberty, by means of a team, bring- 
ing his family and his wife's sister, Margaret 
Metier. He remained during the winter of 
18.50 in AVest Liberty, and in the following 
spring bought 102 ac'res — a part of his fine 
farm of 213 acres — lying in Logan and Cham- 
paign Counties. This was then mostl3- unim- 
proved, and by his strong and willing hand 
the forests were felled and the necessary ac- 
comjjaniments secured, until it now presents 
the appearance of one of the finest farms in 
the county. He has erected a magnificent 
dwelling on a beautiful hillside, amidst a nat- 
ural grove of various kinds of bushes. Other 
necessary buildings accompany the same. 
Considering the abundance of living water 
and every modern improvement, we think one 
could not be otherwise than hapjiy. But 
these are not all that make his home happy; 
the Creator gave to him nine children, eight 
of whom have grown up to bless and honor 
him — Levi M., married to Eva Sieg, graduated 



at the Cincinnati Medical College, and prac- 
ticed for some time at West Liberty, and is 
now a confined invalid; Margaret, wife of 
Enos Baldwin; Ann; Jane; Mary, married to 
Wilson Craft; Emma, married to A. J. Serfus; 
Sallie ; W. H., married to a daughter of 
Stephen Jackson; Thomas, deceased. Mr. 
Jones once joined the Sons of Tem]ieranee in 
order to gee others to enlist, yet he has always 
been a strong temperance man, an active 
member of the Methodist Ejiiscopal Church 
for thirty-seven years, and votes the Demo- 
cratic ticket; has faithfully served in some 
township offices, but has always shrunk from 
office; was Captain of a militia company for 
four years in New Jersey, which gives rise to 
the appellation of "Captain," by which he is 
familiarly known. 

AA'. C.KAVANAGH, dentist and Mayor, 
West Liberty; was born July 20, 1823, in 
Champaign Co. He there received as good 
education as the log cabin times afforded, 
having attended about twelve weeks during 
the year. At the age of 24 he began read- 
ing medicine with Dr. Fuller, at this place, 
continuing two years, and then retired, on ac- 
count of illness. He was married, in 1854, 
to Evaline Hanger, a native of Augusta Co., 
Va. In 1858, he began clerking for Cornell, 
at this place, and was elected Mayor of this 
village in 1870, which position he held for 
eight years. In 1880, he was again chosen 
for that position. He has always taken a 
deep interest in the schools ; has been Clerk 
of the School Board for many vears, and is a 
member of Liberty Lodge, No. 96, I. O. O. 
F. He and his wifi> are members of the 
Christian ('lunch, at this place. They have 
one child. Mary, at home. He read dentistry 
with Dr. Gill, at this place, and enlists his 
time and talent at that business. His father, 
James, was born about ITOl, in Kentucky, 
and his mother, Rachel (Covington), in Ohio. 
The}' settled in Champaign Co., where they 
died — the mother first, after which he again 
married. By his first wife he had six chil- 
dren, three of whom survive — John, 'Sarah 
and W. C, and by his last marriage had four 
children. He was in the war of 1812, serving 
uiuler Captain Black. The doctor and pa- 
rents were memliers of the Christian Church. 

JACOB C. RISER, deceased; West Liber- 
ty. The subject of the following sketch 



^ 



l\^ 



718 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



descended from a long line of distinguished 
ancestors, all tillers of the soil. Mr. Kiser 
spent nearly the whole of his active life 
as a farmer, and always enjoyed the respect, 
confidence and afVoction of his fellow-citizens, 
which a useful life alone can permanently se- 
cure. Bvit this aged and res])ected citizen 
has departed to "that bourne from whence no 
traveler returneth." He was horn Mart'h 25, 
1824, in Rockingham Co., V'a., and was the 
son of .John and Mary (Cline) Kiser. The 
Kiser faniilv are descendants from the early 
settlers of Virginia. The father of our sub- 
ject came to Montgomery Co., O., about the 
year 1832 and bought a tract of land, where 
is now the present site of the Soldier's Home, 
and, on his return home, died May 18, 1832, 
at Springfield, O. His widow and seven 
childri-n came within a short time and located 
on this farm, where they remained until 1830, 
when they sold the same and bought 277 
acres whore they now live. Here the mother 
died .huie 1, 1877, at the ripe old age of 8(1. 
She was the first of the Kiser family who had 
died for forty 3'ears. Her marriage with .Fohn 
Kiser occurred Oct. 9, 1817. Her mother, 
Marv Cline, was born April 2, 17C7, and died 
on the farm where the deceased's widow now 
lives, July 8, 1848. Her father was born 
Sept. 7, 1705, and died Oct. '8, 1831, in Vir- 
ginia. Mr. Kiser, deceased, was one of seven 
children, and is the only one that is dead. 
Jose])h C, born July 26, 1818, is now living 
on what is know as the Oakland Farm, near 
Oregon, Wis.; Daniel C, born Jan. 14, 1820, 
living at lionsack's, Va.; (ieorge W., born 
April 14, 1S22, now a resident of Washing- 
ton, la.; Jacob C; .lohn Q., born Oct. 13, 
182(i, resident of Reading, Lyon Co., Kan.; 
William C, horn July 17, 1828, resident of 
Dane Co., Wis.; Mary A. K., born April 
2'J, ]S3(), married .'^aniuel Whitrnore, living 
at Mt. Crawford, Rockinghatn Co., Va. Mr. 
Kiser had but little advantage outside of 
home for obtaining an eilucation; however, 
he received, as did all the rest of the pioneers, 
a few months schooling within the walls f)f 
the old log cabins. No time was wasted in 
truancy, but his business was the improve- 
ment of his mind and the farm. He worked 
two years at tanning at West Liberty, with 
the firm of Riddle & Rutan; afterward^ about 
one year at photography at Bellefontaine; 



was married A])ril 13, 1854, to Sarah A., a 
daughter of Moses and Sarah (Black) Mcll- 
vain, natives of Kentucky, and early settlers 
of Champaign Co., O. She tiled Dec. 7, 1857, 
and was the mother of two children by this 
union. John F., born Feb. 1!J, 1855, and 
Ida J., Sept. 20, 185(). He was again married 
Dec. 1, 1804, to Amanda Newell, a daughter 
of Hugh and Kli/.abeth (McNay) Newell. She 
was born Se]5t. 18, 1S33; by her he has three 
children — William N., born Sept. 2, 18()5; 
Hugh N., May 5, 1807; and Jacob Oliver, 
Dec. 13, 1870. Mr. Kiser setth'd on the 
present farm at his first marriage, and in 1870 
he bought the same of his mother for i!20,00(). 
He retired from labors, mostly, in 1870, on 
account of ill health. On Aug. 20, 1880, he 
was stricken from life's loU on earth, and 
gathered into the life eternal, leaving liehind 
his happy family, the companions of his joys 
and sorrows, for many years. II<' was ])romi- 
r.entlv identified with the 1. (). O. F. and A., 
F. anil A. M. at West Liberty, the Chapter of 
Bellefontaine, and Knights Temjilar of T'r- 
bana. He was the first man ever buried in 
Logan Co. under the order of the Knights 
'l'(>niplar, and was one of the first three ever 
initiatt^l in the order in this county. He is 
now no more, but has left his mourning family 
plenty of this world's goods to make them 
pleasant through life. It vpas on the lips of 
everybody, that Mr. Kiser was resjiected and 
loved by everyone. In this connection we 
clip the following from the Bellefontaine J'J.r- 
aminer: " Mr. Kiser was about 57 or 58 
j'ears of aje, and the ])ossessor of one of the 
best improved and the best stock farms in 
Logan Co. He was a man of unbli'mislieil 
character, honest, honorable ami upright, ami, 
as such, resjiected and hoTiored by all who 
knew him. His death is a loss to the com- 
munity in which he dwelt, while to his family 
it is one that no lapse of time or circumstances 
can repair. He leavi>s a wife, three or four 
sons and one danglit(>r, who will cherish 
through their lives the memory of his good- 
ness and of his devotion to them with tender 
and loving regret." He was not, by any 
means, indifferent to the claims of religion, 
but for some time past was deeply interested 
about his spiritual condition. 

H. .1. Mll.L[-:i;, merchant ; West Liberty. 
Among the early settlers, the gentleman 



LIBEETY TOWNSHIP. 



719 



named above was conspicuous, and the Mil- 
ler faintly have held no second i)osition in 
their influence on the community from then to 
the present time. H. J. was born ,Iune -t, 
1821, in Pennsylvania, and came to Sandusky 
by steamboat. He received such education 
as the old log cabin afforded him. He began 
early learning the harness trade with Riddle 
& Rutan, with whom he continued four years, 
and then engaged in the same, at Urbana, 
during one year ; afterward carried on the 
same business, on his own resources, at Ken- 
ton, for twelve years, and then returned to 
West Liberty, where he engaged in buying 
grain and merchandising, under the firm name 
of Taylor & Miller, for six years ; they then 
engaged under the tirm name of Runkle, 
Taylor & Co. — since, the firm of Taylor, Fisher 
& Co ; in 1807, he entered the dry-goods 
business, in which he continues, and is doing 
an excellent trade in all kinds of dry-goods, 
notions, groceries, etc. He was married, in 
1814, to Margaret Gordon, a daughter of .John 
P. and Mary (Ryan) Gordon, natives of Penn- 
sylvania. Mr. Miller had by this union 
seven children, si.x of whom survive — Mary, 
Eliza, Henry, Clara, Margaret and Alfred. 
His amiable companion, in 1876, was stricken 
from life's roll on earth, and gathered into 
life eternal, having gained her faith through 
the Presbyterian Church, having l^een in close 
and active connection for twenty years. He 
owns GOO acres of well improved land, which 
is the fruit of his own labors. While learn- 
ing- his trade at harness-makinor he o-ot from 
130 to §10 per year ; he can now walk out 
upon his own broad acres, and boasts no 
worldly treasure save that attained by his own 
industry. In all the varied experiences of 
the above hastily sketched life, its possessor 
has been peculiarly fortunate. He has been 
fortunate in the possession of a well balanced 
mind of great vigor ; fortunate in the pos- 
session of a fine jihj-sical organization and ex- 
cellent health ; also, in being able to befriend 
all, and having all for his friends. He is 
identified with the ]?epublican party, and has 
often rejjresented the same in county conven- 
tions. 

THEODORE F. MH.LER, West Liberty, 
is of the firm of O. S. Miller & Co., wholesale 
jobbers in notions, hosiery and gents' furnish- 
ing goods, and manufacturers of the Nonesuch 



overalls, jackets and shirts. He was born on 
Aug. 2G, 1811, in Fredericksburg, Wayne Co., 
O. He took advantage of the common schools 
until 14 years of age, when he began mer- 
chandising, which he has since continued. He 
was married Sept. 12, 1872, to Anna B. Good- 
win, who was born May 16, 1851, by whom he 
has two children — Bessie G., born Aug. 27, 
1877, and Albert T., born May 8, 1880. John 
Goodwin, the father of Mrs. Miller, was a na- 
tive of Virginia and emigrated to Clark Co., 
O., when young; he was born in 1822, and 
died in 1867; was married in 1847 to Mary 
Scheller (the mother of ilrs. Miller), who was 
born Nov. 6, 1829, in Clark Co., and is a 
daug-hter of Adam and Mary (Heastand) 
Scheller. The father was born in Lancaster 
Co., Pa., in 1789, and her mother in Hagers- 
town, Md.; she was tlu; mother of twelve 
children, nine of whom are living — Emanuel 
M., Adam, Daniel, Elizabeth, Henry, Anna 
N., John, Mary and Lvdia. She died in 
1875, and the father is now living in Green 
Co., this State. Mrs. Miller is one of six chil- 
dren, three of whom survive — Orrin, Anna 
B. and Willetta. The grandfather Scheller 
came from Germany when 4 years old. The 
father of Mrs. Miller was a dry-goods mer- 
chant for many years, and during his latter 
days he owned a nursery, and finally he kept 
the noted Goodwin Hotel at Dayton, where 
he was killed bv fallino- out of a biigii'y. 

DR. J. ORDW AY, retired physician; West 
Liberty. The data that ^e have been able 
to obtain of Dr. Ordway is of exceeding 
brevity, but his early residence and identifica- 
tion with the early history of Logan Co. 
scatters his name on many pnges of this book. 
He was born in New Hampshire, June 22, 
1800. His father, .John, died when he was 
three years old, and he was thrown out on 
life's current without the care of a father; 
hence, his school days were limited, as he 
must care for the necessaries of life. He re- 
mained with his mother until the age of 8, 
and then went to live with his grandfather 
Ordway, who sent him to one of the old 
pioneer log cabins, where he learned his A. 
B. C.'s; at the expiration of two years he re- 
turned to his mother, she having-, in the mean- 
time, married Roliert Christie; he remained 
at home until 16, during which time he was 
engaged on the farm, but his active mind 






i 



3\^ 



720 



BIOGEAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



soujrht other labors, and he left the parental 
roof anJ l)egan attending school at Spring- 
field, O. (tiie family having moved to Clark Co. 
some time prior to that time). K.\treme 
poverty brought this young student to want, 
and he readilv sought night cniploynient in a 
cooper shop, and during the day would attend 
iiis recitationir; his labor at night would bring 
him enough means to pay his board; this he 
continued for two years; he became very apt 
in his f lasses, and found some moments for 
extra labors, which he improved by reading 
medicine; at the age of 18 he began teach- 
ing school in the country at ^20 per month, 
and during his spare; time was reading medi- 
cine with Dr. Lawrence, of Springfield; the 
latter he continued for three years, which was 
the requirement of the law; he then went be- 
fore a board of censors at Dayton, Ohio, and 
was examined, and got an excellent grade; he 
at once began i)ractice with his preceptor for a 
short time, and then. May ^8, 18'28, began at 
West Liberty, being then the first and only 
practitioner at this place; ho soon gained a 
wide practice, and made himself known as a 
skilled and elliiient physician; during a 
])eriod of three months, he rode down three 
horses, and enjoyed only nine nights sleep 
during that time; his extensive practice be- 
gan to injure his health, and he began to 
withdraw about 1844 or '45, and finally book- 
ed the last account in 1849, and ilovoted his 
entire time to merchandising, which ho had 
entered prior to that time. In this vocation 
he was successful, and accmnulaled (piite a 
little fortune; he retireul from l)usiness in 
186:2, on account of ill health, and since that 
time has turned his attention to farming 250 
acres of land in Logan and Champaign Co.s; 
he owns three lots 50x150, IJ aero lul in the 
north part of town, two other lots and Imild- 
ings, all in West Liberty, making in all. to- 
gether with his lands, a valuation of •?40,UUO 
to #.5U,00O, all of which is the fruit of his own 
labors. He was nuirried, Jan. 7, 18:30, to 
Sabrina E. .McGruder; she died in 1848; he 
was again married, March 8, 184!), to .Man- 
dane S. Fish; she is still living, and has 
been of great assistance in accumulating their 
fortune. Dr. O. was always eager to witness 
anything of infer, st, and one time he walk(>d 
twelve miles to see an elephant, perhaps the 
first that ever came through this country in a 



show. He has served in some small township 
offices, as Treasurer and Town Councilman. 
The present Mrs. Ordwaj' was born in 182"-i, 
in Randolph, Orange Co., Vt. Her father, 
James Fish, died when she was nine months 
old, and her mother, Achsah (I.,amson) Fish, 
was married again in 1835, to Washington 
Granger, a local Methodist Kpiscopa! minister. 
She had by her Ibrmor marriage six children, 
four of whom survive. Her mother died in 
1868, and was a mendjer of the Christian 
Church. Mrs. Ordway came in Oct., 1845 to 
Urbana, with William Harbach (an uncle). 
She there taught school until married; she 
was educated at the academy at Kandoli)h 
Corners, in Vermont; she early took an in- 
terest in singing, and became a very efficient 
alto singer; she was often selected as an alto 
representative to musical conventions in the 
East; at her ripe old age, now, she has a very 
distinct and sweet voice, and is the leading 
alto singer in the Methodist chcjir at this 
place. She and the doctor have been identi- 
fied with the Methodist Episcopal Church for 
two score or mor(> years, the financial interest 
of which denomination has been benefited by 
their relationshi]), as well as their connection 
morally and otherwise. The doctor cast his 
first vote for John Q. Ailams, for Pi-esident, 
and has always taken an interest in the oflicial 
selections, yet, during all this, he has never 
sought office. In Dr. Ordway we find a 
marked instance of a self-made man, talented, 
energetic and careful; educated by his own 
energies and jii'rseverance; sociable and af- 
fable in his intercourse with all, of good le- 
gal abilities, liiu' |)hvsieal (vrg:uii/.alion. The 
hanil of time has toueliecl him gently. J. H. 
MiCiruder, the father-in-law of our subject, 
came to Clarke Co., O., in 1^'27, was transfer- 
red soon after to Chain])aign Co., anil thence 
to Logan Co., in 18:iO; he was a large share- 
holder in tlib east, and brought with him 
Maria HawkiTis (one of his old slaves) ami 
three childnMi — Windsor, .Margaret and Stacy; 
her husband was taken south. She now lives 
in Washington, D. C. Father McGruder was 
an early merchant at this place, and had his 
business room where is now the present site 
of Woodward's boot and shoe store. We 
clip the following from a Logan Co. paper: 
"We have the inelancdioly duty of announ- 
cing the death, by suicide, on the night of 



LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 



Tuesday last, 1850, of the Rev. J. B. Mc- 
Gruder, of West Liberty, in this county. 
The deceased was an elderly man, but had 
enjoyed remarkably good health until within 
a comparatively short period, wlien he sank 
into deep melancholy, and in a fit of derange- 
ment put an end to his existence by hanging. 
No event, we presume, has ever produced so 
deep a sensation among the citizens in the 
vicinity in which he lived, and where he had 
resided for more than twenty years. He was 
universally respected and beloved. He has 
been, we know not for how long, but we pre- 
sume for the greater part of his life, a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and adorn- 
ed its doctrines by his daily walk and conversa- 
tion. He was one of the most earnest and 
most devoted Christians that we have ever 
known. Whenever good was to be effected, 
whenever anything was to be done, promo- 
tive of the temjjoral and eternal welfare of 
his fellow man, father McGruder was found 
among the most earnest, efficient and un- 
wearying laborers. But his earthly career is 
now ended, and he is gone to his reward. He 
leaves many sad hearts to mourn his im for- 
tunate and melancholy death."' 

A. J. SCOTT, livery; West Liberty; was 
born Aug. 9, 1839, in Champaign Co., O. 
His father, Zachariah, was born Nov. 18, 
1800, in the same county, as was also his 
mother, Maria (Lake) Scott, her birthday be- 
ing Oct. 22, 1805. These jiarents began life 
in the green woods; wild game was then 
plenty, and the father obtained the greater 
jDart of their meat by hunting. During this 
time the Indians were plenty, yet the father 
had some dislike for them, and" never traded 
with them, as did many of the pioneers. 
His grudge against them was caused by a 
combat between his brother Joseph and some 
red men in Wisconsin, during which engage- 
ment Joseph killed one of thiMu, and had ''to 
flee for his life, and was only saved by beino- 
placed in a block house, and kept there 
through the entire winter. In the spring was 
let out, at which time he sought the wilds of 
Ohio, working the way on foot. Mr. Scott's 
father and mother had five children — Jane, de- 
ceased; Eliza, Margaret, A. J. and Thomas J. 
The mother died in 1832. The father was 
again married to Mary Lake, a sister of his 
former wife, by whom he had — David, John, 






Maria, Matilda, Lovena, George, Charlie, 
Chloe, Zachariah and Belle. The father died 
in 1862; his widow survives and is living 
at Heyworth, III. A. J. remained with his 
parents until 22 years old, during which pe- 
riod he shared with his brothers in laboring on 
the farm and attending school in the log cabin; 
also going to mill on horseback, following 
along the snake paths. H(> was married 
March 20, 1850, to Martha J. Saltkill, a native 
of Pennsylvania; by her he hasfivi> children, all 
living — Maria E., Laura, Mary, Zachariah and 
Addie B. He devoted his life to farming un- 
til March 7, 1880, when he formed a co-jiart- 
nership with John Steelman in the livery, 
sale and feed business at which he is doing 
first-class; and as he and Mr. Steelman give 
their entire personal attention to the same, of 
course merit the patronage they receive. He 
owns a nice residence in this little village, 
votes the Democratic ticket, and has always 
voted for the party, save one vote, which was 
cast for Abraham Lincoln. 

PRESTON W. SEARCH, Superintendent 
of West Liberty School, and Associate Editor 
Gaxette; is a son of Thonuis and Matilda 
Search; was born at Marion, O., April 10, 
1853. At this writing he is the Superintend- 
ent of Schools at West Liberty, O. The 
early education of Prof. Search was obtained 
in the Marion LTnion Schools. At the age of 
]G years he entered Dr. H. A. True's Private 
Classical School, under whose instruction he 
continued three years, and afterward at- 
tended the University at Wooster, where he 
completed his school life, e.xtending over a 
period of fifteen years. Talented, enthusi- 
astic, his success in college is an earnest for his 
future life. P. W. Search was not the man 
to leave the future to the direction of impulse, 
but with a definiteness that at on<'e revealed 
his maturity of character. With a singularly 
rare ap|)reciation of the value of commencing 
life with positive aims, he condensed his con- 
victions into this beautiful maxim; " 7\> thine 
own se/f he trm," and this he has faithfully 
observed. It moulded his character, exer- 
cised a restraining influence on his daily life, 
and lent it the beauty of moral strength, the 
peace of contentment, unfailing courtesy, 
steady, conscientious industry, unostentatious 
charities, genial habits, and the sincere polite- 
ness of a Christian gentleman. Ever since 






722 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



leaving college Prof. Search has been a close 
student; he is a self-made man, and a self- 
educated man. He supported himself in 
college by teaching tlu-ee winter schools, and 
hearing private classes. He has spent sever- 
al summers, also, in teaching, writing, com- 
mercial, and music schools in different parts 
of the State. On the 4th of .March, IST-l, he 
made a favorable response to an ajiplication 
made by the citizens of Miliersburg, O., to 
the faculty of the University of W'ooster, 
urging him to take charge of the Miliersburg 
Academy, as its Principal. In this important 
position he was assisted by the talented .Mrs. 
D. W. Van Evera, Lady Principal, and Mrs. 
O. J. French, who, for eighteen years, was 
President of the Female Seminary at Can- 
nonsburg, Penn., and other distinguished in- 
structors. W'e learn much of the po])ularity 
of Prof. Search as an instructor at Millers- 
burg, from the citizens and the public press 
thereof, as well as th(» catalogues of the In- 
stitution; w<- also learn that the Academy was 
supported by a liberal attendance of students. 
Fnjni this position the subject of our sketch 
retired to ojien a mnsic store at Marion, O., 
in which business he continued nearly three 
years. During this time, with that indomita- 
ble perseverence that characterizes the man, he 
prepared students forcollegi',and at the same 
time he wiis ably filling the position of Princi- 
])al of the Marion Connnereial School, being a 
skillful bookkeeper, as well as a master of the 
beautiful art of penmanshi]). Prof. Search 
has a line reputation as a director and com- 
poser of nuisic, and is to-day largely engaged 
in the publication of his own comiiositions, 
as well as that of other music directors, the 
copyright of which he owns. He was born 
U) itistruet, to charm, to elevate the human 
soul, to furnish his ndlow mortals with some 
of the itistrumentalities of a pure, high en- 
joyment. Upon several occasions he has 
conducted musical conventions in neighbor- 
ing places. On the first Monday of Sej)tem- 
ber, 1H77, Prof. Search took charge of tlie 
West Liberty I.'nion Schools, which needed a 
thorough re-organization badly, and it re- 
quired the services of just such an one as he 
to place it uiion a .solid foundation. Heing a 
teacher of the highest order, practical in edu- 
cation and in the esthetic, he sought, by 
natural gravitation of iiis faculties, to blend 



the two elements, thus making him capable of 
rendering the task attra<'tive to himself as 
well as pleasing to the jnipil, and this happv 
combination, together with his ability as a 
inethodizer, planner and organizer, rendered 
him peculiarly the "rii;ht man in the right 
place." That he has j)roven himself pre- 
eminently ''master of the situation" is a 
notorious fact, and we base his success not 
only on the accomplishments we havi' already 
mentioned, but also upon his remarkable ex- 
ecutive ability, his earnestness, his ])Ower to 
command the respect and affection of his 
pupils, his singular facility of rapidly impart- 
ing what he knows to others, his faculty for 
bringing order out of chaos, and the peculiar 
ability which he has of causing the pupil to 
feel that the spirit of his instructor pervades 
the whole school-room. He is never boister- 
ous, never displays anger in the presence of 
his pupils, but wlien he speaks he is promptly 
obeyed. H(> is autocratic in the schonl-roum, 
yet his pupils take pleasure in obeying him. 
They love and do not fear him, an<l they 
are made to feel that he is their devoted 
friend, and yearns for their growth in mental 
strength. Endowed with these siijierior 
graces, what else might the people of West 
Liberty expect but such eminent success as 
has attended the labors of Prof. Search 
among themV His work has been so highly 
appreciated that, in the summer of ISSO, the 
Board of ?]ducatioii re-elected him to the 
Suj) ■rintendency for a term of three years at 
a salary of ^l,'-20() per year, the highest 
amount paid by any place of erpial size in 
Ohio, and the niaxinunn of Log.iii Co. Prof. 
Search has sjient several months of his vaca- 
tions in traveling to ri'fiesh his historical and 
geographical knowledge of this country, and 
the many readers of the ^Yest Liberty (iiizrtd', 
with which he is associated as ]>ublisher, 
have enjoyed largely the benefit of his ob- 
servations and power as a descriptive writer. 
His pen is facile, gifted andelo(pient, capable 
even of soaring into the beautiful realms be- 
yond. Prof. Search is a gentleman of sterling 
worth, high moral endowments, an esteemed 
citizen of West Liberty, and being, compara- 
tively, a young man yet, he gives promise of 
enlarged usebilness. 

GEOlUiE SECRIST, farmer; P. 0., West 
Liberty; was born Dec. 4, 1814, in Rockingham 



LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 



723 



Co., Va. His father, Henry, was born in 
the same county, in 1782, and his mother, 
Dorothy Coon, in Botetourt Co., in 1785. The 
parents came to Ohio in 181G witli five chil- 
dren — Jacob, John, Michael, George and 
Maria and in this county were born — Sarah, 
Dorothy, Samuel, Nathan, Rebecca, Henry 
and Rose Ann. The parents rented for a few 
years in this township after settling licre, and 
then bought where Henry Secrist and ^Valter 
Howell now reside, and there remained until 
the death of the father in 1868. This claim 
was entered from the government by John 
Watts, who received the patent from J. Q. 
Adams. The father pai 1 §5 per acre for the 
same. Here the old pioneer began life with 
scarcely anything save two horses and two 
cows; the former caught the arlanders and 
both died, and the latter became foundered 
on chopped feed and also died which left him 
with nothing. He managed to trade a rifle- 
gun for an old gray horse, which served tiiem 
in ooingr to the mill, etc., and in a short time 
two calves grew up, which they yoked and 
with them plowed the soil. Our subject re- 
mained with his father until 31 years old, 
when he began working- for himself, by rent- 
ing ground of the neighbors, and made his 
home with his father until he was married, in 
1839, to Hannah, a daughter of Thomas and 
Margaret Collins. She was born Oct. 10, 
1821, in Lancaster Co., Pa., and by her he 
had eleven children, eight of whom are now 
living — Margaret, Maria, Eliza J., Dorothj' 
J. (dead), Savina E., Adolphus M., Sarah E. 
(dead), .lohn L., Marj- E., Henry and Frances 
R. (dead). Mr. Secrist settled after marriage 
(jn the I'arm now owned by D. D. Yoder, for 
one summer, and then rented of John Smith 
for some time. He then bought 128 acres 
where he now lives, going in debt for the 
greater part of it, which was a source of great 
anxiety to him until liquidated, Imt, by care- 
ful management and strict economy, he has 
made himself a happy home. He has held 
the office of Townshij) Trustee. Himself and 
wife are members of the Christian Church in 
Liberty Tp., called the !McKee's Creek Church. 
He votes the Republican ticket. 

AUGUSTUS B. SIEG, merchant; West 
Liberty. The gentleman whose name is at 
the head of this article is not an old resident 
of this place, but one whose talents and abili- 



ties have prominently identified him in the 
literary and business interests of the town. 
He was born July 14, 18.37, in Augusta Co., 
Va. ; he early manifested an interest in edu- 
cation, and attended the academy of that 
county until 18, when he entered Roanoke 
College, where he completed a course in 1857; 
he then returned to his parents, and, in 1859, 
went to Marshall, Saline Co., Mo., and there 
merchandised under the firm name of Gorham 
& Sieg, continuing about three years; durinsr 
the war, they lost almost all they had, and 
Mr. Sieg came to West Liberty and entered 
the dry goods business as a silent partner in 
the firm of Pennock & Cruzen. In three 
years, he withdrew, and entered his present 
business with H. J. Miller, whose daughter, 
Mary, he had married, Oct. 3, 18G5, by whom 
he had one child — Paul M. Himself and wife 
are members of the Lutheran Church at this 
place, of which denomination he has been 
deacon since his connection therewith, in 
1865. While in Virginia, he was Captain of 
an infantry regiment from 1858 to 1859. Paul, 
the father of our subject, was born in Augusta 
Co., Va., and there married, in 1816, Eliza- 
beth Haines, also a native of the same county; 
she blessed him with twelve children, eight 
of whom survive — Henry, Julia, Elizabeth, 
Carrie, Kate, Eva, Angle and Augustus B. 
Our subject's great-grandfather, Paul Sieg, 
was born in Germany, and at the age of 20 years 
he published an article severely criticising- 
the government, and emigrated to this coun- 
try for safety, settling in Lancaster Co., 
Penn. Here he married, and raised two 
boys — Henry and Paul; the latter was born 
in 1753, and married Susannah Fauber, in 
1781; in 1788, they moved to Shenandoah 
Co., Va., with their children — Susannah, .John, 
Jacob and Paul. They here bought a fine 
iarm, and lived upon it for nineteen years. 
Here Valentine and David were born. In 
1807, he moved with his family to Church- 
ville, Augusta Co., and bought the " Rose 
Isle " farm; he died Sept. 22, 1817. Paul, the 
father of our suliject, came into possession of 
this last-named farm, partly by inheritance 
and partly by purchase. He died Sept. 17, 
1846, of tj-phoid fever, at 59 years of age, 
being born July 13, 1787. He was a wise 
and prudent man of business, and soon added 
a number of valuable farms to his possessions. 



f 



724 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



and also owned at one time the noted "Oak- 
land Hotel" property, of Augusta Co. He was 
a fifreat advocate of liberal education, and did 
a great deal toward establishing Roanoke 
College, and was the leading spirit in estab- 
lishing a classical school in his own neighbor- 
hood. When Augustus went to Roanoke 
College, Dr. liittle, President of the institu- 
tion, greeted hini very warniU% and said: 
''Your father was the Ijest man 1 ever saw, 
and the best friend I ever had, and 1 prom- 
ised him before his death that 1 would see 
j'ou liberally educated." Elizabeth, the wife 
of Paul, was born in Virginia, Oct. 2S, 1790, 
and died, his widow, Aug. 4, 1864, in her 
74th year. 

STANTON BRUTHER.S, merchants; West 
Liberty. Prominently identified with the 
leading merchants of West Liberty are the 
Stanton brothers, whose firm name heads this 
sketch. James, the eldest, engaged in 
teaching school for four winters, and after- 
wards was engineer at the Phoeni.x Iron 
Works in Chicago, and then kept books for 
some time for Jones & Co., job printers, at 
the same place. In 1877, he, in partnership 
with his brother William, engaged in the 
present business, having a full line of dry 
goods and notions. They devote their entire 
attention to the business, and employ one 
steady clerk. They make a specialty of ma- 
ple sweet, having handled during last season 
over 75,000 ])ounds of sugar and molasses. 
Their father, Daniel, was born Aug. 30, 1608, 
and was the son of James and Ann (Newby) 
Stanton — the former a native of V'irginia and 
the latter of North Carolina. He was married 
in IS'.ii to the present .Mrs. Angeline Stanton, 
a daughter of John and Elizal^eth (.lohnson) 
Watkins; the father was bom in Susse.\ Co., 
^'a., .lunc 1, 1781, and thi' mother in Isle 
of AVight Co., Va. Her father taught school 
in his younger days, and was elected County 
Surveyor, in which position he served for over 
tw(;nty years. Her parents then cauie to Mt. 
Pleasant, Jefferson Co., O., in 1831, and for 
some time engaged in the mercantili> busi- 
ness. He was socjn after chosen President of 
tha Uaiik at that place, retaining that position 
for many years, and also served as a director 
of the same; he had ten children, five of 
whom survive — Lambert, Angeline, William, 
Elizabeth and Lydia. Both of the parents 



were members of the Friends' Church. The 
parents of our subjects came to liOgan Co., 
O., in 1832, and began life with only willing 
hands and stout hearts. They settled in the 
green woods in a "squatter's" cabin, made of 
round logs, stick chimney, puncheon floor, 
and doors hung on wooden hinges. Here 
they enjoyed many ha])])y hours among the 
thick forests and wild animals, but no time 
was lost, and soon the timber began to fall, 
and ere many ^-ears had elapsed they had 
])repared a bi>autiful farm of 75 acres, and ere 
the father dietl they jiossessed I'Jl acres. 
They sold wheat at 30 cents per bushel and 
butter at 6 cents per pound, to pay off their 
debts and to obtain the necessaries of life. 
They once sold a large fatted calf for ^4, with 
which they liquidated their tax, it being that 
amount. On Dec. 10, 1870, the father was 
stricken from life's roll on earth, and gathered 
into life eternal, leaving behind him the com- 
Jianion of his joys and sorrows, with whom he 
had shared for over thirty-eight j-ears. They 
hful been dining all of their lives mendiers of 
th(( Friends' Church. Mrs. Stanton is now 
ph»asantl}' located in West Liberty with a 
part of her ])leasant and intelligent family of 
eight children, who grew up to call her 
blessed. A shcirt time ago she was struck with 
paralysis, which may, ere long, waft her from 
the shores of time, but she will leave a i-ecord 
of having been a faithful Christian and a kind 
and loving mother and companion. Her sur- 
viving children are — Elizabeth (married Isaac 
■James); John, now in Rice Co., Kan.; .lames; 
Deborah (married E. Brown); William and 
Lydia. The great-grandfather, .lames Stan- 
ton, was the son of Samson, born Aug. 7, 
]83(!, and Ruth. They had James, .lohn, 
Sarah and Daniid. The grandmother, Ann 
(Newby) Stanton, deceased Se]>t. 17, 1854, 
and was the last of the Newby family. 
Her father, Thomas, was the son of Thomas 
and Mary Newby, ami was the grandson of 
Thomas and Rebecca Pretlow. Mary Newby 
wasadanghter of John and Martha Lawrence, 
and was born Oct. H, 1745. 

H. S. TAVI.Oi; & CO., grocers; West Lib- 
erty. Prominently identified among the lead- 
ing business men of West Liberty is the firm 
heading this article; they were born in this 
j)lace, Frank P., the elder, in 1854; he at- 
tended college at O.xford, Ohio, in 1868 and 



,>?- 



LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 



725 



1869; in 1870, began keeping books in the 
bank at this place; continued until 1873, 
when the cashier, Mr. Rankle, died, and he 
suc3eeded him in the position, which he still 
merits. Was married, October, 1878, to Hat- 
tie Johnson, native ol Pennsylvania; by her 
he has one child — Ralph. He is a member 
of Mad River Lodge, No. 191, A., F. & A. 
M., at this place, in which he is now J. W.; 
also, member of Lafayette Chapter, Bellefon- 
taine, Ohio, and Roper Commandery, No. 19, 
Urbana, Ohio. Harry S., the younger mem- 
ber, assumes entire control of the grocery, 
and, by close attention to business, they have 
learned that, coupled with buying lay the 
chief point in selling. They have always had 
the satisfaction of seeing their business in- 
crease, until they are now running a capital 
stock of $7,000. They are erecting a fine 
two-story brick, 21x80 feet, in which they 
purpose ruiuiing a wholesale and retail line 
of the best qualities of all kinds of grocer- 
ies. 

I. C. TAYLOR, physician; West Liberty. 
In the practice of medicine in all cities and 
towns there are those j)hysicians wiio, by long 
practice, have become so well known to the 
people that the compliments of the press are 
unneeded on their part. Among this class of 
physicians we find Dr. I. C. Taylor, who has 
been a resident of this village s nee Jan. 1, 
1841; he is a native of Champaign Co., and 
was born Oct. 10, 1820, in Urbana; his early 
days were spent in a log schoolhouse; at the 
age of 13, he went to the Ohio University at 
Athens, wliere he remained until 15 j'ears old, 
wiien ho then entered school at Oxford, re- 
maining there two years; he then returneti to 
his native heath, and began reading medi- 
cine with Dr. J. E. Carter, witli whom he con- 
tinued for three years; he then attended the 
Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati; he at 
once began practicing with Dr. Marshall at 
Addison, Champaign Co. In one year his 
partner died, and the doctor then went to 
Marysvilie, Union Co., where he remained two 
years; he then came to West Liberty, where 
he has since been; he came here young in his 
profession and somewhat a stranger, and, be- 
ing naturally of a despondent nature, the 
future sometimes looked dark; but, being a 
gentleman as well as a thoroughly well-read 
physician, his practice gradually increased, 



as did also his circle of friends, until now, by 
his close attention to business, he has a fine 
practice and a host of warm friends, some be- 
ing of the poorer class, to whom he has been 
a friend in many cases of need. In 1856 he 
was sent by the government to the plains of 
Colorado, for the purpose of effecting some 
compromise with the Indians, on the construc- 
tion of the Union Pacific Railniad. He giin- 
ed the desired object only verbally, the 
Indians promising to go south, which they 
did, but would not sign any writing. Dr. 
Taylor returned in about fifteen months, and 
again entered on his professional duties. He 
was married in 1841 to .lane D. Arden, a 
native of New Jersey. Her parents were 
Moses and Ann E. Arden, who emigrated to 
this county at an early day. He has had by 
this union nine children, six of whom are liv- 
ing — Moses, Eudora, Robroy, I. C. (practicing 
medicine in Butler, Ky.), Alonzo and Jesse P. 
He has been Townsiiip Clerk and member of 
the Town Council, also a member of Liberty 
Lodge, No. 161, F. & A. M. His amiable 
consort died March 19, 1880. His father, 
Samuel, was a native of Virginia, and his 
mother, Sarah (Philips) of Kentucky. The 
father was a miller, and his father built the 
first grist-mill in the State of Ohio. The 
mother of our subject died about 1824, and 
was the mother of four children, all deceased 
but the doctor. The father was married twice 
since, and became sick June 1, 1878. The 
doctor brought him to his home and treated 
him until June 10, 1880, when he died at the 
ripe old age of 85 years. Dr. Taylor makes 
a specialty of lung and throat diseases, and 
is fast gaining a world-wide reputation on 
these two almost incurable diseases. He 
has treated some cases where men has been 
seventeen years deaf, and has restored them 
to perfect hearing. For a verification of this 
statement we refer the reader to S. S. Hartzler 
and James or Charles Houger; the latter two 
were treated for consumption, having been 
given up by many eminent physicians as in- 
curable. We would thus commend Dr. Tay- 
lor to the public as one of the most efficient 
physicians of the State. He is somewhat 
diseased, and may, ere long, enter a new 
sphere, but will leave a lasting remembrance 
of having acted a life of usefulness without 
ostentation. 



^..\: 



iht^ 



726 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



DA MARIS A. WILLIAMS (widow), far- 
mer; LilxTty Tp.; is a (lau<i-liti'r (if Morgan 
Eddy, who was horn April 0, lSO-1, in Fred- 
erick Co., Va. Marrie(l, in 18^?, to Sophia 
MtConnell; came to LoijanCo., Ohio, in 1828; 
died .Ian. 'i'ii, 18'!), of lung» fever. lie was 
noted for his social qualities and hospitality. 
His wife died in 1873; he made his settle- 
ment on what is the residence of Levi King, 
and in 1853 bought (where the subject now 
lives) of the Williams heirs; here the parents 
died, and had ten children, four of whom 
survive — Catharine, married Henry Kelley, 
of BellelVmtaine; Damaris A.; Alartha E., 
married Thomas Pinkcrton, farmer, in Colby 
Co., Kan.; James W., niarrie<l Abhie Frantz, 
and has one child — Addi(>. The names of 
those deceased — .luhn, Mar^', Nancy, and three 
infants. Mrs. Williams was born July 13, 
1831, and was married, in 1852, to George A. 
Williams, a brother of Mrs. I. N. Uille, men- 
tioned elsewhere. Her husband was born 
July 20, 1824, in Berkeley Co., Va.; he de- 
voted about twenty-seven years of his life to 
the saw-mill business. He finally became 
insane from unknown causes, and, Julv 24, 
1875, hung himself in his own shed. He was 
always kind to his family, and the last few 
weeks \n\ov to his suicide he had been uncom- 
monly good, and very devoted to them. No 
adverse winds or threatening storms seemed 
to obstruct their passage. It is ])rol)able that 
dysjiepsia was partially the cause of his insan- 
ity. He was the father of three children, two 
of whom survive — Tempie S. .\., Carrie E. 
and James M., who died in 185;! at the age 
of 6 months. Mrs. Williams owns 91 acres 
of well-improved land, a portion of the old 
homestead; she and her two daughters remain 
thereon, and rent the farm for sufficient means 
for their sup])ort. She is an active member 
of the .McKee's Creek Christian Church. 

J. W. WOODWARD, menhant; West 
Liberty; was born Jan 8, 1829, in Spring- 
field, Clark Co., Ohio; his father, Jacob 1^., 
was born in Chester Co., Penn., and his 
mother, Sarah Christie, was born in New Hos- 
ton, N. H., in 18()H; they came to Springfield 
when youncr; there the father engaged in 
carding, fulling and general merchandising 
until death, which occ\irred in 1831. They 
had two boys — J. W. and R. C; the latter is 
now Librarian of the Public Library of 



Springfield. The mother was again married, 
to John Nicols, bj' whom she had four chil- 
dren — William G., Jesse C, Isabella and 
Laura M. Jesse C. was Captain of the 6Cth 
O. V. I., and is now engagetl in the drug 
business in California. William G. was in 
the war, and is now traveling salesman for 
William Mann & Co., of Philadelphia, whole- 
sale stationery. The parents of our subject 
were mendx'rs of the Congregational Church. 
When J. W. was 7 years old, he came to live 
with Dr. Ordway, and has mostly been with 
him since; he was engaged as cashier of the 
bank at this place fiom 1857 to 18(»lp, at which 
time he went West, and engaged in raising 
cattle, and in two years he returned, and 
again entered the bank, where he remained 
until 1874, when he entered his present busi- 
ness — that of boots and shoes— and is having 
an excellent trade. In 1876, he built a fine 
two-sfory brick building, at a cost of S!3,<50(), 
which was consumi'd by the great fire of 
1880. Was married in 1853 to Lucy Ste- 
vens, by whom he had I-izzie and Christie 
L.; both survive. His wife died in 1806, and 
was a strict nu'mber of tlu> Methodist Episco- 
pal Church. He was again married in Octo- 
ber, 1868, to'Laura E. Ilitclico.x, by whom he 
had two children — Richard O. and Katie T. 
Himself and wife are members of the Pres- 
byterian Church. He has been Township 
Trustee and Town Clerk a number of times, 
and has been willing to serve his share of 
other small offices, where it is all labor and no 
pay. He cast his first vote for S.'ott on the 
Whig ticket, and has siiu^e been a strong suj)- 
porter of the Whig and Re])ubli<an parties. 
Socially, we know Mr. Woodward as a genial, 
pleasant gentleman; enjoying good health, 
be bids fair for a long life of usefulness in his 
labors among the community. The Christies 
came from Ireland, and the (Goodrich descend- 
ants came from the borders of Wales. A 
letter from Hiram P. (.ioodrich says: "1 have 
the coat of arms, and also a family motto, 
which was, ' None of the name were ever pun- 
ished for crime'; and iinother in Latin, being 
translated, siys: 'The way to be good is the 
wavto be rich.'" Of the name, more than forty 
were jiatriots in the Revolutionary war, eight 
members of Congress, three doctors of divinity, 
five doctors of laws. The old castle anil manor 
house is still standing on the Welsh borders. 



LIBERTY TOWXSHIP. 



727 



J. W. WRIGHT, millwright; West Lib- 
erty; was born April 12, 1831, in Allegheny 
Co., Md.; his younger days were occupied 
somewhat in attendino- school in the old log 
cabins; at the age of 21, he hired on a 
farm at -S4 per month; this he continued for 
several years; he then began learning mill- 
wrighting with Stephen Haniiuni, which he 
has continued since with the exception of two 
years, during which he was engaged in a saw 
mill at Quincy, O., with E. Bailey; he was 
married in 1861 to Margaret Secrist, whose 
parents are mentioned elsewhere; she was 
iaorn Sept. 20, 1840, in this county; by her he 
had four children — Esta Florence, Anna 
Frances, Clara Gertrude and Walter J. E.; 
they settled in West Liberty soon after mar- 
riage, where they have since remained; he is 
a member of the I. O. O. F., at this place; 
his amiable wife is a member of the Christian 
Church; he east his first vote for the Whig 
party, and has been identified with the Re- 
jiublican party since its organization; Mr. 
Wright has always been an active worker in 
the temperance movement; he is now in 
partnership with Stephen Hannum in repair- 
ing engines, threshers, reapers, mowers, wag- 
ons, and all kinds of farming implements, and 
is also running a double-press cider mill; he 
has, by strict economy, attained some proper- 
ty adjoining the village of West Liberty. 
His parents, James and Louisa, were natives 
of ilaryland — the former of Baltimore and the 
latter of Cumberland, Allegheny Co; they 
emigrated to Cliampaign Co., O., early; there 
the father engaged in farmino' and mi'linof; 
they came to Logan Co. in 18-38; the father died 
in 1848, and the mother in 1873; were a long 
time members of the Presbyterian Church; 
they had eight children — John, Marj', J. W., 
Henry, Thomas, Rachel, Calvin and Maria. 

JlliS. BARBARA YODER, farmer; P. O., 
West Liberty; was born Sept. 2, 1820, in 
Huntingdon Co., Pa. Her father, Daniel Yo- 
der, was born in Mifflin Co., Pa., and her 
mother, Nancy King, in Lancaster Co., same 
State. They had seven children, six of whom 
are now living — John, Martha, Anist, Daniel, 
Barbara, Benjamin and Xancy. ( )ur subject 
attended school but little, and that was in the 
log cabin. Her younger days were spent at 
the spinning-wheel or the loom, the potato 
patch or the garden. She was married Feb. 



14, 1843, to John Yoder (no relation). He 
was the son of David and Magdalena Yoder 
and a brother of D. D. Yoder. She and her 
husband settled after marriage in Mifflin Co., 
Pa., until 1844, when they came to Logan 
Co., O., she by water and stage, and he by 
a five-horse team, in company with her brother 
and Christ Kauffman. They settled where 
she now lives, on Sec. 4; they im|)roved it, 
and now she possesses 1T5 acres of fine, arable 
land, the attainment of their own energies. 
They had seven children, four of whom sur- 
vive — Nancy (married John Fett), John (man- 
ages the farm), Elizabeth and Arnod. She is 
also raising a little girl, Ida Dillon. The 
husband, John, is now deceased and was a 
member of the Ormish Mennonite Church, to 
which she also belongs. 

DANIEL C. YODER, farmer, P. O., West 
Liberty, is another of the pioneers of Logan Co. 
and was born May 13, 1825, in Huntingdon 
Co., Pa. He is a brother of Jonathan Yod- 
er whose sketch appears elsewhere . His 
younger days were spent like those of all the 
rest of the 3-oung boys of this county, in attend- 
ing school in the pioneer cabins, going to mill 
on horseback, reaping wheat with the sickle, 
going to church barefooted, roaming the 
woods in search of raccoons and opossums, 
rolling logs, picking brush, and relishing 
many meals of corn bread and milk. He was 
married in 1853 to Judith, a daughter of 
David Byler, a native of Pennsylvania, who 
came to Fairfield Co., O., 1840. By her 
Mr. Yoder had five children, two of whom 
are living — Ezra B., and David B. His wife 
died in 1862. He was again married in 
1864 to Martha Byler (some connection of 
his first wife); by her he had four children, two 
of whom are living — Christ, and John. His 
second wif(> died in 1870, and was a member 
of the Ormish Mennonite Church, as w^as also 
his former consort. His third and last mar- 
riage occurred in 1872 with Nancy Hartzler; 
she is a daghhter of John and L. Zook 
Hartzler. By her he has five children — 
Rebecca H., Daniel H., Nancy M. (dead), 
Levi and Fainiie. Mrs. Yoder was born 
in 1843, in Mifflin Co., Pa. When Mr. 
Yoder first married, he began on a farm 
in Monroe Tp., renting it for three years 
— afterwards buying a farm now owned by 
Troyer & Smoker, and remained on this 



Ml 



-28 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



farm in Liberty Tp. until 1876, where he 
boufrht the present farm of 140 acres of 
John P. King; it is among' the best farms 
in the townshij), being well watered by living 
springs; he ha» served in some of the minor 
township offices, and has paid twice to clear 
the townshi)) draft; he has been a member of 
the Orniish Meinionite Church for thirty-five 
years, and has assisted in building a fine 
church; he cast his first vote for the Whig 
party, and since the formation of the Re- 
publican party he has been an active member. 
On his farm once stood an old log cabin school- 
house, IS.x'^O feet, with slab seats, puncheon 
floor, clapl>^>ard roof and writing desks made 
by fastening slabs on pins inserted in augur 
holes in the logs; the light was obtained by 
fastening greased paper over openings made 
in the wall. 

D. D. YODKi;, lann,M-; P. O., West Lib- 
erty; was born .June 12,1830, in Huntingdon 
Co., Penn.; his father, Daviil C, was born in 
1800 in Mifflin Co., same State, and his mother, 
Magdalena (H(Kjly), was born in 1803 in the 
same county. The jiarents came to Ohio in 
1845, settling on the farm where our subject 
now lives, and buying 320 acres, afterward 
selling 160 of the same to .Fohn Yoder. The 
father was killed by a team running away in 
1849; the mother died in IS.'tO with the dropsy. 
They were members of the Ormish Meinion- 
ite Church. The children born to them were 
— John, Jonathan, Lydia, Elizabeth, (jhrist, 
Mary and Jacob. Onr representative re- 
mained on the farm with his ])arents until 
their decease, and witnessed all the hard- 
ships that were allotted lo the pioneers. In 
18.51, he had both logs bniken by the bentof 
a barn, and he was compelled to lie on his 
back on a table for si. \ wei'ks ere he could go 
to bed; in about three months he became 
able to get around, and worked for Jacob 
Yoder at butchering during the year 1.S52. 
They had nnirket at Hellefontaine and De 
Graff; he then returned to the farm, and has 
since devoted his life; to the same, and is suc- 
cessful, making a specialty of stocking on his 
fine farm of lG(t acres, which is the old home- 
stead of his father. He was married in 11-1.55 
to Elizabeth Yoder (no connection); she was 
born in 1S35 in Hunting<lon Co., Peiui.. and 
came with her parents to Fairlield Co., Ohio, 
in 1840; she had, by her union with Mr. 



Yoder, eight children, four of whom arc liv- 
ing — Uriel, Nancy, David and Hudy; the 
four deceased are — John, ilalinda, Andrew 
and an infant. Mr. Yoder and wife are mem- 
bers of till! ( Jrniish Mennonite Church, which 
bviilding stands on his farm; he donated one 
acre of land for the same, and it was built in 
1875, at a cost of $1,753; he also gave $140 
in cash to the building fund. He has 
always been identified with the Republican 
party since its organization. Mr. Yoder is 
the architect of his own fortune, and in every- 
thing he has undertaken he has l)een success- 
ful — in the ten years iluring which he dealt iti 
farming implements, as well as in other voca- 
tions. He jKisse.sses 251 acres of fine land, 
and connected with every industrial cnter- 
])ris(> you find the name of I). 1). Yoder. 

JONATH.\N YODER, farmer; P. ().. West 
Liberty; was born Feb. 26. 182!), in Mifflin 
Co., Penn. His father, Christopher, was born in 
the same county in 1703, and his mother, 
Mary, in Berks Co., same State, in 1786. 
They were married in Mifflin Co.; came to 
Ohio in 1845 and made their settlement in 
Champaign Co., renting of J. Ordway for two 
years. They then bought 160 acres in Afon- 
roe Tp., and remained there thirteen years, 
at which time, or in 1860, the father died; 
the mother, however, made her home on the 
farm until l.Sti5, when she, too, ended her pil- 
grimage here. The Creator gave to them 
twelve childicn; eleven of whom survive — 
David, .lonas, Martha, Rebecca, Uenjamin 
and Phebe (twins), Christo])her ami Mary 
(de(^eased), Daniel, Noah, Jonathan and Salo- 
ma. They were members of the Orniish 
Mennonite Church. Our sniiject attende<l 
school about five years in the old log cabin, 
and the rest of his boyhood's days were spent 
at farming. At the tleath of his jiarents he 
began working by the month for J. B. Yoder 
at 1^10, clearing, ditching, etc., on the farm. 
He was married Dec. 23, 1852, to Anna 
Sharp, a daughter of Samuel and Martha 
(Hostcttler) Sharp, who were natives of Lan- 
caster Co., Pa. They came to Logan Co. in 
1852, and, after several changes, they finally 
settled on J. Yoder's farm in Monroe Tji., and 
there the father engaged in weaving woolen 
and linen goods, which he continued some 
lime. They had quite a family of children, 
five of whom are living — Lydia, Christopher, 



«^ t 



BLOOMFIELD TOWXSHIP. 



729 



Anna, Joseph and Jacob. Mrs. Yoder was 
Ixirn in November, 1820. She and our >iubject 
settled at their marriage on what is now known 
as tiie Coving-ton Farm, buying 3() acres in })art- 
nersiiip with his brother Daniel. In 1872 he 
bought his jiresent farm, near West Liberty, 
of Sanuiel (Jhamlierlain; it contains IS'H acres 
of well imjiroved land, and is the fruit of his 
and his wife's own labors. Their union 
l)lessed them with eight children, seven of 



whom now survive — Israel, married Elizabeth 
Knig; Rachael, married Daniel Grabill; Ru- 
dolph, married Fannie Smoker; Arie K., mar- 
ried Levi King; ibartha E., Artie and Obver. 
Mr. Yoder has been no office-seeker, but has 
always taken deep interest in the selection 
of upright men to fill the various positions, 
and has alwa}'s been identified with the Re- 
publican party since its organization. 



BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



AARON ARCHER, farmer; P. O., Bloom 
Centre; was born in Logan Co., O., Aug. 21, 
1843, and was a son of W. W. Archer, of 
Fayette Co., O.; he moved to Logan Co., 
Miami Tp., in 1840. Mr. Archer has always 
been a resident of this county; was sent to 
school here, and married Miss Margaret E. 
Heatli, formerly of Illinois. They now have 
three children living — Marion E., Allen J., 
and .Facob. Three died in infancy. They 
own 80 acrei; of well improved land. He is 
Democratic in jiolitics. 

HENRY BAUGHMAN, farmer; P. O., 
iiloom Centre; was born in Franklin Co., O., 
Dec. 28, 1807, a son of Samuel Baughman, of 
PeiHisyivania, who was one of the first settlers 
of Franklin Co., U. He was united in mar- 
liage to Miss Eliza Fip, who was a native of 
PfiHisylvania, on Aug. 28, 1832. He moved 
to Bloomfield Tj). in 183(1, and bought of the 
govcrinnent 400 acres of land, ami has devoted 
his life to the improvement of the same. Their 
children are — Gordon, Emma (wife of George 
Robins, Esq., of Shelby Co., (J.); Eliza Ann 
(wife of .bjlm Hosie, Esq., of Logan Co.) Mr. 
Baughman has, for a number of times, filled 
the offices c>f the townshi]), but has always 
sought retirement. He has never belonged 
to any of the different societies or churches, 
but is one of " God's noblest and best works 
— an honest man." 

A. M. BAYER, manufacturer of drain tile; 
Bloom Centre; was born in Maryland, in 
18.53; he came to Ohio in 1873, and settled 
in Bellefontaine in 1878, afterwards moving 
to Bloom Centre, and with his brother, D. B. 



Bayer, who was also born in Maryland, in 
1849, entered into the business of tile-making. 
They employ four men, and are manufacturing 
all sizes of tile at their works, where they are 
always glad to see their many friends. He 
was mai-ried to Miss I-ucinda Deitriih, daugh- 
ter of Philip Deitrich, Esq., of Logan Co., O., 
Doc. 2-5, 1879. They own their house and 2 
acres of land, tile-kilns, etc. He is a Demo- 
crat in jxilitics. 

RICHARD S. BRIGGS, farmer; P. O., 
Bloom Centre; was born in Chowan Co., 
N. C, Jul}' 2.5, 1840, and was a son of 
Eldred and Rhoda (Holway) Briggs; they 
moved with their family to Franklin Co. 
in 18.54, and in 1869 came to this county. 
Richard S. Briggs was luiited in matrimony 
on Jan. 14, 18G9, to Miss Susan M. ]\neif, of 
Logan Co., O.; they have been blessed with six 
children — Mary A. E., Angle A., Irena C, 
Allen L., Fred Tilton, Rosetta M. Mr. 
Briggs is one of the most enterprising 
young farmers of the county, owning a nice 
little farm of 38 acres. Mrs. Briggs is a mem- 
ber of the Reformed Church at Bloom Centre, 

voted the straight 
ticket, and is a member of 
Grange No. 484. 

CHARLES E. CONLEY, miller; Bloom 
Centre; was born^ in Auglaize Co., O., Sept. 
5, 1840; the son of .lohn and Eliza (Marshall) 
Conley, of Ohio; he spent his boyhood in Au- 
glaize Co., and was united in the holy bonds 
of wedlock to Miss Viola McBeth, of the same 
county, on Nov. 10,1872; he moved to Bloom 
Centre in 18?8, and built the Bloom Centre 



Mr. Briggs has always 
Democratic ticket, and 



730 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Flouring Mill. It has throe run of buhrs, and 
under the nianajjcment of Mr. Conley isdoinff 
a good custom i)usiness. Mr. and Mrs. Con- 
ley have been blessed with one child — EniuK^t 
Clyde — born July 0, 1880. He owns a good 
residence and several other dwellings in the 
prosperous village of Bloom Centre. 

GEORGP: W. cox, sawyer; Bloom Centre; 
pro|>rietor of the "Hall Saw Mill;" was born 
Dec. 'i'i, 184<;, at Dayton, ().; he wasa son of 
.lohn and liachel (Steeth) Cox, of Greene Co., 
O. Mr. Cox was raised at Osborne. O., until 
18.")'.t, when he moved with his parents to Logan 
Co., O. At the breaking out of the late war he 
enlisted in the ."jTth O. V. 1., Coni]);uiy K, for 
two years. He was captured at Cai>e Fear 
Hiver, X. C, and sent t<i the rebel htdls 
of Saulsbury, Milan and Andersonville, and 
was paroled at Charlottesville, N. C, in 
.fuly, 1S<).T. He was married to Miss Amanda 
Pence on Se])t. 17, ISDS. They have four chil- 
dren — Charles A., Lou Ellen, Florence and 
Gerte Belle. He belongs to Lodge N'o. (j'-il, 
< )dd Fellows, at Bloom Centre. 

.1 AMES Dll.LO.N, farmer; P. O., Bloom 
Centre. Among the many grand olil men of 
this county, 'none are grander than .lames 
Dillon; he was Imrn in Clark Co., O., in .April, 
IHll; he was early inured to the hardships 
of a frontier life; his grarulfather was a Rev- 
olutionary soldier, and his father, William 
Dillon, was in the war of 181'2. .lanu's came 
t<j Bloomfield in Sept. 1833, and m(jved his 
family to his present residence November, 
183:$; he built his own house without nails or 
brick, and has now 80 acres of good laiul. 
Well improved; he has one child living — 
Thinnas Waite Dillon — ami n ihmghter, who 
WHS the wife of Edwin Wi'St, died Dec. 0, 
l><74; he belongs to th<' Baptist Church, and 
is Iti-publican in pnlitiis. 

SOLOMON (LVKLIXG, farmer; V. ()., 
lilooni Centre. Auicpiig the |)ros|)erous well- 
lo-do farmers of Bhiomlield is Sir. Sohnnon 
(iarling, who was born in Pennsylvania on 
tin- 2(>th of March. IS-^O, anil moved tH Ohio 
with his father in \Xii. They sr-ttled in 
Fairfield Co., where he married .Miss .Marie 
Low in 1840. They came to Bloomfield in 
18."i(), and settled on the place they IU)W own. 
They have hail four children — the first-born, 
Irving, died on Aug. 14, 1K7»; .fames Monroe, 
who was mnrried to .Miss Yates, of Hancock 



Co.; Mary and Catharine. Mr. Garling has 
been for ten years a Trustee of the township; 
htdongs to the German Reformed Church at 
Bloom Centre, and is a .lacksonian Democrat. 

DAVID HALL, farmer; P. O., Bloom 
Centre; he is a native of Logan Co. His 
father, Samuel Hall, moved from Fairfield 
Co., O., to Stokes Tp., in 1835, where the 
sidjject of this sketch was born, on Aug. 4, 
1844. Mr. Hall was raised in this count}', 
and has been an eye-witness to the many 
changes that the civilization of the age has 
wrought for this county; he has spent all his 
time in this county, and was marrii'd to Miss 
Mary A., daughter of .Jonathan and Mary 
(Diesback) Greenwalt, of Fairfield Co., O., 
on Dec. 28, 18G.5, and they moved to their 
present splendid residence, near Bloom 
Centre, shortly afterwards. They liave two 
children living, and one in the spirit land 
— Emma X., born Fel). 3, 18(18; .lennie L, 
L., Aug. 18, 1870, and Clara, Nov. 13, 1860, 
who died Feb. 3, 1807. Mr. Hall owns 237 
acres of finely improveil land, is a mendierof 
the German IJel'ormed Church, also of Grange 
No. 484, atul wants it understood that he has 
always been a Democrat. 

ANDREW H A LBOTH, farmer and mer- 
chaih; Bloom Centre; was born in Bavaria, 
lS'i3, and came to Peiuisylvania in ]S4.'i: he 
mair.ied there in 184S, aiui moved to Ohio in 
1852; in 1857 he purchased and moved to the 
land where his store now stands, and started 
the village of Bloom Centre, and has sinc(! 
been conducting a variety store. He has been 
Postmaster for ten years, to the satisfaction of 
all. They have been blessed with twelve chil- 
dren, of whom ten are now living. He owns 
100 acres of fine land, and is one of the wide- 
awake, enter|ii ising men of l^ogan Co. He has 
always been a Democrat, but believes in vot- 
ing for the best men; he diil not go to the war, 
b it furnished a substitute which cost him 
* 1,000. 

NAXCV HIBER, farmer; P. O., Bloom 
C'entre; was born Dec. 7, 1818, in the State 
of Kentucky, ami was a daughter of Thonuis 
.Makeinson. She was married to ('apt. Man- 
a.sas Huber, Nov. 23, 1837. Capt. Huber 
was born Aug. 10, 180G, in the State of Ken- 
tucky. Soon after, they moved to Bloomfield 
Tp., and settled on the- banks of tin- .Miami 
River, where Mrs. Huber still lives. .Mi. 



f- 



BLOO:\rFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



731 



Huber was a descendant of some of the best 
blood ol the old Revolutionary period, and for 
several years he was the popular Captain of 
the Logan Co. Light Horse Company, of 
Ohio State ililitia. By industry, economy, 
anil a good, clear head, he accumulated con- 
siderable of this world's goods, leaving at his 
death over 700 acres of good land. Their 
house was for many years the " meeting 
house " of the neighborhood, and has always 
been considered the " Methodist Preachers' 
Home." Mr. and Mrs. Huber were among 
the first members of the Methodist Church in 
this county. They have been blessed with 
ten children — Marion, born Oct. 4, 1838, died 
Aug. 27, 1839; Elizabeth, born April U, 1840; 
Allen, Sept. 14, 1841; Margaret, .July 1.5, 
1843; Thomas W., April ■>■], 184(i, died Nov. 
11, 1848; Sarah, now the wife of Noah Mil- 
ler, Esq., born .June 7, 1848; Isaiah, .June 34, 
1850; John W., May 30, 1852, died Oct. 0, 
1856; Tiry A., born"Dec. 13, 1854; Elsev L., 
Feb. 2, 18.57. Capt. Huber died Jan. 31, 1872. 
Tiry A. is now the popular Town Clerk of 
liloomfield Tp. The Huber brothers are 
stock dealers, and have a splendid reputation 
for dealing on the square, and as business 
men they stand high. 

ELIZA E. REARDON, Bloorn Centre; 
was born in Virginia May 5, 1807; she was a 
daughter of William .Jeffries, and was mar- 
ried to Michael Reardon ( who was born in 
Pennsylvania, July 20, 1804), in Fairfield Co., 
O., in 1827. They came to Logan Co., and 
settled in Bloomfield Tp., in 1843. They had 
ten children — George, who died April 12, 
1874; Michael, John, who died at New Or- 
leans, Mav 25, 1804; was a soldier of the 96th 
O. V. I.; "William P., John L, R chard H., 
Nelson I., May J., wife of Isaac Harker, of 
this county; Loretta, wife of William Young, 
Esq., of Shelby Co., O., and Sarah E., wife of 
A. B. Young, with whom Mrs. Reardon is now 
living. Mr. Reardon died Feb. 20, 1874. 
Mrs. Reardon has been for a number of years 
a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

DR. GEORGE M. SHAFER, physician; 
Bloom Center; was born Sept. 5, 1834, at 
Centerville, Montgomery ( 'o., O. He was the 
son of Henry Shafer, of I'ientucky, and Amy 
(Benham) Shafer, of ( )hio. They were amongst 
the early settlers of this State. IJr. Shafer 
was educated at Lebanon, O., in 1857-58, en- 



listed as a private soldier early in 1801, and 1 
was a member of the renowned body-guard J 
of Gen. Fremont, in Missouri. He was de- 
tailed as hospital Steward, in the fall of 1801. 
In 1802, he was appointed hospital Steward in 
the regular array, and was soon promoted to 
Assistant Surgeon in the regular service, 
which jiosition he held until the fall of 1800; 
he was stationed for two yeare at the Govern- 
ment Hospital, at Natchez, Miss. He came 
to Bloom Centre, in December, 1800; and 
commenced the practice of medicine, and with 
that also is the proprietor of a general drug 
and country store. On the 13th of August, he 
married Miss Mary L., daughter of AndrriW 
Hall)()tli, of Bloom Centre. They have four 
children — Florence M., born Dec. 1, 18t>8; 
Minnie M., Nov. 15, 1870; Frank M., Oct. 20, 
1872; Benjamin Earl, July 13, 1878. His 
wife was born Feb. 21, 1851. Dr. Shafer, is 
a member of Lodge No. 021, I. O. O. F., is a 
strong Democrat, and a good, usefid citizen. 

J. M. SMITH, farmer; P. O., Bloom Centre; 
was born Nov. 13, 1827, in Franklin Co., ().; 
was a son of Jacob and Christina (Hall) 
Smith, of Pennsylvania. They emigrated to 
Ohio in 1808. Mr. Jacob Smith was a soldier 
of 1812, and his father a soldier of the Revo- 
lution. Mr. Smith had seven brothers and 
five sisters, who all lived to leave families of 
their own. At an election in 1804 there were 
eight brothers, five brothers-in-iaw, and five 
grandsons, who voted the Democratic ticket. 
J. M. Smith was nuirried to Miss Elizabeth 
Smith, .Jan. 22, 1852. They have nine chil- 
dren — Frank P.; Amy, wife of Dr. O. C. 
Wilson, of Bloom Centre; Elizabeth A.; Uri 
N.; Jacob W.; Lyman S.; Olive R.; John?], 
and Hermann E. He owns 440 acres of good 
land, and belongs to Grange No. 484; also 
to the Reformed Church at Bloom Centre. 
He is a strong Democrat, and one of the lead- 
ing men of Logan Co. 

T. J. SPEELMAN, farmer; P. O., Bloom 
Centre; was born in Champaign Co.. O., .Ian. 
3. 1839; son of Thomas and Elizalx'th 
(Swisher) Speebuan. Mr. S. (the father) was 
born in Maryland, and .Mrs. Spc^ehnan in 
Clark Co., O. The subject of this sketch 
came to Logan Co. in 1858, and improved his 
present home, consisting of 150 acres of good 
land. He was a member of the 132iid O. V. 1., 
and was with the army untler Gen. Butler at 



732 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Pt'tiTsljurg, in 18C4, hut was mustered out in 
ihi- full of the same year. He was married to 
Miss Marv E., daughter of John Makc'nson, 
iA' this county. They liave been blessed with 
two chil(h-eii — Ida Bell and Aldo Klhert. His 
grandfatlier Swisher was a soldic^r in the war 
of ])Sr^. H" is a Republican in politics. 

W. H. STliAYKlf, lariuer; 131oom Centre; 
was born in Berkeley Co., Va., Sept. 3, 1828; 
son of .John and Rachel Strayer, who moved 
to Ohio and settled in ('laik Co., in 1829, 
where the sul)je'jt of our sketch pissed his 
boyhood; in 1858, he went to Iowa, but not 
likiny: the western coiuitry, came back in a 
short time anil settled in Ohio; he was united 
in marriaa-e to Miss Priscilla Ray, of I^oiran 
Co., Sept. 4, ISOO; they had Tom- children — 
Mitniie .M., .lames W., who died in 18G4, 
Nannie 0. and Grai-c Kstidle; Mrs. Strayer 
died in DeGrafV,0.. Feb. 1, 18;i;; .Mr. Slrayer 
owns 1(1.1 acres of the best land in Bloonitielil 
Tp.; he is a nieml)er of \)o GratV I .(>(i>;e, No. 
i;!2. A., F. & A. M. 

CKORGF SWICKARI), farmer; P. O., 
Bloom Centre ; was born in Pernisylvania, 
Feb. 14, 1811; came to Ohio and "settled 
in Franklin Co., 182o, and again moved to 
.IcfVerson Co. Ohio; was mariied to Miss 
Phebe Bavighinan, of Franklin Co., Oct. 7, 
1h:57 ; moved to this township in 1837 where 
thev have since resided ; have been blessed 
with ti-n children, viz : Clinton W.; Eliza- 
beth, wife of A. Snyder, Esf|., of Shelby Co., 
Ohio ; Davis, living at Greenup. 111. ; Moraan, 
living at Cottonwood, II'. ; Polly, Laura A., 
wife of Dr. Rodoers, of Shelby Co., Ohio ; 
George A. and Lincoln II.. twf> children, died 
in infancy. Davis and .Morgan were mem- 
bers of the I'nited States .\riny during the 
late war. .Mr. Swickanl has boiight and im- 
proved a large farm, has raised a splendid 
family and has never Ixdonged to anj- of the 
secret societies or churches ; is a Republican 
in ))olitics and is an honest, conscientious, 
good citizen. 

GEOIUiE TROIT, farmer; P.O.. Bh.om 
(/cnlre; is a son of .-Mexander and .Margaret 
Trout, who moved from I.ii'king Co., Ky., and 
settled in W'iishington Tp., Logan Co., in 
1S4(). The sid)ject of this skt-tch was born 
Sept. 27, 1H'.*7. in Virginia. He was married 
to .Miss .Mary C., a ilaughter of Philip and 
Lnoy Hoy. of Bloonilield Tp. Mr. Hoy set- 



tled and improved the ]dace now occupied l>y 
Mr. Trout, in l.s:i2, and died in 1858. .Mrs. 
Hoy is living' in Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Trout 
have four children — N'irginia. Rosetta, Henry 
Grant and Cornelius. .\Ir. Trout was elected 
Town TreasuriM-. b\it was robbed of §580, and 
then gave up the othce, but has lieen unani- 
mously elected Trustee at every election since 
1871. He owns 152 acres of well im|)roved 
land, is a member of the German Reformed 
Church, anil is Democratic in politics. 

.JOHN WAGONER, .lustice of the Peace; 
Bloom Centre ; was born in Fairfield Co., 
Ohio, in 181!), was reared upon a farm 
and was married in 1S40 to iliss Margaret 
Slough, of Fairfield Co., Ohio. They have 
had four children, three of whom died in 
infancy ; the only surviving one is now the 
wife of .lolm H. Nothstine, of Kansas. Mrs. 
Wagitner died in 1852, in Fairfield Co. In 
1851) Mr. Wagoner came to Blooinfield Tj). 
and married Mary Coover, of Logan Co.; 
sinc<', he has been engaged in farming ; he 
has been elected .Justice of the Peace for 
four terms and gives entire satisfaction to all 
parties ; he has been Town Trustee two 
years. Mr. and Mrs. Wagoner are members 
of the Gernnin Reformed Society, and he is a 
member of Grange No. 484; he is a Dem- 
ocrat. 

.JOSEPH .I.WRIGIIT, farmer; P. O., Bloom 
Centre; was i)orn in Stokes T])., Loaan Co., 
O., March 17, 1839; son of H. and Polly 
(Pence) Wright. .Joseph's father, was born in 
Fairfield Co., O., and settled in Stokes T))., 
Logan Co., 1835, where .losejih was raised. 
.Jose|)h enlisteil in the 13th I'nited States 
Infantry ((Jen. W. T. Sln'rman's Reginu'tit) 
and after serving his term in that Ri'ginient 
enlisted in tile 9l'ith O. V. I., and served three 
years; he was never absent from a roll-call, 
never was in an ambulance, or was he evi-r 
excusi'd from iliity wdiile in the servic<-, and 
was with his regiment all the time, except fifty- 
two days, whi(di time he was a prisoner of war, 
captureil at (irand Coteau, La., Nov. 3, 1803, 
and was released the 25th of DecembiT, 18{i3: 
was honorably discharged at the exjiiration of 
his term of enlistment, on (he 1st of March, 
180(5. He was married to .Miss Clara L. Hoover, 
of this township, and settled on the farm he now 
owns, containing 120 acres. They have three 
childri-n — I'^ttie .M., Frank E. and Abbie F. 



WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



733 



He is a Republican, and is a member of Lodge 
No. -i'J-Z, A., F. & A. M., at De Graff, Ohio; 
he has been Master and is now Secretary of 
Grange No. 484. The hall of his society is 
built on his farm. He had six brothers — 



John I., William W., Martin M. (a member 
of the 9tjth O. V. I.), David W., Horatio S., 
Andrew N. and one sister, Sarah J. His 
father died in IS.jlJ; his mother is now tiie 
wife of William. Herndon, Esq., of this county. 



WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



APT. THOM.VS AXTEl.L, Superintond- 
I of Reservoir; Huntsville; was born in 
Washington Co., Penn., April (J, 1812; was 
tile son of Lincoln A.xtell, who moved to Ohio 
in 1810, and scttlctl in Martinsburg, Knox 
Co. Capt. A.xtell was married to Miss Mary 
.Jnle in ISIJl. They have five children — Sarah, 
married to Will Breese; .Julie, married to G. 
IJrecse; .John, married Miss Abbe .J. Cherry; 
Sarri'tta .Jane, living at home. Capt. Axtell 
was among the many men who volunteered 
to put down the rebellion, and joined Co. D, 
I IStli O. V. I., and was promoted First Ijieu- 
tenant of his company, and served until he 
was disabled and discharged. He has been 
at work for the State as Superintendent of 
the Miami Reservoir since 1864. He is a 
pleasant and hospitable gentleman of the old 
school; is a Democrat in principle, and fond 
of a irood race-horse. 

Wn.LlAM BRUNSON, farmer; P. O., 
Lewistown. Among the many wide-awake and 
enterprising farmers of Logan Co., Mr. Brun- 
son ranks A. 1; he was born in I-ieiituckj', 
Dec. 2, 182'2; son of .John Brnnson and Eliza- 
beth (Ellis). John Brunson was in this county 
during the Indian war of 1812, and, after 
peace was declared, moved to the county in 
1823, where the subject of this sketch was 
raised; he has lived in the county fifty-seven 
years, and remembers when the old Long's 
Mill was built, and says it ground so slow 
that the dogs would bark at the meal as it 
came out; he was married in 1847 to Miss 
Madge, daughter of .Michael Ivearns, one of 
the first settlers of this county. They have 
been blessed with the following children — 
John ,J., George W., Jonathan L., Louisa J., 
Frank M., Mary Rosetta, Will C, J^eonidas 
and ^lilton R. are living; Hannah E. and 
Sarah died in infancy. He owns 212 acres 



of good land, all well improved, and has lived 
in ^Vashington Tp. twenty-seven years; he 
belongs to the Christian (.'hurcli, and has been 
a representative to the General Conference 
for twenty years; he is Republican in jioli- 
tics. 

THE CHERRY FAMILY. The ancestry 
of this pioneer family cannot be correctly 
traced farther back than Abraham Cherry, 
who was born of German parents, in North- 
umberland Co., Penn., in 1763, and died in 
1852, at the ripe old age of 89, having lived 
nearly a score of years more than is allot ed 
to man. In 1804 Mr. Cherry, who was natur- 
ally ambitious and possessed of many of the 
qualities which were necessary to make a suc- 
cessful pioneer, determined to join in the rush 
to Ohio. Accorilingly, everything was sold, 
and the family removed to the present site of 
Springfield, which, at that time, contained a 
small number of inhabitants. When he ar- 
rived, pork was selling at ^1 per cwt., and 
salt at §5 per liushel or 10 cents per poutid; 
nearly all business was transacted through a 
system of traffic. In 1833, after an extended 
western tour, he returned just as the sale of 
the land in the Indian lieservation around 
Lewistown was about to take place. He set 
out immediately for Logan Co., selected and 
bought a portion of the land now owned by 
his son Amos, and was the first white; settler 
on the Reservation. The removal of a familv 
from Springfield was a very difficult task, 
for, instead of railroads and broad, level turn- 
pikes, there was scarcely anj'thing but narrow 
wagon tracks through the woods, and that 
part of the road lying between McPherson's 
and the Cherry farm had never been traversi'd 
by teams. Three wearisome days were s|ient 
in making long, circuitous routes around im- 
passable swamps, and in bridging those that 



734 



BIOGRA ri 1 1( A L SK KTCI 1 K8. 



could not be avoided before their wilderness 
home was readied. As tlicy arrived in the 
early part of winter, many privations were to 
be endured. They were alone in the midst 
of a j)ritneval forest, in which the track of the 
departcci Indian was yet ])lainly visihU^. Of 
course, there were no schools or chur<hos and 
no neig'hbors; theiefore, corn-husUintrs and 
log-rollings were not known until a later day, 
and they must clear the iiround and make it 
ready for the plow without any assistance. 
The nearjest mill was on the site of the one 
now owned by .lohn H. Lonj;', near l.oo-ans- 
ville, and the fact that when sprin<;' opened, 
owini^ to the swamps, it was impossible to fiet 
through with a horse, nnide milling a dillicult 
problem. Not daunted by the many difhcul- 
ties found in the way, active minds and will- 
ing hands went to work and soon devised and 
executed a plan by which breadstuff was ob- 
tained. An ordinary hand-sleil was construct- 
ed, Amos Cherry and Harrison lIo])kins, son 
and son-in-law of the piiiu-ipal character of 
this sketch, would )iut on a set of harness 
made for the purpose, hitcrh themselves to the 
sled and " set out " through swamps and thick- 
ets to mill, ^\'lult was still worse, the country 
was infested with wo.ves, which killed all but 
five or six, of a Hock of l"iO she(!p, brought 
from Clarke Ci>. This was a severe loss, as the 
w(X)l was depended ujion for clothing the 
entire family, being carded, spun and woven 
by the wife and daughters. Amos Cherry, the 
subject of tliis sketch, was born in Clarke Co., 
<)., Sept. 21, 1820, ami removed with liis 
father, in 1833, to Logan Co. When he ar- 
rived at the age of manhood, he connncnc'ed 
the struggle of life for himself, being pos- 
sesseil of many sterling (|ualilies, among which 
were honesty, iminstry and sobriety. lie 
was naturally successfid in business enter- 
prises, enabling him to add many more acres 
to the home larm. which sid)si'(piently fell 
into his hands, having ifought the interi'st of 
the other heirs. .Mr. Cherry is now the owner 
of nearly a section of goinl iami, most of 
which is in excellent condition, and is com- 
])osed of four farms. He is oin- of the most en- 
teqjrising and respected citizi-ns, as has been 
repeatedly attested bv the fact that he has been 
elected t > various fitlices of the Township, and 
is at present filling the office of Land .Apprais- 
er. Although he is not connected with any 



church, he is a conscientious, moral man, ever 
ready to help those who are in need, and is 
extremely compassionate toward 1,liose whom 
adversity has overtaken, and find him their 
creditor, having lost several hundred ilolhus 
at one time, which he could easily have ob- 
tained, but refused to ilo so, because it would 
have worked injury to the debtor, who had a 
large family to support. A gentlenum who 
has been somewhat financially embarrassed 
was recently heard to remark that '"he had owed 
Mr. Cherry for over ten years, and had never 
been askinl for the money." He was marrieil 
in \>>ii to Klizabeth Smith, with whom he is 
now living, and has a family of seven children, 
four sons and three daughters, all of whom 
are now living, and all but one have reached 
the age of maturity. 

.1. n. CURL, farmer; P. ()., Lewistown; 
was born in Chaui|iaii>;n Co., (.)liio, in IS:!;!; 
was the son of .lohn Curl, who, with his father, 
AVilliam Cml, moyi>d to Ohio in 1804, and 
settled in Champaign Co. ^^'illiam Curl wa • 
one of the Revolntioiuuy soldiers, and his son. 
.lohn Curl, was a soldier of 181"2, and .1. 15. 
Curl also enlisted in the late war as |)ri\at • 
in Co. K, l:i"^d O. ^'. I. He was marrieil lo 
Miss .Martha .\. Hannnond in 18,")4; they ha\e 
five sons — Lewis H., Heid)en ( )., AVillir.m .\.. 
Willjur \y. and Avery 15. They i ame to this 
county in 185.% and settled anil improved the 
])lace they now o\vii, so that from a wilderiu'ss 
it is like a paradise. He owns 100 acres of 
good land, well improved. He is a Kcpiib- 
lican, and both he and his excellent lady are 
members of the .Methodist Episcopal Church. 

THO.M.-VS DOWNS, farmer; P.O., Lewis- 
town; was liiirn in Champaign Co., O., Oct. 18, 
182T; was the son of ('apt. Dar.iel Downs 
ami .Mary (Fit/palrlck) Downs, who came 
from Delaware to ()liio in ISliC), Riid setthd 
in Cham|iaig'n Co. ("apt. Down; was cuin- 
missioned Captain of a CompaiiV, and led 
them all through the war of 1812, after which 
he again went back to his former avocation — 
that of farming — and in |8:!:i moved to 
^^'asllington Tp., ami entered the land now 
owned by his son, where he livid till 1800. 
-Mrs. Downs dii'd 1848. Thomas 1, 'owns spent 
his boyhood days here, and has often seen the 
deer runidng through the woods, thirty or 
forty in one drove; at the breaking out of the 
late war, he left his farm and enlisted in Co. 



'^ 



'f 



AVASHIXGTON TOWNSHIP. 



F., 1 lOth O. V. I., and was with the army at the 
time of the great surrender at Apj)omattox; 
was married in 1853, to Miss Eliza MeFar- 
land, of Hardin Co., O. Thev have four 
chihlren— JIary R., W. H., AliJe A., Eliza- 
beth E. ilr. and Mrs. Downs are both mem- 
bers of the Methoilist Episcopal Church. 

GEORGE FUSOX. farmer; P. O.. Hunts- 
ville; was born in Champai^'n Co., Ohio, Sept. 
11, 1818; was the eldest son of Isaiah Fusou 
and Elizabeth Cummins Fuson, who came 
from Virginia to Ohio at an early day, and 
settled in Champaign Co., where Mr. Fuson 
was a county officer for twenty-one years. He 
died in July, ISIil. George Fuson and Miss 
Virginia Shl^■le, of Virginia, were married 
May 14, l.s4(). 'i'o them have been born 
twelve children — Martha, .James M., David, 
Xancv, Ennna, Ada F., Minnie F., Marv J., 
died '.Inly '-l-i, 1SU2; Sarah E., Jan. 4, 1864; 
Daniel, Jan. 4, 1804; George E., Sept. 22, 
1870; Edgei)ert, Dec. 29, 1870. Mr. Fuson 
came to this township in the fall of 1850, 
and settled, and has im|>roved the place, 
and now has as good buildings as any in 
the township; his farm consists of 208 acres 
of good and well-improved land, which he 
has bought and paid for by his own work 
and good management. Coming here with 
only $300, he has paid for his farm, edu- 
cated his children, never sued any one, nor 
has he ever been sued, or even dunned. He 
was one of the Trustees for Washington Tp. 
for fifteen years; has always voted the Re- 
publican ticket since the organization of the 
party. Mr. and Mrs. Fuson are members of 
the Evangelical Association since 1852. 

HEXRV HANFORD, farmer, late of Wash- 
ingtonT])., was born Dec. 22, 1784, at X'ew 
Canaan, State of Connecticut; emigrated to 
Hamilton Co., O., in 1806 ; made his home 
with his brother, Thaddeus Hanford, who had 
preceded him to the then new country, and 
settled at Columbia, on the Ohio river, the site 
of Cincinnati, and while living at Columbia 
he was engaged in running a provision boat 
from Columbia to Natchez. In 1810 he mar- 
ried Miss Harriet Chamberlin, daughter of 
Judah Chamberlin, who had come out 
to the new countrj' some j'ears previously 
from Chatauqua Co., N. Y., and settled at Mari- 
etta, Ohio. She was born July 18, 1791. 
After their marriage in 1812, he and his father- 



in-law, with their families, moved to what was 
then Champaign C\)., now Clarke Co., O.; set- 
tled on Congress land five miles east of 
Springfield, where thev continued to reside 
until the Indians disposed of their reservation 
on the Miami river, in Logan Co., Ohio. Mr. 
Hanford then sold his farm ia Clarke Co., and 
purchased a large tract of land at the govern- 
ment sales at Wapakann(>tta, a part of which 
is now owned by his youngest child, Lottie 
(Hanford) McKinnon — the homestead — and 
where Mr. Hanford lived until after the death of 
his estimable wife, which occurred on the 27th 
of November, 1865, aged 74 years 4 months 
and 9 days, after which Mr. H. spent nnich of his 
time visiting among his children, and finallv 
died at the house of his son-in-law, Robert 
Newell, at Lebanon, In<liana, on the 31st day of 
December, 1866, aged 82 years and days. He 
never sought for public office, and thorouyhlv 
despised the tricks of the |>rofessional politi- 
cian. He was an "Abolitionist" when the 
name was odious, and continued to battle 
against negro slavery till it was abolished. 
Then he was conservative, desiring peace be, 
twecn the sections, and was in favor of the 
most liberal terms to those who had rebelled 
against the government. His jjoMtics consist- 
ed only in a desire to see the negro free, and 
when that was accomplished he said, " There 
was nothing more in politics worth contend- 
ing, save the loaves and fishes," for which he 
cared nothing. 

J. C. KAYLOR, farmer; P. O., Hnntsvillo; 
was born Doc. 1, 1842, in Logan Co., Ohio. 
His father. John Ivaylor, came to this couiitv 
from Virginia in 1823, and settled in Harr-i- 
son Tp. His mother was Miss Kesiah Tracy 
of this county. J. C. Kavlor s])ent his liov- 
hood in this county and married Miss Adeline 
Baughman, also of this county, Nov. 25, 1869; 
they have three chililren. Mr. Kaylor owns 
72 acres of land, and is one of the best 
farmers in this township. He is a successful 
breeder of horses being the owner of a 
French Percheron ; he was a member of Co. 
C, 132d Ohio Vol. and went with that regi- 
ment to Petersburg, Norfolk and other points 
in Virginia; he has been a Republican from 
his boyhood, having cast his first vote for 
Abraham Lincoln in lS(i4. 

ABRAHAM KEARXS, farmer; P. O., 
Huntsville; was born in IJckingCo., O., 1832, 



f 



* k^ 



736 



mOtiUAl'l I ICAL SKETCHES. 



and moved with liis paronts to Wasliiiit>ton 
Tj)., tlie same year. Micliael Keariis, his 
father, was iiorii in Vir<i-ii)ia, anfl einiarated 
to Lickiiij)- Co. ill 18:i(l, where lie livctd till 
the Indians lel't Wasliiii<i-toii '1"])- when he 
came and settled here. .Vbraliani was raised 
here, and iiiarrie?! Miss ]i. K. hogaii in 1S,5.S. 
They have five eliildren — NN'alter N., Alfer- 
etta F., Marj' E., Knnna, Katie N. Mr. 
Kearns has resided on the ])lace he now owns 
since his marriage, and by hard work and 
{rood niananement has ac(|uired a g-oodly jior- 
tion of this world's goods, and has l)een Town- 
ship Supervisor; owns and runs a first-class 
steam thresher, and is considered the "boss" 
ill that line in his neighhorliood; he is a Dem- 
ocrat. -^ 

A. .r. KNIGHT, farmer; P. O., Iliintsville; 
was horn in ^'ir<>■illia, Aug. S, 1832, and came 
to Ohio with his parents at an early agi^, and 
settled in Logan ('o. in 184.1. A. J. Knight 
and .Miss .Maiy Strickland, daughter t)f (J eorge 
Strickland (whose hiogra])liy appears in an- 
other jiart of this work), were marrietl Nov. 
:), 18.")!!; they have si.\ children — (teorge W., 
Willian. T., .'^arah K., Laura .M., Eliza G. and 
I'eari 1.; both of the latter died in infancv. 
Mr. Knight volunteered at his country's call, 
and was assigned to Co. E, ]3"^d O. V. I. Is 
a thorough-going, wide-awake farmer; was 
reared by a Jackson Democrat, and still sticks 
to the faith. Mr. and Mrs. Knight are both 
members of the Evangelical Church, at Hunts- 
ville. 

SETH M. URIDE, fannor; P. O., Lewis- 
town. Among the self-made nun of this 
townshi]), who have come u]) fimn small be- 
ginnings, is .Mr. MclJride, who ciime to this 
county without a dollar, and hired out as a 
farm hand at *1() per month, al which low 
wages he wyrki'd for the same man for five 
years, and from that small beginning has ob- 
tained a home and a competency after si^veral 
years of patient iiidustrv. He was born in 
(,'olumbia Co., ()., .March 27, 182!l. His 
parents were Samuel and .lane (Funk) Mc- 
Dride. They emigrateil to Ohio from ^■ir- 
giniain 181-2, and setth'd in this eouiity, where 
-Mr. .McHride dii-d, leaving his family withoir. 
much of this world's goods, owing to his part- 
ner cheating them out of wliaf had been made 
by years of toil in the construction of llie 
Beaver Canal. Seth .MclJride was niariieil 



March 22, 1855, to Miss Mary J. Plumb, of 
this tow^nship. They have seven children 
living. They now own 418 acres of good 
land, with good houses and barns, and every- 
thing aiiout his ])reiiiises gives amjile proof of 
the thrift and enterprise of the owi er. lie left 
his farm and went, at his country's call, to be 
a soldier; he joined Co. E, i:52nd O. V. I., and 
was sent to ^'irginia. Both .Mr. and Mrs. Mc- 
Hride are members of the Protestant Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church. He has been a Re- 
publican in politics since 18,52; at that time 
his cousin, liev. Ezra McBride, was sent as a 
missionary fnmi Massachusetts to South 
Carolina, and for distributing tracts and teach- 
ing the slaves to read lie was arrested and 
sent to the Penitentiary, where ho contracted 
disease, \vhich soon ended his can er. 

1)1!. BEN.LAMIN T. .M( KINNON, ].hysi- 
ciaii and farmer; Lewistown; was born in dark 
Co., ()., (Jet. 24, 1834; was the voungest sin 
of .ludge M( Kiiinoii, of Clark Co., ().; moved 
to Jilodinfield Tp. when a boy, and has spei.t 
his life in W'ashingtfin and Blooiiifi<'ld 'I'ps.; 
on the 29th of February, 1800, iie niaiii<d 
Charlotte, youngest daughter of Maj. II. ii- 
ford, the first whit<! settler of the village of 
Lewistown. Mrs. McKinnon was born at tlie 
same place they now live, .lunc 14, 18;ii). 
The doctor has attended to the two-fol<l duty 
of physician and farmer, and lieie the many 
friends aiul relations of the family meet and 
renew old friendships. Ainoiig tiie relatives 
is a brother-in-law, ])r. McWorkmaii, ])rineipal 
of the St. Louis School for tlu; Blind, an<l an 
old resident of the county, who is a regular 
visitor. Dr. and Mrs. .NloKinno:i have two 
children— Hattie Pearl and Willaid L. The 
center building of tlv liuuse now occnjiied bv 
Dr. .M(d\iiin(iii was built before the wur of 
1812, and was occupied by a not ■(! friendly 
Indian, named Lewis, from whom the town 
of Lewistown was named. The house was also 
used as a "council chamber" by the i{i'd 
men, and many are the tales of blood its old 
walls could relate, were they gifted with 
speech. Lewis livec] there at the time of tin' 
cruel murder of Thompson and bis son, but 
hi! was away at the time. The nnirderers 
were hid there during the day and night suc- 
ceeding that aftiiir by Lewis' sipiaw, who was 
hostile to the whites, and when a )iarty in 
iiiirsiiit of the redskins asked hei il' she had 



^ 



WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



737 



seen any hostile Indians, declared she had 
iiot. But, after the war, the whites were 
told l)y Polly Kaiser, a little white girl, a cap- 
tive from Kentucky, who was living- witii 
Lewis' S()uaw at the time, that Kve of the red 
devils were in the upper room when the white 
pursuers were there. Mrs. MiKinnon has in 
her possession a plaster cast, or " false face," 
as it is called, supposed to have been taken 
from a famous Indian named Balitista. A 
gentleman of good authority says he has seen 
Bahtista, and that it is not uglv enough for 
that savage; he thinks it is a likeness of the 
famous " Big Turtle." 

.lA.MES B. McKIXNOX, farmer; P. O., 
Lewistown; was born August, 1814, in Clark 
Co., O., and was the eldest son of Daniel Me- 
Kinnon, who emigrated to Clark Co., O., in 
1802. Daniel McKinnon, Sr., the grandfather 
of the suljject of this sketch, was the first 
Sheriff of Chamjiaign Co., ().; was also R<p- 
resentativo and State Senator several terms 
from Clarke C<>. .lames B. was married to 
Miss Elizabeth F. .Miller, Feb. 23, 1S:56, i„ 
Clarke Co.; thev have had eleven children — 
Elijah J., died ISfiO; Alfred M., died at Chat- 
tanooga, Tenn., from the effects of wounds 
received in battle at Mission Ridge; was 
a member of the 1st O. V. I.; .lulia, MaryC, 
.lohn T., Austin (died in infancy], Elizabeth, 
James (died in infancy), Frances, William M., 
Irene; .lohn T. was in the army a member 
of 13"2nd (). I.; he has held the otEees of Treas- 
urer, Cierk and Justice of the Peace for 
several years, and was the first assessor of 
Washington Tp., and has assessed the town- 
shi]) oftener than anyone else, and to the sat- 
isfaction of the entire jieople; he owns U)l 
acres of highly improved land; he has been a 
stalwart Republican. Mr. and Mrs. Mc- 
Kinnon are meml)ers of the Protestant Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church. 

N(JAH MILLER, farmer; P. O., Lewistown, 
Among the many enterprising men of Logan 
Co. is Mr. Noah Miller, who was horn in 
1844, in Logan Co., O., and spent his boy- 
hood in farming. For five years he lived in 
Bellefontaine, clerking in one store, and then 
went to Cincinnati, where for one year he fol- 
lowed the business of a clerk, and tlien for three 
years, the same occupation in Indianapolis, 
Ind., hut not being satisfied with working for 
others, he decided to go into business for him- 



self. So he started a country store at Bloom 
Centre, when he sold out and moved to Lew- 
istown, where he kept '' the store "' and post- 
office for eight years, when he sold out in 
order to improve his farms, of which he owns 
two as good ones as there are in the State. He 
has over 2,000 yards of tiles on his farms, 
and several S])rings that are " never failing." 
He was married Sept. (J, 1872, to iliss Sarah 
Huber, of this county, who was born in 1848; 
they have three children — Cora Estelle, Tiry 
H., Homer Tennyson. Mr. Miller started out 
when a boy with the intention of owning a 
farm of his own, and has already succeeded 
in realizing his most sanguine expectations. 
He and his wife are both members of tlu- Pro- 
testant Methoilist Episcopal Church, of Lewis- 
town, and are identified with all the charitalde 
and benevolent enterprises of the community. 
Is a stalwart Republican in politics. 

A. JUDSON MONROE, Justice of the 
Peace; Lewistown; was born, Dec. 0, 1828, in 
Delaware Co., O., and moved to this county 
in 1844. Was married to Miss .Martha A. 
Brown Dec. 22, 1852. They had three! chil- 
dren— Alferetta, wife of Samuel Patrick; Iso- 
dora, wife of Frank Wilson. Mrs. .Moiinjc 
died in January, 18,'')7, ami D.e. (!, 18.")7, he 
was married to !Miss .^usin ^Vagoner, of this 
township. They have five children- — Sarah 
E., died, aged 3 years; .lennie O.; Frank 1)., 
died aged 12 years; Eva D.; George Etta, 
died, aged 1 year. Mr. Monroe's grandfather, 
Leonard Monroe, was a soldier in the Revo- 
lutionaiy war; his father, L. F. Monroe, was 
also a soldier in the war of 1812, and he vol- 
unteered in the lS3d O.V. I., and was wouiuled 
at Franklin, Tenn., Nov. 30, 18(i4, and is now 
drawing a pension; he has been twice elected 
.lustice of the Peace, which oHice he now 
holds. He was Census Enumerator of his 
township this year; he is a Republican, and 
belongs to the A., F. & A. M. Lodge, No. 200, 
Bellefontaine, O. 

PLUMB BROS., farmers and stock deal- 
ers; P. O., Lewistown. Among the pioneer 
families none are better known or more 
highly respected than the Plumb family. 
Their father, Jonathan Plumb, was born on 
Feb. 8, 1808, in Hampshire Co., Va., and moved 
to this township in .March, 1837. He was 
married to Miss Sarah A., the daughter of 
Judge McKinnon, in Clarke Co., O., April 



T 



738 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



2, 1835. Thev were blessed with ten cliilflrcii: 
Xaiicv J., l)orii Jan. 14, 1836, Kliziibctli, 
Mflich 20. 1838, John A, July 4, 1840, Kittv. 
Sjpt. I, 1842, Will H.,.Feb. 18, 184b, 
Klijah A., Feb. 21, 1848, Isaac, Sept. 24, 18.50, 
Scott, Nov. 20, 1852, Milton, April 15, 1S55, 
anil Lewis L., Nov. 21, 1857. Elizabeth 
married Seth McBride on Mareii 22, 1855, 
William H. married Louisa Renick, Nov. 1'.), 
18(19, and Isaac married Ulara Makeinsoii. 
.fonathau died on Jan. 11, 1878 ; Mrs. Sarah 
A. died on Nov. 23, 1873, and Kitty died on 
June 24, 1853; Lieut, .lohn A. was Uiilcd at 
Kesaca, Ga., on May 14, 1804. Mr. Phniib 
coninienced life with a small ca])ital, Init by 
industry and honesty he accomplished much, 
leavinjr when he died over 1,200 acres of land 
to his family. He was a consistent niend)er 
and one of the leaders of the Methodist 
Church at Lewistown. Scott is studyin<r law 
at Bellefontaine; Milton and Lewis L. are farm- 
inir and trading in stock under the style of 
riumb Hrus. Tliev are all Ifepublicaus. 

ISAAC I'LL'.MB, farmer and l)anker; P.O., 
J^ewistown; was born in West Virjjinia, .Ian. 
5,1800; came to Ohio in 1820, and settled 
in Hampsliire Co., ()., where he lived till 
1837, when he moved to Lojjan Co., and set- 
tled where he now lives; was married to 
.Miss Sarah J. Stanadfie, .\])ril 24, 1840, by 
which union they have seven childrer.', all liv- 
iii<r — James IL, Kmina, Alice, Eleanora, Lillie, 
Julie E. and Sallie Orant. He has held sev- 
eral county and township offices, where he 
always gave satisfaction, but has never sought 
public trust, bi'lii'viniT that tlie best and hap- 
])iest way to live was to attend to his own 
business; i)y doing so he has accumulated a 
large shan; of this world's goods, consisting 
of 545 acres of beautiful and well-improved 
land, good houses, line horses and {■attle, and 
bank stock. In politics, he was a follower of 
Harry ("lay, till the slave ])ower attempted to 
spread slaverv into the Territories, since wiien 
he has been a |{i'publicaii. .Mr. and .Mrs. 
IMnuib belong to the I'rotehtant .Mclliddist 
Episcopal ('hurcliof Lewistown. 

PETEK SHADE, farmer; P.O., Lewistown; 
was born in Washington 'Pp., Eel). 24, 1831, 
and was probably the first eliild born in tiiis 
township. His father and mother, Pliilip and 
Catharine Shade (/lee Shoeky) came from 
Virginia in 1827, and entered the land now 



owned by him, where he was born anrl has al- 
ways lived. Mr. Shade is still a bachelor, and 
owns one of the best farms in the count)'. He 
enlisted in Co. E, 132d Ohio Inft., and served 
on the Potomac and under Gen. Butler, at 
the famous campaign around Petersburg, Va., 
he was also a member of the I'.llst O. 1., and 
was stationed at Winchester, Xn., for several 
months; he was in at the final "wind up" at 
A|i]iouiatto.\. His sister is now liviinr with 
him, and he is taking care of and educa- 
ting her two daughters. He is a He|iubli- 
caii. 

N\'. T. (;. SN\l)Ki;, farmer and st<«k- 
dealer; P. O., Lewistown; was born in Page 
Co., V'a., March 10, 1852; a son of John ^^'. 
and Cinderella Snyder. Mrs. Sny<ler died in 
^'irginia, 1801; .^lr. Snyder moved to Cham- 
paign Co., O., in 1807, and died .lanuary lit, 
18i0. The subject of our sketch was married 
to Miss Mary E. Loudenback, of Chanipaiuii 
Co., Nov. 10, 1872. Tliey now have two chil- 
dren — Carrie E. and Imogene .Mm v. -Mr. 
Snyder is one of the enterprising, go-aheail 
men of this townshi]); he owns 102 acres of 
well-improved laud, with good buildings u|ion 
it; he has been elected Clerk of the Township 
and is now |he popular .liistice of the Peace 
of tlu^ Township. He is an enthusiastic be- 
liever in the I )emoiratic jmrlv. 

GKOIMJE STK'ICKLAM). ivtlnd burner; 
P. ()., lluntsviiie; was born in the Stale of 
New Jersey in 17!l4 and movi'd to Ohio in 
1830, and settled on the farm he now owns; 
He was married March 24, 1824, and he and 
his wlf(! lived together forty-two years; they 
had twelve children, of wiiom eight are now 
living; the eldest, Dr. .lohn, of Lincoln, Neb., 
is one of the wealthiest men in that voiing 
and prosperous state. .Mr. and .Mrs. Stiicklaml 
settled on their farm several years before the 
Indians li'.t the neighboi-hcod, but. by always 
treating them fair, wen' always I'rieiidly ami 
never liad any trouble with them. When he 
settled his place it was a good day's work to 
go to Bellefontaine over the Indian paths, 
as there wore at that time no roads. They had 
to go t<i Sandusky to mill. He is now living 
with his soii-in-law and daughter, Mr. and 
-Mrs. Al. Knight; he is a member of the 
Dunkard Church, and has alwavs been a Jack- 
son Democrat, but believes in voting for the 
best men. 



^ 



^1 



^ 



±ki^ 



JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP. 



739 



HARMON TROUT, sboemaker; Lewis- 
town; was horn in Washington Tp., Logan 
Co., O., Fel). 12, 1843. Among the steady 
men of Lewistown, Mr. Trout ranks among 
the best. His mother saya tliat when he was 
horn snow was (h-il'ted in and was a foot deep 
on the bed. Mr. Trout is still a liachelor 
livino; with and taking care of his mother; he 
owns good ])ro])ertv, and is one of the strong 
Demoei'ats of this townshij). 

JOHN TROUT, farm.'r; P.O., Lewistown. 
.lohn Trout was horn in Rockingham Co., 
Va., on Oct. 30, IS'i.i, and was a son of Al- 
e.xander and Margaret ( Arnientrout) Trout, of 
Virginia. They came to Ohio in 1831, and 



settled in Licking Co-, and removed to 
this township in 1840. Alexander Trout 
died in August, 184-2, and Mrs. Trout in 1874. 
.lohn was married U> Sarah, daughter of J. A. 
.Moans, Esq., of this county, hut formerly of 
Kentucky, and her mother was Catherine 
Peck, of Virginia. .Mr. and Mrs. Trout have 
two children— Albert L. and .Milton C. He 
owns 'i'.i2 acres of the l)est im])roved land in 
Logan Co., is a .Methodist and has been one 
of the officers of the townshij) whenever he 
would accept it. His father, Alexander Trout, 
was a Ca])tain in the war of 1SP.J. The 
family have always been Jackson Democrats. 



JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP. 



WILLIAM ARBEGAST, Zanesfield; horn 
in Berks Co., Penn., Sept. 11., ]8J(J, the sec- 
ond of a famil}' of six children, born to .lacoh 
and Christina (Griines) Arbegast. William 
came out with the family in 183i),who located in 
Rush Crec>k Tp. ; he remained with his parents 
until 31 years of age. August :17, 1847, he 
was married to Sarah Haas, who was born in 
Berks Co., Penn., Oct. 4, 1820; she is a 
daughter of John Haas, who was horn May 
"20, 180(1, and whose wife was Elizabeth Bao-- 
enstose, and was born in 1803, same county 
aiul State; they came out in 1839. After 
William was married, he farmed one year on 
his father's platte; then moved to the place 
where he now resides, which is situated about 
two miles west of Zanesfield, said farm con- 
sising of 100 acres of land. Mr. Arbegast is 
one of the enterprising farmers of the town- 
ship, of which there are many. He is prin- 
cipally a self-made man, having begun on a 
very small beginning — oidy -25 acres of land 
cleared when he came; h^is it now in excel- 
lent condition, and one of the best barns in 
his neighborhood. Six children living — Cath- 
arine, Cornelius, Sylvester, Isaiah, Sarah E. 
and IVaidv; John and ^^'illiam, deceased. Mr. 
and Mrs. Arbegast are members of the Evan- 
gelicai Lutheran Church. 

J.'K. ABRAHA.M, farmer; P. O., Belle- 
foutaine; was born in Jeft'erson Co., O., April 
10, 1816: his parents were William and Elea- 



nor (Kincaid) Al)raham — he was born in 
Pennsylvania, she in Virginia; they emigrated 
to Jefferson Co. in 180(!, returned to Penn- 
sylvania in 1823, where they live<l vnitil lS4;i, 
and remained until their death — his death oc- 
curring Sept. 12, 18(10; his wife died ten years 
previous. Our subject had the usual" log- 
cabin school advantages, with slab seats and 
greased paper to emit the light; June 4, 183!J, 
was married to RacluJ Bebout, who was horn 
in Washington Co., Penn., Aug. 19, 1814; she is 
the youngest of a famil3- of eighteen children, 
all of whom were born to Benjamin and 
Hannah (Marlette) Bebout; he was born Dec. 
4, 1758, was a tailor by trade, antl when but 
a l)oy in his teens was taken into the Revo- 
lutionary war; he lived to be a centeiuirian; 
died in the year 1858; his wife was horn 
Nov. 21, 17(iS, and died Feb. 11, 18.30. The 
old family Bible tells the following story: 
Peter, horn April 22, 1780; Thurman, Au<>-. 
10, 1788; E!i/al)eth, April 18, 1790; Jacob, 
•March 10, 1792; Abraham, July 5, 1794; 
John, April 0, 179(i; B^-njamiii, May 10 
1797; Marv, June 10, 1798; Rizpah, Julv 22' 
1799; Samuel, Oct. 8, 1800; Israel, .Inly 3 
1802; Sarah, Nov. 30, 1803; Hannah, Sei)t! 
22, 1800; Freeman, Oct. 10, 1807; William, 
Oct. 4, 1809; Isad, Sept. 18, 1810; Nancy' 
Nov. 7, 1812; Rachel, Aug. 19, 1814. This 
venerable couple were married Dec. 7, 1784 
and, as related by Mrs. Abraham, the family 



'1^ 



A 



740 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



were never <ill too'ether at one time. Mr. 
and Mrs. Atiraliani were married in Washing- 
ton Co., Penn; came west in 1842 to Leeshnrg- 
T])., I'liion Co., this State; September, ISCiT, 
came to Logan Co., and has since lived there; 
has five children — Hannali M., now Mrs. H. 
Bunker; AA^illiam M., in .Morrow Co.; Benja- 
min F.; P^leanor .1., Mrs. Ellis Scott, and 
.James M. Mr. and Mrs. Abraham are both 
members of thi? I'nited Presbyterian Churcii; 
he was formerly of the Seceder Church. 
.Mrs. Abraham has been a member of a church 
since she was fourteen years of age. Their 
farm consists of 100 acres of land. 

WALTON ALLEN, farmer; P. O., Zanes- 
field. The Allen family, of whom there is a 
large number in the United States, have all 
descended from four brothers who came from 
England ])rior to the Revolution, and settled 
in the New England States. His great-grand- 
father Walton, among others of his time who 
belonged to the Society of " Friends'' or 
Quakers, was very much o])])Osed to going to 
war, and upon being pressed into the Revo- 
lutionary war he refused to go, and was struck 
with a sword over the back with such force 
as to indict a wound tiiat afterwards caused 
his death. \\'alton, our suljject, was horn 
Dec. Hi, IS'i.'i, in Belmont county, this 
State, son of Mo.ses and .lane Polk Allen. He 
, was born about 179.J in ."^iK'nandoah county, 
I Va., and emigrated to Belmont county in 1808. 
i In 1S20 Walton removed with, his ])arents 
to .Monroe Co., where they lived fourteen 
I yi-ars, then went to .Fay Co., luil., where 
I they live<l until their death. Moses died 
I in 1H.").">; iiis wife .lauo lived until 1873. 
.\fter four years residence in Indiana, with 
his parents he came to this county, and the 
following year was married to Hariiet Brown, 
who was born Sept. lO, 1821, in Zanes- 
I (ield, (). She is a daughter of Ilorton 
' Brown, who was born in North ('arolina, in 
j li '.)<;, and married .Margaret Ball's in |S|!) 
I (mother of .Mrs. .MIeti). She was born in 
! York Co., I'eini., in KilS. After their nuir- 
liage <-anie to Logan Co. antl settled in Zanes- 
, field and engaged in the caliinet busines.s, 
I being the first of the kind in the j)lace. She 
reniuined in the place until 18:j,"), and went 
to the country with her parent.s. Her father 
died in 18.)5,in Octobi-r; her mother in BVb- 
ruary, 1K7L May 25, 1845, she was married 



to Mr. Allen, and, with the e.\(c|)tion of one 
j'ear's n^sidence in Indiana, they have lived in 
this township, farming having been the busi- 
ness of Mr. Allen's life. Two children have 
been born to them, which are Caroline, now 
Mrs. Enoch Taylor, of Preble Co., O., born 
in 1.S51, and Ida A. born ]8i;(l, now Mr.s. Wil- 
liam Russi'U, of this township. .Mr. and .Mrs. 
Allen are mend)ers of the Society of Friends. 
Her father was for many years a minister of 
that body. 

GEORGE 1). ADA.MS, farmer; P. ()., 
Zanosfield. Born in the .State of .Maine 
in A])ril, 1830, son of ])arwin and Catharine 
(Smith) Adams. He was born in October, 
1802, in Massachusetts; his wife, Catharine, was 
born in New Hampshire. George was but a 
babe wh(;n his parents moved into New 
Hampshire, wher(> they remained a short time, 
and located finally in JIassachusetts. George 
was the eldest of the children, and was 23 
years of age when he came west, and engagi'd 
in the saw-mill business for three years with 
his uncle, L\ither Sndth. In December, 1.S55, 
In' was married to Ann E. Brown, who was 
born .Inly ti, 1834, in this township; daughter 
of Zaccheus and llatinah Brown. In the 
sju'ing of 18(ifl, he purchased the farm he now 
owns, which <-ontains ll'.l| acres. lias two 
children — .John B.. who was born .March. 1S5; 
— he is now merchandising in Massachusetts; 
Mary E. was born in 18(12. Mr. .\(latns anil 
wife are mendiers of the Presbyterian Church. 
His father is a minister of the Congrega- 
tional Church, in Massachusetts, where he and 
wife now reside. 

GEORGE ANTRI.M, farmer; \\ O., Belle- 
foiltaine. .Among the families of this county, 
who are well known, perhaps there are lunn-. 
that is more widely known than the Antrim 
family. The father of our subject is reputed 
to 111" the first white male chihl born in Ligaii 
( '(). I b' « as a brother of .loshua, who was tlir 
author- of the "Pioneer 1! story" of Logan 
and Champaign couirties. Dairiel .\ntrirrr Wiis 
borrt .lune !•, l.S(l4, in Z;rne Tp., ami final- 
ly luoved to this place in 1832. Here Georg(^ 
was born Feb. 21, 1838, and was the young- 
est son anil the fifth child of a fanrily of .seven 
children. Daniel .Airtrirn dieil ott this farm 
.\pril 13, 1S7'.I. His wife was Eliza .Ann 
."^mith, anil was borit Feb. 14, 1814, in this 
Stale. She is a daughter of Levi and .lane 



^' 



I>> 



JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP. 



741 



Smith; both of them were natives of Virjyinia. 
In May, 1807, George was iiuiri'ied to Mari- 
etta Walton, born Aug. ;J3, 1847, in Coinni- 
biana Co., O., who is a daughter of Nathan 
and Eliza Ann (Wickershaui) Walton. By 
this union three children have Vjeen born to 
them — Lorena, born July :2(), 18118; Ross, 
-March 30, 1873; Ethel D., Feb. 18, 1879. He 
is a member of the Patrons of Husbandry, and 
an official member of the same, of which he is 
one of the charter members. His farm of 100 
acres is well and favorably located and is 
highly productive. Has two sisters and one 
brother living — Leonora, born May 17, 184(5; 
Caroline, Julv 4, 1831; Wayne, Oct. 10, 1853. 

JOEL AKBEGAST, farmer; P. O., Bidle- 
fontaine; was born Dec. 7, 1827, in Berks 
Co., Penn.; is the youngest son of .lohn and 
Christine (Grimes) Arbegast; he was a lad 
not yet in his teens when his ]);nents came 
West, and reiuained at home until the death 
of his father, which occnried in 18."j9. At tie 
age of 11), Joel went to learn the blacksmith's 
trade, at which he served nearly three j-ears. 
June 24, 1852, at the age of 23, he was mar- 
ried to Caroline Antrim, who was born July 
4, 1831, in this township; she was a daughter 
of Daniel Antrim, of whom historv records as 
being the first white child born in Logan Co. 
Three children have been born unto them, 
who are — Henry, born Julv 14, 1S53; Alonzo, 
April 4, 1855, died Oct. 12, 1857; Jacob W., 
born May 21, 1857. For several 3-ears after 
his luarriage, they resided on the home farm, 
in Iiush Cri-ck Tp.; then moved to Thomas 
Dickinson's Farm; lived two years; then to 
Hobert Wood's farm, and bought 103 acres; 
livpil on tiie same five years. In August, 
1SG7, purchased 107 acres, where he now re- 
sides, which is pleasantly situated u])on an 
eminence in the north part of the township. 

DANIEL ARBEGAST, farmer; P. O., 
New Jerusalem; was born in Berks Co., Pa., 
July 10, 1818. Son of John and Christina 
(Grimes) Arbegast. At the age of 18 Daniel 
went to learn the carpenter's trade. In 1839 
he came west to this State, locating in 
Rush Creek Tp., and engaged at his trade. 
Sept. 15, 1842, he was married to Lydia 
Brockerman, who was born in Philadel]")hia, 
1S23, and cauie West with heriiarents in 1837. 
After his marriage, he worked at his trade 
about two years, then engaged with two 



others in running a saw-mill, in which busi- 
ness he was engaged for about seventeeti 
years, the mill being located in this township; 
he finally purchased his partner's interest, 
and run the business on his own account. 
In 1808 he engaged in farmino;, having pur- 
chased the farm he now owns several years 
])revious. He has 101 acres of land in th's 
county; by his marriage there liave been born 
six children, viz: Adam, in Rush Creek Tp.; 
Catharine, now Mrs. C3aus Leymaster; Al- 
bert, Eliza Ann, Aaron and Ennna, now Mrs. 
Oliver Dunlap. Mr. Arbegast and wife are 
members of the Lutheran Church, and he is 
among the staunch and highly res])ected citi- 
zens in the community; his life has been actu- 
ated and governed by the principles of hon- 
esty and uprightness. Coming to the country 
poor, he has earned himself a home and a suf- 
ficient competence for his declining vears, and 
has the esteem and confidence of his neigh- 
bors and friends. He is Democratic in senti- 
ment. 

OMAR BROWN, merchant; Zanesfield;is 
among the staunch business men in the town 
of Zanesfield. Early in the year of 1804, he 
began business at this place, under the firm 
name of Sands, Brown & Co., which partner- 
ship was of short duration. The longest part- 
nership association was known as O. Biown 
& Co., continuing until 1879. Since that time 
he has been conducting the business himself. 
His honest dealings with his numerous ])a- 
trons have secured for him a thriving and 
prosperous trade. On June 3, 1843, near the 
little town of Jerusalem he was born. His 
parents were Asa and Hanimh (Sands) Brown, 
Asa being born near ]Mt. Pleasant, in Jefter- 
son Co., this State, .lune 3, 1809, and was nine 
years of age when he emigrated to this coun- 
ty with his father, Aaron Brown, who was a 
native of North Carolina, and settled in Mar- 
mon valley, this township, where he remained 
until his death, and was one of the county's 
valued citizens and pioneers. Omar was a 
constant member of the household until he 
was sixteen years of age, at which time he 
entered Antioch College, attending two years, 
and after a two year's course at Union Col- 
lege at Schenectady, N. Y., on account of 
poor health, was compelled to abandon his 
school before graduation. During the fall 
of 1804 he was married to Olive Ingham, who 



w 

^ 



J- 



k. 



742 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



was born in diniii|);ii<rii Co. She dicil in 
1.SIJ5, leaving one child, Fred W., horn Sept. 
27, 18C.5. April 4, 1872 he was married to 
Mary Thomas, who was horn .July 13, 184."), 
and is a daujrhter of Jonathan T. and Sarah 
((JowjriJI) Thomas. Two ciiildren have crown- 
ed this union — .Je.ssie, horn March, 25, 1874, 
and lantha March :i(), 1880. He is a mem- 
ber of Wa|)atomica Lodge No. 434, I. O. (). 
F., also f)f Bfllefontaine Lodge ami Chapter, 
A. F. and A. M. and H. A. .M. He has a 
farm consisting of 360 acres, situateil in the 
Marmnn Bottom. 

.\l. V. JJL.VCKHTRN, stock dealer; P. O., 
Zanesfield; is tlie son of Abraham M. and 
Khzabeth (Fenton) Blackburn. M. V. was 
born .Ian. 9, 1848, in Muskingum Co., O., 
iind lived with his parents until April 1.5, 
ISO."), when he enlisted in the l!)".»tli (). V. I., 
and was transferred back to the l!)7th O. V. L, 
and served until August following, when he 
came to Logan Co., O., whither his parents 
had come while he was in the army. Oct. 
2(), 187."), he married Mrs. ^yanzer, formerly 
.Miss Hannah W. Pickrcll, dauirliter of .Mahlon 
and l{:iclicl (Williams) Pickrcll. After the 
marriage he farmed his father-in-law's farm 
for two years; they then cann- to Zanesfield, 
where he has since lived. He followed farm- 
ing and stock dealing, an<l during the past 
year he has turned his attention exclusively 
to sto<-k dealing, and is doing a good and in- 
creasing trade. Mrs. lilackburn's former hus- 
band, .Abraham Wan/.cr, was a native of 
Dutchess Co., N. Y., born Oct. 27, 1S:54, and 
came to Logan Co., ( )., with his parents about 
1S,5(». H(; nuirricd .Miss Pickrcll Oct. 23, 
1S.")I). IJe f(jllow(!d teaching a number of 
years, living iti Zanesfield, where he clerked 
in the stores of Folsoin & Kenton and S. D. 
Klliott, lie also served as e.xpress messenger 
Irom .Mansfield to Sanilusky and from I'niori 
City to Indianapolis. I lis health failing he 
(piil the latter job and came home, when; he 
di.'d .lune l'.J, 1S(;7, leaving two children — 
Charles .M. and Edwin Peck Wanzer. .Mr. 
W'linzcr's parents were .Michael and L(!vina 
(Peck) Wanzcr. They were natives of the 
Xew FnglamI States anil moved to Logan 
Co., ()., from New York about 18,")0, and in 
I8GS they moved near .\drian, Mich., where 
they now reside. .Mr. ami .Mrs. Blackburn 
are members of the orthodo.x Society of 



Friends, in which she is a min'ster of tho 
gospel. 

IP.V BROAVN, merchant; Zanesfield; was 
born May 2, 1840, in this township; son of 
Zaccheus and Hannah (.Marmon ; Brown. Ira 
was raised to farming jjiirsuits; bef(.>re attain- 
ing his majority, was engaged for a time as clerk, 
which vocation j)resented sufficient attiactiou 
for him to induce him to engage in the busint^s 
as a partner, the firm assvnniug the name of 
Brown (Jt Bro., which ])artncrship lasted two 
years. December, 18(J3, he enlisted in Co. 
il, 128th O. V. I., which was stationed at 
•Johnson's Island, and continued with this 
command until the termination of the war. 
Soon after his return home, engaged in the 
dry goods business, under the firm name of 
O. Brown & Co., which association lasted \in- 
til .January, 1879; since that, has not been 
actively engaged in business, yet is ineliroctly 
associated with, and carrying on some manu- 
facturing interests in the town in which his 
capital is being employed. Having ample 
means, he is living at his ease and in com- 
l)arative retirement. I{csi<liug in Zanesfield, 
he is among its valued citiziMis, and, though a 
man quiet and unassuming in his dcnu'auor, 
yet is ever ready to help aid and assist all 
worthy enterjjrises in which the public good 
is concerned. Nov. 1, 18liU, forined a u-atri- 
monial alliance with ]lc])]iie Out'and, who 
wa.s born Nov. 17, 183!), in I'errj 'I'p.; she is 
a daughter of .John and Sarah .\un (Taylor) 
Outland: has two childrci; — .Marv 1^., born 
.July 2."), ISCl; .John T., .May 1, "]Si;8. .Mr. 
Brown and wile are members of the .Mt-th- 
odist Episcopal Church; a mend)er, also, of 
I the 1. <).<). F.. and Bellefontaine lAulge, A. 
F. iV: .\. .M.; also, Bellefontaine Chapter, 1{. 
A. .M.. .No. GO. 

ABKA.M BI..\(K1'.I|{N, farmer; P. O., 
Zan.-slield; was born Feb. 14, 1819, in Mus- 
; kingum Co., O.; his father, Zachariah, was 
j born in AVashington ( 'o., Pa., and was the 
' father of twenty-one children, Abrani being 
I the fruit of the si'cond imirriage to Eliza- 
i beth Ansley, his last wife, who was a native 
Of Bedford Co., Pa.; they were married in 
M'estmoreland Co., Pa., and emigrated to 
Muskingum in 1818, during the month of 
( )itobcr and settled on a |>iece of land be- 
fore the survey was made; he was anujiig the 
first settlers in that locality; the neighbors 



11^ 



-l^ 



JEFF]i;RSON TOWNSHIP. 



743 



were " (p.w and far between." He came 
there ])oor; tlie fiist year he made 1,600 
pounds of maple sugar, and the fifth year 
had several acres cleared and raised 200 
bushels ol castor beans, for which he realized 
$1.35 per bushel; this enabled him to pay for 
his first purcliase, and to add another 80 to 
Ills original 80 acres. Abram was not favored 
with I'ood school advantages, the nearest 
school building being four mdes away, yet he 
was schooled to hard labor, and early in life 
learned the value of a dollar; his father died 
May 2(), 1843, and mother sixteen years later. 
Abram did not leave home until he was in 
his "^Oth year; about this time he was married 
to Elizabeth Fenton, born 1820 in Ohio, she 
dying fourteen months after the marri;ige, 
leaving him one child. Miles V. Blackburn; 
was married to his present wife, Lydia Brady, 
who was born in 1824, in Muskingam Co., and 
by her had four children — Celestia, Thomas, 
Cyrus D. and .John. In 18,52 moved to Union 
Co., O., and to this county and township in 
1865, where he has since lived, and is among 
its valued citizens. He has been a mendier 
of tiie Protestant Methodist Church since he 
was 22 years of age; is a true Republican in 
principle, and a man of soiuid judgment and 
ripe experience in business matters; has a 
good farm of 140 acres, the result of his 
lal)or and industry. 

FRP:r)EKlCK BRIX8ER, farmer; P. O., 
New .lerusalem; was Ixirn May 30, 1827, in 
Hau])hin Co., Penn. There were eleven chil- 
dren in the family, he being the " middle 
man " (sixth in order). His parents were 
Christian and Mary (Waggoner) Brinser. 
Frederick emigrated to this State in 1840, he 
being a lad of thirteen. His father located 
first in Zanesfiehl, and, alter a resid(Mice of 
two years, the family moved to the place now 
owned by Frederick, located three-fourths of 
a mile west, on the .lerusalem pike, purchasing- 
the land of Lanson Curtis. Frederick was 
inclined to farming, and at the age of 22 he 
engaged in this business, renting land on the 
homestead — his sister keejjing house. Con- 
tinuing in this way until .Tune 23, 185.3, he 
then made an exchange of housekeepers bv 
marrying Nancy Easton, who was born in this 
tf)wnship. She is a daughter of .lohn and Char- 
lotte Easton. Since 1842 Mr. Brinser has been 
a constant resident of the place; has a good 



farm of 144 acres of land. Three children — 
Lottie, born Sept. 4, 1855, now the wife of El- 
mer Elliot — they reside in Perry Township; 
William, born Ajjril 19, 1857, and Alvaretta, 
May 10, 18()2 — are all the members of the 
family. During the existence of the Whig- 
party he voted with them; is now Repub- 
lican. 

EZRA I3R0WN, farmer and stock-raiser; 
P. ()., Zanes^field; is the eldest of two children 
born to Ira and Rebecca (Rca) Brown. Ira 
Brown was a native of Ohio; his father, Aaron, 
was a native of North Carolina and was twice 
married — first to Mary Howard, by whom he 
had three children, Init one (Horton) living to 
maturity; the seeond marriage was to Annie 
Stanton by whom there were eleven children. 
Aaron Brown came to Ohio in IS02, and 
to Logan Co. in 1818; he was a mem- 
ber of the Society of Friends, and was a 
well known and highly respected gentleman; 
he died in the fall of I84(i. Ira Brown was 
born Dec. 37, 1806, and his wife, Rebecca, was 
born Jan. 2, 1800. She was a native of Vir- 
ginia. They were married April 28. 1830, near 
Zanesfield, whither they came with their ])ar- 
ents when young. After the marriag" he 
farmed his father's farm for three years when 
he was taken sick and remained in ill health 
until his death, some two years later, he dying 
.June 1, 1834; by the marriage th'^-e were two 
children, viz., Ezra and Elizabetli. The former 
was taken into his grandfather's family where 
he grew up. Elizabeth remained with her 
mother until her death, Oct. 7, 1840, aged 7 
years, 9 months and 24 days. Mrs. Brown 
remained a widow 12 years; .May 21, 1845, 
she married Mr. P^noch M. Scott, a native of 
Ohio, born Feb. 28, 1810. After the mar- 
riage they settled on a farm in Rush Creek 
Tp., where they resided for 25 years; they 
then moved to .feft'erson Tp., where she now 
resides. July 20, 1880, Mr. Scott was in- 
jured by a runaway team, and died the 22(1 
following. Of the two children born to this 
marriage one is living, viz., Mrs. Mary Ann 
Henry, residing near Zanesfield. Ezra Brown 
was born April 3(1, 1831, in .left'erson Tp., Lo- 
gan Co., O. At the age of 22, April 17, 1853, 
he married Miss Rachel, daughter of John 
and Sarah A. (Taylor) Outland. After the 
marriage Mr. Brown farmed his grandfather's 
farm for two seasons, he then moved to his 



'Ai 



744 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCIIKS. 



father's place, located nortlioast of Zanesfield, 
and fanned there for fouryears. In 1858 he 
Ijoui^lit his present place, which he occupied 
in ]8.!)!i, and has rosideil here since; he has 
127 acres located "'^ miles east of Zanestield. 
By the marriajre there were three children, 
viz.. Charley F.. l)orii Feb. 22, 18.50, ilied Sept. 
22, 18U:J; Frank S. born Sept. 20, 1801. died 
Sept. 21, 1803; and Cora K., liorii Oct. :il, 
1804. 

GEORGE .M. COOK, farmer; P. O., Belle- 
fontame; whose name heads these lines, was 
a son of William Cook, who was horn in Wash- 
ington Co., Penn., Aufjust, 1799; his father, 
Georije Cook, was horn in Ireland. From 
Pennsylvania he came west to Kentucky,where 
lie was married to .Jane Rohb, of Lewis Co., 
Ky., Feb. 22, 1827, who was a daughter of 
Robert and Susan (Gray) Robb, who were 
natives of Pennsylvania, and emigrated to 
Kentucky at an early day. .\fter the mar- 
riage of Mr. Cook, he and wife wended their 
way to Gu(>rnsey Co., O., where they nnnained 
until l.'^-il, when he moved to Loaan Co., lo- 
cating in liellefontaine, where he followed his 
trade (carpenter's) until I84II, when he moved 
to the place occupied by the remnant of the 
family and jturchased a farm, which was at 
that time covered with a growth of tindjer; 
this he cleared up, ami what appears to the eye 
of the passer-by of to-day in the way of im- 
provements was of his own work and arrange- 
ment. J le died Feb. 8, 1870, mourned by his 
family and many friends. He was of a quiet 
and unobtrusive disposition, conscientious 
and scrui)ulf)usly just in' all his dealings, in- 
dustrious and attentive to his own concc;rns, 
and by his daily walk in life gave evidence 
of his faith in the atoning merits of his 
.Master, of whom he was a faithful follower, 
lieing for many yi-ars a mendier of the 
Presbyterian Church. Mis wi<low anil Hve 
children yet survive him. all ot whom are 
members of the Presbylerian Church. The 
farm is located a short ilistatice east of IJelle- 
fontaine, anil consists of 101 acn^s of excel- 
JrMit land. George .M. was born in Uellefon- 
taiiie, April 11, 18:17. Of the family remain- 
ing, Ijesides William, is Katie, .Slargaret, 
■louiina and .Fohn :\. 

PHILIP CRorSE, farmer; P. O., Zaiujs- 
field: was born .May 27, 1827, in Green Co., 
Penn.; he was the youngest child born by a 



second marriage of Joseph Crouse to Mary 
M. Arieon. 183.5 was the yaar Philip came 
to this county with his ]iarents, and was raised 
to hard work and to paddle his own craft, 
.fuly 28, 18.58, he was married to Catharine 
Moore, who was born Jan. 20, 1832, in Stark 
Co., O.; since 1841, Philip has been almost a 
constant resident of his present place; is living 
on tlie home farm, which he now owns, con- 
taining- 1(10 acres. Has four children — Me- 
linda Iv, .Mary >L, James F. and Curtis .\. 
Is a hard-working and painstaking farmer, 
and is making a success. The Crouso family 
are all Detnocrats. He is a member of the 
Patrons of Husbandry. 

PATRICK CRONLEV, farmer: P. O., 
ZanesfieUl; is a native of the P^mcrald Isle, 
born on St. Patrick's Day, 1811, in Dublin 
Co.; son of Patrick and Catharine (Harman) 
Cronley; the family emigrated to America 
about the year 1827, when our subject was a 
lad of 1.5, and located in Massachusetts and 
engaged in farming. After attaining his ma- 
jority, Patrick started for himself — worked 
out by the month for several years. In the 
spring of 183.5, he was united by wedlock to 
Ellen Temple, daughter of .loseph Tem|ile, 
who w:is born in Ohio about the year 1824. 
In 184n, lie inoveil to Hardin Co., this State, 
and ])urcliased 80 acre's of improved land in 
Hale Tp., and subsequently moved to Logan 
Co., where he purchased 70 acres in Hadley 
bottom, .Jefferson Tp, where he now resides, 
having a family of three children — I'atrick, 
horn .May 5, 1801, Jacob, Oct. 17, 1803, Es- 
ther, .May 30, 1807. Nestled in the quiet 
valley, he lives (pliet and contented, taking 
lite and its events as they occin- as matters of 
fact, not allowing himself to be disturbed bj' 
the petty annoyances which to some are so 
vexatious, being satisfied with his comforta- 
ble home and its romantic snrroundiniis; is 
living a lifi' of retirement, and is in the en- 
joymi'iit of life's coinmon blessings, and is 
really the i>attern of a contented and happy 
personagi!; Democratic in his sentiments, yet 
is not partisan; is an e.vcellent neighbor and 
a respected citi/.eii. 

(;E( )RGE CORWIN, farmer; P. O., Zanes- 
field; is a native of Loijan ( 'o.; was born Aug. 
12. 181.5, in Monroe Tp. There were eight 
children in the family, he being the fourth 
that was born to his parents, Phineas and 



r 



JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP. 



745 



Magdalene (Dovenbarger) Corvvin. Phineas 
was a native of New York; his wife of Vir- 
ginia. Pliineas was of a niechauical turn of 
mind, and iti the early times used to manufac- 
ture wooden mold-hoards for farmers' use. 
He died the year of the great " wind fall." 
George then remained with his mother until 
he was 23 years of age. April 17, 1838, he 
was married to Margaret Dickinson, who was 
born in November, 1817, in Monroe Tp., 
daughter of Thomas and Maria (Lowe) Dick- 
inson, who were among the first settlers. 
Alter Georjre was married, he located on the 
survey where he now lives; he first took a 
lease of some land, which he farmed. In ISH 
he made a trip to Andrew Co., Mo.; stayed a 
short time; the country not suiting him, he 
returned, and located on the Ruddy farm. In 
18.i7 he located on the head of Nettle Run, 
where he purchased (15 acres at ^10, which 
was " all vroods " and a vast swamp, and 
" would have mired a snipe," as he termed it. 
He had but $10 to begin housekeepinop with. 
Building lifm a rude cabin, he and wife be- 
gan work in earnest. He now has 161 acres 
of the choicest land in the county. What was 
once thouglit perfectly worthless is now the 
most valuable. Fourteen children have been 
born to him, nine of them living — Phillip, in 
Rush Creek; Ann M., now Mrs. F. R. Wren; 
Eliza J., Mrs. Thos. Chamberlain; Levi L.; 
Emma, Mrs. .1. Bovvers; Ettie, Mrs. .Ino. Sut- 
ton, of Har:lin Co.; Saybert A.; Martha, Mrs. 
Sutton, and Thomas Zaccheus. During all his 
travels Mr. Corwin has never been sued, and 
he has sued but one man, who owed him for 
eight years. 

'lewis CROUSE, farmer; P. O., Zanes- 
field; Bora in Dauphin Co., Pa., Dec. 27, 
1810; is the second child bj' his father's sec- 
ond maniage; his parents were Joseph and 
Mary Magdalene (Arieon) Grouse. She was 
l)orn Oct. 1, 1792, and was a daughter of 
George and Elizabeth Arieon. The family 
emigrated to this State in 1835, and located 
west of Bcllefontaine, in Harrison Tp.; in 
1840 came to Lake Tp., and lived one year, 
then came to .Teti'erson and settled on" the 
farm where Phillip now lives; here they 
spent the reniain<ler of their days — he dying- 
February, 1857, she April 20, is78. Lewis 
i-emained with his father until he was 24 
years of age; May 10, 1840, he was married 



to Elizabeth Kaylor, born Jan. 9, 1825, in 
Harrison Tp., daughter of Susannah and 
Heniy Kaylor. Her mother's maiden name 
was Brillhart, and was born in Pennsylvania. 
Her husband, Kajdor, was a native of Ger- 
many; came to America when small. The 
family came to Logan Co., and entered 100 
acres of land in Harrison Tp. He died Dec. 
19, 1834; his wife July 20, 1801. She was 
past 78 years of age at the time of her death; 
he was over 55 years old. Since the marriage 
of Mr. Grouse, he has resided in this town- 
ship; he came to the place he now owns in 
1844. Five children have been born to him, 
who are as follows — Marv M., born Feb. 14, 
1841, afterwards Mrs. D. C. Smith; she died 
May 28, 1803; George, born April 18, 1842; 
Joseph, Nov. 4, 1844, died June 28, ls:0; 
Sarah C, born Dec. 14, 1851, died .\uo-. 12, 
1853; Phillip H., born Oct. 5, 1855. All bat 
one of the familj- are members of the Lutheran 
Church. 

S. W. V. COSTIN, farmer; P. O., Belle- 
fontaine; born near Hagerstown, Md., 
March 5, 1814, and came west with his 
parents, Samuel R. and Hester (Jones) Costin, 
who located in Urbana the same year that he 
was born, remaining there fourteen years; 
came to this county in 1828 and resideil in 
Zanesfield two years, finally locating on the 
Gregory place where his father died, 18(17. 
Our subject was the third child of a family 
of si.x. At the age of 18 he went to learn 
the carpenter's trade, which vocation he fol- 
lowed for about forty years. He has been 
twice married — first* to Elizabeth A. Painter, 
which occurred 3 83G. She was born in this 
township; was a daughter of Abraham and 
Sarah (Branson) Painter. Botli were natives 
of Virgnia; wife died 1873. Ten children 
were born them; seven of the number lived 
to maturity, four of whom are now living, 
John, in Bellefontaine ; Robert, in Indiana; 
.Joseph, in Bellefontaine; Isaac, in Kansas. 
1877, July 8, was married to Amanda Harvev, 
born in L^rbana, Aug., 1839, daughter of 
Rollin .Land Phebe Matthews; she was from 
New .Jersey, he from Pennsylvania ; both 
came to this state many years ago. After Mr. 
Costin's first marriage, he moved to Lima, O., 
remaining until 1840, when he moved to Bur- 
lington, la., returning in 1845 to Logan Co.; 
lived two years in North Lewisbursj; since 



746 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



ISof) has been a constant resident of this 
township — his farm is located in the southwest 
part of the township. He is a member of 
the Kvano-eiica! Lutheran Church. 

DR. .I(')HN .1. CORAM, physician; Zanes- 
field; l>orn March 7. 1.S4."), at Brc-ntor, Devon- 
shire, Euiihiiul; liis parents, William and 
Ciiarlotte Cpram, were united in marriage 
Fell. 13, 1.^4(1. Ten children were liorn unto 
them — si.x boys aiul four girls, .lohn .1. being 
the third child in order. The father of our 
subject was the eldest son of William Coram, 
Sr., and Grace Coram, w/'e Ash, and were born 
in \7'->-) and I7!>!l, respectively, and married 
in ISKJ. Charlotte C, the mother of .lohn .r., 
was the fourth dauirhterof William and.fonnna 
(.Mitchell) Ghuiliekl, and were born in J7iS8 
ami ITS!), and married in lfS()8; the grand- 
])arents of .John .]. were all of J)evonshire, 
England, and were of old English stock of the 
country gentry class. The father of John 
.1. was for ten years employed as Sergeant 
and Ins|)ector of the South Devon Railway 
CrjMipany, l)ut, lieing given lo sporting, he 
wasted the greater portion of the jjaterrud 
estate, and suliseipiently emigrated to Canada, 
in 1850, from I'lyfnouth, lan<ling in Quebec 
Sept. 13, same year, locating on a farm in 
Grey (^o., C. "W. Tee lainl was new, and the 
family unaccustomed to manual labor, but 
were soon initiated, and were raised up luider 
all the disadvantages that jiertain to the set- 
tlement of a new country, and with these un- 
projiitious surroundings .lohn had but few 
educational advantages, but this was in a 
maimer overcome by a liberal course of home 
reading, to which he applieij iiinisidf after the 
labors of the day were ended. After attain- 
ing his majority, he went to livi- in the family 
of B. A. Knight, and was iMigageii in farm- 
ing, an<l emigrated with them to this State, 
.May, ISOH, cdiitiiniing in Mr. Knight's employ 
until meeting with uii acci<ieiit (injury in the 
leg) made it neci^ssar}' for him to make a 
change of buBiness; entering the Friends' 
Academy, ho attended one fall and winter; 
then returned to the su])erintendence of farm 
labors for two sea.sons. April '27, 187(1, was 
united lly marriage to Ellen lirowii, daughter 
of Asa and Hannah Brown, of this county. 
Five chihireii have crowned this union, but 
(»ne of the number living — John A. In the 
fall of 1870, engaged in the dry-goods trade 



at Zanesfield, with Ira Brown as partner, and, 
after a successful business career of fifteen 
months, he sold out and liegaii the study of 
medicine with Dr. J.S. IJobb, and, after three 
years of stuily and attending three courses of 
lectures at the ( )liio Mi-dical College, Cincin- 
nati, he graduated March, 1874, and engaged 
in the active practice of medicine; for oik; 
year was associated with his precejitor. Dr. .1. 
S. Kobb; sinci! that time has continued lo 
practice successfully his chosen profession in 
Zanesfield, the home of his medical pu])ilage 
and his widening sphen; of ])o|)ularity and 
success. Politically, he is a Republican, and a 
member of the Society of Friends. 

JOSEPH N. DJCKlXSON,farming, stock- 
raising and milling; P. O., Zanesfield. Among 
the prominent men in Jett'erson T]). that have 
workeil their waj' from jioverty to wealth and 
aflluence, solely by their own exertions, is 
J. N. Dickinson, who was born in this town- 
shin, March '^7, 1 8](), on what is now known 
as the Shoot's ])ro])erty, situated one-half mile 
south of the town of Zanesfield. His father, 
Thomas Dickinson, was born in Berks Co., 
Penn., Nov. i:i, 1788, and emigrated to this lo- 
cality ])rior to the war of 181',.'. His wife was 
Maria J<owe, born 178'.), a native of Virginia, 
and bore her husband fifteen children, Jose]ili 
being the fifth child and the second son of 
this number; the major portion of them lived 
to maturity. Thomas, the father of Joseph, 
was a constant resident of this township u|) 
to the time of his d(^cease, which was in his 
Dlst year, .\fay 1 7, 187!). His wife's death oc- 
curred in 18(17. The year after Joseph was 
of age, he liireil to his father, ap|>iying his 
earnings as a payment upon 75 acres which 
he had purchased in Hush Creek Tp., which 
was nearly all iinimjiroved. Jan. ".il, ISliS, 
he was iniirried to Mary Ann ('orwin, who is 
n native of .Monroe Tp., where she was born 
Feb. 5, 1820, on the banks of tlu? Mai'kachack. 
Locating on his land after marriage, he re- 
maineil until 1841, when he moved to the 
place he now owns, stayed one year, and re- 
moved to Andrew Co., Mo., where he engaged 
in farming and stock-raising for six years, and 
returned to this county. The following 
spring, purchased l!)(i acres of land in Bokes 
Creek Tp., where he moved and soon added 
50(1 acres to his first purchase, where he farm- 
ed, raised stock and run a saw-mill until 18(iO, 



JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP. 



747 



when he moved into Haiilin Co., where he 
owned at one time 1,70U acres of land; dur- 
ing his eight years residence, wishing to cur-» 
tail his husiness, he disposed of his interests, 
and moved into Monroe Tp., where he pur- 
chased 159 acres of land, and the .Feffrey 
Williiuns mill property, which he carried on 
until 1876, when he moved one-half mile 
north of Zanesfield, and purchased the Fol- 
soni mill property and 471 acres of land. Has 
since traded for the Baldwin mills, a short 
distance south, and now controls and runs 
Ixith mills, which are among the best in the 
State for size and location — the Folsom mill 
having a fall of thirty feet. This mill has an 
extended reputation, custom reaching them 
thirty miles distant. 1'hey are prepared to do 
both custom aud merchant work; can run the 
year round either by steam or water power. 
Mr. Dickinson has now 550 acres of land, 
which, in connection with his mills, represent 
a large amount of ca])ital, all of which Mr. 
Dickinson has attained solely through his 
own merits. Of the fifteen children born to 
him, twelve are living — Hannah (Mrs. Ben 
Bruce), George, John, Thomas, Mary (Mrs. 
Randall), Ellen (Mrs. George Henry), Laura 
(Mrs. .lohn P. Williams), Gardner, Amanda, 
Charles, BenjaTuin and Joseph at home. 
Though Republican, he is not an extremist in 
politics, nor in religion. 

GKORGE W.DICKINSON, miller; Zanes- 
field; is the second of a family of fifteen chil- 
dren, whose parents were Joseph and Mary 
Ann (Corwin) Dickinson, who were residing 
in Rush Creek Tp. at the time our subject 
was liorn, March 1(1, 1,S41. George was raised 
to farming pursuits, whicli business he engaged 
in up to the time of his enlistment in the ser- 
vice of his country, Dec. 8, 1801, at the age of 
",'0, when he enlisted for three years in Co. D., 
llkh Reg't., O. V. I., and served his full time 
of enlistment, and was engaged in nearly all 
the battles in which his command participated; 
was always at the front, losing but eighteen 
days in the time (being then detained in his 
quaiters on account of sickness); was in some 
of the most hotly contested battles of the war. 
During the latter part of his service was with 
Sherman on his march to the sea. His regi- 
ment, going out with 1,075 men at the begin- 
ning, was augmented l)y recruits at ditt'erent 
times, nuiking the eijtire number 1,875 men 



in all; only )]25 of the nund^er returned home. 
Upon his return to Hardin Co., he engaged in 
farming. October 13, 1805, was married to 
Matilda Lake, who was born April 14, 1840, 
in Hardin Co., O: she was a daughter of 
Harrison and Elizabeth (Day) Lake, both of 
whom were natives of Kentucky. January, 

1879, he sold his farm to his brother and re- 
moved to this townshi]). The following 
March, the ninth day, he liad the misfortune 
to lose his wife bv lung fever, who left to his 
care five children — Delia A., Thomas H., 
Martha E., Effie M. and Joseph H. April 37, 

1880, he was married to his present wife, 
Martha J. Neeper, who was born in Rush 
Creek Tp., March 28, 1838; her j^arents, 
William and Martha (Moore) Nee])er, are 
natives of this State. A])ril, 1880, Mr. Dickin-^ 
son located at the Baldwin Mills, and is now- 
engaged in running the same. Having con- 
tracted rheumatism in the service, renders 
him unable for active farming, and was com- 
])elled to change his business in conse()uonce. 

MRS. LYDIA DAUGHHERTY, farming; 
P. O., Zanesfield; was born in this township, 
March G, 18"29; is the eighth child of the 
family, born to Stephen and Susannah (Gates) 
Lease, who were among the early pioneers 
of this county. Mrs. Daughherty was married 
Dec. 25, 1860, to William, whose name she 
bears. He was born April 19, 1818, in this 
township, and is a son of Jarvis and Hannah 
(Marnion) Daughherty. .larvis D. was a 
native of the Emerald Isle, and emigrated 
to this State at an early time, and ])urchased 
400 acres south (jf Zanesfielit, which he set- 
tled upon, and raised a family of si,\ chihben, 
of which number William was the eldest. 
After the marriage of Mr. and ilrs. William 
D., they located on part of the homesteail 
farm. March 7, 1874, her husband was re- 
moved by death, leavino- three children to 
mourn his departure, whose names are — 
Susie, born Aug. 11, 18G3; Jennie, Nov. 11, 
1805, and Zaccheus, Sept. 7, 1868. Since his 
death she has resided on the farm, which is 
farmed under her supervision. 

VALENTINE DUNLAP, farmer; P. O., 
Zanefield; born in Carroll Co., O., July 12, 
1829, the fourth child of Samuel and Hannah 
Dunlap. Valentine was raised to agricul- 
tural pursuits, and came with his parents to 
this C(;u:itv in 1839 ; lived with his father 



.. 

X 



748 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



until lie WHS ISO years of ag-e, at which time he 
wooed and won the hand ol" Lueinda Kar- 
rinjrton, who was born in Stark Co., O., .July 
12, l.*^4(}. She was a daughter of .Jesse K. 
and Elizabeth (Richardson) Farrinjrton. He 
was born in Massachusetts, 18015. His wife, 
Elizabeth, was l)orn in Ireland, 180.5, and 
caine to this country when she was 18 years of 
age. March, 18C.5, was the date of the mar- 
riage of Mr. and Mrs. Dunlap, aiul three 
children have blessed this union, wlio are 
Abner Lawrence, born .Ian. 1'.), ISliU, Ivy 
Florence, Nov. 5, 18G9, and Ilannali Bertha, 
Sept. .5, 18T.5. Fifty-four acres compose his 
farm which he has earned by his own labor; 
is not a man that is grasping in his desires 
after this worhTs goods, l)Ut is mainly content, 
with his interesting family about him. to 
have a home and sulliciency, to meet his 
present demands, and is cndi^avoring to live, 
more to lay up treasure above than here on 
earth. He and wife are members of the 
" Friends." 

LEWIS V. DICKLN'SOxX, farmer; P. O., 
North Greenfiehl. Among the enterprising 
young farmers and stock-raisers in the county 
wh(j are attaining nuirked success, is Lewis C. 
Dickinson, who was born in Hush Creek Tp., 
.Inly 1, lS4:i; is a son of .loshua aiul Martha 
(Brunson) Dickinson. The Dickinson family 
are among the early settlers of this county, 
.loshua, the father of Lewis, was born in this 
township in the year 1823, and has ever since 
been a constant n^siilent of the county. Mar- 
tha, his wife, was born in Clinton Co., this 
State. Lewis removed with his parents to 
Pi-rrv Tp., .March 4, 1854; Lewis renujined 
at home until Fi-b. 20, 1871!, at which time he 
was married to Mary Akey, born Oct. 25, 
1845, in Stark Co., O., daughter of Ellis and 
Ellen (Xoble) Akey. Shortly after his mar- 
riage he located on the James Elliott farm, on 
till- east side of Jefferson Tp., which contains 
280 acres, which he now owns, which is one 
of the best stock farms in the township, 
which has an inexhaustible supply of s|)ring 
water in every ])asture field, whieh TU'vi-r 
freezes during the severest winter w»ather. 
Mr. D., though a young man, has had consid- 
erable experience in the handling and nian- 
Bgement of stock, having hail for several 
years |iast the superintendi-nce of his father's 
furuis, and with his own business, has afforded 



him a<lvantages that are not often within tin- 
range of young men, and as a result, he is 
among the most successful of agriculturists 
of his years. Sheep is his favorite stock, of 
wliich he geniTallv keeps about 1,000 head. 
He and his wife are mend)ersof the Methodist 
E])isc<)])al Church; they have one child — 
Ellis Evart, born Dec. :!(), 1875. 

WILLIAM DUNLAP, farmer; P. O., New 
Jerusalem; was born March 2. 1824, in Carroll 
Co., ()., and is the second of the fannly born 
to Samuel and Hannah Duidap. Samuel was 
Itorn in Westmoicland Co., I'enn., Sept., 1700; 
his wife was Hannah Greer, and was born in 
the same coinitv, Aug. 24, 1795. They were 
married. May 10. 1821. In his younger days 
Samuel was engaged in teaming across the 
mountains, subseipiently was engaged in the 
manufacture of edge tools. Emigrating to 
Carroll Co., he remaine<l until 18lill, and came 
to Logan Co. and lived in .JeHerson Tp. until 
his death, which occurred June ItJ, 1871 — his 
wife " passed over," Feb. 4, 185G. They were 
both members of the M. E. Church for many 
years; he was an ardent aud enthusiastic 
worker in the Lord's vineyard; was for many 
years a class leader, and his life was orna- 
mented with Chiistian virtues. In the early 
part of his life he was many years .lustice of 
the Peace, and his advice and decisions were 
always regarded as just and final; during the 
latter part of his life, while in this county, he 
lived mostlv a retired life; he was an old line 
Whig, and went out as Captain during the war 
of 1812. William, early in life, learned the 
plasterer's tra<le ; remaiiu'd with his father 
until h(! was 27 years of age; .lune 12, 1851, 
was maried to Mary M. Ball, who was born in 
Columbiana Co., Nov. 24, 1830. She ilied 
Mav 2, 1803, leaving four children, viz: Oliver 
F., Sarah M., John P. ami William Asa; was 
married to his present wife, Susan Farrington, 
July 30, 18(14; she was born March 31, 1841, 
in Stark Co., ()., daughter of Jesse K. and 
Elizabeth (Richardson) Farrington. Two 
chililren have crowned the union — Samuel C., 
born .S'pt. 13, 1S55, and .Myrta E., April 14, 
1871. .Mr Dunlap anrl wife an- nu'mbers of 
the " Frien<ls" or t^)uakers; Mr. D. began poor 
in earlv life, has been suc<'essl"ul in his 0])era- 
tions and lias 2.SS acres of land. 

LENEXTO.N downing;, farmer;Zanes- 
field. Born Sept 1), 1820, son of Bezah'cl and 



*^ 



JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP. 



749 



Matilda (Jones) Downing, who were from 
Maryland, anil eudgiated to Harrison Co. 
Leventon remained with his parents as long 
as they lived. They came to this township 
in 1833; at the age of 26 h(» was married to 
Mary Ann Hill, who was l)orn in Monroe Tp. 
in 1829; she was a daughter of John and 
Mary (Smith) Hill. The Hills and Smiths 
are from Virginia. Mr. ])owning has 136 
acres of land, and farms quite successfully. 
Five children have been horn to him, but only 
two are living, Margaret R., bom May 4, 1860; 
John L., Ma'rch lU, 1863. His father, Beza- 
Icel, was born 1777, his mother in 1787, and 
were honored and respected citizens in the 
community in which they lived. 

JOHN EASTON, farmer; Bellefontaine, 
Prominent among the toil-worn veterans and 
pioneers of this township is " Uncle John " 
Eastnn, of whom, and his wife, portraits ap- 
pear in this work. He was born in Shelbv 
Co., Ry., Sept. 24. 1799, born to Redwood 
and Pollj- (MoMichael) Easton; he was born 
in Rhode Island several years prior to the 
Revolution; his wife was born near Richmond, 
Va. They emigrated to Kentucky during 
the early historical events of that State, 
.lohn emigrated to this State in 1803, on pack 
horses, making their way through the pathless 
forests, occasionally guided by Indian trails 
and landmarks well-known tcj those hardy 
woodmen. Many times their only guide was 
the moss on the trees and the covu'se of thi> sun. 
In passing through Cincinnati there were but 
three or four log cabins of that (to-day) large; 
city. Their first stopping-place was north of 
Cincinnati thirty-five miles, at a place called 
Waynes ville; here his father taught school 
about two years; the family then wended 
their way northward until they reached Mont- 
gomery Co.; here he entered some land, where 
he stayed but a short time and returned to 
Waynesville; then to Clarke Co., where thev 
remained until 182.5. John learned the tan- 
ner's trade at Urbana, which he afterwards 
abandoned, and tvirned his attention to farm- 
ing pursuits. After coming to Logan Co., in 
182.3, he rented land of Isaac /ane for three 
years; during his sojourn here was married 
Dec. 6, 1827, to Charlotte Plummer, who was 
born in Kentucky, Oct. 28, ISOii. She was a 
daughter of James and Nancy Plummer. In 
1831 he settled on the farm where his son 



William now lives, remaining about twenty 
years, and cleared up that farm; in 1851 he 
located on the farm he now owns, which em- 
braces 490 acres. When he began for him- 
self his mother gave him a bed; he worked 
and obtained money to buy him one cow and 
a horse, the latter died when he went after 
his license to get married; having a few dol- 
lars left after paying for his license, he spent 
the remainder for a few meagre necessaries 
to begin keeping house with. He is, to-day, 
one of the affluent and prominent farmers in 
the township, and has raised a family that 
would be an honor to any man, all of whom 
are settled about him and are prosperous 
farmers. 

WILLIAM EASTON, farmer; P.O., New 
Jerusalem; is the eldest son and child of John 
and Charlotte Easton; h(> was horn Sept. 10, 
1828, in the town of Zanesfield, and was but 
4 years and 6 n\onths of age when his father 
moved to the place he (William) now owns. 
At the usual age he launched out to do for 
himself; he was engaged in farming for 
several years, renting of his father. In 1855, 
Nov. 13, he was united in marriage to Hannah 
Wickersham, who was born in Columbiana 
Co., April 4, 1833; is a daughter of Josej)!! 
and Margaret Wickersham. Since their mar- 
riage, has been a constant resident of the 
farm, which is ornamented with excellent 
buildings, having one of the best barns in the 
township, a good house and a well kejit I'arni 
of 100 acres, which is almost a model farm. 
All of the buildings are of his own construc- 
tion and planning. Eight cliildr(>n have been 
born unto him; seven of the number are living', 
of whom are Juliaetta, born .fuly 29, 1856, 
now the wife of Oliver Corwin; Margaret, 
died in infancv; John Q., born Dec. 6, 1859; 
Lloyd W., Dec. 8, 18G2; Elmer E., Jan. 26, 
1866; Jinnie E.,Aug. 16, 1868; AtlaM., i;jept. 
12, 1872; Wellington, Oct. 2, 1875. Mr. 
Easton was out in Co. I, 133d O. N. G., 
serving in the one hundred day service. Is a 
member of Rush Creek tiiange. 

JOHN W. EASTON, farmer; P. ()., Zanes- 
field; was born Jan. 2(1, 1832, in this town- 
ship. He is the third of a family of six chil- 
dren, born to .lohn and Charlotte (Plununer) 
Easton. The Eastons are all farmers and are 
settled in the same neighborhood, several of 
them adjoining lands, and are thrifty and 



■',0 



BTOGKArillCAI. sKI:T( IIES. 



pnispcrous. At tho ajre of 'i'i, John was 
imirricd to Harriet P^lliott, who was l)orM in 
Stark Co., Dec. 10. 1S;!5, and is a daughter 
of Joscpii and .Afarv (Slater) Elliott, who were 
natives of reinisyl\;inia. After .John was 
married he rented land for tin'e(; y<'iiis on his 
fatlier's farm; tlien located on the farm he now 
owns, and has now 22'i acres of land. Three 
children have blessed his union with Harriet 
Elliott, but one liviufr — Marietta, born Oct. 
lit, ISI)'.*; Abrani and Joseph, de(;eased when 
younjr: .fosej)h A. was born Dei-. 12, 18.5i', 
died March :!, ISlil; Abram, born August, 
1855, died April 2, lS(il. He and family are 
members of the .Methodist Episcopal Church. 
He served in Co. I, O. N. G., i:i"iiid regi- 
ni(>iit. 

JA.VIES EASTOX,'farmer; 1'. ()., 15: Ih-loii- 
taine, was born .\pril 3, .1835, on the farm 
where ^^'illiam Kaston now resides; is th(> thinl 
son and fourth child of John and Charlotte 
Easton. At the age of "^1, he began fanning 
for himself, renting land of his father for four 
years, then bought ',') acres, Jan. 1, 18(i0; Ik; 
was Muirrie<l to Ciuillian Tittsworth, who was 
born in this township in 1S4!), aiul is a daughter 
of William and Surah iJunston, who were 
from A'irginia. Has tlucc* ciiildrcn — Clara H., 
l)Orn Nov. 15, IKIi",'; Charlotte Enima,July 10, 
1SC4; Sarah Alice, May 1, llSlii). He and wife 
are members of tiie ^^ethodist E])iscopal 
Church, .lamr-s was out in Co. I., ]3'?nd (). X. 
G., and served three- months. Has 108 acres 
of land and resides three miles eastof Bolle- 
fontaiiie, in .li'll'crsnu Tp. 

IJENJ.XMl.N KA.^roX, f,n,Hi; T. O., 
Mellefiinlaiue; was born Dec. -1, l,s;;i;, in (his 
township; he is the liflli child and fourth son 
of John Iviston. H(>g,ui renting land of his 
father before he attained his niajorilv, and bo- 
fore he- attained his "J 1st yi'ar he was married 
to Susaiuiah l<ea.s, who was a daughter of 
Daniel and Eleanor (Diniston) Leas. She 
ilicil Aug. 1(», l.s;;j. She was the mother of 

nirn- children, of whom an lohn, Charlotte 

E., Eillian 'P., Kosa K., Nancy A., Eva C, 
Lola I), and l?cnjaniin. Dcc.,-.i(), ]s;4, was 
married to his present wife, .Mrs. Mary A. 
I{«>bi'rts, she was a daughter of Jacob' and 
Elizabeth (\'annacka) Lewis, from \'irgiuia, 
rti'd came to this courjty in 1835. Mr-s. Ea.^ton 
was born 183-^, Sept. •/, iti Frederick Co., Va. 
Her grandfather, George Vnnnaoka, was a 



soldier in the Revolutionary war as well as 
the war of ]81"^, and lived to the age of '.)3, 
and her great-grandfather, .lohn J^ewis, sur- 
vived to the great age of 110. Mrs. Easton 
was married Nov. 'i\, 1853, to Sanmel Roberts, 
he died Feb. --iO, 18(11. Of the two children 
born, but one is living — Smith H., born .May 
14, 185(1. Since February, 18T5, Mr. Easton 
has resided on his present farut, located on 
the Jerusalem ])ike, two and a half miles east 
from Bellefontaine, where he has I'i'i acres 
of land, which be has adorned with good 
buildings, and greatly improved the tone 
and character of tho land since liis occu- 
pancy. 

JOEL EASTOX. farmer; 1'. ( I.. 15,11, f.,,!- 
taine; was born Aug. I".', 1S43. ,in th,' fiiriu 
now owned by his biotliei-, William. At the 
age of 10, he was among th,' number wiio 
volunteered their services in the defense of 
his country, and for three years did he brav 
the dangers and hardships incidint to a ]ini- 
tracted cani|).iign. Co. C, 45 ( '. \'. I., \- ;i 
the commanil to which he was att.ichi'il. H,. 
r,'t<utied hiiHi,' at the close of the war, lun ing 
escaped the dis.'ases of camp and the mu ili- 
tions of till' battle-Keld, anil is ever g;:i! ■• 
ful to the (tiver of all gooil for his presirva- 
tion. Soon after his rctuiii home. Auix IT, 
1805, he was married to .Mary E. -Jliolt, born 
in this township, Ajiril 10, 1846, and is a 
daughter of .lose])h and .Mary (Slater) Ellin,!, 
now of Union Co., O. Sinci' his '.Marriage he 
has resided on the farm he now owns, silu- 
at(Ml two miles north of Zancsliell; has Iwn 
children— Ida .M., born .March 'i'-l, bSOT.an.l 
Finley IJ., D,'c. »!t, 1S74; he is a merid),'r 
of the Methodist Episcopal Chnrrh, also iiis 
wife and daughter. Hi' is one f)f the leaders 
of hi-i class. 

.lOHX J. EF,LI()TT. tanner; 1 '.()., /ams- 
lii'lil, was born April '^0, ISIHI, in 'i\ 'ashiMglnn 
Co., I'enn.; his |)arents were .loseph and Eliza- 
beth (.bilin) Elliott. She was a native of 
Pennsvlvania, he of Ireland. Tlnv nioveil to 
Stark Co., ( )., IKIO, where .lohn . I was raised, 
liis father run a mill an, I carried on a farm, 
and was ipiit(' a successful man. At the age 
of 'i'i .lohn was united by inairiag'' to .Mary .S. 
Stanley, who was born .lidy, I8r.i, in Colum- 
biana Co., this Slate, and was a i;a\ighler of 
Garland and .Sarah (Purdon) Stanley, both na- 
tives of Virginia. In IS-ll Mr. and Mrs. Elliott 



T 






JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP. 



751 



located in Jefferson Tji., where he had pur- 
chased 100 acres, which he unproved. He had 
learned the carpenter's trade, and he plied this 
vocation quite successfully for several years 
in connection with his farming, final!}' adding 
to his first purchase 75 acres more. Three 
cliildren have lieen born to them, but two are 
living — Garland, horn Dec. IcS, ISIJ-^, and 
married Matilda Dunl;i|', a native of Ohio; he 
died May 8, 1S74. She and four children live 
in this township on tiie property he left. James, 
born Aug. 8, 18:5.5, and married Caroline East, 
a native of Indiana; tjii'y live in ("ass Co., 
Mich.; Joseph, born Aug. 11, 1837, married 
Ann Lemmon, a native of Maryland; they live 
on their farm adjoining the homestead. June 
28, 1879, Mr. and Mrs. Elliott celebrated 
their golden wedding, having worn the mat- 
rimonial yoke pleasantly for one-half a cen- 
tury. Four hundred and eighty-five guests 
were among the number to congratulate this 
ven(>rabU; couple. Mrs. Elliott has for twen- 
ty-five years been an acknowledged minister 
of the gospel, according to the rules of the 
Quaker Church, and has traveled over 100,- 
000 miles, visiting twenty-seven States, and 
has attended all the yoarl}' meetings on the 
Continent, except North Carolina, and has 
been a guest at the White House during 
Gen. Grant's administration; in short, she has 
been instrumental in doing much good, and 
iloubtless will have many stars in her crown 
in the day of her rejoicing. This honorable 
coujile are sp(>nding the evening of their life 
on the home fai-m in peace and quiet, enjoy- 
ing the esteem and love of their many friends. 
'.lOSEPH ELY, Si:., farmer; P. 'O., New 
Jerusalem; l)orn Sept. 14, 180.J, in Harford 
Co., Md.; his parents were Joseph and Ann 
(Jones) Ely; the former was born in Berks 
Co., Penn., March 17, 1757; his father's 
name was Thomas. Ann Jones was born in 
York Co., Pa., ilarch 7, 177,-i; nine children 
were born to them, Thomas being the sixth; he 
came to Belmont Co., this State, in 1831, and 
followed the carpenti^r's trade for several 
years. In October, 1842, he came to Logan Co., 
locating in the northeastern part of the 
township, where he rented land for several 
years, then purchased 100 acres where he 
now resides, which has been his constant 
abiding-place since. Mr. Ely has been twice 
married. At the age of 23 "he was married 



to Ann P. I,emmon, born Dec. 30, 1800, and 
was a daughter of .James and Ann Lennnon; 
she died Aug. 30, 1818, leaving e'ght chil- 
dren — Joseph, Aim M., Isaac, John, James, 
Rebecca, Hulda and Drusilla; all of them are 
now scattered in difterent parts of the country. 
June 30, 1850, was married to his present 
wife, Phebe Henry, born in Nr.vember, 1819, in 
Jefferson Tp.; she was a daughter of William 
and Nanc}- (Stephenson) Henry; he was 
born in Culpepper Co., Va.; she was a native 
of Kentucky. After Mr. and Mrs. Henry 
were married they resided in Zanesfield for 
several years, and moved to Monroe Tp. 
about ten years before his death. Nine chil- 
dren have crowned the union of Mr. and Mrs. 
Ely, of whom are — William H., born April 
14, 1851; Elina J., March 1, 1853, now Mrs. 
A. Arbegast; Thomas C, Oct. 10, 1801; the 
deceased are — Albert B., Amanda and infant. 
Mr. and Mrs. Ely are both members of the 
Missionary Baptist Churcli; he has been for 
thirtv years a worker in the cause. 

ABRAHAM ELLIOTT, farmer; P. ()., 
New Jerusalem; was born Jan. 21, 1828, in 
Stark Co., O. His fatlier's name was Isaac, 
and was thrice married, AbralKun being the 
fruit of the last union. His wife was a Mis. 
Dwyer, whose maiden name was Rebecca 
Greer, and was a native of Maryland; he, of 
Pennsylvania. At the age of 1!) he launched 
out for himself; began work by the month 
on a farm, giving his father one-half of his 
earnings. At the age of 22, April 10, 
1850, he was married to Mary Wickeishnm, 
who was born 182(), -in Cobimbiana Co., 
O., and is a daughter of Joseph and Margaret 
Wickershain. For live j'ears after their mar- 
riage he lived on the farm now owned by 
Esijuire Slonecker, when he pur(;liased 20acr<'s 
and was engaged in farming. For several 

years he was eno-aofed in stock tradino- and 

1-11 " ^ "^ 

while the war was in ju-ogTess he purchased a 

large number of horses for the government, 
and all along his. life, from the first, has been 
successful; has about 300 acres of land, ujion 
which is located the much visited "Jerusalem 
Falls," which has become quite noted as a 
place of resort to visit the falls and its ro- 
mantic surroundings. Has five children — 
Asa, Emer, Emily, Agnes and Oliver. He has 
some very desirable property in Rice Co., 
Kan., amounting to 320 acres, 150 of which 



"=^f 



tJ^ 



BIOGK A 1 -1 1 1 ( A L f^KETCH ES. 



is in i;iiltiv;itic)ii. Mr. Elliott's lionic i'anii 
is situated alxmt uno-lialf of a mile cast of 
New .IcTiisalcin, on tlir piUi' oxti'iisiou. 

'J'lK ).MAS l-JI.LK )TT, farmer; P. ().,Zaiies- 
lieltl; is a jirandsoii of Isaac Klliott, whose 
son, Isaac, .Ir., was. likewise the father of 
Tliornas (whose name heads tliis sketch). 
Isaac. .Ir., was horn in York t"o., I'enn., June 
Ki, K ST, and cniiiyrated with liis ])aronts to 
Stark Co., O., in 1810. Here Thomas was 
horn, .Ian. 3, 1820, and came to l.o^an Co., in 
183'J with his parents, who settled on a piece 
of land near Jerusalem, which had l)een I'ur- 
merly occu])od by Simon Kenton. Thomas 
was laised to farming. By steady attt^ntion to 
his books he was enabled to obtain an educa- 
tion suflicient to enable him to teach. Com- 
mencing at 17, he taught several terms; after- 
wartls clerked in a store some time. At 
the age of 2(>, he was married (.May "ii, 1851) 
to Caroline IJrown, who was bornin this town- 
ship, .lune 11, 1830; she was a dauirhter of 
Zaccheus and Hannah ( Marnioii) IJrown. 
After marriage located on a part of the home- 
stea<l farui, where they lived mitil 1859; then 
moved to their ])rescnt |)lace of residence; 
have four cinldren living — Thomas K., Isaac 
D., Zaccheus O. and Aima V. Has 147 acres 
of hin<l. Isaac Klliott, the father of Thomas, 
died Apiil 4, 1850; his wife was Kebecca 
Greer, born in Maryland, June 23, 1791, and 
died June IS, 1857. The Elliott family are 
members of the Friemis. 

CII.XHLES J. FDLSOM, farmer; P. O., 
Zaneslield. The Folsoin family can trace 
ilieir aiKti'stry back to the lirst part of the 
lourleenth century, the fannlyname was then 
spelled Foulsham. John Foulshauj was, ac- 
cording to history, a prior of a monastery. He 
was of a family from which tin? Folsomsare lin- 
eally desiended. He was a leader in jxdilic 
alTairs, enterprising, courageous, indejiciulent 
and a true man. On the "..'Olh of April, 1038, 
I on I he ship l)ilig<.'nt, of 35(1 tons burthen, 
i .lohn .Martin, master, nineteen families (133 
persons in all) enngraled from England, to 
the .Ma.ssachusetts Hay colony. Among this 
number was John Foulsham. Thefir.st taiigi- 

bli' ai nit we have of the next nieml>er of 

that family was Ephraim Folsom, who was 
killi'd by the Indians in 17(19; thc-n Joshua 
Folsom, born 171 1, who was a (^)uake^,a public 
sjieaker, and owned a large tract of land; the 



peo])le called him a Tory because he was not 
in s>'m))athy with the war; he was a miller by 
occupation. The next oiu' of note was (ien. 
Xathaiiiel Folsom, first Captain, then .Major, 
next Colonel: lirially.in 1775, was promoted to 
Major-General. seiving in the Revolutionary 
war and rejiresentod New Ham)>^hiro in the 
first Congress,-.. which met at Philadelphia. 
Of the family who came to this State was 
Joshua, who located several bundled acres of 
laud in this township; oiu» of h s sons was 
George Folsom, who was the father of (^harles 
J., who was l)orn on the farm where he now 
lives, Aug. 23, 1841, eldest of two chihlren 
born to George and Sarah Folsom. Se|)t. 12, 
186G, he married .Marv Vearsley. born in 
Chester Co., Penn., daughter of Robert and 
Sarah Yearsley, and of English Lcscent, am 
since marriage has been living on the home 
farm; have four children — Clifton, fMiia, 
George and Robert; has a library of staml: r 1 
works, pri>senled to his father by ^S ashinr I' n 
Irving, who was a frieiul of his i.;randfal lui , 
Is a member of NN'apatomira I.odgi , I. O. < ). F 
.JOHN Y. FOCST, farmer; P. f)., Zaiies- 
field; was born .Ian. 11, 183(1, in L'nion ^'i ., 
Penn.; is the eldest of a family of thirt"cu 
children, born to Henry and .Margaret (Yohn) 
Foust, his parents, who moved to Poi'age 
Co., this State, when Jt)hn was but a babe. 
They remained there about eight year>; 
located in Logan Co. in 1838, nxing their 
abode in Monroe Tp. Since, the Foust fam- 
ily have been constant residents of tin- 
covnity. John rcnuiined with iiis ])arenl> 
until he was of age; he began for himself 
by working by the month. In 1B54 he was 
united by marriag<' to Nancy Emerson, 
daughter of Francis and Aletha (Snnth) 
Emerson. She died in 1801, iei.ving llni'e 
children — one living, born in I8.";9, now the 
wife of AVilliam Cieviston. Feb, 12, 180,3, 
Mr. Foust was married to Susan Corwin, born 
-\ug. 12, 1845, in Ca.ss Co., .Mich. Her par- 
ents were .lohn anil Eli/abeth (Hishoj)) ( 'm - 
win, who returiu'd to this count)' in 1851. 
Nino children have crowned this union. Five 
of the nund>er now survive — (iei rgc, Harri- 
son, Clara H., liertha E. and Susjiii. Of the 
children dei'eased are — .lohn M., Mary E., 
Thomas ami Sauniel; .lohn .M. at the age of 
1 months; Marv, lOycars; Tliomi 8, 8 years; 
Samuel, 21 months, all of sca?lel fever. Up 



I , 



ijy^ 



JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP. 



753 



to ]S(i7 Mr. Foust had been a resident of 
Monroe Tp.; since that time he has l)een a 
resident of .Jeflerson Tp., where he lias a 
snug farm of 86 acres, located in the south- 
west part of the township, which is well im- 
proved, and under good management, Mr. 
Foust being an energetic and successful 
farmer. He and his wife are members of the 
Baptist Church at Tharp's Run. 

1I015ERT W. FIGLEY, farmer; P. O., 
Zanestielil; was born in Harrison Co., ()., 
May 1 1, Ifi'-i'i. Robert's father, .Jacob Figley, 
was thrice married; our subject being the 
])roduot of the second marriage, to Anna 
Caplcs, who gave birth to five children during 
two confinements; the first were trijilets — three 
boys — of whom Robert was one; the ne.xt she 
gave birth to twins, and died shortly after- 
wards, and was buried with one of the number; 
the n-maining one lived to maturity, and like- 
wise gave birth to twins, but died soon after- 
wards, and the mother and twins were buried 
in one coffin. After two years resid(>nce in 
Harrison the Figley family moved to Tusca- 
roras Co., where Jacob engaged in farming 
and stock-raising and was successful. At the 
age of 25, Robert left Tuscarawas Co., and 
spent two years in Kansas and Nebraska, and 
for some time was engaged in trading with 
the several Indian tribes, returning in 18.5'J; 
he was married in August, 1860, to Min- 
erva L. Sigler, who was born 1843, in 
Union Co., near Summerville; daughter of 
William and Mary Ann (Cork) Sigler; he 
was born on the banks of the Potomac; his 
wife, Mary A., in Ross Co., O. After Mr. 
Figley's marriage he located in Union Co., 
and began renting land. All of his earthly 
effects he could have wheeled in a hand- 
cart. Tn 1862 he enlisted in Co. H., 82nd 
O. V. I., and served seventeen months. In 
1864 Ik; re-enlisted in Co. B., 174th O. V. ]., 
anil served until the close of the war. I'pon 
his return home, he jiurchased a small farm in 
York Tp., in Union Co.; kejit the same five 
years; selling it, he purchased 77 acres near 
Rich wood, same township, retaining it until 
1876, when he sold out, and came to Logan 
and ])urchased 111 acres of William L)unla|), 
situated in the east part of .b>tferson Tp., 
wiirrr he now resides. Has seven children — 
William D., Florence M., .Mary Ann, Lola 
R., Joseph J., Ivy R. and Daisey L. His 



industry and frugality has secured him a good 
pro])ertv. 

CHARLES FAWCETT, farmer; P. O., 
Zanesfield; was born in Frederick Co., Va., 
Jan. 15, 1813; the third of a family of fifteen 
children, eight of whom came to maturity; 
his parents were Elijah and Phebe (Holloway) 
Fawcett; he was born in Frederick Co., Jan. 
7, 1784; she in same county, March 10, 1700, 
and married Feb. 25, 1810, and emigrated to 
this State in 1824; first winter was s))ent in 
Highland Co., then went to Clinton Co. and 
remained until the spring of 18.'i4, when the 
family settled in Rush (_!reek Tp. on Mill 
Creek, buying 200 acres of land in the 
"green woods," and from that time forward was 
identified with the county up to his death. 
Charles remained with his father until he was 
24 years of age. In March, 1839, he was mar- 
ried to Hester Ann Brown, born in Maryland, 
Dec. 30, 1816, and is a daughter of Joel anil 
Charlotte (Hooker) Brown. After Mr. Faw- 
cett's marriage, he lived one year in Zanes- 
field and run a cooper shop; since that time 
has been engaged in farming; his first ])ur- 
ehase was 50 acres at l>3 per acre, mostly un- 
improved; here he erected his cabin and was 
hajipy and contented. Ten years after he 
added 50 acres more, for which he ])aid ^'i'-i 
per acre; in 1873 sold out and returned to 
Zanesfield and remained until April, 1878, 
and, on account of his hoys, who desired to 
engage more largely in farming, hi' |)urchasi'd 
211 acresof laud in " Hadlev bottom," and has 
since lived there. Five chihlren have been 
born unto him, who are — Asa, Barclay, Sarah 
J., John R.and Elmer T. 

C. HERVEY FOLSOM, miller; P. ()., 
Zani'sfield; is the eltlest son of Charles aiid 
Lydia (Pennock) Fo'som. C'harles was the son 
of Joshua and ( alhariiie (Hoffman) Folsom. 
Joshua was a native of New Hampshire and 
of Quaker parentage. He was an attorney 
and began his jiractice in Baltimore, Mil. In 
1812, he moveil to Circleville, ().; in 1830, he 
came Vo Logan Co. and settled on a 1,500 
acre tract of land ailjoining Zaneslield, and 
soon after built a saw-mill on same. He also 
)jurchased a herd of short-horn Durham cattle 
in Kentucky, a:id moved them to his farm. 
But he was not spared long to enjoy the im- 
provements he so e.xtensivelv made, he dying 
Dec. 1.5, 1840. His wife iHcmI Dec. 16, 1861. 



r 



754 



BIOGRAI'IIICAL SKETCHES. 



Charlos Folsoin, the yoiiiigest son of .loslnia, 
was l)(>rii in Columbus, O., Sept. 12, IS'H. 
At the death of liis father, he came in pos- 
session of 630 acres of land near Zanesfield, 
on which was located the old saw-mill. In 
1850, ho built a new saw-mill near the old 
one, and in 1854 he built a flour-mill and 
conducted the same. In 18T0 \w moved to 
ZanesKeld, where he en>;aged in commercial 
business, and scrv(>d as Postmaster; he also 
served as editor of the Mad l?ivcr JihiiJf 
some four years, and did considcral)Ie l)uild- 
ing. In 1876, lie sold his mdl and 41 1 acres 
of land to Mr. J. W. Dickinson and with his 
family moved to Toledo, O., where he and 
two sons are engaged in the printing busi- 
ness. His son, ('. Hervey Folsoni, was born 
nearZanestield,0., .fuly 27, 184G. He lived at 
home on the farm until 1863, when he attended 
.school at Url)ana for one year; he then returned 
liome and looked after the interests of the 
])lacc. Sept. 21, 1869, he married Miss .lennie, 
daughter of Dr. .lames Crew, a popidar physi- 
cian of this vicinity. In 1872, C. Her\ey and 
Ills father formed a partnership — ('. & C. II. 
Folsom — and conducted the farm and saw and 
grist-mills. In 1S76, they engageil in tlu; 
tea business in Toledo; in 1877, Mr. C. 11. 
returned to Zanesfield and engaged in the 
milling business in the old slanil and now 
sustains the former excellent reputation f)f 
the mill (known as the .M;id River ri'emium 
.Mill.) IJy his mairiage there was one child, 
Jielle ('., born .\pril 27, 1S77. 

tJKOHGK FOLSO.M, deceased; formerly 
of Zanesfield, ()., a portrait of whom appears 
in this work, was born in CircleviiUs <)•, 
.Ian. 2, 1818, ami came to Logan Co., with 
hi.s parents in the year l.s:SI. Oct. 20, 1840 
he was uinted in wedlock to Miss Sarah 
.(. FylTe; she was born in I'rbana, ()., 
June 28, 1821. Afli'rtlie marriagi' they moved 
to a (arm in .Iclfeison Tp., and livi>d there 
inilil I86i, when they iuovimI to Zaneslield, 
where lie died (very sndderdy) l'"eb. 11, 1874. 
My the marriage there were born si.x children, 
of whom but twii are living, vi/, : Charles .1., 
living on the iild homestead, ami KUen \\'., 
now Mrs. Dr. Gill, of West Liberty, < ). The 
deceas('d was a mi'inber of the .Methodist 
Episcopal Church, in the afl'airs of which he 
took an active interest, he serving as Trus- 
tee, Steward and Class Leader; he was a 



charter member and the First Noble Grand 
of the Wapatomica Lodge, No. 424, of I. ( ). 
O. I*\ A man of noble impulses, kind and 
generous; an affectionate father and loving 
husband, who in his daily w-alk of life en- 
deavored to live in harmony with the Chris- 
tian princi])les he entertained, and such was 
the life he led that he endeared himself to the 
entire community, and his death was mourned 
by all who knew liim. His remains now rest 
in the cemetery at Bellcl'ontaine, the place 
being tnarkcd by a beautiful monument 
erected to his memory. Mrs. Folsom has lived 
in Zanesfield since the death of her husband. 
\\'hen but Ki years of age she became :i mini- 
bcr of the Methodist Kpisco])al Churcli, :im(I 
has ever retained the ('hristian jirinciplcs <>( 
her youth; her parents were ^^'illiam 11. and 
Miiximillia (Petty) Fylfe. He was born in 

Wilmington, N. C, Aug. 20, 187li, aiul ca 

to L'lbana, O. in the year 18(l3, he assist ini;- 
in laying out the town; he carried on the sad- 
lUery buisness, his being the first of the kind 
between Dayton and Sandusky City; he also 
served as a soldier throughout the war of 1S12 
an<l was a jirominent business man; he sei\i <l 
as Postmaster at L'rbaiui chu'ing tlu^ lattir 
years of his life; in early life he was an Epis- 
copalian, but later he joined with his wife, who 
was a Presbyterian. They were niarricil .<i'pt. 
27, 180^, and lived thereafter in I'rbana, 
where they died — he, .May 7, ISlid, ami she 
]3ec. 16. IS.")!'). She was born near Hichinond, 
^'a., March 1 1, 1788, and came west to Km- 
tnckv with her jiarents, .loseph and .Mary 
(Wilson) Petty, wlm lived there a fi'W years 
and then eame to < )hio and enteri'd a large 
tract ol land ivingon King's ( 'riM'k, thre(> miles 
north of Crbana, on which thcv built the lirst 
grist mill in ('hampaign Cii., wli;ch was also 
the first mill between Dayton and J^aki- Kvm-. 
These parents were natives of Franci-. lb' 
stu<lied me<licine in his native land, anil 
though not actively eng:igc<l as a physician, 
always administere<l nu'dicine when necessary, 
and kept a stock of dru;;s on hand. Mrs. Fol- 
soiiTs grandfather Fylfe was a native of Scot- 
laml, and settled in ISaltimon^ on his coming 
to .Vmerica, ami later moved to North ( 'aro- 
lina, theiic(- to Kentucky, where he engagi'd 
in farming, which h" followed until his death. 
XEW'I'ON G.VK.WOOl), fanner; P. ()., 
Bellefontainc; born Aug. Kj, 1820, in Perry 



« 



■r 



JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP. 



755 



T|).; son of Job and Lydia L. (Gregg) Gar- 
wood. Job was born in 1702, in Cuipepjior Co., 
Va., and emigrated to this State in 1805 with 
his fatiier, Levi Garwood, and settled in what 
is now Perry Tp., on what is i<ni)wn as the 
Job Scott farm; wlien he located liis land, was 
j)iloted thereto by an Indian. Levi Garwood 
wa": prominently identified with the interests 
of the county in his time; he served as Pro- 
bate Judge for twenty-one years, and declined 
farther election to same. Newton moved to 
Zanesfield with his father when he was but 
nine years of age, his father being rngag-ed 
in keeping i)ui)lic house. At the age of 12 
Newton began carrying the mail, and was for 
some length of time a regular mail-carrier. 
He afterwards learned the carpenter's trade, 
which he followed for about thirty years. 
He has l)een twice married — first, in ISl'i, to 
Sarah Henry, of this township; she was a 
daughter of James .Henry; she died 187-1, 
leaving five children, who are: Ella, now Mrs. 
Lewis Knight, of Logansville; Orson, same 
place as Hllla; Volta, in Monroe Tp.; James 
and Elsie, at home; married to Susan Brake, 
his present wife, who was born in 1818, in Vir- 
ginia, and with her parents moved to Ohio 
when she was young. For several }-ears Mr. 
Garwood has been engaged in farming and 
gaid<>niiig; his farm, consisting of sixty-six 
acres, is one among the oldest settled in the 
township, and is well supplied with small 
f uit.-, M,. Garwood being especially adapted 
to the care and growing of vegetables and 
fruits, in which he takes pride. 

IRA GWYNN, farmer; P. O., New Jeru- 
salem ; was a son of John Gwynn, who was a 
Vi"cini;in; born in March, 1793, and emigrated 
to Harrison Co., this State, with his father, 
Hugh, in 180G. John was raised to farming 
pursuits, and was married in 1810, to Edith 
McMillen, who died about the year 1827, 
leaving two children. Feb. 11, 1830, he 
was married to Miss McMillen, daughter of 
James and Mary McMillen, who was born 
June 8, 1807, in Harrison ('o., ().; they were 
both natives of York Co., Pa.; he was born 
in 17U8, and came west in 1803, and raised 
eight children, of which Mrs. Gwyiui, the 
mother of Ira, was the fifth. This coii])le 
died in 18.57, after sixty-one years of married 
life, only one day's difi'erence in the date of 
thair death; they were buried in one grave. 



John, the father of Ira, located in 1833, in 
the east i)art of the township, and ]inrchased 
180 acres of land which was a dense forest; 
here he remained and cleared up the farm, 
and lived until his death, which occurred 
in August, 1851; and was one of the staunch 
and true men of his time, a worthy citizen, 
kind and indulgent to his faniilv, and a friend 
to the down-trodden race. Ten children were 
born to him. At the age of seventeen, Ira 
enlisted in Company " K," 88th O. V. I., and 
served about thirteen months, then re-enlisted 
in the 2d Mo. Cavalry, and was for some time 
Mounted Orderly at Gen. Thomas' head((uar- 
ters. His command was among the number 
that ran Gen. Price out of Missouri; his 
regiment traveled, in six weeks, 2,500 miles, 
which fact is a matter of record; Ira returned 
home without a scratch; his brother .John was 
also in the arm3'. Jesse, his brother, was in 
the 15th Regulars, and after serving two 
years, was discharged on account of wounds re- 
ceived. Hugh, his brother, was in the Quar- 
termaster's l)e]iartmenf ; he was a graduate of 
the Ohio Wesleyan College, Quincy; is an at- 
torney-at-law. Ira was raised to farming; has 
taught school several terms; and was married 
in 18(iS to Adeline Root, born Jidy 14, 184(i, 
in Allen Co., O., daughter of Daniel and Suaan 
(Smith) Root. The Smiths came from Mori:an 
Co., and the Root familv from New York. 
Ira and wife have four children — Ida B., born 
Oct. 4, 18(;0; Hugh, Oct. 23, 1872; John, 
March 22, 187U; Harry M., May 30, 1878. Ira 
is a member of Wapatomica Lodge, I.O.O. F., 
No. 424. Mrs. Gwvnn hail three bi-others in 
the service; two were killed, and tiie other 
died of disease. 

GEORGE A. HENRY, farmer; P. O., 
Bellefontaine; was bdrii Aug. !(, J837, near 
Zanesfield, being the yijungost of the family, 
of which there were only three. His narents 
were Joel and Patienc(^ (Easton) Henry. .Joel 
was born June 24, 180(i, and was married to 
Patience Easton Doc. 3, 1829. She was born 
in Shelby' Co., Kentucky, in 1804, and is a 
sister of John E iston, of this township. 
George's grandfather was named George, and 
was a Virginian by birth. A part of the land 
that George now owns was purchased in 1841, 
where his father settled and remained on the 
same until his death, which took place Nov. 
29, 1855. Here George has since lived. Oct. 



sh 



756 



BIOGRAPHK A l> SK KTCHES. 



22, lS(i:5, ho was inarriiid to Emily Robb. 
She was Ijorii .laii. 'M, IS'.iS, in tliis county, in 
Lake Tp., dHujihtfr of Joshua and Sarah 
(Nelson) HoUl). George has 190 acres of 
lantl asido from a two-thirds interest in an- 
other tract, which makes in all about 'i&) 
acres, and he is a successful farmer. He is a 
member of the I'resbyterian ('hurch and a 
rulinjj Klder of the First Presbyterian (Jluirch 
of IVllefontaine. He has two children — lola 
Patience, l>oni Feb. 14, 1866; Sarah Kva, 
June 30, LSHO. (ieorcre lias one brother, Da- 
vid, who resides in this township; also a sis- 
ter, -Marj^aret, who is the wife of Simon 1). 
F]lliott, a |)rominent business man of Mill- 
ford Centre. Mr. Henry is a young man of 
much stabilit}', is a lil)eral patron of the pub- 
lic journals and newspapers, and is well 
posted in the ])assinfr events of the day. 

GE01«iE W. HENKY, farmer; P. ()., 
Zanesfield; was born in this township, Feb. 
29, ls:i2. lieing the sixth child of a family of 
eight children born to their parents, James 
and Priscilla (Wasrner) Henry. James Hen- 
ry was born in \'irginia; his wife's father 
served seven years in the Kevolutionary War. 
James came to this county and settled inanv 
years prior to the birth of iiis son George. 
He was a farmer liy occupation, and followed 
that vocation until his death, which occurred 
in 1840. At the age of 9 Cieorge was bound 
out to learn the plasterer's trade, to serve un- 
til his majority, and was to receive at the ex- 
piration of his time, a horse, saddle and bridle 
worth ^4"), and a bible worth ^'.i. At the ex- 
piration of his time, his emiiloj'er ])aid him 
t45 instead. Sept. 27, 1857, Ik- was married 
to .Margaret Cook, who was born Nov. 30, 
1839, in Inion Co., this State. He then set 
up fanning adjoining the place he was bom 
on, and worked at his trade, where he contin- 
ued three years. In jSliO he moved to Cnion 
Co. anil purchased a small farm, continuing at 
his Irndi' anil farming for live years, when he 
abandoned his trowel and coidined his atten- 
tion excjusivi'ly to his farm for about si.v 
years, then disposing of his first purchase, 
bought anolher farm in the .same locality, re- 
taining the same until .April, 1874, and came 
to this county ami purchased 1 12 acres adjoin- 
ing the town of Zam-slield on the west, where 
he has since resided, having one of the most 
desirable location.s in the county. His beau- 



tiful residence and commodious buildings, 
which overlook Mad River Valley, are plenti- 
fully supplied l)v a never-failing spring, situ- 
ated many feet above the premises, whiili is 
conveyed in ])ipes to all of his l)uildings, 
furnishing an unceasing flow of pure, cold 
water, .lulv 24, 18()7, his wife died, leaving 
two children — .Mary M., born July 30, IK.iS, 
,111(1 Osliurn C, born Sept. 18,"l8.">9. .Mr. 
Ilenrv was married to his present wife. May 
3(1, IStiS; her maiden name was .Mary A. 
Scott, born April 5, 1846, in Rush Creek 
T<iwnship. She is a daughter of Enoch M. 
and Rebecca (Rea) Scott, who are residents 
(if this township, and are of Scotch descent. 
Three children have blessed the union of .Mr. 
and .Mrs. Henry, namely — Cora R., born Sept. 
2, 1809; Sarah" E., April 6, 1872, and Laura 
A., Sejit. 14, 1874. Nearly all the family are 
members of the Ha])tist Church; his father 
was a devoted member of the Missionary 
]{a|)tists. Mr. Henry has made a success in 
life, and all through his own exertions and pa- 
tient industrv. Politically he is lil)eral, but 
as touciiinix (|U(>stions of temperance, is firm 
and unvieidiiig, and will oppose, through the 
ballot and liv his influence, every nuasurc 
which is calculated to defeat the principles 
of prohibition. 

JOHN (J. 1I()(;E, retired farmer; P. ()., 
IJelh'fontaine. The subject of this sketch, 
and .whose portrait appears in this work, is 
among the stainich and highly-respected cit- 
izens of this county; he was horn March 29, 
1810, in Loudoun Co., Va. His father's nanu^ 
was .(esse, and was the father of ten children, 
of which number John ii. was the second; 
his mother's mime was Elizabeth (iregg, also 
a native of Lou<loun Co., Xn. John was but 
17 years of a<je whcMi his father dicMl, and at 
his reipiest he staid on the farm. At the age 
of 20, our subject was marrie<l to Nancy 
Holmes, born in 1814 in Loudoun ( 'o., \'a.; 
she was a daughter of .lolin and Marv(I{odg- 
ers) Ho<r<>. The Hoire family are of Scotch 
di'scent; three brothers at the time <>l the 
" Persecution " left Scotland; one st<ipi)ed in 
Ireland, the other two came to .\inerica. The 
(ireggs are of Irish desci-iit. Solomon Ilogi' 

was the grandfather of .lolin, and ca West 

from Pi'iinsylvania, and settled in this county, 
.lohii remained on the homestead farm, which 
his grandfather settle<l, until 1845, when he 






I<J <i 



.k 



JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP. 



757 



moved to the place he now owns, which had 
been purchased several years j)revi()us to its 
occujjancy- This land was unimproved, and 
every man that came along and wanted work, 
he gave him a job of clearing; he was cutting 
his first crop of wheat when he heard the 
whistle of an engine, on her maiden trip, as 
she came into Bellefontaine. Farming and 
stock-raising has been the business of his 
life; his farm of 200 acres is but one mile east 
from the corporation of Bellefontaine, and is 
situated on the highest eminence in the State. 
In politics he is Republican ; was Commissioner 
at the time the court house was built; has also 
served as Infirmary Director. Seven chil- 
dren were born him; four of the number came 
to maturity, but two living — Sarah E., now 
Mrs. David Wallace, and Airs. Mary Ann 
Green, the wife of IJeuben (ireen, of Belle- 
fontaine; his son, John, died in the army. 
Mrs. Hoge died in 1S49; since 1878, Mr. 
Hoge has been confined to his home on ac- 
count of partial paralysis of his limbs, vet is 
in the enjoyment of his faculties, and is 
spending the evening of his life in apparent 
contentment and happiness, having the esteem 
and confidence of all his friends and acqiuiint- 
ances, of which he has a large number. Was 
raised a " Friend," 3'et is not affiliated with 
any religious body. 

BENNEVILLE HAAS, farmer; P. O., 
New Jerusalem; was born March 2G, 1S24, 
in Berks Co., Penn; son of .John Haas, who 
was born in Berks Co., May, 1800; his wife 
was Elizabeth Bagenstose, who was the 
mother of Benneville. The family emigrated 
West in 1839, and located at New Jerusalem, 
which has since been the abode of the family; 
his father first purchased 42 acres of land, and 
began clearing the same. Oct. 7, 1850, our 
subject was married to Catharine Harple, who 
was born May 25, 1825, in Washington Co., 
Penn.; she was a daughter of Conrad and 
Mary (Moore) Harple; he was born in Lan- 
caster Co., Penn., and his wife in Washington 
Co., Penn. The first ])urchase Benneville 
made was 3 acres of land; the business of 
his life has been farming, and, although he 
began poor and unaided, he now has 215 
acres of good land; he now resides on a por- 
tion of the land his father settled; his house, 
newly built, is located at Jerusalem Corners, 
is pleasant for location; in connection with 



his farm is carrying on a small store, and is 
Postmaster, which position he has filled since 
.July, 1S77, more to accommodate the neigh- 
bors than for the meagre allowance he re- 
ceives from the government; nine children 
were born him, eight of whom survive — Mary 
E., now Mrs. .James Collins; Rebecca, now 
Mrs. Thomas Slonecker; Sarah Ann; Caroline, 
now Mrs. B. F. Slonecker, in Kansas; Aman- 
da; .Fohn F.; Emma, and Ida. When Mr. 
Haas began for himself, $100 was all he was 
worth; after renting a few years, moved to 
the place where he now lives in 1853, and will, 
in all jirobability, spend the remainder of his 
davs there. 

."JACOB JOHNSON, farmer; P. O. Zanes- 
field; is the eldest son, and the second of the 
family of seven children, that were born to 
.John and Abigail (Southard) .lohnson. She 
died when .Jacob was a boy. He is yet living 
in Monroe Township. Jacob was born in 
Zane Tp., Logan Co., July 3, 1835, and was 
raised to hard labor, and was taught the 
principles of husbandry by his paternal 
ancestor, who, early in life, impressed >ipon 
his son's mind and understanding that there 
was " no excellence without great labor," 
and that to attain success, one must labor to 
that end. At 21 he was married to Martha 
Ann Bishop, who was born in 1837, in New 
.Jersey, tlaughter of Thomas and Biney Bishop. 
He began first by renting land, and afterwards 
purchased 00 acres, and after an occupancy 
of seven years, he moved to this town- 
ship and purchased 197 acres of land, situated 
nearly two miles east, on the Liberty rt)ad, 
where he now resides. By economy and in- 
dustry, and following the course indicated to 
him in youth, he has now become one of the 
successful men in his line of business. He 
has seven children, whose names are — Thomas 
J., Emma li., Laura A., Mary .1., Charles W., 
Alonzo and Nelson. Religiously, he ad- 
heres to the doctrine taught ljy John Wesley, 
the pioneer of Methodism. 

WILLIAM Y. JOSLIN, farmer; P. O., 
Zanesfield; born Sept. 14, 1830, in Liberty 
Township, Delaware Co.; son of Jonas and 
Lucy (Buttertield) Joslin. He was a native 
of the Eastern States, and emigrated to this 
State about the year 1817, locating in Liberty 
Township, Delaware Co., Ohio, where he yet 
resides. At the age of 19, Oct. 21, 1855, 



itv 



1"-* 



i^, 



753 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



William was niairicil to Hacliel S. Case, who 
was ijorn Ffh. I'i, 18:J7, in llie same locality 
as her husljaiid. She is a daughter of Now- 
toti and Azuba (Gay) Case; he was I)()iii Oct. 
1, 1804; his wife, October, 1809. After ^yil- 
liain's marriajje he was eng^aged in farming. 
In August, 180:.', he enlisted in Co. C, 121st O. 
V. I., and served until the close of the war, 
participating in many of the important en- 
gagements of the war; was taken ])risoner at 
one time, and at another, was woundetl with 
a musket ball, and is a "scarred soldier." 
Upon his return home, resumed agricultural 
pursuits, which he has since continued. In 
.March, ISTl, went to .Missouri, whicli locality 
not suitilig him, returned to the IJiu^kcye 
State. In 1 8T2, came to Logan County, locat- 
ing on the farm lie now owns, coii'^isting of 1 lit 
acres, and is attaining success, having a good 
firm and pleasant location. Had live chil- 
dren — Jeannette, now .Mrs. L(!roy iJillon, of 
Union Co., Ohio, born .lulv 4, 1S.5!S; Irvin N'., 
Feb. 19, ISOO; .Minnie May, May 19, I8ti2, 
died Oct. 11, 18(j3; Ermina U., l)orn Sept. 7, 
I8C9; Charles G., .June 24, 1871. He and 
wife are members of the Free \Vill Haptist 
Church. Me has always been identified with 
the Ke|)ublican Jiarty, and is a m(Mnl)er of 
Wapalomica l.ddyc, f. O. O. F., \o. 424. 

.lOSKlMl C. klTCilKX, farmer; P. ()., 
Jiellcrontainc; was born May o, 18l!!l, near 
l)e Gralf, Logan Co.; is tlu' eldest of a fam- 
ily of four liiildren. His father's mime was 
Kdward, and he was ))orn in.luly, 1S(I2, near 
(iettysburg, I'enn., and wiis married to 
-Miss Ann Caid)y, born in ISdll, aTid were 
married in l.s:i7, settling in .Miami Co., this 
State, where they lived until 1.S4."), then mov- 
ing to Indianapolis, aiiil remaining then- until 
1855. iJuring this tinn^ hi- was merchandis- 
ing. The motlu^r of Joseph was a cousin of 
Gen. K. ]{. S. Canby, who was killed by the 
Moiloc Indians. Joseph was atfcjrdc^d good 
school advantages, which were improved. In 
1K.">9 he engaged as book-keeper for R. S. 
Canby & Co., until the breaking out of the 
war, then went out in the l.Jth (). V. 1. as 
IJuartermaster; in lS(i4 he received a connnis- 
sion as assistant Quarternuister, with rank (if 
Captain, on (Jen. Kimball's staff, where he 
remained until |S(>.">; was then assigned to 
fieii. NVi-itzel's slatr, connnanding on the Ifio 
Grande Hiver, and remaitied there until lS(j(i, 



and was mustered out at as supernumerary. 
Returning home he engaged in stock-trading 
and farming; .June 9, 18(>9, he was married 
to Martha .McCarrel, who was born in 1841, 
March 20, in Huntingdon Co., Penn. He has 
now 240 acres of land, aud a family of three 
children — Harvey S., born .Ian. 21), 1872; 
EHie L., .Ian. 20, 1874; Jessie, Nov. 5, 1877. 

UICHARD S. KITCHKN. farmer; P. O., 
Bellefontaine. Born in Miami Co., O., in 
lS4li; is the youngest child of Edward and i 
Ann (Canby) Kitchen. On the fathei's side \ 
the family isof German descent, and of Penn- 
sylvanian origin. After the marriage of 
Richard's j^arents they located in Pitpia, 
-Miami Co., O., where Richard was born. The 
faniih^ made several changes, liisfatlu'r being 
dis])osed to lead a commercial life, and afrer 
several removes, finally settled down on the 
I'arm whicli .losepli now owns, about the y ar 
18.")(i; he yet survives, and is retired from bi s- 
iness, and resides in Bellefontaine. His wife 
died, in Dec. 1808. At the ago of twenty 
Richard began farming for hims:elf by lei t- 
ing land on the homestead; Oct. 12, 1871, le 
was married to Susannah Fichthorn, wi o was 
horn in Green Co., O., .luly 7, 1845, diugl.ter 
of Isaac and l'>lizabetli Fichthorn. Has i:J7.J 
acres of land, which is situated in the northern 
]>art of this towiishij). He is one of the most 
driving and energetic men in the townshi)), 
and is making a success. Has three i-hildren 
living — Henry Earl, born Aug. S, 1872; Wil- 
liam B., Sept" 15, 1.S7:?; and .Vlvin S., Feb. 
1:5, 187(1. 

/EI'H.WIAH L-\POI.'T, mechanic; Znni-s- 
field; born July 4, 18:i5, near Cadiz, in Har- 
rison Co., O., son of Abraham and Ellen 
(Wallace) Laport, who were natives of same 
county. Abraham, the grandfather of Zejiha- 
niah, was a native of Maryland, and came 
west several years prior to the war of 1S12, 
of which he was an honored sohlier, and lo- 
cated on the land where the Harrison County 
Inlirmarv now stands; here Abraham, the 
lather of Ze])haniali, was born during 1S12. 
.Miout the year is:i."), Zephaniah's grandfather 
caine to Kiish Creek Tp., and jiurchased land 
of Elijah Beal, where Harper now stands, ami 
settled upon the same, whi're he lived until 
his<leatli, which occurred in 1S59, at the agi' 
of 8:5. Zephaniah's father settled on .Mill 
Creek, purchasing SO acri'S, now owned by 



^li^ 



JEFFIDRSON TOWNSHIP. 



759 



James Jamison. In ]844 he traded this land 
and moved to Rush Creek, lived there until 
1851, and removed to Stark Co., and, alter a 
few years residence, moved to Iowa. Zepha- 
niah's father was a machinist, and raised his 
son to that trade. In 1861, during the month 
(if April, Zephaniah enlisted in Co. F, O. V. 
I., three months service; then re-enlisted in 
the 23d Reg't O. V. I. for three years, or 
during the war. At the battle of Antietam he 
received a severe bullet wound on the head, 
and was disabled for many months; the scar 
he yet carries. Upon his return home he en- 
gaged in teaoiiing, which vocation he follow- 
ed for about fourteen years in Monroe Tp., all 
the time in three districts. In ISdG, March 15, 
he was married to Sarah J. Williams, who 
was born in Monroe Tp. in July, 1848; she is a 
daughter of .letfery and Lucy Williams. 
Three children have been born them — Zepliina 
A., Allen S. and Lucy E. Since 1879, ho 
and his brother have been engaged in car- 
pentry, and doing general repair work, also 
are carrying on a stove and tinware business. 
Zepliauiah is now serving as .Justice of the 
Peace and Notary Public. 

S. Y. LEASE, real estate and money lojsn 
agent, Zanesfield. This gentleman is the fifth 
child of a family of twelve children born to 
Stephen and Susannah (Gates) Lease. Stephen 
Lease was a native of York Co., Pa. He was 
born in 1781; his wife was a native of the 
same place, and was born in 178!); they were 
married in 1811, and came to this county in 
1812, making th» journey by team. They 
bought some land and made this their resi- 
dence until his death in 18fi7; Mrs. Lease 
(lied in 1870. Of their twelve children 
seven are living; all are married and all are 
farmers except S. Y.; he was born on his 
father's farm, on the headwaters of Mad 
River, Sept. 33, 1819, and lived at home for 
forty years. His school facilities were con- 
fined to a few terms of subsciiption school in 
an old log cabin with slat scats and oiled 
j^aper windows. He worked with the family 
until he was about 35 years of age, when his 
father deeded him and his two brothers, An- 
drew and John, each 150 acres of land. 
These brothers farmed their land in partner- 
ship, and made purchases of land for their 
joint account. Sept 3, 1860, S. Y. Lease 
and Miss Hannah Daughherty were united in 



the bonds of wedlock, and soon after took up 
their residence in Zanesfield, where they have 
since lived. He has followed the real estate 
business and loaned money; he has also been 
engaged in the drug business on several oc- 
casions in Zanesfield. Of the three children 
born to the marriage, but one is living. Belle, 
liorn .lulv 5, 1877. 

WILLIAM LONG, blacksmith; Zanes- 
field; was born in Preble Co., O., Aug. 8, 
1833; at the age of 6, he removed with his 
parents to Logan Co.; went to learn the 
blacksmiths' trade at the age of 16; after its 
completion he worked as joinneyman several 
nuiiths, then set up in business for himself 
at ^Vest Liberty, where he lived two years; 
in the fall of 1855, he began business in 
Zanesfield, and his has snice lieen one of the 
permanent interests of the place, doing a 
thriving and satisfactory business in his line; 
in 1859 he was married to Cynthia Ann Car- 
ter, who was born in Rush Creek Tp., July 
l(i, 1839, and is a daughter of Edward and 
Elizabeth (Sutherland) Carter. Edward Car- 
ter was born in Bedford Co., Va., in 1814. 
His wife, Elizabeth, is a native of Rush 
Creek Tp., this county, and was born in 1821. 
Abraham Long, the father of William, was 
born in 1794, in Adams Co., Penn., and emi- 
grated to Preble Co., O. His wife (the mother 
of ^^'illiam) was born in 1795, in Westmore- 
land Co., Penn.; her maiden name was Mary 
Bender. Abraham was a shoemaker by trade. 
After leaving Preble Co., he moved a short 
distance west of Bellefoutaine, remaining 
there until the fall of 1844, when he located 
in Jlonroe Tp., and lived there until October, 
1886, then came to Zanesfield, where he spent 
the remainder of his days, dying the follow- 
ing year. His wife died Sept. 22, 1880, in 
Zanesfield. William has had two sons born 
unto him, whose names are Charles and 
Henry; the former was born .Tan. 1, 1860, 
died suddeidy Aug. 22, 1877; Henry was 
born March 14, 1862. Mr. Long is a mendjer 
of Wapatomica Lodge, No. 424, I. O. O. F. 
He raised Plarvey Carter (his partner and 
bi'otl:er-in-law), who was born July 13, 1857, 
in Zanesfield. 

J.J. LEASE, farmer; P. 0., Bellefoutaine; 
was born in this township Feb. 8, 1825; is the 
son of Stephen and Susannah (Gates) Lease. 
Stephen was born in 1798 in Pennsylvania, 



-py 



760 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



and came West about the year 1812, making: 
liis fust stand on tlie farm where John Hofje 
now lives, where lie remained about two 
years, and then located . on the farm now 
owned by Jacob I<ease, where he purchased 
290 acres, which was at that time as the ])rim- 
itive forest, in a ])erfe(tly wild state; here he 
built him a caliin, an<l lived the real life of a 
frontiersman. .John J. lived with his father 
until his death, and, in fact, since that time 
has never been very far from tlus old home- 
stead. The death of his father occurred in 
1807, his mother's about ten years afterwards. 
Oct. 7, I8I').5, John .1. was niarri<'<l to Cynthia A. 
Tittsworth, who was born in KiSO in this coun- 
ty; she was a dau<>hterof William and Sarah 
(Dunston) Tittsworth. Since Mr. Lease's 
niarria;ie hi^ has resided on tht; farm he now 
owns, which is adjacent to and a part of the 
original htimestead; has eight children — 
Stephen, James ])., Susanah, Ann, Emma, 
Dora, (^harles and Clara, lie has a gootl 
farm of 'i'>'> acres of land. 

MRS. ELKAXOR LEASE, Bellefontaine; 
is a luitive of this county, and has been a con- 
stant resident of the same since 1S17, Dec. 
2.J, which was the date of her birth. Her 
parents were Thomas and Zana (Carbon) 
Dunston. Thomas Dunston was born near 
llichni nd, Virginia, and when but a young 
lad at school, was drafted into the Revolu- 
tionary War. .Mrs. Lease's mother was born 
in Maryland, atxl came west about 1812. The 
family, upon their arrival here, first settled 
near West Lil)erty. and in ISHl they movcil 
to the farm .lames Dunstdii now owns. .Maich 
l.'l, 18;{4, she WHS married to Daniel Lease, 
wlio was a son of Sanniel Lease. Since the 
marriage she has been a cfmstant resident on 
the farm she now owns, which consists of 140 
acres. Mr. Lease di(^d in ISlU. Since that 
time she has been carrying on the farm, with 
tlie assistance of her son .lohn, who was born 
Sept. 28, 1K4!I. She has live children— Caro- 
line, now .Mrs. W. Wacki-rson; Fannie, Mrs. 
S. Williams; Ella, Mrs. John .McCollough, 
and David ( '. 

JACOB LEASE, farmer; T. O., Belhfon- 
taine; is the youngest of the family born to 
Stephen Lea.se, and was theelevcntli cliiUI; he 
was born Dec. 1, 1h:J(I, on the farm he now 
owns, which was the homestead place, which 
he has never left. In ISIi.'i hi- was married to 



Susanna Everingham; she was born 18415, in 
this county; she was a daughter of Ileinyand 
So])ludnia (Donaldson) Everingham. Seven 
children are the result of this union, who are 
— Anini M., Susan O., .Jacob A., liillie K., 
John J., Ettie and Katie. He has 145 acres of 
land; the house is situated on the vi|)land(iv('r- 
looking the valley below, which is lich bolt.im 
land. 

J. .M. LANCE, farmer; P. ()., New J.-rusa- 
lem. Was born ^Vpril .'!, ]8li2. near Belvidere, 
M'arren Co., N. .1. His father's name wiis 
Martin, who married Margaret .Mc.Murtrie, the 
mother of .1. M. They were born and raised 
in New Jersey — emigrating to this State 
when .1. M. was but six years of age; thi'V 
first located in Richland Co., Cass Tp., pui- 
chasing 80 acres of land, ujion which he 
si'ttled, and remained on the same until death 
bore him away, Aug. 13, 1851. The subject of 
mitil this sketch remained on the home place 
he was 22 years of age; he went to Michi- 
gan, where she purchaed land, and lived there 
about two vears in all; retiniiing home, stayed 
t)iie vear, then went to ."^tark Co.; Sept. 3, 
1857, was married to Surah II. Scott, who 
was born in .Marlborough Tji., .March 10. 1S;!2. 
and is a daughter of Israel and Sarah Hollo- 
wav, both of whom were natives of \'irginia, 
and were " Friends," and came out to this 
State at an early day. After he was married 
he lived in Shiloh five years, and in IStiC) he 
moved into this township and bought !I4 
acres east of .lerusalem, where he lived until 
18^;!, when he made an exchange and moved 
to his ])resent place of residence, one-half 
mile west of Jerusalem, where he has llti 
acres of iaml; has had considerable ex))eri- 
ence in teaihing, having taught in Ken- 
tucky and -Michigan as well as in this State. 
Having hiarned the carpenter's trade when 
young, he employed his time at this during 
the sinnmer, and taught during the winter. 
Has one child, Julius .\rlliur, boiii Se])t. 27, 
1871. 

HENRV W. .M.\i;.M().\', farmer; P. (). 
Zanesfield. ( )f the first arrivals of the .Marnion 
family to the I'nited Slates, there has been 
nothing sprea<l upon the pages of history to 
this date to determine this fact definitely, save 
that they are of French descent, ami eniigiatiMl 
to North Carolina during the i.iiildle of last 
century. ".Marmon" is a name that belongs 



JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP. 



761 



to only one family in America, and is an ab- 
breviation or contraction of " Merriiiioon," in 
France. In the year 1800, tlie family removed 
from North Carolina to the head waters of Mad 
River. Here Henry W. Marmon first beheld 
the light of day, .Jan. 24, 1811, in 'what is known 
as Marmon Vallev. His father's name was 
Martin, and was born in 1TT7, in North Car- 
olina, Northampton Co., an came West as 
above mentioned in ISOfi. His wife was Su- 
sanna Watkins, the mother of Joseph. There 
were three Marinon brothers who came out in 
the same year, and settled in one locality, 
hence the name "Marmon Valley." Martin 
died in 1842; his wife, Susanna, two years 
later. Henry was raised to agricultural pur- 
suits; in September, 183.5, he was married to 
Eliza Marinon, who was born .Ian. 31, 1S13, in 
this township, and was daughter of John and 
Ruth (Lamb) Marmon, who were from North 
Carolina. Since the marriage of Mr. M., lie has 
resided where he now lives; his farm is situ- 
ated in the south part of the township. Four 
children have crowned their union — Louisa, 
Milton, Joseph and Nancv. Milton and Joseph 
were out in service tluring the late war. Jo- 
seph came home, but .Milton died in Anderson- 
ville prison, a martyr to his country. He was a 
member of Co. A., "l3th Reg't U. S. Infantry; 
he was born July 25, 1838. "Uncle Henry," 
■j/s he is familiarily called, has been a resi- 
dent of this township almost three score 
years and ten, and has l)een closely identi- 
fied with the growth and develojtnient of this 
part of the count}-, and is one of its most val- 
ued citizens. In religious belief he is a Friend, 
and has always been an exem])lar3' nuin and 
of generous impulses, a frieiul to the poor; has 
always been disposed to look upon the briglit 
side of life; genial and largely social in his 
manner; an intelligent man, a good compan- 
ion. 

•JOSEPH A. MILLER, farmer; P. O., New 
Jerusalem. Amoiig the German represent- 
atives of this county who hav(> aiiumulated 
means, and for himself a good name in the 
coniinunity, is Mr. Miller, who was born in 
the Tyrol, Austria, April 23, lS2o; he is 
the eldest of four children that were born to 
Michael and Magdalene (Feldegger) .Miller; 
.Joseph was reared to the manufacture of boots 
and slioes, his trade being a slioemaker; in 
the fall of 1852 ho parted' with his boyhood's 



home, and emigrated to America, and to Ohio 
in 1853; when he landed in Bellefontaine he 
was destitute of means; he set to work for 
Davidson & Butler; then for Davidson 
alone, and finally for Davidson & Thrift; in 
all, making thirteen years of service; April, 
18(37, he engaged in business under the firm 
name of Miller & McElree, which business last- 
ed until January, 187!i; in April, 18?9, he mov- 
ed to Jefferson Tp., and located in the north- 
east part of the township on the Solomon Day 
farm; he has 124i acies; th(^ half acre was do- 
nated as a burial-place for colored people, by 
Mr. Day. Dec. 4, 1855, was married to Su- 
sanna Spahr, his present wife, wlu) was born 
March 11, 1832, in Washington Co., Pa., daugh- 
ter of Martin and Margaret (Coil) Spahr, who 
emigrated to this State in 1840, to Harrison 
Co., then to Guernsey, and finallv to Logan. 
Thev have five children living — Frantz, born 
Nov. 12, 1861; Henry, May 23, 1803; Charles, 
Feb. 15, 18G7; Joseph, Oct. 11, 1871; John, 
Feb. 20, 1873. Mr. Miller has his farm all 
paid for, and is not indelited to anv jierson; 
and is doing a successful business; and has an 
interesting famiiv of children. 

WILLIAM MOON, carpenter; Bellefon- 
taine; was born in Reading, Berks Co., Penn., 
Feb. 7, 1810; is the second of a family of 
eight children (seven now- living), who were 
born to Jacob and Susannah (Riihtcr) Moon, 
both of whom wore natives of Germany, and 
emigrated to Pennsylvania about the year 
1810. William came out with his parents to 
this State in 1821 ; when yt^t a lad he returned 
to Lancaster, Penn., where he learned the 
carpenter's and cabinet-maker's trade, which 
occupied five years in learning. Returning 
West, he w-as married, Dec. 1, 1840, to Su- 
sannah Shawver, who was liorn in Carroll Co., 
O., 1818; she was a daughter of Daniel and 
Elizabeth (Shultz) Shawver; he wasa native of 
Pemisylvania, and she of Virginia. Mr. 
Moon has follow-ed his chosen occupation 
up to the present time; for four years after 
he completed his trade, he traveled and worked 
as jouineynuin in several of the large cities, 
among the best class of workmen, in order to 
perfect himself in his busincbS, and thereby 
has became one of the liest workmen in his 
line, his aljility Ijeing recognized bv his havii.g 
all the work he can attend to; has for several 
years been making a specialty of moving 



l^ 



^^ 



783 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



building's, and is prepared to move any kind — 
frame, log, brick or stone — and in a satis- 
factory manner. Has si.v children living — 
Sophia, now Mrs. W. V. McFadon; Levi and 
Harvey, in Howard Co., Mo.; Michael, in 
Columbus; Sarah, now Mrs. Jones, and John. 
Mr. Moon has a good homo; has recently so'd 
his farm to his son; resides now on the Zanes- 
field pike, two mil(>s east of liellefontaine. 
He is a nieniher of the Lutheran Church. 

.lOIlX MAY, farmer; ]'.()., HcHefontaine; 
was horn Nov. t), ]S::ill; is the fourlii of a fam- 
ily of five children who were horn to Alex- 
ander and Margaret (^IcLaughlin) May, who 
emigrated to this county in 1S:J3; ho died 
the Se]>tember following, and she died July 
4, ISyn. The Mavs are of Irish o.xtraction, 
l)ut the more recent representatives are na- 
tives of Mar^'land. In ])olitics they were all 
Whigs, and were adherents of the Associate 
Reformed Church, called by some the '' Seced- 
ers," who were very strict in their forms of 
worshi]). To this church the father and 
mother of the May family belonged. John 
now resides on the land his lather purchased 
in this township; since 11S47, ho has had the 
management of the farm. In .lune, 1S(!1, he 
wa.s married to Sarah M. Hockwell, born in 
Holmi'S Co., ()., Aug. 21, 1840; she is a 
daughter of Charles and Marv Ann (Manpiis) 
Hockwell. He was a native of N'ermont, she 
of Washington Co., Penn. One child has 
been born to them — Helen, born March 17, 
1863. His farm comprises 'i'iO acres; his 
father was l)orn in October, 1778, in Wash- 
ington Co., Penn. Of the May family, born 
to Alexander and .Margaret, are — James, Sam- 
uel, .Fane, Margaret (now deceased), and .lohn. 
James is now in Lynn Co., Ore.; .lane, the 
wife of .Mr. Taylor, in Monroe Tp.; John and 
Samuel at homo on the farm. 

OKKN Ol TLANI), merchant; Zanesfield; 
WHS born May \'i. IS4'.t, in .Monroe Tp., and 
has never recogni/ed any other phue as home, 
save that of Logan ( 'o. He is a son of James 
and Kebecca (Stratton) Outland, who are 
likewise natives of this county. Karlv in I fo, 
Oron formed the desire to lead a commercial 
life, and though reared to farming pursuits, 
yet his inclinations tiKik a dilforent turn, and, 
at the age of 18, he i-ntered the store of ( ). 
lirown & (.'o., of Zani>sKi;lil, and ofticiated as 
clerk nearly three years; then entered into 



partnership with S. D. Elliott, which relation 
lasted two j'ears, when, in conso(pience of im- 
paired health, he abandoned store-life for one 
year, to recu[)erate; then went into partner- 
ship with his former employers, O. IJrown & 
Co., who con'ducted the business for two 
years, when he sold his interest to them, and 
retired troin the business; but he did not re- 
main long out of his chosen vocation, when, 
<luriiig the month of October, 1S75, ho pur- 
chased the entire stock from Charles Kolsom, 
and since that time has been constantiv en- 
gaged in the business, kee])iiig a general stock 
of goods, such as are generally foun<l in every 
well regulated store. His long ac(|uaintance, 
aided by his known intog'ity and lideiity to 
his patrons, have justly merited for him the 
liberal patronage of the people, which he is 
receiving. In January, 1873, he was united 
by marriage to Miss Patie Elliott, who is a 
daug-hter of S. D. and Margaret (Hi.-nry) El- 
liott, both natives of this State; she was born 
in the town of Zanesfield. They have one 
child, Cora, who was born Fob. "-28, 1875. Mr. 
Outland served several yi-ars as Postmaster in 
Zanesti(>ld and is a member of Wapatomiea 
Lodge, I. O. O. F., No. 4--'4, and Uellc lo;itai[ie 
Lodge, No. -iOU, A. F. and A. .M.; also of 
Lafayette Chapter, No. (ill, R. A. .M. He and 
wife are members of the Methodist E|)isi;o- 
])al Church. 

DR. W. H. OLTLAND, i)hysi,ian; Zan.'s- 
field. Among tli(,> successful practitioners of 
medicine in this county, of the eclectic school, 
is W. H. Outland, who was born in Perry 
Tp., .Ian. "-id, 1S42, son of Thomas Antiim 
Outland and Eli/a Freer, his wile. Thonuis, 
was a son of .losiali, who emigrated to this 
countv from the Carolinas, several years prior 
to the war of ISl"2. The Outland family are 
of Dutch, and the Freors of English descent. 
Thomas was bom in the eastern jinrt of this 
county on the head waters of tin- Darby, ami 
remained in the ( )utland S(>tflomont mitil 
18.">7, when he moved to Union Co., remain- 
ing then> until the fall of 1804, when he 
moved to Hardin Co., near the ScioU), 
at the Wheeler tavern stand, remaiTiiiig 
there until his death, which occurred .Ian. 
8, 1871). He was the father of eight children, 
six bovs and two girls, all of whom are living, 
\V. H. being the second in order; his early 
life was employed in the discharge of home 



Lkn. 



JEFP^ERSON TOWNSHIP. 



763 



duties and attending- school, while his advan- 
tages were limited, \'et he was successful, ob- 
taining an education sufficient to enable him 
to teach several terms of school, during the 
winter season. At the age of ''8, he began 
the study of medicine, and graduated Feb. -t, 
1873, at the Eclectic Medical College, at Cin- 
cinnati, and began practice in Mt. Victory, 
Hardin Co., O., where he remained a short 
time. March 29, 18T4, came to Zanesfield, 
and has since been actively engaged in the 
practice of his profession. Oct. 14, 1875, he 
was married to Malinda F. Thompson; she 
was born in Zanesfield, in 1850, olaughter of 
Amos and Kuth (Ilea) Thompson. They have 
one chilli, Edwin Freeman. He and his 
wife are both mendiers of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. He is now serving his fourth 
term as Township Clerk; is also a member of 
the Masonic Order, and a staunch Uepul)lican. 

J. W. OUTLAXD, farmer; P. O., Zanes- 
field; born in Zane township, Uoc. 15, 1838; 
is the youngest son of a family of three chil- 
dren, who were born to R )bert and Martha 
(Freer) Outland. He was born Nov. 27, 1808; 
in Zane township; he was a son of Josiah 
Outland. Martha was born the same year 
and day of the month as her husband, but one 
month later; she was a daughter of Thomas 
Freer; they were lifelong residents in the 
township and county. Robert died Sejit. 1, 
1871 — his wife April 21, 1880; she was for 
manyyears a mend)er of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church; their remains now repose in the 
Baptist burying ground. J. Wesley was 
married Jan. 1, 181)2, to JIaggie Sharp, who 
was born Feb. 25, 1844, in Zane Tp.; she was a 
daughterof Caleb and Rebecca(Kii(iuff)Sliar]); 
she was born in Fairfield Co., her husband in 
Logan Co., O. He died July 21, 1862; liis wife, 
when Maggie was six years of age. After 
the marriage, J. W. and wife lived nine years 
on the home farm, and in 1870 came to their 
present place of abode, in the southeast part 
of the township, and is engaged in farming. 
They have had five children born to them, but 
four living: Charles C, born April 4, 1863; 
Flora B., March 1, 1866; Minnie V., Nov. 2, 
1870: died March 5, 1873; Robert F., born 
July 15, 1873; and Cassie May, Feb. 23, 1873. 
He and wife are nuMubers of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. 

EZRA R. OUTLAND, farmer; P. C, 



Zanesfield; is the youngest child of a family 
of sixteen children, born to .losiah and Kesiah 
Outland, who were natives of North Carolina, 
and subsequently settled in Zane Tp., Logan 
Co., where Ezra was born Dec. 2, 1828; at 
the aare of 18 E/ra left home, and soujiht to 
learn the carpenter's trade, and after he had 
it completed, the business not suiting him, he 
enaraffed in farming;; at the age of 22, Oct. 
10, 1850, he was married to Elizabeth Lukens, 
who was born in Warren Co., O., and daugh- 
terof Salathiel and Louisa (Fawcett) Lukens; 
after his marriage, he engaged at work on a 
saw-mill for three years, and in the fall of 
1854 moved to the eastern part of the town- 
ship and purchased 70 acres of land at %14 
per acre, paying on it what money he had 
saved when at work in the saw-mill, and 
went in debt for the remainder; this land was 
unimproved, not a stick cut or any improve- 
ment made upon it; he built him a small 
frame house and began clearing the timber 
and making him a farm. In Novend)er, 1869, 
his wife died; four children were the fruit of 
the union, two of whom are living — Fernan- 
do D., born Aug. 4, 1851, and Orlando, July 
6, 1854. April 19, 1873, was married to 
Hettie Inskeep, who was born in Perry Tp., 
July 14, 1846, and had been a successful 
teacher from the time she was 15 years of 
age to the time she was marri(>d; she is a 
daughter of David and Martha (Downs) Ins- 
kec]), who were born in Zane Tp. Mr. and 
Mrs. Outland have two children — Enniia E., 
born May 23, 1875; Nellie, Feb. 20, 1880. Mr. 
Outland has been successful in his business 
career, having now 313 acres of land, the 
greater portion of which is improved; he 
and wife are mend)ers of the Free Will Bap- 
tist Church; he is a mendicr of Perry Grange, 
No. 1134. 

.TOSIAH PEELLE, farmer; P. O., Zanes- 
field; was born in Northampton Co., N. C, 
Ai>ril 30, 1817, son of Robert, who was a 
son of Edmond, a Quaker preacher. The 
Peelle family are of English stock, and can 
trace their family direct to Sir Robert Peel, 
of Englaiul; Josiah's mother was a Johnson, 
of Welsh descent, born in Southampton, 
1796. She was a daughter of Demsey John- 
son, a Virginian, whose wife was Moning 
Johnson, who was a cousin of General 
George Washington. Demsey was drafted in 



W 



J^ 



784 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



the war of the Revolution and served in that 
strujtfgle for lilicrty; Josiah came to Stark 
Co., in 1S40, and to tiiis county and township 
in the S))rinp of 1849; was inarriL-d A])ril 'i'), 
same year, to Melissa Ann Walkins, who was 
born in -Monroe T])., Oct. 27, 1S20, dau<riiter 
of Benjamin and Ohedience (Marmon) Wal- 
kins; his father's name was Koliert, wlio was a 
son of Peter Marmon. Farminjr has been 
the business of Mr. Peelle's life, his farm 
being located in the south part of the town- 
shi|); Dec. 18G1, he was among the number 
who volunteered his services in the defense 
of his couiitrj' and eidisted in Co. F, 47th O. 
V. I., serving eighteen months, when, in con- 
sequence of impaired health and heart dis- 
ease, he was discharged from service, and re- 
turned to his family. Six i^hildren have been 
born him, but four are living — John Henry, 
born .Jan. 3, 18.50; Auzonetta, born March 
14, 1853, now the wife of Newton Stanley; 
Benjamin W., born Nov. Ifl, 1853, and 
Robert D., Sept. 10, 1855; (Caroline K. and 
Joshua M., deceased.) Mr. i'eeile is a mem- 
ber of the Friends by birthright, and, is a 
good Rcpuliiicaii. 

EZRA PARK, farmer; P. O., Bellefon- 
taine; was l)orn on the same farm on which 
he now resides, Nov. 10, 183(5; is the eldest 
of two children living, born to James and 
Elizabeth V. (.Marquis) I'ark. James Park 
was born in HclmontCo., in November, 1812; 
his wife in Washington Co., Pa., in 1810. The 
family settled upon this farm about the year 
1830, where he died Nov. 2(1, 1871; she, Dec. 
31, 1851. Ezra was married Nov. 1, 187(5, to 
Margaretta A\'ingerd, who was born in Knox 
Co., ()., Jinie 20, 1S5I. Her parents are .Mar- 
tin ati<l Catherine (Maughman) Wingerd; he 
was born in I'"ranklin Co., Pa.; his wif(> also. 
They are residents of Knox Co. Ezra, like 
his father, has always been a Democrat. He 
has 111 acres of laml located in this town- 
ship. 

JOHN PMMMER, hardware and grocer- 
ies; Zaneslield; is the eldest son of Benja- 
min aiul Sophia (L'nangst) Plummer; they 
were natives of Ohio and Pennsylvania; they 
were married in Logan Co., O.. whither thev 
had et)me with their jmrents when young; 
after their niarriage, they followed farming, 
and, except two years in .Aughiizi- Co., they 
have lived in this township since, ijy the 



marriage there were six children, four living, 
one of whom is John; he was born in .feft'er- 
soii Tp., Logan Co., ()., March 18, 1852; he 
lived with his parents until he was 24 years 
of ag(>. .June 22, 187lj, he married Miss Kate 
McCormick, a daughter of John and Mariana 
(Reynolds) McCormick; they were natives of 
Ireland; on coming to the United States, they 
settled in Chicago, 111., and later came to Lo- 
gan Co., O., and settled in Zaiu'stield, where 
they now resiile, he beinii- engaged in the 
tannery business. Mr. Joiin Plummer began 
clerking in his father's store when he was IS 
years of age, and when he became 22 he was 
taken as a full partner in the business, an<l 
soon after his marriage became the sole 
proprietor of the business, and has continued 
as such since. His business is located at a 
prominent corner in Zaneslield, and consists 
of a full line of hanlware anil grocerii'S, in 
which he is doing a hirgi- and increasing 
trade. 

THO.MAS F. lv'K.\.MKS, farmer; P. ()., 
Zanesficld; is the eldest child of a family of 
eleven children, born to Jesse and Rebecca 
(Fr(>nch) Reauies. Jesse was born in 1801, 
in North Carolina, and when young, moved 
to Columbiana Co., (.)., where he was married 
May 1, 182'J, to Rebecca French, a nntivc ol 
that county. She was born Jan. 5, 1808, and 
was a daughter of Elijah and Susainiah 
(Curl) French. Soon after the marriage of 
Mr. and Mrs. Reames, they moved to what is 
now Lciiran < 'o.. locating in JeH'erson Tp. 
Here Tliomas, our subject, was born, April 
1!), 1828, and grew u]) at home. His father 
died April 3(1, 1.S54, and several years |)re- 
vious to his death was in poor health, and the 
care of the famiiv largely fell ujion Thomas, 
which duty he discliaiged to tlii> best of Ills 
abilitv. AVlien he bi'gan for himself he was 
poor; he worked out bv the ihiy and month, 
receiving therefor a small pittance; when he 
got ^1(1 pi'r month he thonglit he was getting 
money fast; April 11,1852, lie was wedded 
to .lane (.)ntland, born in Zaiie T])., A])ril 27, 
1833. She was a daughter of Jeremiah and 
Martha (Butler) Outland, .leremiah being the 
eldest child of Josiah Outlaiul. After .Mr. 
Reames married he began renting, which he 
continued for fourteen years; in IH^O, he 
moved to his pn-sent Jilace of residence, 
which he liad bought five years previous; has 



61 



JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP. 



765 



150 acres and an excellent farm-house, newly 
built, and is now in easy circumstances, hav- 
ing reaped the rewards of hard labor and 
economy. He has two sons — James, born 
April 4, 1858, now in Perry Tp., and Leroy 
J., at home, born Dec. 18, 18(35. Mr. Reames 
has been a consistent member of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church for many years, and a 
class-leader for a score of years, and is one of 
the pillars of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and worthy citizen of the townshij). 

JOSHUA M. REAMES, mechanic; Zanes- 
field; was born on the homestead farm, July 
8, 18^0; is the sixth child born to Jeremiah 
Reames. Up to the time he was 16 years of 
age remained at home, with his parents; at 
the age of 18, he went to learn the trade of 
stone mason and plastering, also learned the 
carpenter's and l)lacksmith's trade. In his 
2'id year, Sept. :i9, 1848, he was married to 
Rebecca E. South wick, born Feb. "^3, 18'28, a 
native of Maryland; daughter of Ira and x\nn 
S. (Ely) Southwick; she died, September, 
1871, leaving three children — T. Sylvester, 
born Oct. 20, 1848; Adda, now Mrs.'Thonias 
Garwood, son of David Garwood, now of 
Knappa City; and George, born Feb. 25, 
1855. June 25, 1873, he was married to 
Rachel J. Collins, daughter of Daniel and 
Ann Unangst; has one child, Lena. In 18G3, 
enlisted in Co. H., 128th Regt., Q. V. I., 
and served nearly two years, and was then 
discharged on account of disability. In 1878, 
located in Zanesfield, yet has always been a 
resident of the township, and has never voted 
out of it; has been Street Commissioner for 
eighteen years; although master of the several 
trades mentioned, yet, lias of late years, con- 
fined himself principally to the trowel. His 
son, George C, was married Jan. 10, 1879, to 
Miss HetVie M'inder, born Sept. 21, 1857, in 
Zanc Tp., daughter of Edward and Mary 
(Williams) Winder. Mr. Winder is one of 
the stiiuneh farmers in Zane Township. 

JOSIAH REAMES, farmer; P. O., Zanes- 
field; is thi! third son, anol fourth child of .Jer- 
emiah and Matilda (Marinon) Reames, who 
were natives of Northampton Co., N. C. Jer- 
emiah was born Oct. 16, 1792, and emigrated 
in 1810, making the entire journey on foot, 
coming out with Josiah Outland, and a lady 
who rode a horse. Jeremiah was among the 
early pioneers in this county, and assisted in 



laying out the road from Bellefontaine to Co- 
lumbus, and other enterprises which date back 
to the early settlement of this locality. He 
located on the hill now occupied by Martin, 
his son, in 1818, and has siru'e that time been 
a constant resident; is vet living, but very in- 
firm; has been bed-fast nearly one year. 
When he came here, he could have entered 
land in the bottom, but thinking it worthless, 
located on the hill instead; here he raised his 
entire family; the greater jiortion of them are 
now in the township. Josiah made his fath- 
er's house his home until 1853; was then mar- 
ried to Nancy Reames, daughter of Vincent 
and Mary (^'assar) Ream<s; after his marriage, 
he located on Bokes Creek, where he pur- 
chased a small farm; remaining there a short 
time, returned to this township, where he has 
since resided. Sept. 7, 1862, his wife died; 
three children were born to them — none now 
living. April 7, 1863, was married to his 
present wife, whose name was Nancy Seott, 
born Dec. 20, 1833, in Franklin Co., daughter 
of James and Nancy (Walker) Scott. She 
was born in Virginia, Oct. 22, 1801, and came 
to Franklin Co., one mile north of Columbus, 
with her parents, Benjamin and Nancy (Cur- 
tis) Walker, when she was a babe. Mr. 
Reames has two children by his present wife, 
who are Orlando J., born Ajiril 2, 1864; Cora, 
Dec. 9, 1867. The entire family, with one 
exception, are true Republicans and glory in 
the name. 

EZP.A REAMES, farmer; P. ( )., Zanesfield; 
born Oct. 29, 1840, in JefVersoii Tp.; son of 
Hezekiah .1. and Elizabeth (.lolnison) Reaines. 
Hezekiah was born July 22, 1818, and is a 
son of Jeremiah Reaines, who settled on the 
farm now owi..d by Martin M. On this farm 
the present generation of the Heames brothers 
were born. Ezra was among the number, 
who voluntered his services in the defense of 
his country, and served three years in the 
regular army, enlisting- in July, 1863, in Co. D, 
13th U. S. I.; and there were no better or 
braver soldiers than Ezra, being always ready 
for duty, and ever ready to obey the orders 
of his superiors, and came out of the service 
with as bright a record as any lad who donned 
the blue, his commanding officer giving iiim 
credit as being an active participant in 
the following named engagem(>nts: Chicka- 
saw Bayou, Arkansas Post, Rolling- Fork, 






^ 4^—' 



^ 



766 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Haines Blviff, Cliainpioii Ilill, VicksbiiriT, 
Sii'fre of Vitksburjr. Culliorsvilli' anil Mission 
Kidge. At the battle o( C'dlliersville, he came 
out with seven bullet lioles in his coat, only 
one of the bullets drawing l)lood. Oct. 27, 
1807, was married to Pearia Mcl.oskey, who 
was born Feb. 2, 1844, in JJi^arborn Co., Ind., 
and is a daughter of John and Amy (Fisk) 
McLoskey, who were both of Dearborn Co., 
Ind. Five children have been born unto Ezra 
and wife, but four are living — Evangeline, 
born Sept. 25, 1<S(JS; Florenct; M., Dec. 2.5, 
1872; Webster J., Aug. 0, 1877, and Edna P., 
Aug. Hi, 1880. Ezra's mother was born in 
Isle of Wight Co., Va., Dec. 2:), ISll, daugh- 
ter of Abel and Mary .lohnson, who came 
west in 183.5, and was marrit^d to Hezekiah 
lieames in Xovember, l.s:i7, and by liiin bad 
live children — Abel, Ezra, Hi>bert, .losiali and 
Melissa. All of the boys served in the late 
war and returned home. 

.lOnX HEAMES, fanner; P. O., Bellefon- 
taine; born in Northampton Co., N. C, 
.May 29, 1813, being the younn-est of a 
family of ten children born to ^^'iIliam and 
Naomi (Hohm) Heames, who came to this 
county in tiie fall of 1811, locating in the 
south part of the township, where Henry 
.Marmun now lives. Here the family remained 
until about the year 1824, when tliev moved 
to the northwest ])art of the township, and 
remaineil until the ilecease of William, which 
was about the year 1845, on the farm on which 
.John now resides. In 183(1 .lolm was nuir- 
ried to Sarah Littler, who was lidrn in 'Vrn- 
nessee; she died in 18(»3. Twelve children w(>re 
born to them; eight of them arc living — Eliza, 
the wife (jf George Kitchen; William, and 
Caleb Walter, of Illinois; also, Laban, in 
Kansas; Margaret, in Hoopston, 111., wife of 
Amos Perkitis ; I.\itlii>r, in this countv; and 
Charles, at home; also, William II. Hull, a 
step-son, at home, .\pril 111, 1H()5, was mar- 
ried to .Mrs. Isabel Bull, born ]}<22, .luly 27, 
in .\ugusta Co., Va.; ilaughter of Abram and 
Susannah Wunderli llarr; he was born 177fl; 
she, .March 2S, 17'.l(l; both in Pennsylvania; 
were niarrie<l in ISOd; he died I.S23; she, 
April '.t, 1873. .Mrs. h'eames had one son by 
her Krst husband, Willi:im II., born May 1<1, 
lH5il; by the present marriage, one child. 
Charles, born in .lanuary. 1H(;7. Mr. Henmes is 
one ofthe old ri>lialile men in the luwnship, up- 



right and straightforward, honest and consci- 
entious, I )em(iriatic in sentiment, and has 
served his townshi)) as Trustee for many 
years, and been a member of the Methodist 
E])iscopal Church for thirty-five years; has 13G 
acres of land in this townshiji. 

M. M. KEA.MES. farmer; P. O., Zanesfield; 
was born Aj)ril 1, 1824, in this townshij), on the 
homestead farm wIhmc he now resides, is tlu" 
fifth child of a family of ten children, born 
to Jeremiah and Matilda Reames. Martin 
was raised to hard labor, and had very poor 
school advantages, the time that most hoys 
were attending school, he was assisting his 
parents at home. At the age of 22, he was 
married to Keziah Heames, born July 21, 
182<i, she was th(> ilaughter of Silas and Bet- 
sv (Biihm) lieames, who were natives of North 
Carolina. Since the marriage of Mr. and 
Mrs. Heames, thev have resided ))ermanently 
in the township, having never left the home- 
stead since thijir first occupancy. The resi- 
dence is situated on the south side ofthe ])ike, 
two miles east of Zanesfield, on the brow of 
the hill, which is about 125 feet above the 
level of the road, whi( h gives a magnificent 
view of the valley below. Here u))on this 
eminence is the home of M. M. Heam<?s, 
which is a model for a rural home; his wife is 
an excellent housekeeper, the culinary de- 
jjartment not to be excelled; in short, the 
iiome and its sunoiuidings, are desiiable. 
Six children have bi'cn born them. The fam- 
ily bibl(> fri\es the following record — Adelia 
>i., born Nov. 0, 1847, died Jan. 24, 1 SCO; 
Margaret F., born Oct. 2(1, 1849, died Feb. 
18, 1874; Mary E.. born April 2, 1854, Jere- 
miah v., born Dec. 22, 1857, died .Ian. 25, 
18(i(); Lydia A., borp July 1(1, 18()1; James 
S., born " Sept. 25, 18()4. Marparet was the 
wife of James ^IcAtee. Adelia and Jere- 
miah died of scarlet- fever, and were buried 
the sann' day. .Mrs. Heames is a mendier of 
the Free Will Baptist Chiirch since IH51. 9(5 
acres compose the farm, which is well keptaiid 
yields its owner a bnuntlful return. 
' MHS. SAltAH HOBB, Bellefuntaine; was 
born in Chillici>tlie, Hoss Co., .Vug. 2K, 1S13; 
she was a daughter of .lolm Nelson, who was 
of Irish descent; her mother was of Welch, 
her name was Sarah Manpiis. He was l)orn 
Feb. 18, 1787, she July 12, 1789. Both were 
of Cross Creek township, Washington Co, Pa., 



^ 



^l^ 



JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP. 



767 



and emigrated to this State in 1813, first com- 
ing to Ross Co., and to Logan in 1831. Mrs. 
Robb was of a family of five brothers, and 
five sisters, all of whom settled in and about 
Beliofontaine. John Nelson died Feb. 15, 
18T9, a man that was highly respected by- 
all who knew him, as a Christian man and a 
good citizen. Mrs. Robb was married to 
Joshua Robb March 15, 1832, who was born 
Sept. 12, 1806, and was a son of John. Her 
mother's name was Agnes Smith, both were 
raised in Pennsylvania. Joshua came West 
in 1831, after their marriage they lived for 
some time on the farm now owned by Wm. 
Scott, but suljsequently made several changes, 
in 185(1 located in the northwest part of the 
townshi]). He died Feb 21, 1873, of apoplexy. 
Nine children have been born unto them, 
who are Scott, born Dee. -1, 1830; Nancy L., 
Dec. 3, 1835; Emily, Jan 3, 1848; Robert L., 
April 15, 1840; Sarah M., March 19. 1843; 
Mary, Nov. 9, 1847; John W., Nov. 1, 1851; 
Smith J., May 1, 1855; Vance N., Aug 23, 
1801. Of the number of children mentioned, 
several are deceased; of those living are Lott, 
in McPtierson Co., Kan.; Robert, now a phy- 
sician, ill Burlington, la.; Emily, now Mrs. 
Georg.^ I'enry, of this townshi]); Sarah M., 
now Mrs. J. K. Stephenson, of Lake Tp.; 
John W., in Miami; Vance C. resides with 
his mother on the farm, which is kept in true 
farmer-like style. Mrs. Rol)b is a memlierof 
the F'reslivterian Church. 

J. S. ROBB, M. D.; Zanesfield. Promi- 
nent among- the practitioners of materia 
medica in this county is Dr. Robb, who was 
born July 6, 1819, in Guernsey Co.; he was a 
son of Joshua and Mary (Marquis) Robb, 
both natives of Pennsylvania, the former fiom 
Fayette and the latter from Washington 
Co., Penn. The Doctor was of a family of 
nine children, he being the si.\th in order; 
his father served in the war of 1812, and 
took up his residence in Guernsey Co., O., 
soon after the war closed; he was a farmer, 
and to this vocation our subject was reared. 
At the age of 17 be entered Oxford College, 
and after three years' hard study, he began 
reading medicine, and taught school; in 184G, 
he graduated at the Ohio Medical College; 
began in practice at Ciiieinnati and was do- 
ing ail excellent business, when, his health 
becoming impaired, he came to Logan Co., 



and located in Zanesfield and engaged in 
practice; this has been his residence and 
j)lace of business since. Nov. 21, 1850, he 
was married to Alniira Hamilton, who was 
born Sept. 1. 1S22, in .Fefferson Co., O.; 
daughter of William and Margaret (Norton) 
Hamilton; two children have been born him 
— Charles, in 1853, now in Colorado, in the 
sheep business; Amanda, deceased, was born 
1852, died 1SG9. The Doctor has been one 
of the leading physicians in this township for 
many years, and has been successful as a 
jjhysician and a business man, and been a 
friend to the poor and universally esteemed 
by all with whom he has been associated in a 
professional or social way; Democratic in 
sentiment, yet not radical in his views; 
rather, a liberal and rational reasoner in 
matters of religion and jiolitics. Since 1880 
he has been confined to his house from the 
effects of a stroke of paralysis, affecting his 
right side; as to what the result will prove to 
be is not yet developed, yet it is the hope of 
his many friends that he may soon be re- 
stored. He was one of the charter members 
of Wapatoraica Lodge, I. O. O. F., 424, and 
has ever maintained aiid jjracticed the tenets 
of the order, with friendship, love and truth. 

BKXJAMIN .< SCOTT, wagon manufac- 
turer; Zanesfield; born Jan. 14, 1821, in Bel- 
mont Co., O.; the youngest of a faniilv of ten 
children born to Joshua and Elizabeth (Stan- 
ton) Scott. Joshua Scott was a son of Adam 
and Hannah (Mace) Scott; he was born mar 
Wilmington, N. ('., in 1709, and his father 
was a soldier in the war of the Revolution. 
Elizabeth Stanton was the eldest daughter of 
Benjamin and Abigail (Macy) Stanton, aiul 
was born in Carteret Co., N. C, Dec. 24, 1775. 
Abigail Jlaey was a native of Nantucket Isl- 
and, and was a descendant of Thomas Macv, 
who came from England to America in 1040, 
and, on account of religious intolerance in 
Massachusetts, removed with his family, in 
open boat, to Nantucket Island, an event cel- 
ebrated in later veais with consider.ible po- 
etic coloring- in one of Whittier's ])oems. 
Joshua and ElizLdjeth Scott, the parents of 
our subject, were married in their native 
State in 1794, and came North in 1802, stop- 
ping for a time at Red Stone, on the Monon- 
gahela; tiience to Jefferson Co., O.; after a 
short residence, came to Belmont Co.,0.,where 



768 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Ben. S. was Ijoni ; here they cleared up a 
piece of land puioliased I'nim the Govern- 
ment. In A]iril, 1830, they sold out and came 
to Los^an Co., O.; purchased 100 acres of 
land west of Zanosfield, known as the "Grose 
Creek" farm; her(> his motlier died in ISS.j, 
beinar a woman of jrreat moral and religious 
worth. He was married the second time, and 
died in ISDS. IJenjamin S. was then in his 
I8th year; lived witli his uncle, IJenjamin 
Michener, until IS4<>, who resided near Zanes- 
ficld, and worked on a farm, attcndin<;- school 
dnrinp- the winter season; afterwards taujrht 
school; going to Urbana, learned the wagon- 
maker's trade; remained until 1845, when he 
came to Zanestield, and set up on his own ac- 
couTit, and has since been a constant resident 
of Zanesfield. May li, 18-t7, was united by 
marriage to Eli/.a A. Harris, cf Hichiand Co., 
O., in Nove.niber, \S'i'i, second daughter of 
William and Gulie K. (Gregg) Harris; her 
father %vas an early settler in Hichland Co., 
and was a soldier in Gen. Harrison's army. 
The Greggs came from the SheiKindoah Val- 
ley, in N'irginia, and were members of the 
Society of Friends, .'^ix cliildn ii have been 
born unto Mr. Scott and wife; two of them 
are married; Sallic is engaired in teachinir; 
Caroline and Kdwin are at home. Mrs. ."^cott, 
though raised a Friend, is, in common with 
her husband and tlwee chihlren, a member of 
the Baptist Chunh, and he is an active worker 
in the Sabbath school ca\isc. I\>litically .Mr. 
Scott was originally a Whig, but, since the 
dissolution i>f that party, has been an un- 
swerving III publican; was a private in the 
\'-i'it\ Ki'gt., <). N. G., during the cam|)a'gn 
of 18(i4, and has been several tiuu's ele(-t(>d 
as Justice of tin- Peace, and is one of the 
staunch and reliable citizens of this conimu- 
nitv. 

\V1I,I,I.\M.-((I|"|', farmer; I'.O., Heljefcm- 
taine. Anion'.r tli<' "ulil timers " and staunch 
representativesof this county, is William Scott, 
who was b.rrn in Mimroi- 'Pp., .lune IS, 1814; 
his father. Samuel, was born October 17,1778, 
in County Wexford, Ireland; his wife, who was 
the mother of William, was born February 
28, 1786, in Sussex Co., State of Dela- 
ware; Sainuol Scott, was but five years of 
age wliiMi he emigrated to America; his 
parents located in Pennsylvania; in 1800 he 
(Samuel) came to Ohio, and to Logan Co., 



locating in Monroe Tp. about tiie year 1811, 
and for a time was out in the '12 war. Farm- 
ing was his occupation; though l)eginning 
poor, he became wealthy, being a very success- 
ful business man; he went to Chillicothe to 
pay lis first tax; of the family raised to ma- 
turity, were Margaret; Jane; Archibald, who 
was kill(Ml, when crossing the ])lains, going 
to California; M'iiliani; .John; \ancy; Eli/.a 
A.; Martha and Mary. Samuel Scott died 
Feb. 18, 1850; duiing his life was a very ef- 
ficient worker in tiie Mi'thodist K])iscopal 
Church, witii which he was prominently identi- 
fied as class-leader and steward, and gave of 
his means liberally for thi^ sup])ort and main- 
tenance of the gos])el, and the erection of 
churches. William Scott renu\ined at home 
until 183.i, and in October he was married to 
Emily (iillilan, born in A]iril, 1818, in Mason 
Co., A'irginia; her mother's name was Ed- 
wardson; soon after Mr. Scott's marriage he 
])urchased the homestead \vhich he yet owns; 
in 1874 came to.Iell'erson Tp.; having the niis- 
lortune to lose his wife, he has since married 
Phebe Kllis, born in December, 1820, in Caiui- 
da; eight ciiildrcMi wi>re the fruit of the first 
niarriaue, and eleven by the last, of wliom but 
nineaic living, vi/: Archibald; Ellis; Charles; 
Laura H.; I<la I}.; Sherman; tienrgiana; Frank 
H. and Eflie F. Mr. Scott's early school ad- 
vantages were very limited; attended but 
three terms in all. Farming and stock-rais- 
ing hasbeen the business of his life; for about 
twenty years was engaged in stock-shi]>ping; 
he has been very successful in his business 
career, having several hundred acres of land, 
and is now living in <piiet and retirement at 
his beautiful home, about one mile ami a iialf 
east of Helh'fontaiiie, and is a worthy uumu ber 
of the Methoilist Episcopal Church, which 
his fathi'r si( long ailoriied with his Christian 
life and exemplary conduct. 

.lACOH SLOXECKEK, farmer; P. O., 
New .lerusalem; burn in Berks Co., Pemi., 
May 13, ISlCi; was the second child of a fami- 
ly of seven children born to .la<-ob an<l Eliza- 
beth (Savage) Slonecker. .lacob's father was 
a weaver by trade, but maile farming his 
principal vocation, to which business he raised 
his children. Jacob, whose name heads these 
lines, remained with his father until reaching 
his major years, when he earned the business! 
of house carpi'nter. In the fall of 18.")li, he 



t 



.I^ 



JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP. 



769 



emigrated to Ohio, and for two years lived in 
Stratford, Delaware Co., where he plied his 
chosen occupation. In the fall of 1855 he 
came to Logan Co., which presented suffi- 
cient attractions to induce him to pitch his 
place of residence, and since his comino; has 
been a resident of Jefferson Tp., located about 
one mile east of Jerusalem, where he has a 
siuinr and well-kept farm of about 40 acres. 
During the past four years he has run his 
farm to stock, and has given his time princi- 
pally to his trade of cabinet-making. Feb. 
1838, he was joined in wedlock to Julia Got- 
shall, who was born Oct. 'i7, 181(;, in Schuyl- 
kill Co., Penn., daughter of Henry an<l Ko- 
sana(Unangst) Gotshall — eleven children have 
blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Sloiiecker, 
nine of whom are living — Hettie Ann, now 
Mrs. J. Merkel, of Delaware Co.; Sarah, now 
Mrs. J. Levan, of Perry Tp.; David and H(>n- 
j ry, in Bokes Creek; Elizabeth, Thomas, AVil- 
i liani, Franklin in Lyon Co., Kansas; Julia at 
I home. Mrs Slonecker has been a membi-r of 
the Lutheran Church for forty years. He 
sent two boys to the late war, DavitI and Hen- 
ry; David was in the OGth O. V. 1., and Henry 
in the l"i8th. Mr. Slonecker is Democratic, 
and was elected Justice of the Peace, in the 
spring of 1880. 

JACOB M. SMALL, fanner; P. O., Belle- 
fontaine ; was born near Mariinsliurg, in 
Berkeley Co., Va., Jan. 1, 18153; there were 
seven children in the family, he being the 
fourth — five of the nvimber living; his parents 
were John and Elizabeth (Kilmer) Small; 
both were natives of the Middle States. 
.lacob came West in 1860, and was married, 
September 11, of that year, to Rachel H. 
Couchman, who was born in Chani[)aign Co., 
O., March ir, 1839; is a daughter of Slichael 
and Margaret (Grove) Couchman; he was 
from Virginia; she from Clarke Co., this State. 
After Jacob was married, he returned to Vir- 
ginia, and located on a portion of his father's 
estate. The war was in progress, and Jacob, 
with others, was conscripted and forced into 
the Confederate service, but iieing a peace- 
ably disposed person, not wishing to shoot or 
be shot at, he obtained a furlough for a limited 
time, but to this day he has never reported to 
his command. Coming West, his wife soon 
followed him, the Confederates having taken 
ever\ thing he had. Upon his return to this 



county, staid with his father-in-law one year, 
afterwards purchased a farm in Richland Tp., 
near the Reservoir, living there one V'oar; dis- 
posing of his farm, he came, in 18(55, to his 
present residence, where he has 107 acres of 
land, in the southwestern part of the town- 
ship. He has a family of four children, which 
are — Henrv H., Jacob M., John W. and Ann 
R. B. He is a consistent member of the 
Baptist Church, and his wife of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. He is also a member of 
Jefferson Grange, No. 2d'2, and a member of 
the Repulilican partv. 

REV. LUTHER' SMITH, son of Rev. 
Elv and Amy (Emerson) Smith, was born 
at-Hollis, N. H., Aug. 11, 1800. After at- 
tending grammar school at New Ipswich, 
Londonderry, and other i)laces, he entered 
college at Brown University, from which he 
graduated in the class of 18"24; studying law 
at Hollis, he removed to Kentucky in 18^7, 
locating at Paris; he bought property about 
a mile from the village, and erected a suita- 
ble building and opened an Academy for the 
education of j'oung men. He conducted this 
for a nundjfr of years with (uninent success, 
as far as education was concerned, but finan- 
cially it was not profitable. In October, 1834, 
he was united in niarriag'e with Miss Lucretia 
Caldwell. Thev were the jiarents of two 
sons, James Emerson Smith and William 
C. Smith. Mrs. Smith inherited from her 
father a valuable tract of unim])roved land in 
Jefferson Tp., on which they purj)0sed settling 
and making a future home; but before this 
happy consummation she fell a victim to dis- 
ease, and died near Louisville, Ky. Mr. 
Smith was married a second time in December, 
1845, to Miss Effie Moody, of Clifftoii, Green 
Co., O., after which he removed to the farm in 
Logan Co., on which a house had been built 
and some land cleared. Here he refnained 
until January, 1850, when he consented 
to take charge of the West Liberty Union 
School, then being- organized. Remaining 
there until April, 1851, he again spent the 
summer on the farm, but went to Northwood, 
teaching in the college during the winter. In 
the spring of 185'2, he returned to the farm, 
where he remained until April, 1855, when he 
again engaged in teaching at West Liberty. 
During his residence there, as one of the 
Trustees of the Presbyterian College, then 



^ 



V 



^ 



770 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



(k'terininc'd on by the churcli, but not yet 
Idcatcil, li(> took a very active |)art in try- 
iiiir to sci'uro the establishment of the in- 
stitution at tiiat place. In 1858 he re- 
moved to Zani'stielil, and in IS.j'.t to the farm, 
where he remained until ISIO, when his sons 
took charge of the farm and he removed to 
Zaiiesfielil, where he has since resided. He 
connected himself with the Presbyterian 
Church in Rentu<'ky and commenced a course 
of theoloirical stiidj', at which time he was 
licensed to preach, but became dissatisfied ami 
abandoned the j)rofession. He, however, took 
an active j)art in the aflairs of the Churcli 
and, as noted in another connection, was a 
ruling elder and afterwards an ordained min- 
ister in the Zanesfield Presbyterian Church. 
He has been a man of active temiierament, 
and besides being prominently connected at 
one time with the Ohio State Agricultural 
Society, was one of the leaders in the 
liellelontaine & Delaware railroad enterprise. 
He has twice narrowly escaped death, once 
from being thrown fioma runaway liorse, and 
once iVom l)eing thnxvn from a wagon while 
the team was lurniing awa)'. In pobtics he 
is Di'inocratie, liaving once been honored with 
a norniinition for representative in Congress. 
D.Wll) SPRINGATE, farmer; P. O., 
Zantsfield; was born in Kent, England, Dec. 
•^8th, 181'.i, eighteen miles from Canter- 
bury; his parents were John and Sarah (\'ane) 
Springate; there were but two children born 
th<Mn, David being the eldest. He was raisecl 
to farming, but his father was |)oor and had 
no worldly goods to bestow u|)on his son, 
who, ill <irder to better his condition, resolved 
to emigrate to America, and in the fall of 
ls:i:j he liade giind-bye to the lidiiie of his 
iialivity and embarked for the United States. 
l{eaehiiig Philadelphia, he had one sovereign 
and a shilling in his pocket. He soon got 
eiiiployinent, hiring to Thomas Smith, Es(|., 
for *'.! jier miiiith. and subseipiently for one 
yi-ar, receiving ?11(). He continued in that 
locality until about the year 184."), when he 
came West, anil located in Stokes Tji., ]>nr- 
chasing forty acres of land, paying 'f',\ per 
acre therefor, and later he added to his first 
purchase, until he owned '.ViO acres. After a 
residence of nineteen years, he disposed of his 
interests there, and moved to his present 
place of abode, situated a short distance east 



of the town of Zanesfield, on the Martin Mar- 
mon farm, consisting of 153 acres. His wife's 
name was Mrs. Mary E. Fenton; maiiien name 
was Hogg; daughter of James and Elizabeth 
(Fenton) Hogg. James Hogg was born in 
Ireland; his wife in this State; both of them 
died when Mrs. Springate was a babe, and 
she was raised by her aunt. She was mar- 
ried to Mr. William Fenton Aug. '^O, 1S40; he 
died in 1847. Mr. and Mrs. Springate hav(> 
no cliildren. He is not a member of any 
orthoddx church, j-et is not unfavorably dis- 
posed to religion, and is liberally disjiosed to 
all creeds and doctrines. Politically he is a 
Republican. 

SILAS P. STRONG, farmer; P. O. Zanes- 
field; born May 10, 183t), in Hardin Co., in 
the town of Kenton. His father was Eri 
Strong, and a native of Oneida Co., New 
York, and came West about the year 1S;!2, 
and was a teacher by profession, and was (piite 
jirominently known as a successful educator 
Eri Strong marrieil Eli/alieth Baldwin (thi! 
mother of Silas), who was born in Champaign 
Co., in 1807. They came to Logan Co., in the. 
year 1844, locating in .lefferson Tp. He dieil 
in 1847; his wife died in Iowa, .Ian. o, 1871. 
At the age of 17 Silas begsn teaching, which 
he continuei! for several years; his labors ex- 
tended to Hardin, Champaign and Logan 
counties. Si'pt. 1, ISoU, he was married to 
Catharine lilakely, born in Knox Co., Feb. 
8, 1838, and is a daughter of Richard and 
Eli/.alieth (Wallace) Blakely. The Wal- 
laces are from the Emerald Isle. In 1874, Silas 
located in Chanijiaign Co., and engaged in 
fiirniing. Came to this county in 1880. |iur- 
chasing the Robert Watkins farm, consisting 
of \'io acres, and is now settled for life, liav- 
iii<r made miiny changes and removes; has lived 
in Iowa and Indiana, as well as several countiis 
in this Stale. Since 18';"J, he has olVicijited in 
a local way, as minister in tjic Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and though never assigned 
to any circuit or particular charge, has en- 
deavored to work in an aci ejitable way in 
his " .Master's Vineyard," whenever and where 
duty ])rompted. He has three daughters — 
Elizabeth .M., born 18(;4, in Iowa; Martha, in 
Indiana, 18(i;j, and Anna M., 1876, in Cham- 
paign Co., Ohio. 

AARON TAYLOR, farmer; P. O., Zanes- 
field; was born on the same farm he now 



^t 



JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP. 



771 



occupies, Jan. 30, 1842, being the youngest of 
a family of six children, who were horn unto 
Benjamin S. and Martha (Outland) Taylor. 
She v/as a native of North Carolina and he of 
Ohio. .lohn Taylor, the grandfather of Aaron, 
came to this county with his family and pur- 
chased some land, now the property of Aaron 
and his brother Amos. Benjamin Taylor died 
Nov. 25, 1803, aged 55 years, 8 months and 3 
days; his wife, Martha, .Jan. 27, 18(JG, aged 60 
years, 4 nionths and 28 days. When the Tay- 
lor family came from North Carolina they 
settled first in Jeft'erson Co., and next came 
to Loo-ati Co. Aaron was 21 years of age 
when his father died. In Se[)tend)er, 1868, he 
was married to Sarah A. Hatcher, who was 
born in Perry Tj)., Jan. 1, 1849, and is a 
daughter of Samuel and Mary A. (Rhodes) 
Hatcher. Since their marriage tliey have re- 
mained on the homestead. Two children 
have been born to them — Bennie, Sept. 13, 
1871; Anna, May 15, 187*^. He and wife are 
memliers of the Free Will Baptist Church. 
Mr. Taylor has a fair library, and is among 
the intelligent and |)rogressive portion of the 
community. Aaron's mother was the eldest 
child of a family of sixteen children, who 
were born to Josiah and Keziah Outland, all 
of whom, as history records, lived to be 
grown, married and doina' for themselves. 

THO.MAS P. THAliP, farmer; P. O., 
Bellefoiitaine; was born on Tharjt's Rini, in 
Jefferson Tp., .Tune 13, 1840; son of Hail and 
Susan (Bishop) Tharp; Hail Tharp was born 
Feb. 14, 1808, in South Carolina, and 
came to this State with his parents when he 
was an infant; she was born near Mdford 
Center, July 28, 1816, and was a daughter of 
William and Mary (Epley) Bishop; the for- 
mer was born in Virginia Jan. 1, 1791, the 
latter March 14, 1794; he died in Noveml)er, 
1824, slie July 2, 1878. After the marriage 
of Hail Tharp and wife, they located on 
Tharp's Run, where he departed this life 
March 0, 1843, and was a member of the 
Baptist Church, and an advocate of the Whig 
party. Mrs. Tharp now resides with her son 
Thomas, and has l)een a member of the Bap- 
tist Cinirch for forty years. After the death 
of his father, the farm was rented until he 
and his brother were old enough to take 
charge. Jan. 22, 1863, he was married to 
Clara Courter, born May 26, 1840; a daughter 



of George and Christina Courter, who were 
natives of Pennsylvania, and came West in 
1836. May 28, 1878, death, the "Grim 
Monster." invaded the happy home of Thomas 
Tharp, and bore oft' on his icy bosom the 
companion of his choice and mother of two 
children; her mortal remains now rest in the 
charnel house, where a suitable monumental 
slab marks her last resting place; two chil- 
dren, Samuel B., born Feb. 23, 1864, and 
Evelyn M., now gladden his household; has 
resided on the present farm (90 acres) since 
the spring of 1865. 

ELLIS WICKERSHAM; New Jerusa- 
lem; was born in Columliiana Co., this State, 
Feb. 11, 1828; is the sixth child of Joseph 
and Margaret Wickersham. Ellis learned 
the wagon-makers trade, w-hich vocation 
he followed for twenty years of his life. 
He drifted West to this county about the 
year 1850, and located at Jerusalem, whore 
he engaged at his trade. July 26, 1802, he 
was married to Rhoda F. Ely, born Oct. 24,- 
1844, in this townshi]). She is a daughter of 
Amos J. and Margaret (Harrinian) Ely. The 
Harrimans are from Washington Co., Pa. 
Three children have been born to Mr. Wick- 
ersham — l/ucretia Delfoy, born April 28, 1863; 
l)oi-a. May 0, 1865, died" April 20, l8t;7; Ora, 
born April 16, 1867. For several years after 
his arrival here he lived in the town of .lernsa- 
lem; has now a small farm about one-fourth 
mile north of the town, also a farm east of tiie 
town, and is engaged in farming and stock 
trading. Politically, he is a Republican; and 
religiously, he was born into the Quaker So- 
ciety. 

CYRUS WICKERSHAM, farmer and 
stock-raiser; P. O., New Jerusalem. Among 
the prominent farmers and self-made men in 
this county is Cyrus Wickershani, whose birth 
place was Columbiana Co., this State, A>ig. 
11, 1830. He is the seventh child of a family 
of nine children that were born to .losepli 
and Margaret (Pierce) Wickershani. Joseph, 
the father of our subject, was a blacksmith, 
which vocation he aliandoned soon after he 
came to this county. Cyrus had learned the 
trade of a mason at the time he was of age, 
which he followed for about five years. At 
this time he and his brother .Job engaged 
in the cabinet business at Jerusalem, which 
busim^S-^ thev carried on for aliout twenty 



-f^ 



4. 



772 



BIOGKAPHICAL SKKTCHES. 



years. He finally l)()u<^ht Job's interest, and 
conducttJ the business iiiinsell" until 1S7!I, 
when he sold out. Soon after his beainniiifj th<! 
cabinet business he hciran farniinji-, wliieh 
business he has conducted eversince. .Fan. 2T 
18.54, he was luarrieil to Susan Leyniaster, 
who was born May •!!, lSli4; she is a daughter 
of S. M. and Octillia (Sheets) Leymaster, 
who were natives of IJerks Co., Pemi. After 
Cyrus was married, he located at .[erusaleni, 
and lived there until 18<1T, when he moved to 
his present houu'. Thej- have but on(> child, 
Irene, wife of Mr. Charles W. Walkins, who 
is District Prosecutiuir Attorney, at Hunting-- 
ton, Ind. When Mr. Wickershani began 
business, $14 was all he had; he now has 400 
acres of choice land, and one of the Knest 
farm residi-nces in the county, which was 
built in 18i'4 ; the inside work was done by 
cabinet workmen, the mouldings and doors 
out of the choicest woods of every hue of 
color and grain, all of which was carefully 
selected by Mr. Wickershani in years past; in 
short, for design and finish, there is not a. 
house ill the State that will excel it. ^\'llile 
the exterior is coiiimiindiiig, the insiile work 
far surpasses it. Farming and stock-raising 
is niiw his settled linsiiicss. 

.[OH WICKKKSHA.M, farmer; 1'. ().,Xew 
.lerusaleni; was born Dec. 3, ISIS, in Colum- 
biana Co.; is the eldest son of .loscpli and Mar- 
garet (Pierce) Wickershani, who came from 
Chester Co., Penn., in .June 181(>, and locat- 
ed in Columbiana Co., where they settled. 
He (.biseph) was Lorn in 1780, in Chester 
Co., Pi'iin.; his wife, .luly 14, 17113, in New 
Castle Co., Del. .fob came to this county in 
1847, and followed the masons' trade a few 
years, then engaged in the cabinet business 
with his brother Cyrus, which business they 
conducted about a score of years; li(> also sold 
goods at Jerusalem, and in ISliS he moveil to 
his present place, and has since given his 
attention to farming. Aug. 17, 1843, he was 
married to .lernima Metcalf, who was born 
Nov. 18, 18'^3, and by her had two chihlren 
— Matilda Ann, now Mrs. Milton Fuson, in 
Ciiampaign Co., and Joseph P., in this town- 



ship. His wife died March 8, 1847; he was 
married May 24, 1857, to Ann E. Ely, born 
March 2, ISoil, and liy her had two children 
— V'iola J., born March "24, ISoS; she died 
Jan. n, 1862; Ely B., born Julv 8, 18110. 
His wife died Feb. 19, 1802. Aug. 12, 180.5, 
he was married to his present wife, Mary M. 
Ely, vvas l)orn Jan. 2, 1847; she was a 
daughter of Amos and Margaret Ely. Four 
children have l)l(>ssed this union, which are — 
Amy ]ro, born Nov. 10, 1807; Ivan Dio, April 
20, 1870; Burke Hunter, Oct. 7, 1875; Roy 
Hinkley, Jan. 14, 1878. His farm, consisting 
of 224 acres, he runs in true farmer stjde; he 
has also 80 acres in Iowa. Aside from his 
farming interests, he takes great pleasure in 
hunting, and for the last thirty years has 
made yearly tri])s to Michigan, Wisconsin 
and the Canadas in quest of game; he is an 
expert hunter, a crack shot, and may be justly 
styled the Daniel Boone of ()hici. 

"MRS. MAHV A. WHlTEHll.E; Bellefon- 
taiiie; was born July 28, 1810, in Washing- 
ton C'o., Penn., and is a daughter of Peter 
Perrine. Her mother's maiden name was 
Keliecca Mar(|uis, and was born near ^\'ill- 
chester, Va. Peter was a native of Washing- 
ton Co., Penn., and emigrated to ^\'ayIle Co., 
this State, about the year 1819, and remained 
there until his death; he died in 1829. Aug. 
28, 1834, Mary A. was married to .John White- 
hill, who was born in New York State, in the 
year 1813; he was a son of Hugh and Catha- 
rine (Messmore) Whitehill. They remained In 
Waj'iie Co. until 1844; they iiiovml to this 
county, and at first purchased only 50 acres, 
which is located in the northwestern part of 
the township, but added afterwards to the 
first ])urcliase until he owned 120 acres. lie 
died Oct. 20, 1809, of consumption. Eleven 
children were born; those living are — Re- 
becca, now Mrs. Elmer Sesler, of Kansas; 
James, of Bellefontaine; Elizalx'th, Mrs. 
George F^nsley, of Michigan; Sarah, Mrs. 
Samuel Sliurr; George; .Minerva, Mrs. II. 
Leister; Clementine; .lohn and Peter. Mrs. 
AN'hitehill, resides on the homestead farm, 
which she and the younger boys are managing. 



MIAMI TOWNSHIP. 



773 



MIAMI TOWNSHIP. 



JACOB AI.LINGER, miller; Quincy; 
was born in "Wurtemhurg-, Gennany, March 
IG, 18:!], and started lor America in 1840, 
witli liis latlier's family, and alter a voyage of 
thirty-five days landed in New York in June of 
the same year. He came with the family to 
Shelby Co., Ohio, in the followino- August. 
He is the son of Jacob J. Allinger and 
Mrs. Christena Allinger. His father pur- 
chased a farm in Shelby Co., on which lie 
remained until his death, which occurred in 
1878. Mrs. J. J. Allinger, mother of Jacob 
Allinger, is still living. Mr. Allinger was 
married to Miss Elizabeth Steinmetz at Sid-" 
ney, Shelby Co., Ohio, in Feb. 1854. To this 
family were given six children — n fine, pleas- 
ant and industrious family. Mr. Allinger 
received all of his educiitiun in German}', 
which consisted of'about the same amf)uiit as 
would be received at th(> common schools in 
America. After arriving in Shelby Co. he 
worked with his father a short time on the 
farm; then, having an opportunity to learn mill- 
ing, he improved it, and remained in a mill in 
Shelby Co. until he purchased the mill prop- 
erty in Quincy, in 1871. As a miller Mr. 
Allinger has been a success; he has worked 
very hard, and to-day we can see the fruits of 
his labors in a fine farm and comfortable 
liuildings; a well-patronized mill, and every- 
thing t(j make himself and family comfortable. 
He IS a man respected by his neighbors, and 
an earnest worker in the interests of the 
neighborhood in which he resides. 

H. H. BARK, plasterer; DeGraft'; was 
born in Belmont Co., O., Ajiril 14, IS4(1. 
His father, Wm. Barr, was born in Harri- 
son Co., and was a blacksmith by trade, 
thoug'h since 1862 he has been engaged in 
farming. At that time he moved to Rush 
Creek Tp., Logan Co. Here he remained 
seven years, when he moved to Missouri, 
where he still resides. He is of Scotch Irish 
descent. Mr. Barr's life has been full of 
vicissitudes. His mother died when he was 
but six years of age, and during the next 



dozen years he went with his father into dif- 
ferent localities in five counties of Uiis State — 
Belmont, Morrov/, Marion, Guernsey and Clin- 
ton. When but 17 years uf age he enlisted 
into Co. A, 17th Vet. O. V. I.;" his regiment 
formed part of the Army of the Cumberland, 
and Thomas' corps of Sherman's arm}'. He 
joined his regiment at Chattanooga, Tenn., 
and was with it through all the Atlanta cam- 
paign, the march to the sea, repiaining until 
the close of the war, through a line of excit- 
ing battles, bringing a succession of victories, 
in many respects the most glorious of the war. 
He was in the battles of Peachtree Creek, 
Buzzard's Roost, Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, 
.Jonesboro, Bentonville, besides other minor 
engagements. During his term of service he 
was relieved from duty six weeks, though not 
in the hospital; other than this he was always 
ready for duty; he was mustered out ut the 
close of the war, and immediately returned to 
Logan Co. During the two following yrars 
he attended school in Rushsylvania — a union 
school — in which was taught, part of the time, 
noiinal studies. Since that time lie has 
taught school for abovt four months of everv 
year. In 18G8 and 1870 he served his ap- 
prenticeship as plasterer, and in ihal trade 
has always had more than he could do. Mr. 
Barr settled in DeGralf in 1870, and the fol- 
lowing year was elected Justice of the Peace 
and Mayor of the village. To the latter office 
he was re-elected at the conclusion of his first 
term of olKce, and this position he now fills 
with credit to himself and satisfaction to the 
community. He was married Aug. 14, 1871, 
to Miss Jlary E. Stilwell, of Rush Creak Tp., 
who died in the month of Sept., 1874, leaving 
one son, John Barr. Mr. Barr married again, 
Dec. 25, 1875, Mrs. Lizzie Ellis, of DeGrafF. 
They have had two children, though one died 
in infancy, while the other, Luella, is now 
about three years of age. Mr. Barr was also 
in office before coming to DeGiaff, in Rush 
Creek Tp., Clerk for six years and Trustee for 
two years. As a faithful servant of the 



\ 



774 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



peo])k' he is sure to receive greater iioiiors in 
the future. 

J. IJ.COITCHMAN, 1). I). S., dentist ; De- 
Graft': was horn in ('hani])aign Co., Ohio, 1853; 
his fiither, Micliael Couchman, was a native 
of Virginia, while his mother, Elizabeth (Neer) 
Couchman, was i)orn in Clark Co., (). Dr. 
Couihman ha<l the usual experience incident 
to th(! life of a farmer-hoy. The greater 
part of his education was secure<l in the |)ul>- 
lie schools. He first coininenced stuitying 
dentistry with Dr. Gill, of West Liherty, Lo- 
gan Co., O., 1871. He attended the l^ila- 
delphia Medical College through one entire 
course of lectures beginning in the fall of 
1873, graduating a doctor of dental surgery 
in the spring of 1874 ; he first settled to the 
practice of his profession in .Marysville, Un- 
ion Co., 0., where he remained about two 
and a half years. It was at this time that he 
married .Miss ilarv Henderson, of \Vest Lib- 
erty, — April ].5, 1874. They have oiu' daugh- 
ter, Einnui .May Couchman. in tlie fall of 
1877 he settled in Di-GratV, and is building 
up a fine practice. 

J. H. D.M'HKNHACH, furniture; DeGralf; 
was horn .Ian. 1, iS4'.l, in lluiilington Co., 
Penn. Wlien he arrived at 12 years of 
age he commericed working out oti tlie farms 
near his own home ; at the age of 18 years, he 
came to Logan Co., ()., and settled at West 
Liherty : here he learned tiie joiner's trade 
of his brother, and in the summer worked at 
house carpentering and worked at cal)inct 
making in the winter. Hi; made his home 
with his brother, moving with him to Union 
Tp. This continued till Feb. ^H, 1878, when 
he married Miss Carrie A. Kinnon, whose 
home was in L'nion Tp. In the following 
October ho joined Mr. .Midhorn in the furni- 
ture business in DcCJnilf under the linn name 
of .\lc|ti(,rn & Dacheid)ach. April 1."), 187'.l, 
iiis brother, W. I'. Dacheiibacli, bought out 
Mr. Melhorn's interest in tlie business, and 
since that lime the business has been carried 
on by the "Dach.-nbach Hros." Having hcmi 
a worker in wood evi^r since he was 18 years 
of age, he is ahiuidantly competent to maim- 
facture anything that may be desired in the 
furniture line. 

W. P. DACHENBACII, cahinet-maker ; 
De Graff; was horn Se])t. 8, 1837 ; his 
parents were born in this country though 



the maternal descent was German. At 
the age of 18 years Mr. Daehenbach en- 
gaged in milling, which occupation engaged 
his attention till the breaking out of the war; 
he responded to the first call for volunteers, 
etdisting for three years in the 1st Peun. Re- 
serve Cavalry, 44th Heg. Vol., and coiniected 
with the Arniy of the Potomac. On the 
plains of Mainiassas he was detailed as Ser- 
geant in comniand of a squad of five men and 
ordered to report to Gen. Morrell, Div. Com., 
of Porter's Cor])S, to serve as "' hearers of 
dis])atches. " This position of resjioiisibility 
and danger he held most of the time during 
his service. Just before the battle of Antie- 
tani, at Brandy Station, he received a- slight 
flesh wound on his right wrist but still retainecl 
his place in the rank during the battle. .Xfti'r 
Hr.indy Station where the color-hearer of his 
regiment was killed he was ajipointed to that 
dangerous post. On the day before the bat- 
tle at Gettyshurn: he was relieved of this duty 
to hear an important dispatch from Tanney- 
town to Frederick City, a distance of '^'1 
miles ; llii! dispatch was delivered in two 
hours aiul twentv minutes; ho mustered out 
at Philadelphia in l.'>(i4. The following win- 
ter he married .Miss Eliza .1. Fife, of Irish 
descent. The}' have five ehihh-en — three hoys 
and two girls : Anna Beatrice, Wni. Cook, 
Mary Viola, Bayard Taylor and .lohn Sidney. 
After his ret\wn from the war he engaged in 
milling for a single year, then for eight years 
he worked at cabinet-making in the winter 
and carpentering in ihe summer; he sold out 
and emigrated to Kansas, locating lirst in 
.Manhatlan where he remained for a brief 
period, when he moved to Pottaw.ittamie to 
engage in the inilling husiness. The grass- 
hoppers drove liiin away from there, so that 
he returned to .Manhattan, eiiiraging first in 
inilling and then in eahinet-niakiMg. In 
June 1874 he returned to Ohio and settled in 
Union T])., Logan Co., and for the following 
live years he worked at the carpenter's trade. 
At last, in the sjiring of 187!*, he removed to 
De Graff and joineil his brother in the furni- 
ture business. They have a full line of 
furniture constantly on hand and manufacture 
to order; also have added undertaking. 

LV.MAX A. DO.\.\. P. ()., De Graff; 
was horn in .Miami Tp., Logan, Co.. ()., Dec., 
IG, 1S43. His father, Lvinan Doaii, wa-s 



f 



MIAJII TOWNSHIP. 



775 



born in Connecticut, and in early life 
came with his parents to Washington Co., ()., 
and later to Logan Co. His mother Martha 
(Campl)oll) Doan, was born in Washington 
Co., liut lier parents were native of Ireland. 
Mr. Doan has passed the major ])art of his 
life on a farm — he remained on his father's 
farm until 19 years of age, when he enlisted 
in Co., E. 45tli O. V. I., in the army of the 
Cumberland, and was through the war. He 
was at the siege at Knoxville, and at Nash- 
ville. His regiment was soon detailed under 
Col. Woolford, to hold in check Morgan's 
raiders. He was taken prisoner by that force 
at Mt. Sterling, Ky. The place was sur- 
rounded, and after fighting, and under truce, 
surrender was demanded, but refused. The 
town was fired, and thej' were driven into 
closer (juarters and com])elled to surrender. 
The raiders now stole their suits and arms, 
and started with them to Charleston, S.C. 
After marching nearly a whole day, he was 
taken sick, and put in a wagon, and when the 
trains were doubling up a hill he stole two 
revolvers, and some amumnition, and escaped 
to the woods. The rebs. pursued, but missed 
him. He was cared for by some negroes, 
till Union troops arrived, and thus was saved 
from the horrors of Libby and starvation, 
whither the rest of the force went ; at Resaca 
he was wounded when on skirmish line, and 
lay in hospital till his reg-iment was discharged 
in the fall of 18(54 ; when he returned to Miami 
Tp., to work upon the home place, and here 
built himself a home. In 18G6 Nov. 20, he 
married Miss Mollie E. Lamphier, and they 
now have four children — .lohn ShermaTi, 
Martha, May C, and Anna. In the spring of 
18T'.t he sold the farm, and moved to De 
Graft' to reside, at the same time purchasing 
another farm in Pleasant Tp., which he con- 
trols. He is held in esteem by his fellow 
citizens as a man of sterling worth. 

SAMUEL FRANTZ, tinner; De Graff-; 
was born in Logan Co., O., near Bellefont- 
aine. May 7, 1827. His parents, Abraham 
Frantz and Catherine (Hontz) Frantz, were 
both natives of Virginia; the third genera- 
tion behinil the present were natives of Switz- 
erland. His father was a farmer, and Mr. 
Frantz passed his youth on his father's farm. 
At the age of 20 years he left home to learn 
the tinner's trade; he passed the period of 



his apprenticeship in Logansville, Huntsville 
and Bellefontaine; then for two jears worked 
as journej'inan-tinner in several different 
places, when he entered into pirtnership in 
Huntsville; the firm was known as Foster & 
Frantz; here he remained five years. It 
was at this place he married, April 3, 
1852, Miss Mary Ann Leonard, who died in 
October, 1855, leaving him with two sons, since 
grown to maturity. Frank P. Frantz, who 
married Miss Sal lie Gessner and is living in 
De Graff, and Sydney J. Frantz, who is 
working at the tinner's trade at La Rue. 
.July 1st, 1856, he married Miss Harriet M. 
Evans; by this union there were t>wo chil- 
dren — Miss Kate Frantz, who married S. K. 
Neer and resides in Do Graff', and Charles A. 
Frantz, who died Oct. 27, 187!), aged I'J years. 
After the five years in Huntsville, he spent 
two years in jcmrneynian-woik; then in the 
spring of 1851) he engaged in business at 
West Liberty under the firm name of H. W. 
Jones & Co.; and afterward at ^diiey on his 
own responsibility. This continued till the 
spring of 1862, when he sold out his business 
and the following two years he engaged 
in journey man- work; it was here he was 
bereft of nis companion Feb. 8, 186S. In 
1804- he enlisted in the hundred-day service, 
132nd O. N. G., and went through all their 
experiences at White House Landing, 
Bermuda Hundred, Petersburg and Rich- 
mond, and at the intrenched works near 
Norfolk; after this term of service had ex- 
pired he returned to his home, and ten days 
after his arrival he was drafted and was con- 
nected with the I'Jth O. V. L, a regiment, by 
the way, which he never saw; when the 
detachment was on the way to join their reg- 
iment they were given into the command of 
Sherman, joined his army at Atlanta and 
with him marched to the sea; was mustered 
out at the close of the war; he returned home, 
and in the following October settled in busi- 
ness in De Graff'. Jan. 19, 1866 he married 
Mrs. R. L. Thomas, of this place, and they 
have one son living — Sam. Cary Frantz, now 
12 years of age, and one, Harry Frantz, who 
died when but 7 months old. On coming 
to De Graft', Mr. Frantz at first took charge 
of a tinshop which he soon purchased, and 
has since controlled; it embraces stoves, tin, 
glass and queensware. After this chequered 



776 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



experience Mr. Frantz has settled into a 
Hourisbinjr business wliicli rmist lirinj;- him 
conip(!tencv and comfort. 

R. S. GII-CRKST, M. D., physician ; De- 
GratF; was born at .Mt. Vernon, Knox Co., O., 
Aug. .5, 18"^3. His latiier, Robert Gilcrest, was 
a native of Wasiiinj^ton Co., I'eini., while the 
patLMiial ancestry was Scotch-Irish ; his 
mother, .Jane (Fleniino;) Gilcrest, was also 
born in Washiiiiitori Co., May 22, l?!)4r ; but 
early moved with her ])ari'nt.s to IJarrislairii-, 
Penn., where she remained till lur niarriiijie, 
March 12, ISKJ ; tliey removed to Knox Co., 
O., in 1822 ; the father was an officer in tiie 
war of 1 81 2, and being a man of good busi- 
ness ca])aiity he was often chosen to fill 
places of honor and public trust. Dr. Gil- 
crest was reared in alllueric<! and wlien ti.e 
financial crash of IStST came iiis father lost so 
heavily that in 1844 he was almost di^stitute ; 
this oecured when yovmg Robert had just at- 
tained his majority and it became a severe 
blow to his pride. At length he determined 
"whatever is honest is honorable!" — which 
became the motto of his life. Ill-health 
drove him to Texas where he rented a saw- 
mill with all the appurtenances, 300 miles 
from nearest market, Galveston ; h<' retained 
the ¥.3 he had when \u'. arrived, and man- 
aged (he enterprise with success. The sec- 
ond winter his jiartner pocketed the entire 
winter's carninirs and ile(iinip(Nl, leav- 
ing lilm nothing ; tiii<ling an old medical 
library he improved his nights at this and de- 
termined upon hi.s life-work ; he arrived at 
Cinciiwiati without money, but labored zeal- 
ously to obtain enough to take him to the 
seat of Kenyon College. He worked his way 
through the entire medical course, studying 
with Dr. Thrall, at this place, and taking two 
courses of lectures at Wt^stern Reserve Col- 
lege at Cleveland, ()., graduating in the 
spring of IfS.").'!. Aj)ril 15, of that year, he l)e- 
gan his pra<'tice at DeGr.ilf, ()., where he has 
since resided and been fully employed when 
able to work. Xotwith'^landing a laborious 
])raotice lie has kept abrea.st with advanced 
nieilical science and general literature ; he is 
held in high esteem by his fellow practition- 
i^rH, and lie was made a delegate to the 
American Medical ,\ssociation which con- 
vened in -May, ls;i,in San Francisco, Cal.; he 
crossed the Rocky .Mountains for this puqjose, 



visiting all places of interest to tourists. 
.\ug. 31, ]S.")2, he was united in marriage to 
Miss I'hilena Brooks, of Columbus, ()., who 
died in ])c Graff, Nov. 18, 1854, and with her 
was buried in the same grave, their infant 
daughter, Mary, but 7 months old at time of 
her death. In 1854 he married Miss Anna 
B. Brooks ; they have one daughter, now ar-' 
rived at maturity. Dr. Gilcrest hius two 
farms near De Graft" which he superintends, 
and bet-anse of his interest in agriculture has 
been made President of the County Agricul- 
tural Society. He owns a farm in Iowa from 
which his father has reapcil the benefits for 
many years. Dr. Gilcrest is a member of 
Logan Co., MedicaJ Society ; Ohio State- 
Medical Society ; the American .Medical 
Association, and honorary mendier of the Cal- 
ifornia State Medical Society. For several 
yciirs he has only practiced as couns d Jihy- 
sician because Ins health has prevented hard 
work. 

B. S HUNT, M. D., physician; DeGrall; 
was born in Shelby Co., O., Oct. 11, 
1850. His parents, H. R. Hunt and Ann 
(Conovei ) Hunt, were natives of Butler 
Co., but came to Shelby Co. in 183((. His 
paternal ancestiy were among the settlers 
of N'erinont, while the maternal forefathers 
were Knglish. Both his ]>arents are still liv- 
ing in Shelbv Co., on the farm where Dr. 
Hunt ])assed his youth. He had the advan- 
tages afforded by the public schools. He 
engag(Ml in the occu|)ation of teaching initil 
the year 18^4, when he connn<'need reading 
nu'dicine, at first with an allopathic jihysiinan 
for nearly a year, then with H. K. Beebe, 
M. D., of Sidney, ()., a physician of the 
Homeopathic school. In the fall of 1875 he 
went to Cinciiniati, (,)., and took three courses 
of lectures at the Pulte Medical College, 
gradmiting .Ian. 17,1875. Immediately after- 
ward he settled in DeCJralT to the |>ractice of 
his chosen profession, with results very flatter- 
ing. ]>rom'sing much for the future. Dr. Hunt 
married .Miss .losie \\'oollev, whose early home 
was in Chani|)aign Co. They have om- son — 
< )ra by name, at the present writing two years 
of age. 

j W.M. 11. IIINKl.K. I'ostnuisler ; 1 )e Graff; 
was born in the StaU- of Pennsylvania, Sept. 
30. 1S4S. I lis parcMits, George and .Mary (Sullz- 

I baugh) Hinkle, were natives of Pennsylvania, 



n^^ 



^ 




and are still living. His father moved to 
Ohio in 1855, and settled on a farm in 
Union Tp., Logan Co. It was on this farm 
that Mr. Hinkle passed his youth till 20 years 
of age, when he went to Illinois and passed 
one year in the Northwestern College. He 
then rented a farm, which he worked during 
the summer months, and superintended dur- 
insr the winter while he was engaffed in teach- 
ing ; and so passed a half-dozen years. Mr. 
Hinkle married Miss Esther Sager, Nov. 4, 
1874, whose early home was in the county 
while the major part of her youth was passed 
in De Graif. They have one son — Earl Gr. 
Hinkle. In the fall of 1875 he came to De 
Graff and bought out a confectionery and res- 
tam-ant, to which he gave his attention for a 
single year, when he disposed of this business 
to enter into partnership with T. J. Smith in 
the boot and shoe trade. This partnership 
was dissolved in the fall of 18T8. In the fol- 
lowing April he received the appointment of 
Postmaster, and in the charge of the office at 
De Graff he is still to be found. Beside this 
he commenced the study of medicine with 
Dr. Galer in the fall of 1878. 

AD HENDEKSON, farmer; P. O., De 
GVaff. Addison Henderson, (known only 
by his nickname, Ad,) was born in Loudoun 
Co., Va., Oct. 39, 1822. His father, Samuel 
Henderson, who lived to be nearly 90 years 
of age, was a native of Virginia. The pater- 
nal ancestry is of a hardy type, and lived to 
be near a hundred years of age; of Irish 
descent. His mother, Mary (Conrad) Hen- 
derson, was born in Penn., and probably of 
German descent. When Ad was about 13 
years of age, he came with his parents to 
Springfield, O., and two years later moved to 
Logan Co., and settled in Pleasant Tp. He 
went two miles to school for all the learning 
he ever received ; he was compelled to feed 
stock on the way to and from school ; he says 
he had to work too hard to learn anything. 
There was so much work to be done that he 
went to Bellefontaine not more than twice a 
year; when he reaeheil his majority he received 
the outfit customary for boys at that time : "a 
freedom suit, horse, saddle and bridle." This 
outfit can only be described by himself. He 
remained with his father after attaining his 
majority till his marriage, which occurred May 
22, IBoi. Miss Emily J. Strayer was the bride 



of his choice, and the event has proven the 
wisdom of the choice; she was born in Berk- 
ley Co., Virginia ; they have three children : 
Anna, born April 13, 1853, and now the wife 
of Wm. W. Hamer, living in Fowler, Ind. ; 
Wra. E., born Sept. 36, 1854, and married 
Miss Clara Riker, now living in De Graff ; 
and Mary L. still at home. After his marriage 
Mr. Henderson moved to the farm on which 
he is now residing, numbering 143 acres. 
Success has enabled him to add to this two 
other farms, which together number 180 acres. 
He turned his attention more to feeding stock 
for market than the growing of cereals. It is 
true,_ he raises large quantities of corn, but 
this is for feeding rather than for market; 
nor is he satisfied with an}' happy-go-lucky 
style of feeding. He has reduced it to a 
science, claiming to know how much pork 
can be made from a bushel of corn. Since 
this is no secret of his it may be well to give 
his experience, showintr that the amount 
varies from ten to eighteen pounds per bus- 
hel ; the lowest in winter the highest in 
summer. On this account he feeds in sum- 
mer, at which season he keeps from three to 
four hundred hogs. Mr. Henderson was in 
the army in '(14 in the 132nd O. V. G., and went 
through the experiences of that regiment 
at White House Landing, Betnnida Hun- 
dred, before Petersburg and Hichinond, and 
at Norfolk. He is a Republican in politics, 
with no desire for jtolitical preferment. 

S. P. HUSTON, farmer; P. O., DeGraft'. 
S. P. Huston was born in Hamilton Co., O., 
July 16, 1826. His father, Paul Huston, was 
born in Derry Co., Ireland, and his mother, 
Mary (Carothers) Huston, was born in the 
State of Pennsylvania. Accordingly the na- 
tivity is Scotch-Irish. His father was a farmer, 
and came to Logan Co., and settled on a 
farm in Miami Tp., when the subject of 
our sketch was but two years of age. On 
this farm he passed his youth, until he moved 
to his present locaticm on the adjoining sec- 
tion. Mr. Huston was married in the fall of 
1S56 to Miss Elizalieth Bowman. At the 
time of his marriage he was engaged in 
teaching school. Her early home was in 
Pennsylvania, though in early life she came 
to Ohio and made her home in DeGraff. They 
have four children — one girl and three l)oys — 
Ella, now the wife of Frederick Melhorn, 



778 



BIOGRAIMI UAL SKETCHES: 



livinfr in Sedgwick, Kan.; Andrew B. Hus- 
ton, who will be old (?n<)ugrh to vote for 
Garfield, though uot old enough to vote at the 
State election; William P. and Clarence Ev- 
erett Huston. Mr. Huston's farm embraces 
\)^> acres, all arable and under a high state 
of cultivation. 

J. W. JAMES, cashier F. & M. Bank; De 
Gratf; was born in Clark Co., Ohio, in the 
year IS4;i; the remote paternal ancestry were 
Welsh; his father, Lewis .lames, was a native 
of Penn., anil died wiien Mr. .James was but 2 
years of age. At the ago of 7 years, with 
his ste]j-father, he came to Ohio, and found a 
home in Logansville, Logan Co. Mr. James 
hail oidy the advantage of the ])ublic schools 
in his near vicinity; yet, judging from his 
success, one may unhesitatingly say, these 
ailvantages were all improved. In 18()3 Mr. 
James enlisted in the service of his country 
as a private in the 45tli O. \'. L; his regimeHt 
was placed under command of Burnside in 
the Department of the Ohio; with Gen. 
Burnside he crosseil the mountains of East 
'reiincssee and engaged in the siege at 
Ktio.vvilli-; then foliowwd that long campaign 
from Chattanooga to Atlanta undiM' Slurmaii, 
which concludeil with the battle of Jones- 
boro; here the army was divided, and the 
4."ilh ri-turncd in the Department of the 
Cumberland under Gen. Thomas. In an en- 
ga<rement at Nashville he received a severs 
seal]) wound, the ball cutting through his hat 
and crushing the outer surface of the skull; 
he was mustered out al'tei- three years of 
active servic*;; he was but a private wl»en he 
entered, but had arisen to 1st Lieut, and 
<.>)uartermaiiter of hisregimei.t when mustered 
out; after the close of the war he returned 
to the farm for two years; then he came to 
De GralT an<l engjiged in the dry goods bnsi- 
lU'HS under the firm name of James & Co., 
and afterwards with I{. T. Voungrnan iS: Co., 
nitcigether about four years; but disposinnr- of 
his interest in this business he embarked in 
the grain trade, which, with an interval of 
about one year, has ever since engaged his 
attention; ln-sides, siiu'e Oct. 1.5, IST'.I, he has 
lii'ld till- position of cashier of the Farmi>rs' 
and .Merchants* Bank, located at De GralV. 
in ]S(i6 Mr. .lames married Miss Harriet 
Hauglnnan; they have two children — Bertha 
.M. and Addie. 



W. C. JOHNSON, merchant ; DeGraff ; 
was born in Port William, Clinton Co., O., in 
1840. His father, Mormon .lohn.soii, was a 
native of the State of Pennsylvania. About 
a score of years ago ho was drowned in the 
Bokengehalas creek, which flows near De- 
(iratV into the Miami river. His mother, 
Eliza (Barclay) Johnson, was born in the State 
of Ohio, though her ancestry is of Irish na- 
tivity. Wiien Mr. .iolmson was twelve veafs 
of age, he came with his parents to Logan 
Co., when they settled in Qiiiiu'v of .Miami 
Township : alter a l)ri(>f stay they moved to 
West l^iberty, old}' remaining, however, about 
two years. Then alter nine years in Belle- 
fontaine they returned to Miami and settled 
in De Graff, where iJiey continued to reside, 
and where Mrs. Johnson is still living. Mr. 
Johnson early learned the trade of a plas- 
terer, but on coining to DeGraff he engaged 
in the grocery business. After a single year 
he transferred his business to (.^hiincy, but at 
th(> end of seven months lu; sold out ami went 
to Svdney to take charge of a hotel. Ne.xt 
we lind him clerking in the dr\' goods store of 
J. S. Fleming, in \\'arren Co., Ind., where 
another vear of his i^ventful life was passeil. 
Then he moved to Stark Co. to engage in his 
early trade ; thence to Paulaski Co., to en- 
gage in the grocery business, but after two 
months sold out and went to Tippecanoe to 
work a single season at his early traile. lie 
now returned to De Graff, where he has sinue 
lived, or made his head(|uarters while travel- 
ing. About two years since Mr. .lohnson 
established himself in tlu< grix;ery business. 
His establishnuMit is strictly groceri»s, of 
which he has a full line, displayed with good 
taste, and his business is llourishing. Dec. 
11, l^CS. he nunried .Miss .Mary O. N'iil. of 1 )e 
Ciraff. They have two children — Charles .M., 
10 years, and Edith, fi years of age. Mr. 
Johnson and his son arc members of the .M. 
E. Clnnvh. Now in the ])riiue of life he is 
regar<led by his fellow-s as an u|iriglit bnsi- 
ni-ss man, a faithful and consistent Christian. 

.M. .\. KOOtiLEH, M. 1)., ph>-sician; De- 
Graff. M. A. Koogler was born in (ireeii Co., 
O., Feb. 2-i, 1848. His father, .Matthias Koog- 
ler, was a carpenter bj' trade, and a native of 
Wreen Co., while his mother was a native of 
^'irginia; their pro<>:i'iiitors were Germans. 
When his father moved to Logan Co., which 



2 k^ 



k 



MIAMI TOVVAoHIP. 



779 



was in 1851, he settled on a farm in Miami 
Tp.; it was on this farm that Dr. Koogler 
passed his youth, until 18 }'ears of age, when 
he came to DeGraflf to attend school. We 
next find him in the Ohio Wesleyan Univer- 
sity at Delaware, where he remained hut a 
short time, i>-oino- from thence to Wittemburg 
Colleire. He located in Springfield, Ohio, 
where he remained two years. In 1871 he 
commenced the study of medicine under Dr. 
J. A. Brown, of DeGraff, and graduated from 
.fefferson Medical College at Pliiladelphia in 
18?!:. After graduation he immediately loca- 
ted in DeGraff, and has rapidly developed a 
fine practice, holding at the present time an 
enviable place, in the estimation of the public, 
a'* a medical practitioner. In ISTJi Dr. Koog- 
ler married Miss Clara V. Li])pincott, of De- 
Gralf. A fact connected with the Doctor's 
life we neglected to mention — he was a sol- 
dier in the late war — a fact which one may 
well remember with pride; he was only 10 
years of age when, in 1 8(5-1, he lan away to 
enlist; though it was but for .i hundred-day 
service in the 13"2nd O. N. G., he yet saw con- 
siderable active service; the regiment was 
first ordered to Washington, Arlington 
Heights, Bermuda Hundred; thence in the 
operations on .lames River, around Peters- 
burg and Richmond; thence to an intrenched 
camp near Norfolk. 

JOHN KELLY, JR., liveryman; DeGraff. 
John Kelly, .Ir., was born in Monroe Tp., 
Logan Co., March "23, 1852. His father, John 
Kellj', Sr., and his mother, Permelia (IJowney) 
Kelly, were both born in West Virginia, and 
lived among the pioneers of Logan Co. Until 
he was 25 years of age Mr. Kelly, Jr., passed the 
time on his father's farm. At that time he 
connneneed speculating in stock — buying and 
sbi])ping cattle, sheep and hogs; from his 
father, however, he inherited a natural propen- 
sity for trading in horse-flesh, and for more 
than a dozen years he has been engaged in this 
direction. For a brief time he engaged in 
the livery business at West Liberty, but in 
February, the present year, he bought out the 
same business in De Graft'. His experience 
has made himagood judge of horse-flesh, thus 
eminently fitting him for his work. His stable 
and carriage barns have lieen fitted up under 
his personal supervision, and are neatly ar- 
ranged and well adapted to their purpose, and 



here he is always ready to oblige his custom- 
ers with a neat and substantial turnout for 
riding or driving. 

A. C. LEACII, farmer; P. O., Quincy. 
A. C Leach was born in 1821, on the same 
farmed now owned bv him, and alsn the farm 
that was originally entered by his father. He 
is the son of John and Ellen (Campbell) 
Leach ; his father was born in 17!)2, and died 
in 1860 ; his mother was born in 1788 and 
died in 1861 ; both came from Pennsylvania 
in their childhood with their parents, and ' 
were married in Adams Co., O. John Leach 
was in the war of 1812 on what was called 
the " General Call '' from five counties, and 
was out about three months. He settled on 
the farm that is now occupied by his son, A. 
C. Leach, about 1815. He held the oflSce of 
Justice of the Peace for nine years, and a little 
incident will serve to show the confidence the 
people had in his justice. A doctor by the 
name of Lord, of Bellefontaine, held an ac- 
count against a certain man nameil Hanloj' ; 
this man being poor did not employ legal as- 
siatance, while Dr. Lord did ; after the man 
of legal lore had spoken his piece, Squire 
Leach asked Haidey to defend the case, his 
remarks were something after this sort: "1 
have not much education, but I am not afraid 
but what Stjuire Leach will do me justice, if 
the ].,ord in on the other side. " A. C. 
Leach was married to Miss Rosanna Kirk- 
patrick, of xV^ams Co., O., in 1845 ; she how- 
ever, did not live but about five years, and 
Mr. Leach deemed it best to marry again 
which he did in 1851, to Miss Sarah Johnson, 
of Shelby Co., (). Tlu; family of children 
consists of two boys and one girl. He has 
held the office of Trustee of the Township 
fourteen years, and has been one of the sup- 
porters of the interests of the township in which 
helives. He was raised in the United Presby- 
terian Church, and as a member of that body 
has been a standard-bearer for right, and has 
been anElder for twenty-eight 3-ears. His farm 
consists of 167 acres of fine farming lands, un- 
der agood state of cultivation, with comfortable 
buildings, good fences, and everything per- 
tainino- to a well regulated farm. In his 
youth he did not have the advantages for an 
education except a few weeks in the winter, 
and some winters, not at all ; but Mr. Leach 
is a persistent reader of the newspapers. 



^■: 



'ii 



780 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



keeping his mind well stored with useful 
knowledge. 

C. A. -MILLER, jeweler; Do Graff; was born 
in Bellofoiitaine, Ohio, in 1858; his father, 
^Yilliaul Miller, is still living in Bellefontaine. 
During the late war, he was employed in the 
quartermaster's department in the State of 
Kentucky, at Lexington, and young Miller 
was with him, being then but a child. In 
1868-Clt, Mr. Miller was in EvansviUe, 
Ind., I)ut soon returued to Hellefoiitaino; Ije- 
ing a jeweler by profession, his son had a nat- 
ural taste for that line of em|iloynieiit, and 
when the father returned to the latter |)lace, 
he coniineJiC'Ml working with him ; here he 
rcinaineil till 18^8, when he came to l)e Graff 
to engage in business for himself. His line 
of gootls is far more complete than would be 
expected in a place of its size, while his ex- 
perience and native tact enable him to do 
anything in his line in the way of repairing 
or manufacturing. 

L. M( ALK.KANDEll, lumberman; De 
Graff; was born in Adams Tp., of Cham- 
paign Co., ()., F<!l). -24, 184:i; his father, David 
McAlexander, was also born in that county, 
while his gramllathcr, .lolm Mc.VIexander, 
who was a soldier in the War of the Revolu- 
tion, was a native of Virginia; the ancestry 
on the ))aternal side is Scotch, while the ma- 
ternal descent is tJerman; his mother, Eliza- 
beth (Idle) .McAlexander, was a daughter of 
Henry Idle, Es(|., who was originally from 
the State of Virginia, ami also partici|)ated in 
the war of the l{evolntion. The McAlexan- 
der family lived for u long tini(> on a farm on 
the line between Harrison and Adams Tps., 
of Champaign ("ounty, and here the subject 
of our sketch passed his minority; upon at- 
taining his majority he hired out to S. H. 
Thatcher as tireman and engineer in the saw- 
milling establishmiMit so long controlled by 
that gentleman, ami renruned for a jieriod of 
years. Jan. 14-, 187"', he married Miss 
Emily Inez Thatcher, daughter of his em- 
ployer, and tiiev have one daughter — Dora 
IJellc Mc.Mexaiider. For three years longer 
he continued in the milling business with the 
Thatcher IJros.; he then purch:ised a farm 
near De Ciraff. which he worked for the fol- 
lowing four years, when an op|)ortunity was 
offered for trading his farm for a third interest 
in the saw and planing mill and lumber yard 



of the Thatcher Bros.; having availed him- 
self of this opportunity, he engaged in this 
business for which his experience so well 
adapted him, and in this occupation we still 
find him. . 

S. K. NEER, Hardware; De Graff; was 
born in Concord Tp., Cham])aign Co., in 1855. 
His father, Jesse Neer, and his mother, Mrs. 
K. (Shriver) Neer, were natives of that county 
though their ancestors were from Virginia. 
His father was a farmer, but when young 
Neer was abcmt 'ik years old the father came 
to De Graff to engage in the milling- business, 
which he followed till his death, which occur- 
ren when .Mr. Neer was but 8 years of 
age. Besides the advantages of the public 
schools he attended the Business College at 
Oberlin one year. On his return he entered 
Farmers' and Merchants' bank, as assistant 
cashier, which position he held for about five 
years. He bought out ]>. H. Cretcher in the 
hardware business in 1875, in which he is 
still engaged. His stock is quite extensive, 
being also of the best (piality. Mr. Neer 
married Miss Kate Fiaiitz, of De Graff, and 
they have two children — Homer and Harry 
Neer. 

PA U L F. PET E H S, flori St ; 1 )e ( ; ra If. Pan 1 
F. Peters was born in the kingdom of Saxony, 
Germauv, .March "25, 1855. His father was a 
florist to Piinz Heinrich, C7th, and from him 
leaiiu'd the art of floral culture. The laws of 
the land demanded two vears of military ser- 
vice, aiul to escape this demand he left for 
Brazil in 1873. Heie he workeil as florist, 
having charge for a year and a half of a large 
garden belonging to Peisher & Co., and after- 
ward about the same length of time for other 
parties, making rose culture a specialty. He 
then came to Cincinnati, t)., where he re- 
mained two years. Next, for seven months 
he had charge of the farm antl flower gardens 
of Kentucky I'riiversity at Lexington, Ky. 
Then for six months was in ])artnership with 
his brother in Cincinnati, growing flowers for 
the general nuirket ol that city. This iiart- 
nersliip bc>ing dissolved he came to De (irafV, 
where he is now engagi-d in his favorite work. 
Having devoted the attention of his past l\fe 
to the work of the florist, he is enabled to 
make of it a grand success. 

DAVID A. PIATT, merchant; Quincy, 
was born near West Liberty, Logan Co., 



MIAMI TOWNSHIP. 



781 



O., Oct. 3, 1844 ; son of David P. Piatt, 
and Sarah (Askren) Piatt. His father 
and motliei- both moved with their parents 
to West Liberty, wlien they were cliildren, 
the father from Eli/abethtown, Lancaster 
Co., Penn., and his mother from Fa- 
yette Co., Penn. The dates of their 
birth beiii^ — the fatiier Aug. 25, 1806, 
mother's, Feb. 12, 1800; they were married 
Nov. I'J, 1829. Mr. David P. Piatt, was a 
member of Kreider Lodge. F. & A. M., and in 
assisting in the care of some member's family, 
contracted the disease of small-pox, of wliich 
he died, Feb. 17, 18li5. He was a farmer for 
sometime in West Liberty Tp.; he however 
traded his farm for property in Quincy, and 
went into the business of store-keeping. He 
held the office of Justice of the Peace, and 
several minor offices. The post office was 
kept in his store from the first of its opening; 
after his death the post office was kept by 
Miss Isabel Piatt until 1877. When David 
A. Piatt was but one year old he came with 
his parents from West Liberty to Quincy, and 
on Nov. 8, 18150, married Miss Rose Anna 
Castenborder ; they now have four children 
living, the names and dates of birth in order 
are — Lulu Belle, Oct. 7, 1867 ; Ora 
Estelle, July 20, 1870 ; David Corwin 
Nov. 3, 1876 ; Princess Joanna, July 28, 
1879. • He commenced keeping store in 
Quincy, March 8, 1873, and as he had only 
the advantages of a common school education, 
he has had to do a large amount of reading 
and stuiJying, to keep pace with his business 
and the times. He entered the late war in 
March, 1862, enlisting under Cap. Nicholas 
Trapp ; and was in the service for three years, 
in the 1st O.VJ. and was in a number of 
battles, always readv for dutv, and came out 
of the many engagements without a wound. 
As a soldier, he aec|uitted himself with honor 
to his comitry. And to-dav we find him in 
coml"ortable circumstances, keejiing a store 
well stocked with goods pertaining to a first- 
class grocery, a mendier of l.O.O.F., Lodge 
No. 285, also a member of the Baptist ("hurch: 
he is not satisfied with being a member only 
in name, but carries it into his business, and 
adheres to the aolden rule. 

GEO. G. POOL, farmer; P. O., De Graff. 
Mr. Geo. G. Pool was born in Shelby Co., O.. 
one mile north of Sidney, May 13, 1827, son 



of Rev. Geo. Pool and Mercy (Wilkinson) 
Pool. Rev. Mr. Pool came to Ohio about the 
year 1812, and was drafted about as soon as 
he arrived here, Mrs. Pool coming with her 
parents when she was but a child, and settling 
near LTrbana, Shelby Co., O. They were mar- 
ried Sept. 8, 1814. G. G. Pool was married 
to Miss Chloe McKinnon in 1850 and settled 
in Logan Co. She was born in Clark Co., and 
came to Logan in Marcli, 1836. To this couple 
were given — Daniel H. (deceased), G. W., 
Marv J., Thos. W. (deceased), Emma, J. W., 
Alfre<l C. (deceased), and an infant, which 
died in its infancy. G. W. Pool was married 
to MissOma Glick in July, 18;5. Miss Mary J. 
was married to W. F. Hamer, and now resides 
in Logan Co., O., only two of the children 
having married up to the present time. After 
Mr. Pool was married he rented a farm for one 
year, and then cleared up a farm of 80 acres 
in Logan Co., on which he lived for thirteen 
years; he then came to his present farm of 157 
acres in 1864. He was raised on a farm and 
had the usual advantages of a farmer's lad, 
which, in the days of his youth, were not 
great. Notwithstanding these limited privi- 
leges, he has been a member of the School 
Board for fifteen years, and, und rstanding 
the value of an education, has given his family 
a better one than he had, so that all but two 
of his children now living have taught school 
for several terms. 

D. W. RICHARDSON, M. D., physician : 
De Graff; was born in Shelby Co., O., May 4, 
1830. His father, Snow RiciiardsoT, was a 
native of the State of New Hampshire, while 
his mother, Mary (McCane) Richardson, was 
born in the State of Kentucky ; both were 
born in the year 1800. The maternal descent 
is Scotch-Irish, while the paternal ancestry 
dates back to 163'.', in New England. His 
father was a farmer and preached occasional- 
ly for the Christian Chinch. Dr. Richardson 
passed his minority on his father's farm, but 
arriving at his majority his father moved to 
Yellow .Springs, ()., the seat of Antioch Col- 
lege, under the c:ontrol of the Christian de- 
nomination. He obtained the advantages of 
this institution. Here he remained till the 
breaking out of the rebellion, when the doc- 
tor enlisted in the 1st Kentucky Regiment. In 
this he served nine months, then in 1862 he 
again enlisted, this time into the 110th O. V. 



783 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



I., Army of tlie Potomac, and besides other 
(.)ijra<rements was iu the battlers of Gettys- 
biirj^, Mine Run, Wihlerness, Spottsj'lvania 
Court House, Coal Harbor, Petersburg and 
Kicinuond. Sailors' Creek (where they cap- 
tured Kwing's corps) and was present at the 
surrender of Lee, A))ril 9, 1805. He was 
mustered out as 1st Lieutenant in the month 
of June of that year. Lnmediately upon his 
return he completed his medical studies, bo- 
gun before his war experience, studying 
with Dr. W^atson, of Bellefontaine. He took 
two courses of lectures at Ohio Medical 
College, ill Cincinnati, graduating March 1, 
1808. He first settled in Logansville, Logan 
Co., t)., where he remained nine years; then 
removeil to De (J rail', where he is still en- 
gaged in his chosen profession. Oct. 20, 1808, 
lie married Miss Mary F. Bowdle, of Picjua, 
Miami Co., O. They have two cliildren — 
-Maude and llarrv C. Richardson. Mrs. 
Richardson died Sept. 2-2, 1877. .March lx>, 
187'.), he again married Miss Elizabeth R. 
Anstine and thev have one son. 

JOHN F. RKXER, oabinot-maker^ De 
Gratl"; was born in 1834, in Wurtemburg, 
Germaiiv; his father, Geo. F. Rexer, diedin 
Germany, while his mother, .Mary .Iane(Slioii- 
har) Rexer, is still living, dividing her lime 
among her three children, Mr. Rexer, a brother 
ill Mellefoiitaine, and a sister ill Dayton; Mr. 
Rexer came to America with his brother in 
1854, and after a brief stay in Xe\y York 
came direct to IJellen laiiie, ().; he had 
learned the cabinet-maker's trade in Ger- 
many, and to this he turned his attention 
part of the time, and part of the time was 
house-carpenter, during the year spent at 
Hellefontaine and the lollowing ten years at 
IJrbana, Champaign Co.; he then moved to 
De Gralf, where he has since remained em- 
ploying his time whcilly in the cabinet- 
maker's trafle and in undertaking; he has 
constantly on ham! a full line of furniture, 
whih- his long experience renders him coni- 
jietent to manufacture anything in his line 
to suit the taste of hiscuslumers. .Mr. Rexer 
married, in the spiiiig of 1801, .Miss Jane 
.Moony, of I'riiana, who jiassed the first of 
hc-r lifi! till 15 years of age in Ireland. Tliej- 
have five chililren — three boys and twogirls — 
whi>se iinnies and ag.-s are as follows — John 
F., Jr., IS years; lizzie, M visirs; Charles, 



13 years; William, 11 y<'ars, and Ella, 4 years 
of age. 

C. L. ROCJERS, carriage-maker; De (iralF. 
I C. L. R<igers was born in Adilisoii, Champaign 
I Co., O., in 184(1. His father, Chas. Rogers, 
I and his motber, Jane (Chamberlain) Rogers. 
j were, in early life, residents of Mt. llollv, 
I N. .1., but settled in Champaign Co., O., in 
1829. The elder Rogers was a can iage-maker 
by t^'adc. and from him the young Roiiers 
learned his ti-ade. At the age of 1!) he had a 
severe attack of the "gold IVver,"' which drove 
him to Denver and the ])laiiis in search of 
"yellow dust," but at the end of si.x montlis 
the fever abated, and he returned to Ohio. 
In 1801 he resiKMided to the first call for vol- 
unteers, enlisting in the 2iid ( ). Y. ]., which 
became part of the Army of the Cumbi riand, 
under Gen. Mitchell. Resides several minor 
engagements, lie was in the battle of Perry- 
ville. wh(»re 27 of his own company were 
killed in fift<'eii minutes; also Stone River, 
Chickamauga, L(K)kout Mountain. .Mission 
Ridge, Taylor Ri<lge and Resaca. He passed 
through mon,' than three years of active ser- 
vice and never receiveil so much as a scratch, 
nor failed to respond to the call of duty for a 
siiigli^ day. He was iiiustered out Oct. Hi, 
1804. After the war he returneil to Addison, 
Champaign Co., engaging in his former avo- 
cation. In 1800 ho came to De GratV, where 
he started a large establisliment. On .April 
1, 1S07, he married .Miss l-'liza .McCrea, of 
(_'hampaigu Co., who died .lune 2li. ISTti. She 
left him one daughter — .Vda Helle, now 10 
years of age. .Mr. Rogers again married in 
May, 1877, to .Miss .Mary E. Briggs, of De 
Grafi". They have one son — Charles Rogers. 
Mr. Rog(irs' business is carrijige-inakiiig. the 
lighter class of work, and, besides repair work, 
he is able to turn out a score or more ever}' 
year, carriages of any style to suit the taste of 
the most fastidious. 

THO.MAS J. S.MITH, merchant; De- 
Graff. Thomas J. Smith was born April 1, 
1843 ; when only 4 years of age his father 
moved to Washington Tp., Logan Co., and 
settled on a farm. In 1S5() he moved to 
Logansville ; four years later he moved to 
De GratV, to engage in the practice of law; 
here Mr. Thomas Smith has since resided. 
At 10 years of age he engaged as dcrk 
ill the dry goods establishment of Russell li 



MIAMI TOWNSHIP. 



783 



Soil. Two years later lie enlisted into the 
loth U. S. Infantry, which did military ser- 
vice with the Army of the Cumberland ; 
while he was in several minor engagements 
he was also in those most severe struggles of 
the war — Chickamauga, Stone River and 
Shiloh. At Chickamauga, he was thrice 
wounded, once so severely as to prevent 
further active service. The remainder of the 
time he w.as in the service of his country, was 
employed as recruiting officer. In the month 
of August, 1864, he was mustered out, a pen- 
sioner upon the bounty of the country he 
served so i'aithfully. He now returned to 
De Graft" and immediatelj'^ engaged in the 
boot and shoe business, in which line of mer- 
cantile life he is still engaged. In the month 
of December of the same year he married 
Miss Sarah K. Koogler whose early home was 
in De Graff ; they have three children — 
Anna Luelhi, Thomas Roy and John 1., 
respectively, 10, .5 and 'i years of age. Be- 
sides his inisiness he had charge of the Post- 
( )ffice for twelve years following his return 
from the war. His business is now confined 
strictly to the boot and shoe trade, carrying a 
large and well selected stock. 

N. V. SPEECE, doctor; Quincy. Dr. 
N. V. Speece, was born in Champaign 
(Jo., in 183ts ; son of William Speece, 
and Miss Eleanor (Tilbury) Speece. Mr. 
Win. Speece was born in Bath Co., Va., 
in ISIO, and settled in the western part of 
Chumpaign Co., in 182"2, and died in 1870. 
Miss Eleanor Tilbury, was born in New York, 
near Syracuse. Dr. Speece lal)ored on a farm 
during his early life, until he commenced 
keepino- school at the age of 17, and eon- 
tinu(^d in that vocation for eight years. Dur- 
ing this time his attention was turned to the 
study of meilicine, and, while teaching, 
occupied his spare moments, reading books, 
preparatory to the study and practice of that 
important profession ; he took two courses 
at Cincinatti, and commenced practice in 
Quiiu V, Logan Co., O., in '65 ; after being in 
practice for two years, he took a course at 
Starling College, Columbus, Ohio, and grad- 
uated in 1868. He received a larg-e amount 
ot his experience in the late war, lascing, how- 
ever, only for a short time, but the six months' 
time spent in that school was of lasting 
benefit. Dr. Speece was married to Miss 



Mary E. Stevens of Champaign Co., in 
Urbana, Dec. 24, 1862 ; thc\' have two sons — 
Win. C. and Talmon H. Dr. Speece was the 
only (me of the Speece family that possessed 
fondness for books, or tof)k to any one of the 
professions for support ; all remained on the 
farm. After comiuencing in his practice he 
advanced rapidly, so that now he stands 
among those that rank first in the profession ; 
notwithstanding, the fact of his starting with- 
out assistance. His residence is located in 
the northwest part of the town, a fine, 
pleasant, and agreeable locality. Dr. Speece 
joined the M. E. Church in 1868, and has since 
been an earnest worker in the cause of 
religion. 

D. S. SPELLMAN, lawyer; De Graff; 
was born Aug. 27, 1837, in Miami Tp., Logan 
Co., O.; his lather, Jeremiah Spellman, anil 
his mother, Mary Ann (Strayer) Spellman, 
came to (Jhioand settled within the township 
about the j'ear 1830; on th,i 4th of Ajiril, 
1861, Dan. S. married Miss Nancj' Lippin- 
cott, then of Chaiiijiaign Co.; tluur family is 
as lollovv's — May, Harry, Emma Bertha, Clara 
Estella, Jerry Claude and Wendell; of these 
Harry died when but 2 years old. Mr. 
Si)ellman studied law and was admitted to 
the bar by the District Court of Ohio, which 
convened at Cleveland, June 28, 1861; about 
a year later, Auo;. 9, 1862, he enlisted in the 
99th O. V. I.; his regiment became part of 
the Army of the Ciimberlaiid, and with it he 
passed through Perrvville, Chickamauga, and 
several minor engagenieiits; in Dec. '63, he 
was appointed commissariat of his regiment, 
and held this position till the close of the 
war; after his war experience he taught 
school one winter; then he took charge of a 
farm for two years; in the month of Aug. 
1868, he was elected Justice of the Peace, 
and soon settled in the village of De Graff; 
besides his legal business he added the work 
of an auctioneer, for which he seems especially 
adapted by nature and in which he has had 
remarkalile success ever since. In 1870 
he started the De Graff Sanner, the first 
paper ever published in this town; afterward 
sold out and moved to Bellefontaine and 
made specialty of auctioneering; his exper- 
ience in this direction is varied and full 
of incident. He retuined to De Graff in 
May, 187;; in March, 1879, he started 






784 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



the De Graff Buckeye, as a rival to 
the Banner; he soon bought out the latter, 
office ami all, conscilidated the two and has 
since published under the former name. He 
has succeeded in ])ublishing a weekly paper 
containing- political news without its being 
possible to discover which side of political 
lines the editor stands, and himself holding 
strong, clearly-ilefincd political sentiments. 
His friends wished him to hold the office of 
Justice of the IVacc, which he had formerly, 
and all jiarties unite^l so that he was elected 
by the unanimous voice of the ])eo])Ie; his 
worst enemy is his ijberality; doing bu.siness 
for everybody too often without recompense; 
a friend to whom all in trouble turn for 
counsel and advice. 

y. H. TH.\TCHER, lumber-dealer; Do 
Graff; was born in the State of Virginia, July 
'la, l&'iO. His i)areut-s, Alisalom Thatcher 
and Isabella (Hedges) Thatcher, were both 
natives of Virginia, while the remote ances- 
try WHS German. His father was a farmer 
till he came to Ohio in 18;il, when he settled 
in Greene Co., and conunenced running a 
saw-mill. The following year was marked by 
two j)henomena : the cholera and a mete- 
oric shower — both of wliicli made a vivid im- 
pression upon young Thatcher, then but )5 
years of age. From his father he learned 
the business which has engaged his attention 
all iiis years — a veteran in a business which he 
has made a success and which luis gained for 
him a comjjetency. He is an illustration of 
the wisdom of the proverb, " Let the shoe- 
maker stick to his last I" beginning in 
(Jreene Co., he moved to Clark Co., remaining 
five years; thence to Chainpiiign ("o., remain- 
ing about tifteen years. At last, ill 1S70, he 
settled in De tJralT, where he now resides and 
with his brother is opi-rating a large and 
flourishing establishment. The business in- 
cludes a lumber yard together with a sawing 
and planing mill, operated by steam power. 
.Mr. 'i'lialihiT married, Dec. 13, ISot), Miss 
Mary K. W'alki-r, in Clark Co. They have 
had twelve children, though but live are still 
living — Oscar, who married Clarissa Ford, 
of CliiiMipaign Co., and now living in De GralV; 
Bell.-, the wil'eol .lohn P. Crockett, of West 
Liberty; Kniily Inez, the wife of L. McAlex- 
ander, in partnership with Thatcher Bros, in 
till' lumber business; .li>liii Wesley, "who 



will attain his majority in time to vote for 
Garfield; " and Lloyd, now 7 years of age. 
Mr. Thatcher has been a member of the M. 
E. Church for !J3 years. In l.SiO' his hearing 
became impaired; an official member. Trus- 
tee, class-leader, steward, Sunday School sup- 
erintendent and exhorler. 

H. C. TH.VTCHKi;, lumberman; De Graff. 
H. C. Thatcher was born in Greene Co., O., 
Oct. 9, 1843. When but 7 years ol age 
he came with his parents to Champaign Co., 
where he resided until Feb., 1877, when he 
came to De Graff to join his brother in run- 
ning a saw and planing mill and lumberyard. 
The most eventful part of his life was the 
three years spent in the service of his couji- 
try. In May, 18G1, he enlistee! in Company 
H, of the old Gth O. V. \. The regiuiciit was 
referred to Buell's Command, Nelson's Divi- 
sion, Ammon's Brigade, and was in the en- 
gagements at Laurel Hill and Carrack's Ford; 
then for several months was engagi'd in a 
guerilla warfare, in which there were «piite a 
luiniber of battles — Uich .Mountain, Beverly, 
Tigris Mountain and Clu-at Moiuitain. At 
Tigris Mountain he was one of tlie picket 
guard who fired on Gen. 1{. E. Lee and Col. 
.John A. Washington when the tormer was 
wounded and the latter killed, and his remains 
brought within the Union lines. In Novem- 
ber of that year he, witii his regiment, again 
joined Buell sCommaml. During the follow- 
ing winter ho contracted the measles, and was 
sent to the hospital; the disease left him luifit 
for duty, and in July, 18(i'-2, he was discharged 
from service. In March, 18()4, his health re- 
gained, he again enlisted, this time into the 
tJOth O. V. L, a regiment of veterans, and 
belonged to Company G. He joined his reg- 
iment at Bridgeport, Ala., .\pril 1, and was, 
with his regiment, under Shcrnwin thiough his 
most glorious career — that "■march to the si-a,"' 
and "on to Richmond, ' and the grand review 
at Washington, when mustereil out;, July 
15, 18(15 — a cam]iaign which every soldier 
who took part in it is jiroud to recall. He 
was thro\igh this entire campaign, and, a.s it 
hap|)ened, was among the first men to enter 
Atlanta and Savannah. In all his army ex- 
perience he never received a scratch, though 
in .some of the severest fighting of the war. 
.Mr. Thatcher was married July 'i, 18ti8, to 
Miss I'hidella McCrosky, of Champargn Co. 



ivy 



MIAMI TOWNSHIP. 



785 



They have had six chiklren, though two died 
in itil'aiiey, while four sons are still living — 
Edwin, Aria, John Wesley and Samuel Her- 
bert — lour to tight or vote lor the weal of 
their country. Mr. Thatcher was bereft of 
his wife Aprd 10, 1880 — "the hardest blow of 
his life." He has been a member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church since February, 1864, 
most of the time in an official capacity, serv- 
ing as steward and class-leader. At present 
he is a member of the Town Council of De 
Graff. 

A. WELLER, druggist ; De Graff. A. 
AVeller was born Jan. 15, 1833, in Augusta 
Co., Va.; his remote ancestry was Ger- 
man ; his fatlu'r, .John Weller, was a native 
of Virginia, tlioug'h in 1837, when young Wel- 
ler was only 4 years of age, he moved to 
Ohio, bringing with liim a wife and three 
children, and settled on a farm in Cliam]);iign 
Co. It was on the farm that Mr. Weller 
passed his youth ; when he arrived at IS 
years of ag-e he went to school, at Tiffin, thence 
to Springfield, altogether about two years, 
when his health prevented further study. He 
then engaged in the drug business, in St. 
Paris, Champaign Co., for one year, when he 
again returned to the farm. At length, in the 
fall of 18(jl, he came to De Graff, Logan Co., 
and again engaged in the drug business ; 
here he has since made his home and this 
business has always engaged his attention 
with the exception of a brief interval passed 
in'the grain trade. Mr. Weller was married 
in 1857 to Miss Ellen Partington, whose earlv 
home was in Sheliiy Co., O. The}' have five 
children — Charles, 18 years of age ; John, 16 ; 
Nellie, 14 ; Fannie, 1'^ ; and Jose])h, 6 years 
of age. During the war Mr. Weller had 
charge of the post office in De Graff. He 
has been Treasurer of the Corporation, and at 
the present writing is Land Assessor, of 
Miami Tp., for the decennial appraisement for 
1880. His business is large and flourishing, 
including besides drugs, books and notions, 
paints, oils, etc.; he is also proprietor of 
" Weller's Hall," fitted up for dramatic repre- 



sentations, commodious and attractive, and 
generally acknowledged as the finest in the 
countv. 

R. t. YOUNGMAN, merchant; De Graff; 
was born Nov. 20, 1818, in Baltimore, Md.; 
his father was a native of Canada though the 
paternal ancestry was German. Mr. Young- 
man's youth was passed with his parents in 
Baltimore where he learned, through regular 
apprenticeship, the handling of the goose 
and shears; when about 32 years of age he 
went to Berkley S])rings, Morgan Co., Va., 
to engage in the work of the tailor; here he 
remained about two years, when he came to 
Ohio and settled in Logansville, Logaii Co., 
where he made his home for near a quarter of 
a century; at first he was employed as tailor, 
then as merchant tailor, and as time passed 
he was able to enlarge his business still 
further; in 1852 he commenced merchandiz- 
ing and has continued ever since, though 
about 1868 he changed his business to De 
Graff, where he also resides; his establish- 
I ment is large, well-appointed, with a well- 
assorted stock of dry goods and clothing. 
At Berkley Springs Mr. Youngnian married. 
May, 1842, Miss Susan Ambrose, whose earlv 
home was in the near vicinity; they had 
three children — Harriet L., the wife of Mr. 
Peter Hanks, now residing in Pleasant Tp.; 
William M., who married Miss Marietta 
Huling, and now living in Marion, Ind.; 
David T., married Miss Mollie Fairfield, of 
New Castle, Ind., and is now living in Belle- 
fontainr ; when Diuid T. Youngman was an 
infant his mother died; Mr. Youngman mar- 
ried, Aug. 20, 1850, Sarah Keifer, whose early 
home was near Springfield, Clark Co. O; 
their family is as follows — Mary Ellen, born 
Jan. 14, 1852; Annie Margaret, Dec. 6. 
1853; Horace N., Sept. 2l, 1856; Es- 
telle E., July 27, 1858; Minerva I., 
April 10, 1862; of these Annie is married to 
Wm. P. Marion, ass't editor of the J>vmorr((( 
at Kenton; and all the family are members 
of the M. E. Church. 



786 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



UNION TOWNSHIP. 



SA.MIKI. AT-EXANDKI?, taniMT; W ()., 
^V^!St LiljiTty ; was born SeptcMiiher 16, lS-^5, 
in Juniata Co., Penn.; iiis lather, Wil- 
liam and his mother Elizaiieth (.Mc Gee) 
Alexander came t<j this county in the spring 
of 1838, witli their family of nine children — 
John, William, Elizabeth, Samuel, Mary J., 
Georaje, Martha, Louisa and David. George 
and William are both in Illinois ; David 
went to I/abette Co., Kan.; all the others 
reside in this .State. Ilis j)arents still live in 
Zane T])., this county ; his father at the ad- 
vanced age of 87 years and his mother 80 
years. Mr. Alexander was nuirried to Mis, 
Sarah Jane; .Manjuis, Nov. 1, 184!) ; she 
was born August "•i-t, 1828, in Knox Co., O.; 
her parents moved into Logan Co., when she 
was quite young and remained there some 
years, but subsequently moved to .Montgomery 
Co., where they still reside, Ium- father at the 
advanced age of 77 years and her mother 
something less ; they had eight children, three 
died in childhood, the surviving ones except 
Mrs. Alexander, reside in Dayton, O. Mr. and 
Mr-, .\lexander have no children, but adopted 
a little .") year old girl — P]lla .M. Wilson — who 
was brought from New York by her father ; 
shortly afterwards he died leaving her with- 
out anv relatives ; but she found in her foster- 
parents all that natural parents eould be ; she 
was inatrii'd lo Charles De l^ette, and both 
now reside in Girard, Kan., where they are 
prospering nicely. During the late rebellion 
Mr. Alexand(!r was drafted, but with others 
paid the assessment to clear their township. 
For till' last thirty years Mr. ami .Mrs. Alexan- 
der have been members of tin; I'resbyterian 
Church at West Liberty ; they have 8l}:j acres 
under good improvements with good build- 
ings, all procured by his own and his noble 
wife's industry. 

LEVI Z. iiVLER, farmer; P.O., West 
Liberty; was born Sept. 24, 1^44, in .luniata 
Co., Pi-ini., and came here with his pariMits — 
John anil Fannie (Zook) Byler, whose sketch 
appears in this work. When 21 vears of age, 



Levi liegan to work at homo bv the month, 
which he continued to do until 1S^4 : and on 
Jan. l(i, of that year, he started for Missouri, 
and took a tour through that as well as tlu' 
states of Kansas, lo\>a, Illinois, besides spend- 
ing a short time in Michigan and Indiana ; 
he then returned to his father's in this county 
March 24, 1875, and one year later he went 
to Wayne Co., where he worked about a 
year; in the fall of 187G he visited the Cen- 
teiniial Exhiliition, and returned to Wayne 
Co., where he married Hariiet Voder, Jan. 
30, 1877; she was born March 29, IS.iS, in 
La Grange Co., Iiid.; is the daughter of 
Israel Voder, who was born Aug. 7, 1)S17, in 
Tuscarawas Co., ()., (and moved to Indiana, but 
returneil to ( )hio. settling in AVaync Co., in 
18li:i) ; Mrs. Voder's maiden name was Fainiie 
Voder; she was born .Inly 1.5, 182.") ; they 
were married June o, 184."), and had ten 
children — Yost, born May 23, 184'.t ; Rachel, 
Dec. 3, 1851 ; Ei)hraim, July 28. 1854 : .Mag- 
dalene, (deceased) Aug. 37, 185(3 ; Harriet, 
March 2'J, 1858 ; Leah, Nov. 29, 18(J0; Atina, 
Jan. 21, 1S()3 ; Abner (deceased) March 3, 
1804; Lucy Ann, Sept. 18, 18G5 ; Rudolph, 
Dec. 5. 18(j7. In a few weeks after marriage 
Mr. Hvler and his wife moved to this county, 
Feb. 19, 1877; they lived orie year in Cham- 
paign Co., and the rest of the time in Logan 
Co. He is now a tenant on tlie ".loci Zook " 
farm. .Mr. and Mrs. Byler are members of 
the \\'alnut tJrove Orniish Church in this 
township. 

JOII.N" H\LEI! (.h'ceased); \\'<>i Lib- 
erty; was born in .Milllin Co., I'enn., Oct. 
23, 1809; he was reared to farm life, and 
lived will] his parents until 21 years of age, 
ami, being the eldest of a family of twelve 
children — nine boys and three girls — ho had 
to tlo for himself soon as he was of age; Ik; 
began to work by the month on a farm, and 
spent five years, working by the month, with 
several ))arties. His marriauH^ was <'elel)rated in 
Janiuirv, 1^311, with Miss Fannie Zook. She 
was a ilaughter of Joseph Zook, and a native 



UNION TOWNSHIP. 



787 



of tlie same county as her husband, and was 
born Jan. 22, 1813. Shortly after their mar- 
riage they moved onto a farm of his father- 
in-law's, in .luniata Co., Tuscarora Valley, 
where they lived thirteen years. They then 
moved back to Mifflin Co., and lived with her 
father two years, and in the spring of 1852 
Mr. B\-ler came out to this county and bought 
a farm, and then I'eturned to Pennsylvania 
and ])ri'])arod lor moving out here. Accord- 
iiigU' tliey started with their family of seven 
children, and arrived here in Aug., 1852; 
that fall and winter they passed in a house 
west of where they now reside, and moved to 
their own farm in the spring of 1853. Their 
children were all born in Pennsylvania; 
Christopher was born Jan. 2, 1837, and died 
here Oct. 30, 1860; Martha was married to 
Daniel ^Toder; she died, leaving two children 
— Christopher and John; next were Joseph, 
Levi, Mary, Fannie and John. Joseph and 
Levi are both married, the former living on 
oart o'' the estate in this township; Mary and 
fohn are still living with their mother on the 
old homestead; Fannie married Christoiiher 
King, and resides on her part of the old 
iiomestcad; they have five children — Mary 
A., Sarah B., Andrew, Shem and a baby. Mr. 
Byler owned, at the time of his death, 317 
acres of well-improved land, whereon he had 
good home, at which he died June 9, 1875. 
Mrs. Byler is healthy and young looking for 
oni! of her ago, who has done so much hard 
work in her early life; is both hospitable and 
pleasant, and is very capable of attending to 
her own business affairs. The family belong 
to the "Walnut Grove" (3rmish Church. 

.fOSEPH C. BYLFR, farmer; P. O., West 
Libertv; was born Oct. 19, 1841, in Mifflin 
Co., Penn. He is the son of John and 
Fannie (Zook) Byler, whose sketch appears 
lU this work. He came here with his parents 
in 1852, and lived with tiiem until 28 
years of age. He then married Sarah 
E. Stutzman, Feb. 28, 1870. She was born 
May 25, 1851, in Fairfield Co., Ohio, but 
came here in 1809, then returned to her home 
in Fairfield Co., where they were married; 
shortly after their marriage they moved to 
the farm where they are now residing. Mrs. 
Byler's pare nts, Solomon S. and Lydia (Byler) 
Stut/man, were natives of Pennsylvania, and 
moved from Mifflin Co. into Fairfield Co., O., 



where they were married and remained until 
1876, when they moved to Champaign Co. 
They had been there only a few months when 
Mr. Stutzman died, leaving his wife, one boy 
and girl; of their family ot eight children only 
those two and Mrs. Byler survive. Both Mr. 
and Mrs. Byler are members of the South 
Union Ormish Church. 

DAVID CULP, farmer; P. O.. Bellefont- 
aine; was born S pt. 30, 1813, in Rocking- 
ham Co., Va.; hig lather (Henry Culp ) was a 
miller by trade, and moved to Virginia when 
young-; there he married Frances Funk; they 
had eleven children and were in rather poor 
circumstances; in the spring of 1830 ho 
thought of emigrating to the West, so he 
started out on horseback to find a location, and 
came into this township, and entered 40 acres 
in the west side of the township in the ' fal- 
len timber" district, and began preparations lor 
the family moving thither; in 1831 his family, 
one son-in-law ( Sam Clator), a vi^idowed daugh- 
ter and her three children, about fourteen or 
fifteen persons in all, set out from Virginia with 
a three-horse team (and poor ones, too), and 
one wao-on; they arrived here in the fall and 
put up in the cabin which had been prepared 
lor them; two sons — Jacolj and Joseph, fol- 
lowed the next year. They improved the 40 
acres of Government land which they had 
entered, and got along nicely in the new 
country, until death called their father from 
further cares in 1838; and soon each one be- 
gan to do for themselves; their mother died 
in Fairfield Co., in 1845, where she had gone 
to visit relatives' David is now the only one 
of the family who resides in this county; he 
worked by the month for some time in the 
vicinity of his early home, and on Oct. 16, 
1841, he married Catharine, daughter of 
Fredrick Mohr; he then purchased 50 acres 
m the south of this township, which he im- 
proved and lived upon for sixteen years; and 
in 1857 he sold that and bought the farm of 
160 acres where he now resid. s and on which 
he replaced the old log-cal)in by erecting a 
good, two-story brick residence; they have 
had ten children who are now nearly all do- 
ing for themselves — Frederick in iMissouri, 
George in this state, Jolm in Missouri, Chris- 
topher in this state, Joseph (deceased), Aaron 
in Missouri, Mary, now Mrs. John D. Keller, 
Martha A., now Mrs. Jas. E. Bosserman, of 



^FU 



.f 



788 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



Missouri, Franklin and Andrew wlio live at 
home with their parents. .Mrs. Culp was 
boin in Lancaster Co., Penn., Dec. 'iii, ISi'i, 
and came hero with her lather's t'aniily. 
Mr. iiMil .Mrs. Culp are niemljers of the (Jer- 
mHii Biptist Church in this lownsliip. 

JOSKPH HAKiy.l,l';i{, larnier; T. O., 
West Liberty ; was born in .Milllin Co., Penn., 
March 'i7, IH'i'i ; lie is thi; tentii in a iamily of 
twelve children ; the elder ones of the fatnily 
were willed the real estate by his father, while 
the youiij^er ones were paid in cash whatever 
their portion amounted to ; Joseph receiving 
as his share about ^1.800. liavinj^ been 
roared to farm life, he hired out to work by 
the month when 19 years of age, and remain- 
ed in his native State working by the month, 
four years ; when 'i'i years ol age he came to 
Cliaiiipaign Co., O., where he worked one and 
a half years, receiving as wages §15 per 
month. He then came to Logan Co., where 
he married M.iriha Voder, Nov. 17, 1859 ; 
she was born in Pennsylvania, JJec. 12, 1838, 
and came here witli her father's family when 
about 9 years old. They have two children — 
Amos Y.,and Lvilia B. About three years after 
thej' wert! mariied ihey purchased forty-five 
acres of the farm they now own, and in 18(50 
they purchased eighty acres, aggregating 125 
acres, all well improved, and is one oi' the 
commodious farms of this township on which 
the owners are prepared to enjoy the fruits of 
their early industry. They are both members 
of the Ormisli Church anil have been for 
miiiy years, Mr. llartzler having joined the 
church when he was yet in Pennsylvania. 
His parents were born in Pi-tnisylvania, but 
of Gennan descent ; his tnothi'r is still living 
thereat the advanced age of 8i years; he 
has also six brothers and three sisters still re- 
siding in Milllin ("o., Pi-nn. 

HKXliV HORN, fa.mer; P. ()., Bellefon- 
taine; was born Fel). 11, 1825, in Preble C'o., 
().; he is the son of .Fohn and Xancy (Sheets) 
Horn, who were natives of Virginia, where 
lliey were married, and moved to Ohio in 
1813; they located in Preble Co., and lived 
there about lilleeii years; then moved to this 
county, and settled one mile north of Belle- 
fontaine in 1X28. Mr. Horn worked at home 
until he was of age, and on .Inly 14, 1840, he 
married Mary Laney. Thev have five chil- 
drt'n livmg — .loseph S., .Inroli H., .lohn (1., 



Luther, and Maggie E. Mrs. Horn was born 
in Pennsylvania, April 9, 1824, and came with 
her father's family, who settled in Harrison 
Tp., this county, in 1831; she is now the only 
survivor of a family of five girls, who came 
here with their parents. When .Mr. Horn was 
mariied he lived a few vears on the farm of 
his father-in-law (Simpson Lnney) in Harri- 
son Tp., and afterwards he ]>urchased it of the 
Laney heirs, and sul)se(iuently he purchased 
the farm where he now lives, and came to 
reside on it in 1871. Kveiything moved along 
quietly and prosperously until Oct. 22, 1875, 
when they sustained a heavy loss by having 
their house and all its contents consumed by 
fire, and without even the com])ensation 
of insurance; they set aI)out rebuilding, 
and the following summer they completed a 
two-story frame dwelling, with "observatory," 
and is, witliout exception, in every part of e.\- 
cell(!nt finish, at a cost of i!!3,5()li, besides all 
labor of thiMiisilves and teams; they now own 
321 acres in the vicinity of the new resilience 
and 10(1 acres in Harrison Tp., where his son 
resides, all well improved. In all these cir- 
cumstances, and the present smnunnlings, it 
is ])lainly si^en that honest industry and econ- 
omy have been ruling characteristics, when 
they, who br-gan ])Oor in finance a few years 
ago, now rank among the wealthy farmers of 
this township, and are well prej)ared to enjoy 
the fruits of their labor. He is serving his 
second term as Township Trustee. 'J'heir son, 
.Jacob, went to Kansas, where he nnirried and 
is now residiii-r. 

REV. .lOlIX P. KING, retired farmer 
and minister ; P. O., West Liberty ; was 
born .Ian. 29, 1827, in .Mdllin Co., Penn. ; he 
is of a family of seven children — four boys 
and three girls ; their mother died when Mr. 
King was 3 years old ; but he remained 
on the farm, at home, until the last ])arental 
tie was severed by death, .Ian. 5, 1847. 
lininediately after his father's death (in 1847) 
he hired out to do farm work in their own 
neighborhood ; here he remained for a yearor 
more, when he conceived the idea that the 
chances, for a young man of industrious habits 
and no means, were much better, in the less 
po])ulous West, than they were in his native 
place. With a determination to su(;ceed, he 
turned his back on all that was dear to him, 
in youth, and set out for this State arriving 



T 



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tln^ 



UNION TOWNSHIP. 



789 



si 



in Logan Co., March 2, 1840, a poor, but, 
sober and industrious young man. He has 
resided in this county ever since, with the 
exception of a short time spent in Cham- 
paign Co. His marriage was celebrated 
with Rebecca Trover, Oct. 28, 18.50 ; (she was 
born Sei)t. 28, IS^iO in Hobnes Co., O., and 
came with her father's family to Champaign 
Co., in 1849). They have six children — 
Levi T., Christian M., .John J., Lydia E., 
Ezra and Re])ecca ; they are all married 
except Ezra and Rebecca, who reside with 
their parents, and on whom the farm duties 
devolve. Mr. King was ordained as an 
Ormish Mennonite minister, in Champaign 
Co., this State, in 1859, and in 1872, he was ad- 
vanced by the church and given special charge 
over the Ormish Mennonite Congregation, 
whose church is about one mile north of West 
Liberty. According to the tenets of their 
faith, ministers are not clothed with the power 
to administer the ordinances of their church 
when ordained, until they have been consid- 
ered worthy of advancement, when special 
power is conferred by a conference of Bishops. 
In 1872 such power was conferred on Mr. 
King, since which time he has traveled ex- 
tensively in connection with the interests of 
the church ; his circuit embracing the states 
of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, 
Missouri, and Kansas. He has assisted in the 
organization of many congregations ; and is 
frequently summoned to perform the various 
ordinances of the church in the hIxivc named 
states. To those best acquainted with Mr. 
King, is best known his moral worth, lioth as 
citizen and minister, who began his career 
here, as a poor hired boy ; now we find him 
enjoying the confidence and respect of those 
with whom he has done business for a space of 
over thirty years, as well as the fruits of his 
own industry. He owns a farm of 80 acres, 
well improved, to which he moved, about four 
years ago, after having sold his original 
liome of 117 acres for ¥llO.G4 per acre, 
situated four miles south of Bellefontaine. 

ANDREW MOORE, fanner; P. O., 
Bellefontaine ; was born Nov. 14, 1836, on 
the farm of which he now owns a part ; (he 
is the son of William and Dorothy Moore). 
His marriage was celebrated with Sarah A. 
Click, Jan. 19, 1861 ; she was born April 23, 
1837, in this county ; they have had two 

s r~ 



children — William E., living, and one died in 
childhood ; Mrs. Moore's parents were natives 
of Virginia, and came to this countj' about 
1836, where they remained until their death. 
Mr. Moore enlisted in 132nd, O. N. G., as one 
of the "one hundred dnj'" men ; he was sent 
to Camp Chase to drill, thence to Washing- 
ton, D. C, thence to Arlington Heights for 
about one week ; thence to Whitehouse 
Landing on the Appomattox ; thence back to 
Bermuda Hundred ; there he was taken sick 
and sent to the hospital at Portsmouth, Va., 
where he was kept about two weeks, then he 
was sent home and in a few days received an 
honorable discharge, at Camp Chase (Col- 
umbus), having served something more than 
the time required of him ; his enrollment 
called for five years' service, but ere that time 
had expired the war closed and he received 
his discharge from the O. N. G., innnediately 
thereafter. 

WILLIAM MOORE, deceased; West 
Liberty; was born in Piatt Co., Penn., 
.luneo, 1801; his father, Archibald, and his 
mother, Jemima (Tannahill) Moore, were with 
their family of nine children among the first 
settlers of the township. Dec. 24, 1806, 
they arrived at a brother's of Mr. Moore, Sr., 
near Springfield, where they spent the 
winter, and in the following spring they came 
to Logan Co., and located on the site of the 
town of Zanefield. They, like many of the 
pioneers, came here without means either to 
purchase or improve their home; a large 
family to support and evervtliing to be pro- 
duced from the wild, unbroken forest, was no 
inconsiderable task; by dint of industry they 
succeeded in procuring enough to sustain 
life for a few years, when another difficulty 
arose — that of parties with less compunction 
of conscience and more finances, who were 
about to purchase this squatting place; soon 
as discovered Mr. Moore borrowed the money 
from a friend, made the trip to Cincinnati on 
horseback, where the land office was, and 
bought his own squatting place, beating his 
adversary (Gray) by two hours, who was on 
the way to purchase it " over his head." His 
son, William, bought 160 acres at §3 per acre 
in 1833; he married Dorothy Zimmerman, 
April 10, 1834; she was born March 5, 1812, 
in Virginia, and came here with her father's 
family in 1827; subsequently her parents 






790 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



moved to Cl)ani])ai(rn Co., where they 
both (lied. Mr. and Mrs. Moore be<jan life in 
their new home in a h)g-cabin which they 
erected (and which stands on tiio premises to 
this daj-), June 5, 1834; and on tlie same spot 
Mr. Moore ceased his worldly cares in death, 
Nov. :il,1878, and here Mrs. Moore iscpiietly 
passinjr her declininor years. They had threfe 
children — Archibald, Andrew and Evaline; 
Archibald enlisted in the 23d (). V. I. in April, 
1S()1, and was killed in the battle of South 
Mountain, Mil., Sept. 14, 1802; he had been 
promoted to rank of Orderly Sergeant; four 
months after his death his father visited the spot 
where he was interred, and removed his re- 
mains to the cemetery at Phihideljjhia Church, 
this township, where his dust now reposes. 

JOHN MOHR, farmer; P. O., Degraff; was 
born in Lancaster Co., Pa., March 23, 1824; is 
the son of Fredrick G. Mohr, spoken of else- 
where. He learned the coo|)ers' trade when 
younjr, at which he worked about four years. 
His marriage was celebrated with Anna 
Frantz, Dec. 28, 1848 ; she was born in Logan 
Co., Jan. 31, 1830 (and was the daughter of 
Aljraham Frantz, who came here from \'ir- 
ginia at an early date). She died Nov. 
'J, 1800, leaving two of her si.\ (chil- 
dren, George W. and Margaret. .Mr. Mohr 
married, for his second wife, the 
widow of the late John Frant/, of Clark Co. 
Her maiden name was Margaret Kerahoff; 
she was born in this county Aug. 2, 1837; 
her parents came here from Virginia. By 
this marriage there are s(>ven children: 
Daniel, Martha A., Lydia A., liora K., Em- 
ma, Andrew and Franklin F. Mrs. Mohr 
has one son, .M(3ses Frantz, by her first hus- 
Ijand. The two eldest ones are married. 
George W. married Klla Snyder. .Margaret 
is Mrs. Win. Hrownfield, of Siiiinirhills. 



Mr. .Mohr owns 270 acres of well-imnr 



d 



land, on which are good buildings. They 
arfMiieinbers of the German Baptist Church, 
and during the late rebellion he was opposinl 
to the war, in a con.scientious point of view, 
like numy of the same religious crecil; and 
to clear himself of the draft paid ^30(t, and 
at other times ]iaid various sums for the 
purjxise of clearing the township, aggre- 
gating ill all * 1,200. 

.MATTIICKS MAIKH, farmer; P. O., 
Springhills; was born June 20, 1810, in Wur- 



temburg, Germany; when young lu- learned 
the shocinakere' trade, but did not remain 
long at that business. He was married Nov. 
4, 1838, to Christina C. Rexer. They hail five 
children — Christopher, Catherine, Jacob. Got- 
lieb and John. After marriage Mr. Maier 
abandoned the shoemaking business for that 
of a farmer, and, after a few years of farm life 
in Germany, he resolved to ])ush his way to 
this country, where his family would have 
better fat'ilities for jiroviding themselves with 
homes. Accordingly himself, wife and live 
children, set out for the United States, and 
arrived here — after an ocean voyage of forty- 
two days — in July, 1852. They came direct 
to this county, and leased the farm on which 
they now reside, for two years; at the expira- 
tion of that time they rented another farm for 
several years, and in 1800 they purchased the 
farm where they now live. Thus industry and 
economy has raised the poor man (with a 
large family) of less than thirty y(>ars ago to 
be one of the well-to-do fanners of L'nion Tp. 
His son Jacob was born .Inly 4, 1843, in Ger- 
many; he resides with his j)arents, and con- 
duets the business of the farnr, his marriage 
was celebrated June 20, 1870, with Hannah 
Reinhardt. She was born in Wnrtemburg, 
Germanv, March 4, 18.51, and emigrated to 
this country in June, 180'J, and came direct 
to this county. They have had three children 
— Mary (deceased). Annie D. and William F. 
Mr. Maier's daughter, Catherine, was married 
to Geo. Stotz in 18G5, and died Aug. 15, 
1872, leaving three children — George, John 
and Mary. Christopher lives in Champaign 
Co., adjoining his father's farm; he married 
Marv .Mohr. Tliev have five eliildren — Katie. 
Magdalene, Dora, Clara and Addie. CJotlieb 
is in the slaughtering business in Bellefon- 
taine; he married llannali D. Miller. They 
have lour children — Klizabeth, .lolin, (ieorge 
and Henry, .lohn died after they came to 
this county. 

Fi;i-:i)U"lCK .MOHR, farmer; p. ()., Spring- 
hills; was born in Lancaster Co.. Peiin., Feb. 
24, 1828; is the son of Fredrick G. and 
Catharine (Re.\er) .Mohr, who were natives 
of Wurtemberg, Ciermany, where they were 
married, and aijout the year 1817 they, with 
their eldest child, emigrated to this coun- 
try, and settled seven miles west of Lancas- 
ter, Penii., where they bought a small home, 



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UNION TOWNSHIP. 



791 



coiisistina: of 3 acres; Mr. Mohr was a tailor 
by trade, and did not incline to farm exten- 
sively, but kept improving his home as well 
as embracing every chance to do something 
at his trade; they resided there about six 
years, then moved to Dayton, Ohio, where 
they remained nine months, when Mr. Mohr 
concluded to purchase a farm and take his 
family out of town — he could have purchased 
lots on Main street at tiiat time for $15 
each — accordingly, he bought 54 acres for 
$350, eight miles north of IJayton. There 
Mrs. Mohr died, in lS:5:i, leaving six 
children — Conrad, Catharine, John, Mary, 
JT'redrick and Christopher. Mr. Mohr mar- 
ried a second wife, Sarah Purkey, who was 
a native of Virginia, but had been residing 
in Logan Co., with relatives, but went to 
Montgomery Co., where they were married, 
and in February, 1837, they all came to Lo- 
a:an Co., settlintc in the soutiiwest corner of 
Union Tp., where they bought :200 acres, pay- 
ing therefor $2,U00. It is said that the old 
gentleiiian, Fredrick (Jr., was one of the 
most energetic and persevering men in the 
county of his time; children bv second wife 
are David, EH/abetli and Martha. Fred- 
rick lived with his father until 'Z'i years of 
age, when he started for himself by running 
a threshing-machine for several years; then 
he rented and ran a sawmill one year, and 
was then employed to take charge of the 
mill for another party. He was married 
Feb. 28, ISSi*, to Barbara Detrick; she was 
born in this county April 19, 1835. They 
have six children living — Lora A., now Mrs. 
George M. Rausenberger; Emma J. (de- 
ceased); Sarah A., now Mrs. Georg-e Forry; 
Mary M., Lucy E., Charles F. and Clara S. 
Mr. Mohr owns 357 acres, well improved, 
and good buildings. Mrs. Mohi-'s father, 
Peter, and her mother, Susan (Kauifman) 
Detrick, were natives of Rockingham Co., 
Va., and came here, bringing thr(!c of their 
children, about the year IS'^O; her father 
died in 18G7; Mrs. Detrick lived with an- 
other daughter (Mrs. Yoder) after Mr. De- 
trick's death, and in 1878 — her 73d year — 
while she was sitting at the door knitting, 
and engaged in conversation with her 
daughter, and apparently in good health, 
she suddenly received that last summons, 
vphich surely awaits all maid<ind. 



JACOB MILLER (deceased), P. O., 
Bellefoiitaine ; was born Sept. 15, 1810, 
in Rockingham Co., Va.; was the son of 
Martin and Magdalene (Bowman) Miller, who 
were both natives of the same county. In 
the spring of 1832 Jacob came to this county, 
and after prospecting a little he purchased a 
farm in Union Tp., and during the summer 
he returned to Vn-ginia, and on his return he 
rented his farm in Logan Co. to Mrs. Mar- 
garet Huber and family — widow of John 
Huber, who died in 18:^7— In the fall of 1832 
Mrs. Huber and six of her eight children set 
out for Logan Co., to occupy their newly 
rented farm. One daughter remained in 
Virginia, and a son had moved to Tennessee. 
Mrs. Huber occupied the farm of Miller, from 
October until the following spring, 1833, 
when she purchased a farm across the creek, 
where she spent the remaining years of her 
life with her two sons, .leremiah and Abedne- 
go. March 18, 185G, at the advanced age of 
88 years, closed the scenes and trials of a life 
whose anxiety and care was not a little for 
her large family, whom she had prepared for 
their several places in society. In the spring 
of ,1833 Mr. Miller came back to this county 
from Virginia, and Sept. 3, of that year he 
married Diana Huber, daughter of Mrs. 
Huber, to whom he had rented his farm, and 
two davs after their marriage they moved to 
Miller's farm ; nor was their britlal chamber 
the most elegant, or its furnishing of a costly 
kind ; the whole building was a small, roughly- 
built log cabin, in which there was an open- 
ing, but no door, no Hoor, no window, nor 
even chimney ; but for the latter the whole 
roof seemed in a measure, a fair substitute, as 
the " clapboards " or long split shingles were so 
warped by exposure, that they curled and left 
many an opening. Though rude their dwell- 
ing their home was happy, as they toiled for 
the better time coming, and which they real- 
ized so far as luxuries, the reward of their 
industry, is concerned. After four years 
residence in their rude home, they built 
a comfortable frame dwelling ; and in 1858 
they replaced the frame with a good two- 
story brick dwelling. They had seven child- 
ren — Margaret, Elizabeth, Polly, Martin, Bar- 
bara (was married to Boyd Douglas Jan. -t, 
18GG, and died ere she left her father's house, 
on March 27); Abednego and Susan. Mr. 



^2 



Lblr 



7!I2 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



Miller died at the old homestead Oct. 14, 
186G ; his widow and son Martin reside on 
the same place which he honoht in IH'.i'i. 
Martin was horn there Oct. 31, l.S:59; his mar- 
riage was celebrated with Hannah Beal, IJec. 
17, 1868 (she was born in this county April 
13, 1850 ; is the daughter of Elijah and Han- 
nah (Collins) Beal, who are natives of Peiin- 
sjdvania). They have had three children — 
Jacob E. and ()li M.; were both taken with 
scarlet fever and called away by death, one 
Jan. 11, and the other following Jan 14, 1878; 
one daughter living, Carrie B. 'I'liey own 
338 acres of well iiiiprov(>d land with good 
buildings ; he has turncid his attention to 
sheep-raising for the last few years and has 
some fine Mi'riiios. 

The "XKWKLI. FAMIIA." .\ brief sUetcli 
of this family from the most authentic source 
points directly to the fact that two brothers 
and two sisters emigrated from the north of 
Ireland, about tlie year 1700, and settled in 
Pennsylvania. They were Jane, Margaret, 
James and Robert. The Nr^wells in this sec- 
tion can easily trace their lineal descent to 
the latter. He was born in 1 744, and as stated, 
came to this country when about Ki years of 
age. Abf)ut the date of the breaking-out of 
the R(;volution, there were serious thoughts as 
to the protection of women and children in 
their section, from the raids of Indians; 
there was a military fort erected near them 
in wliieh tlie weaker sex aiul children took 
refuge; among them were the two Newell 
girls, and one, Christina Williams, who liad 
lately arrived from Germatiy, and was an ac- 
complished young lady. She and the Xewell 
girls became unicli attaclu^d whil(> in the fort, 
and after the troubles had subsided their so- 
ciability and attachment waned none. In 
the course of events Robert Newell and 
Christina Williams formed an acquaint- 
ance, through his sisters, which tiiudly 
resulted in their marriage. They reared 
ed a family ofsi.\ sons and three ilaughtcrs — 
Jane, William, Sauniel, Thomas, .Mary, Hugh, 
Robert, .lohn and .Margaret, all of whom lived 
to maturity. Mr. Newell had turned his at- 
tention to rarming and stock-raisintr, and 
along between the years 17'.MI and 171<I>, he 
sustained a very heavy loss in the death of all 
his horses, by somi- i'])iclemic in that section; 
whereupon he concluded to remove from that 



locality; accordingly he sold his farm receiv- 
ing in ])art jiaynient .S3,0()0 of Continental 
money, and started with all his family, brother 
and two sisters, to Harrison Co., Ky., where 
they located and remained some time. James 
(brother of Robert) was married and had one 
son and one daughter; the son died when 
young. Shortly after Robert had sold his 
farm he discovered that his |»3,0()0 was worth- 
less, owing to the insolvency of the Continen- 
tal banks. lie afterward received one per 
cent, for it; and thought he had made a bar- 
gain when got a steelyards worth ^3. .50 for 
^'i'ji)o{ his Continental currency. About the 
year IS14, three of his sons — Samuel, Thomas 
and Hugh — came to Ohio and located in what 
is now Logan Co., and two years later the 
parents and the rest of the family followed, 
e.xcept Jane, who was married in Kentucky 
to Robert Braden. She died there ami !elt 
four children. Williaiu was married and 
doing well at farming and dealing in live- 
stock. He took a drove of cattle to Detroit, 
Mich., and while there, took suddenly ill and 
died; he was much respected as a good and 
noble citizen. Owing to the inconvenience 
of travel and transportation in those days, his 
remains were interred at Detroit. He left two 
sonsaiul three daughters. The widow married, 
and soon sustained the loss of her second hus- 
baiul by death. She sold out and with her 
children she moved to Indiana. Samuel was 
early identified with olhcial business in this 
countv; he had a family of seven sons and 
three (laughters. His wife died here; he sold 
out and moved with most of his family to 
Iowa, where he died in 1843. Thomas was 
married and reared seven sons and three 
daughters, and died near West Liberty in 
183.5. Mary was married to Jaiues Newell, 
they moved to liuliana, and reared a large 
faniily, where she ])assed away. Hugh mar- 
ried Elizabeth McNay; they reared ten 
children— four sons and six daughters; he 
died in this township. Robert never mar- 
ried; he moved to Iowa aiul died there. John 
was married and lost his first wife in Ken- 
tuckv: slu! left one girl. He marrie<l his sec- 
oiul wife here; they had six cliililren, and 
moved to Indiami ai)out 1S3(), where he died. 
.Margaret married ( )reu Hubbard, u carpen- 
ter in 181',( — of whom there is more )iarticu- 
lar notice elsewhere in this work. Alargaret 



^ 



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UNION TOWNSHIP. 



793 



beinop a favorite and the youngest, their father 
j)referred to pass the deelininsr years of his 
life with her; according!}' he took Mr. Hub- 
liard's family to the homestead, where the 
varied scenes of the old gentleman's life, 
were closed in death, in Ib'id; and the life 
which closed so quietly had been spent in 
useful toil, and not in vain; neither that of his 
family, as they were all such men and women 
as made their presence felt in this unbroken 
wildc-ness, in subduing the soil, in sabstitut- 
iiig civilization for barbarity, and planting 
within that civilization, the ethics of educa- 
tion and morality which flourish to-day, 
worthy of the zeal wherewith they were sown. 
For all those noble souls who have gone, 
whose good works follow after, we might say 
much, allowing those of the present genera- 
tion to speak for themselves by exemplariness 
of life. Hugh's family were — Malind, now 
Mrs. Clement, of Iowa; Jane, now !Mrs.Ginn; 
Robert, now in Colorado ; Christina, now 
Mrs. Roliert Newell, of Iowa ; Lucinda was 
Mrs. B. Fuson, but is now deceased; James, 
.fohn, ilary, now Mrs. Schragie; Auiauila, 
no w Mrs. Kiser , and Hugh. John was born 
on the old homestead of his father, where he 
lives, .July 15, 1820. He married Miriah E. 
Hanier, Jan. 1, 1856. She was born Dec. 1:1, 
1831, in Lancai'ter Co., Penn. They have six 
children — John H., William C., Harrie E., 
Mary L., Hugh and Annie B. 

HUGH NEWELL, farmer; P. O., West 
Liberty; was born April 12, 1836, on the old 
homestead — Sec. II — in this township; he 
remained there some time after his marriage; 
that event was celebrated Jan. I, 1801, with 
Mary M. Miller. She was born Feb. 28, 1838, 
in this township, and is tiie daughter of Jacob 
and Diana (Huber) Miller. They were l)oth 
natives of Virginia, and came to this State 
about the year 1831. Mr. Miller had been 
here two years ])revious; selected and pur- 
chased a piece of land; he then returned to 
his native place and jirepared for moving to 
his new home, which lie did, as stated above, 
in 1831, which he reclaimed and made a com- 
fortable home, and where he labored with 
unceasing energy until called by death in 
October, 1866. Mrs. Miller still survives, and 
is spending her declining years in peace on 
the same farm. Mr. and Mrs. Newel! have a 
family of seven children — Emma E. and 



Effie D., twins; Adda .May, Oak M., Mary H., 
Lulu B. and Bertha S. He owns a farm of 
168 acres of well-improved land, with good 
buildings, and splendid situation. They 
moved to their present residence March 31, 
1868. They are members of the Philadelphia 
Lutheran Church in this township. 

STEPHEN PACICER (deceased), P. O.; 
Bellefontaine, was born in September, 1801, 
in Adams Co., Penn. ; when quite young he 
was apprenticed to the saddlery business, and 
at which he made a start in the world. He 
formed a matrimonial alliance with Sarah 
Diehl, on Feb. 1, 1S2T, in liis native county; 
she was born in Frederick, Md., May 17, 1804, 
and moved with her parents to Adams Co., 
Penn., when a mere child. Mr. Packer con- 
cluded to emigrate westward into the more 
S|iarsely settled country, beyond the Ohio ; 
accordingly he with his wife and three child- 
ren, moved to Tuscarawas Co., O., in 1837 ; 
here he began or rather continued his trade 
for two years, and then determined to relin- 
quish it for the more desirable business of 
larming, as he prudently foresaw in the latter 
a more suitable wa}' of living for his growing 
family ; they remained in Tuscarawas Co. 
about eleven years, tl)ence to Champaign 
Co., where they lived one year, then moved 
to Logan Co., and settled on the farm which 
they have owned ever since. They had a 
large family — eleven children — some in their 
last resting place, and those who survive 
spread over the country ; Mary A. is now 
Mrs. Robt. A. Moore, of this township. Eliz- 
abeth (deceased), Jose|)h D., resides in Bloom- 
ington. 111., and there married Laura M. 
Drun.m ; John A. and Sarah C. (deceased) ; 
Louise resides with her motlier on the old 
homestead ; Wi.liam H. (deceased) ; Ellen 
is now Mrs. John H. Moore, of Washington 
Tp. ; Jesse was in tlie furniture business in 
West Liberty, and lost heavily in the late fire 
since which time he lias gone to reside in 
South Kansas, Col. ; Stephen (deceased), 
George W. resides on the old homestead, and 
successfully manages the affairs of the farm ; 
and has of late turned liis attention to sheep- 
growing, and has got some fine specimens of 
Merino at considerable cost. His marriage 
was celebrated with Emma Williamson Jan. 
14, 1878 ; she was born in tliis county May 
4, 1857 ; they have one child : Ethel May 



794 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



Jlr. Stephen Packer, Sr., died here March 27, 
18G5. Wrn. H. enlisted in Co. H. 9Gth 
O. V. I., Aug, 1862, and served in the arnij- 
about one year ; he was taken sick, and 
obtained a thirty-day furlough; at the expira- 
tion of saidtiinc he was still unwell, and had it 
extenteded thirty days more; at the expiration 
of the extension he had to go to Columbus, and 
yet unfit for duty, but his warfare was soon 
ended, as he died at Columbus Oct. 28, 18tJ3. 
REV. DAVID PLANK, farmer and min- 
ister; P. O., Bellefcjiitaine; was liorn May 15, 
1833, in Mifflin Co., Penn. To give anything 
like a correct sketch of the Plank family in 
this country would necessitate reference to 
documents and dates which are now beyond 
our reach in the irretrievable past. However, 
in about the year 1700, or shortly thereafter, 
one Mclcher Plank (the name origliuilly was 
Ulank; by the variation of the p]nglisli pro- 
nunciation the orthography was changed to 
Plank), with his four sons and two daughters 
• — Christian, John, Jacob, Peter, Rebecca and 
Barbara — emigrated from Germany to this 
continent, and settled about Berks Co., Penn. 
His son. Christian, married and settled himself 
in that section, and liad a family of six sons 
and two daughters — .fohn, CInistian, Isaac, 
Joseph, Jacob, Samuel, .Martha and Barbara. 
Samuel, the youngest son, was born in Lan- 
caster Co. in 1808; he marri(Ml .hiliana Hartz- 
ler, a native of his own county, who was born 
in 1819. They are the ])areMts of the present 
generation of tiiat name in Logaai Co. They 
came here with six of their children — Joseph 
C, David, Leah, Elizal)etli, .Mart ha aiul Bar- 
bara—in October, 184.), and settled on the 
same farm where David resides. After they 
came here the family was iticreased by three 
— Juliana, Samuel W. and .Mary. Only two 
of Christian's family survive — .Martha, in 
Champaign Co., and Barbara, who lives near 
by her nephew David; th«\- are both wi'll ad- 
vanced in years. David's lather died here, 
after a life of cjuiet UHcfulni'ss, Dec. II, 1.S78, 
and his mother Ajiril 1 1, is;;). David's early 
life was spent on the farm and attendin<r to 
the various duties of the saim-; his miiriinire 
was celelirafed with .Martha IlartzliT Feb. i4, 
ISoG. She was born in Pennsylvania, J\ine 
9, 183G, and came to Champaign Co. with a 
sister in 18.53. 'I'hey have eight ehildrc-n liv- 
ing — Samuel H., Salome M., Levi L., Mary E., 



Lydia, Juliana, Katie and David. Mr. Plank 
was ordained a minister of xhi>. Ormish Men- 
nonite Church in this township, Oct. 19, 1859. 
They are now known as the "Walnut Grove" 
congregation. Mr. Plank is now the longest 
officiating minister connected with said con- 
gregation. 

JOHN M. RAUSENBERGER, farmer; P. 
O., DeGraff; was born in Wurtemburg, Ger- 
many, Aug. G, 1819, and is a son of John 
M. and Barbara (Haugh) Rausenljerger; of a 
family of six children — three boys and three 
girls, he is the only surviving son. His father 
died in (Germany, b>it .lolni M. sent for his 
mother and F. Miller and family, with whom 
she came, ami after a few years' residence in 
this country she died at West Liberty, .March 
1, 18G0. When about 14 years of ag(% -Mr. 
Riuisenberger was a|i|)reiitice(l to the butcher- 
ing business, and ft)r which he received no 
pay, and had to furnish his own clothes be- 
sides; although there was no pay for one in 
his jiosition, his work was not such that it 
might be considered play; as he had to be 
out at 4 o'clock in the mornings with a fifty- 
pound basket of meat distributing it through 
the town. On the expiration of his appren- 
ticeshi]> he went to Potsham, where he worked 
three years, thence to Frankl'urt-on-the-Maiii 
where he worked three years; thence to .Ant- 
werp, Belgium, where he workeil three years; 
at this time, feeling his health failing, lie re- 
turned home to recuperate, with the iiiti-ntion 
of returning to his situation in .\nlwerp, but 
meeting with a friend while on his home? visit, 
who was intent on coming to the United 
States, persuaded Mr. Riiusenberger to come 
along. On June 24, 1845, he and his friend 
(Fred Esseg) left their native place, and on 
the 27th they sailed from Rotterdam, arriving 
in Baltimore, Md., Aug. 27, of the same year, 
and had a cash capital of two five-franc j)ieces 
when he landed. The same evening he found 
employ, at his trade, and began work next 
morning, and continued in the sanu? place 
thre(' years. He married Dorothy Rexer 
Sej)t. K), 1848, and two days later" left for 
Logan Co., O. (which trij) they ina<le in three 
weeks). lie had reci-ived glowing accounts 
of this county from his wife's uncle (F. .Molir) 
and that there was no meat nnirket in the then 
growing town of West Liix'tty, which nnhucd 
Mr. Rausenberger to come here; but to his 



-T — ^ 



Ml 



lL^ 



UNION TOWNSHIP. 



795 



chagrin he found no business to justify the 
opening of such branch of industry. Disap- 
pointed in that he turned his attention to farm- 
ing 50 acres whicii Mr. Mohr helped him to buy, 
for which ho paid down |?.50; this done he 
found himself without money to provide the 
necessaries to improve liis place,so he borrowed 
$800 to get a supply of stock, implements and 
something to subsist on while he was raising 
a crop. He began to butcher and supi)lied 
the little demand there was, well as farm, 
and in two years he had paid the $800 bor- 
rowed. He remained on that farm five years; 
then bought the " John Forry " farm of 140 
acres at $3,200, where he lived four years; he 
then moved to West Liberty, where he turned 
his attention to butchering only. At this time 
his brother-in-law (M. Maier) was here and 
without a home or friends; so Mr. Rausen- 
berger bought the farm where he is now liv- 
ing- and rented it to Maier during his five 
years' residence in West Liberty, during 
which time Maier had cleared oft' the farm 
$•^,-200. When he left the meat market in 
West Liberty, he moved to his farm in the 
spring' of 1802, where he has made astonish- 
ing progress, as he has done ever since he came 
to the United States. He has been the means 
of helping many of his friends to this country, 
and in every instance they have done well. 
His youthful companion in travels (Esseg) to 
whom he lent part of his first earnings in Btl- 
timore, is still in that city, and is now wealthy. 
Mr. Rausonberger owns 296 acres of well im- 
proved land, good buildings, and surrounded 
with every comfort. Thus may be seen an ex- 
ample of industry and honest economy; where 
the young man with less than $2 in his 
pocket, beginning his career in a strange 
country only some years ago, is now one of 
the best farmers and wealthiest men in Union 
Tp. Mrs. Rausenberger was born Oct. 31, 
11S19, in Wurtemburg, Germany, and came to 
Baltimore with a brother in 1847. They have 
six children — George J., Andrew J., Mary 
C, John W., Sarah C and Dora S. All the 
family belong to the " Philadelphia " Luther- 
an Church in this township. 

JOHN REPROGLE, farmer; P. O., Bellefon- 
taine; was born Dec. 16, 1820, in Clarke Co. O.; 
is the son of Adam and Annie (Keller) Repro- 
gle; his father a native of Pennsylvania and his 
mother of Vii-ginia; tiiey each came with their 



respective families and located near Cincin- 
nati in 1816, where they lived about two. 
years, then moved to Clark Co. In the j'ear 
1830, Adam Reprogle came to Logan Co. 
with his family of six children, and located 
close to the old " HulJ Trace," one mile west 
of Bellel'ontaine, where they lived a short 
time; he then purchased a farm in Washing- 
ton Tp., where they got along well; but suf- 
fered seriously by paying $3,(100 security for 
one Wm. Bull, of Bellefontuine, and after- 
ward had a like amount to |)ay for a live-stock 
dealer for whom he had gone security — in all 
$6,000 security, for which he never received 
anything in return, and which ruined him 
financially. He moved to Champaign Co., 
and subsequently to Pulaski Co., Ind., where 
he died Jan. 1, 1853. John Reprogle married 
Sophia R. Shawver, Feb., 1846; she died Jan. 
24, 1857, leaving three children — Mary E. 
(now Mrs. Geo. ('rouse); Catharine (now Mrs. 
Fred. Beer); and Lydia A. (who resides at 
home with her father). He marriad for sec- 
ond wife Catharine Shawver, Oct., 1864; by 
this marriage there are three children — Mar- 
garet, Ella and Annie. His present wife was 
born Nov. 1, 1839, in this county; is the 
daughter of John and Elizabeth Shawver, who 
came to this county in 1826; he a native of 
Jeft'erson Co., and she a native of Pennsylva- 
nia; in 1862 he moved to Miami Co., where 
he still lives; his wife died there in 1872. 
Mr. Reprogle owns 70+ acres of well improved 
land, which he has made for himself; he and 
wife and daughter are members of the Lu- 
theran Church. 

WILLIAM M. STEWART, farmer; P. O , 
West I>iberty; was born near West Liberty, 
Logan Co., July 5, 1813; he is the fourth 
son and eighth in a family of ten chddren. 
His father, Thomas Stewart, was born in the 
north of Irelaiul, about the year 1766, and 
emigrated to tliis country when quite young, 
arriving here shortly after the United States 
had gained their independence. In those 
days of slow passages and imperfect facil- 
ities for navigation, compared with the pres- 
ent, it was only those of more than ordinary 
ambition and iron will who woidd even ven- 
ture to cross the Atlantic when kind invita- 
tions and fair promises had been extended; but 
none of these induced young Stewart to leave 
his native land, but that innate disposition 



^1 



^ 



796 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



to succeed in life and the perseverance 
wiiich characterized him to the last were suf- 
ficient incentives. Wlien he arrived in this 
coinitry (alter an ocean voyage of thirteen 
weeks) he located in Maryland. There he 
married Miss Susan Stewart (said to be a dis- 
tant rehitivc), and a few j'ears after their mar- 
riage they moved toChilicotlio, O., and suljse- 
queiitly to Logan Co., which was tlien and for 
years afterwards a wilderness. He was possess- 
ed of a good education, and endeavored to give 
his family of ten chililron the same advantage, 
but in this unbroken forest he found it almost 
impossible, as the primitive shools wore made 
up, and teachers (of not a high grade) ])aid by 
subscription; so those of limited means and 
large families had little opportunity of learn- 
ing much in school. However, here they 
reared their family of six sons aiul four daugh- 
ters, all of whom lived to maturity and inher- 
ited like industrious habits of their parents. 
When William M. started for hiuiself in the 
world, he had no means whatever; and at 
the outset he prudently indulged the sacred 
flame of irell pliu-ed lovi; with Mary Ann 
Hanger, and their marriage was celebrated 
April 17, 1833; they have had four children, 
two died in childhood, and two living — 
Martha .1., now wife of William Kinnan, and 
Charles L. Mrs. Stewart was born Sept. 10, 
1806, in Augusta Co., Va., and is the daugh- 
ter of Peter Hanger, who emiijrated from 
Virginia when she was a mere child, locating 
in Ross Co., ()., where they niuuiined some 
time, and finally came to Chaini>aign Co. By 
upright principles and unceasing toil, Mr. 
Stewart has been enabled to procure a good 
portion of this world's goods for himself and 
family. He gave his daughter SO acres of 
valuable land, and to his son, 77 acres; be- 
sides the well improved farm of SO acres 
where he resides, on which he and his noble 
assistant in life are well ])ri'pared to spend 
their remaining vears in luxurv and ease. 

CHAKI.KS L.'STEWAirr; farm.^r; 1'. ()., 
West Liberty; was born in Harrison Tp., 
Champaign C'o., May "^1, ISIJK; is the only 
son of Wm. .M. and .Miiry A. (Hang('r) Stew- 
art, whose sketch is in this work; he has 
made farm work his only pursuit, and re- 
sided on the old homestead until a short time 
since, when he built a splendid frame resi- 
dence, barn and other buildings on the farm 



given him by his father, to which he moved 
Dec, 1879. His marriage was celebrated 
with Lizzie E. Baird, Oct. 8, 1808; they have 
two children— William L. and Linnie E. 
Mrs. Stewart was born near West Liberty, 
Feb. 27, 1833, and is a daughtijr of Robert 
and Margaret Baird who were natives of 
Virginia, and came to Logan Coinitj' at its 
early settlement. Mr. Stewart's steadv in- 
dustry is well marked on the jjlace where he 
resides; he also owns 40 acres of land in 
Champaign County adjoining his father's 
farm. 

E. M. Wn>SON, farmer; P. O., DeGratf; 
was born in Champaign Co., O., .lulv 17, 
1822; is the son of .John and Margaret (Run- 
yon) Wilson; his father was a native of Penn- 
sylvania, and his mother of Kentucky; the 
father of .lohn NN'ilson, and his brother .loseph, 
came to Champaign Co. in 18UJ, and entered 
a tract of land to which he moved soon after- 
ward; his father's whole family came, also, 
and settled near In'. Shortly alter their set- 
tlement there Mr. Wilson formed the acquaint- 
ance of Miss -Margaret Rnnvon, who had, as 
stated, come from Kentucky; they were mar- 
ried, and set about makiniftliings comfortable 
in their new home; hut their ])iiispects were 
soon blighted by the earlv death of Mrs. Wil- 
son; she died in 1823, leaving two children — 
Elias and Klisha M.; the latter only about one 
year old. His father married his second wife, 
M. Dickey, in Fayette Co., and by that 
union there were three children — .Margaret, 
Rebecca and John. On the same farm where 
he entered of the government, his father died 
in 1873, in his 70th year. Our subject mar- 
ried Florence J. Monroe, May 15, 1845, in 
Champaign Co., and settled on a farm given 
him by his lather, where they resided abdut 
twelve years; and in 1857 they moved to the 
farm where they now reside. They have 
thre<' children living — Catherine M., Elias C. 
and Anna E. Mrs. Wilson was born in ( 'ham- 
paigri Co., Aug. 1!<, 1828; her father (David 
.Monroe) was born Sept. 20, 1703, in ^'irginia; 
her mother (Catherine Stretch) was bf)rn Oct. 
23, 1703, in Kentucky; the families to which 
they belong were early pioneers of Cliani- 
])aign Co., where they formed an ac(|uaint- 
ance and were married .May, 1820. There 
were only two children besides Mrs. Wilson — 
Philene E. and Rebecca A.; their mother died 



EICHLAND TOWNSHIP. 



797 



in this county, Sept. 24, 1876, in her 84th 
year. Mr. David Monroe's demise occurred 
Aug. 20, 1869. Althoug-h Mr. Wilson has 
held the offices of township Treasurer and 
Trustee for several years, he is no politician, 
but rather prefers the quiet life of a farmer, 
where early industry has placed all necessa- 
ries at his command, and which he can in ad- 
vancing years enjoy. 

ISRAEL YODER, farmer; P. O., West 
Liberty; was born Aug. 22, 18.5.3, in Liberty 
Tp.; is the son of Jonathan C and Anna 
(Sharp) Yoder, both natives of Penn.sylvania, 
and came here about the spring of 1848; he 
was married to Elizabeth King Feb. 15, 1877; 



they have one child — Ira Milton. Mrs. Yoder 
was born in Fairfield Co., this state, March 4, 
1854; is the daughter of .Joseph and Sarah 
(Zook) King, who were natives of Pennsyl- 
vania, and emigrated to Fairfield Co., O., 
where they lived at the time of their death; 
they had nine children of whom only two sur- 
vive — Mrs. Yoder and Mrs. .Jacob Z. Iviiig, of 
Liberty Tp.; they had relatives in Lo- 
gan Co., which induced Mrs. Yoder to 
come here where she had been makino- her 
home for about four years previous to their 
marriage; they have 08 acres of well-im- 
proved land, for which they paid $90 per 
acre, and came here in Jan. 1878. 



RICHLAND TOWNSHIP. 



DAVID ALEXANDER, farmer; P. O., 
Belle Centre; is one of the prominent and in- 
fluential farmers of this township. He was 
born Jan. 23, 1825, in Preble Co. His father, 
John Alexander, was bf>rn in Ireland, where 
he learned blacksmithing, and soon after 
his marriage to Jane Creelman started for the 
New Woild. He lived a short time in Cana- 
da, and from there came to Preble Co., and 
worked at his trade and on the farm till 1834, 
when he moved to Indiana, and died there 
Aug. 29, 1878. When 6 years old David 
went to live with his uncle, James Wright, 
who had no children, and ever after made his 
home with him. His uncle moved to this 
county when David was 16 years old, and 
settled on the farm on which he lived till his 
death. His uncle gave him 100 acres of 
land when of age, and at his death he became 
possessor of all the real estate. He now owns 
300 acres of good land, forming one of the 
most valuable and attractive homes in the 
township. He was married Nov. 8, 1855, to 
Susannah J., daughter of Hugh and Sarah 
H. Hervey; she was born April 14, 1835, in 
Pittsburgh, Pa., and was brought to this State 
during her childhood, living most of the time 
in Licking Co. Their union has been 
blessed with eight children, six of whom are 
living — Sarah J., Nancy W., Martha M., An- 
na M., Rosanna E. and Ellen L. The three 



eldest have attended Geneva College. Da- 
vid attended there when a young man, and 
was a member of their first literary society. 
He has always been interested in the success 
of the school, and was a member of the ex- 
ecutive board for many years. He joined 
the R. P. Church in early life, and still be- 
longs, as do his wife antl three oldest chil- 
dren. 

GEORGE R. ARCHER, farmer; P. O., 
Belle Centre; is one of the most courteous 
and promising young farmers of this town- 
ship, and is thoroughly respected bv every 
one. He is the second son of .John Archer, 
who was born in Hull, England, Dec. 7, 1815, 
and came to this country when 8 years old. 
His father had come here three years previ- 
ously, and was followed by the wife and five 
children. They settled in Massachusetts, 
where .John worked in a factory, and when 16 
years old he learned the blacksmith trade. 
He worked in an ax factory some time, and 
in 1837 he came to Xenia, O. He was mar- 
ried Oct. 15, 1840, to Lydia Baldwin, who was 
born in Greene Co., June 26, 1816. Thev 
lived in Greene Co. till 1849, with the excep- 
tion of a few years that they were in Madison 
Co. In that year they moved to a farm near 
Bellofontaine, on which they remained ten 
years, and have since resided in this town- 
ship. He died Feb. 23, 1877. By their 



-V— >- 



798 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



marriage seven children were born — Mary 
A., Sarah L., Emily W., .rose|>h B., George R., 
John Newton and Lydia Kllen. Mary and 
Josejjh are dead, the latter being killed in a 
railroad accident on the "Bee Line" road 
Jan 6, 1880. He had been fireman on the 
road nearly eight years, and stood high in the 
estimation of his employers, and held a high 
office in the Masonic Order, of which he was a 
faithful and valued member, and to which 
both his brothers belong, George A. being the 
\Vorslii|)lul Master. 

, MILTON L. ANDERSON, farmer; P. O., 
Belle Centre; is the youngest son of a family 
of eight children, and was born May 'lo, 
1817, in Fayette Co., 0.; his f.ither, (Jershoin 
Aiulerson, was born in Virginia, and with the 
rest of the family moved to Ohio during his 
bovhood; they settled in Ross Co., when 
Chillicothe consisted of a few rude cabins, and 
were intimate friends of Gov. Tiffin; his 
father was a wheelwright by trade, and also 
made chairs and s]>inning wheels; he was an 
officer in the war of 1812, and lived in Ross 
Co. till 1837, except a short time that he 
lived in Fayette Co.; he was married to 
Marv Jamison, a native of Kentucky, whose 
parents were opposed to slavery, and moved 
to this state to get beyond its influence; she 
died Oct. 2, 18:<C, and the next year he 
moved to Nurthwooil, this county, and en- 
gagi-d in farming; Milton came; here with 
his father and kept store at Northwood for 
several years; he afterwards taught school, 
and in 184tj came to Belle Centre and sold 
goods for Pollock & Johnson for two 
years, when he unirried Nancy Steele, daugh- 
ter of Ailam and Rachel Steele; she was 
born in Pennsylvania in 1821), and soon after 
her parents moved to Fayette Co.; Milton 
settled on a farm one mile east of Belle 
Centre, on which he lived till 1804, when he 
moved to his present home. He was an officer 
in a company nf minute men who went to 
the defense of Cincimniti in 1862. His wife 
died Oc . 17, ISiWJ, leaving six children — 
Lanvere P., Aiiei- ()., Agnes M., Luella R., 
Itobert S. and Dura E.; the oldest three 
are married. He was then married to 
.Martha A., widow of Merrit .Famison; she 
was born Oct. 22, 1S22, in P'ayette Co.; he 
was ('ounty Commissioner six j'ears, and can- 
didate for the Legislature on the Abolition 



ticket; he held local offices, voted for .James 
G. Birney for President, and is an advocate 
of iirogressive reform; the whole family be- 
long to the M. E. Church, which he joined in 
1828; he has been a subscriber to the 
<'/n-iMitin Adi^ora/e aiuce 1832. 

JOHN BICKHAM, farmer; P. O., Hunts- 
ville ; is one of the prominent farmers of this 
township ; he was born May 20, 1841, in 
-McArthur Tp., and has always been a resi- 
dent of this county. His father, Robert 
Bickham, was born May 17, 18().i, in Bour- 
bon Co., Ky., and served under Gen. Wayne 
as a spy during the Indian troubles. He 
came to this county at a very early day, and 
heii)ed his parents to clear and improve a 
farm near wliiMi; Huiitsville now stands. He 
was manied to .Mary IVater, of \\'est Libertv, 
who was brought there by her i)arents when 
she was .5 jears old ; they lived on leased and 
rented farms for several years, and soon as 
able bought a farm of new land in this town- 
ship, on which they ever after lived. She died 
Nov. 20, 180.1, and he was afterwards iniited 
to Elizabeth Bennett, of this county ; he died 
June 20, 187i). .John commenced for him- 
self when of age, and soon after enlisted in 
Company I, 00th Reg., O. V. ]., and served 
nearly three years ; he was in nine battles, 
ai\d on receiving his discharge riturncd to 
this county, where he has since been a farmer., 
He was married Nov. 3, ISO."), to Kati- II. 
Bennett, daughter of James and Dolly Brn- 
nett ; she was born A))ril 17, IS44, ni this 
county. Seven children have l)lessed their 
union — Mary E., Doliy E., James R., .lohn K'.. 
Emanuel B., Benjamin L., ami FaTinie .\. 
Both he and wife are members of the Disci- 
ple Church ; he is a member of the Patrons 
of Husbandry, and has held every office l)ut 
Secretary ; has always been a Republican and 
a member of the County Central Committee 
for fifteen vears. 

(HTLFORD CAHNES, farmer; P. ( )., 
Belle Centre; is one of the enterprising and 
reliable farmers of this townsiiip; tie was born 
Sept. 10, 1833, in .Madison Co.,0. His father, 
Benjamin A\'. Carnes, was born and raised in 
Cincinnati, where he learned the trade of a 
hatter; when of age he connnetuiMl doing for 
himsi'lf, and for two years worked as a journey- 
man; he then married Sarah .McCoy, of Fay- 
ette Co., and had a shop there a short time, 



.[^ 



RICHLAND TOWNSHIP. 



7!)9 



when he moved to Madison Co., and worked 
at his trade imtil about 1845, and was ever 
after a farmer; he died March 12, 1875, his 
wife having- died Oct. 22, 1857. Guilford 
worked out from the time he was 16 until 
his marriage — Feb. 1, 1859 — to Arminta A., 
daughter of Elijah D. and Callista (Stamats) 
Zimmerman. She was born July 1, 1839, in 
Hardin Co. They lived in Auglaize Co. until 
18U5, when he moved to where he now lives; 
it was all forest, and he has now over 70 acres 
of cleared land, and good improvements for 
a new farm. Their union has been blessed 
with four children, the eldest and youngest 
of whom are dead; the living are Edgar 
E., and Byron R. He owns 150 acres of 
land, and town property at Belle Centre. 
Has always been a Rejiublican. 

JAMES D. CAMPBELL, hardware; Belle 
Centre; is one of the most enterprising and 
accommodating business men in the township. 
He is the second of a family of seven chil- 
dren, and was born June 19, 1817, in York 
Co., Penn. His parents were natives of that 
county; his father's name is William, and his 
mother's maiden name was Jane A. Creswell. 
They lived there till 1851, when they moved 
to this State; lived in Highland Co. one year, 
and from there came to Hardin Co., where 
they now live, on a farm. James com- 
menced clerking in a store when 16 years 
old; was one year at Roundhead, and then 
came to Belle Centre, and for several vears 
clerked in the store of W. & A. C. Ramsey. 
He remained in the store and warehouse till 
the fall of 1872, when he went into business 
for himself. He keeps all kinds of hardware, 
and sewing machines, and has been Express 
Agent since Aug. 1,1875. He has been Town- 
ship Clerk, and is a member of the Masonic 
Order, and has always been a Democrat. Oct. 
2, 1872, he was married to Marj' E. Smith, 
daughter of John and Alary (Miller) Smith. 
She was born in this county in 1852. By this 
union four children have been born — Hugh 
M., Lacha I., Carl C. and Mark F. 

WILLIAM L. COLMERY, limekiln and 
stone quarry; Belle Center; is the youngest 
member and only son of a family of six children 
but two of whom are living, and was born Oct. 
10, 1848, in Morrow Co., O. His parents were 
natives of Washi?igton Co., Penn.; his father's 
name was John and his mother's maiden name 



was Rebecca Murdock. They lived in Wash- 
ington Co. several vears after marriaoe and 
then emigrated to Morrow Co., O., where they 
ever after lived, except for two years they lived 
in Allegheny City, Pa. He bought a farm of 
military land in Canaan Tp., which he kept 
improving till his death, at the ripe old age of 
75. William commenced doing for himself 
at his fathers death, and has made farming 
his chief occupation till this year. In 1876 he 
moved to Logan Co., and bought the farm on 
which he now lives. For four j^ears he had 
the stone quarry and limekdn conducted by 
George Fenn while he attended the farm, but 
he is now superintending the entire business. 
He has a good common school education, hav- 
ing finished his school life at the Ohio Central 
College at Iberia. His household affairs are 
conducted bj' his only sister, and they are 
both memljers of the Presbyterian Church, to 
which denomination their parents belonged. 
His father was Elder in the church for nearly 
thirty years. 

HENRY M. CLINE, Justice of the Peace 
an<l Notary Public; Belle Centre; was born 
March 12, 1834, in Cleveland. His father, 
Joseph Cline, was born Jan. 14, 1790, in 
Winchester, Va., and his mother was 
born exactly ten years later at the same 
place, her maiden name being Li-ah Secrest. 
His father was a wheelwriuiit by trade, and 
lived in Guernsey Co., O., when he was mar- 
ried. He lived in Cleveland six years, aiid 
in 1834 he moved to Auglaize Co., and en- 
tered a farm of Government land where the 
village of New Hampshire now stands. Both 
he and wife died near there in 1856. Henry 
was married Oct. 23, 1853, to Martha J., 
daughter of James and Nancy Mahin. She 
was born Nov. 4, 1834, in Wayne Tp., Au- 
glaize Co., and her father was the fnrst Jus- 
tice of the Peace in that township. One year 
after marriage he moved to Iowa, where he 
fanned four years and then returned to this 
State and bought part of the old homestead. 
At the breaking-out of the war he enlisted 
in Co. B, 45th Regiment, O. V. I., and was 
captured in his second engagement. He 
was a prisoner for two years, being at An- 
dersonville most of the time, and he alone 
lived through, out of twenty-seven captured 
from his company. He came home in poor 
health, and commenced keeping grocerj' at 






800 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



New llainpsliire; here he lived till 1875, 
when he moved to Belle Centre. He dealt 
in strain ime year and then engaj^ed in the 
mercantile Inisiness. He is one of the many 
men who were iinahle to stand the financial 
crisis, and in 1S78 lu; made an assig'tiineiit. 
His creditors had such faith in iiis integrity 
that he was permitted to settle up the busi- 
ness; he has been elected Justice of the 
Peace, and held that office in Auglaize Co.; 
he received the nomination by the Repub- 
lican party, for Sheriff, in the sprin<r of 1880, 
over seven other as|)irants; his wife died 
April 30, 181)7, leaving live children — Sarah 
D., Ella, Volney H., Kttie B. and Elizabeth 
F. Feb. 13, 1808 he was married to Marga- 
ret A., daughter of .lohn and Eliza Conh^y: 
she was born May 2j, 1844, in Auglaize Co., 
and has borne him four ciiiidrcn, George H., 
Charles H., Bhmche and Clara. 

SAMUEL COVl.VtiTOX, farmer; P. O., 
lluntsville; is one of the most intelligent and 
respected citizi-ns in this township, and was 
born Sept. 'i'i, 181i), in this county. His 
father, Hi'ury Covington, was born in Mary- 
land, and soon after his birth the family 

ved to Delaware, where they remained 

till he was 17 years old, and then came 
to Montgomery Co., Ohio. He served in the 
war of 1S12, and in January 1815 was married 
to Anna Kavanagh, in Champaign Co. She 
was born in Kentucky, and her jiarents moved 
to this State in 18(1.5. After his marriage Hen- 
ry lived a short time in this count v, and then 
went back to Ciiami)aign Co., and lived there 
until 18.'i"2, when he returned, and bought a 
farm near I.ewiston. He soon after traded 
property with .ludgc Shelby, receiving a farm 
in Liberty Tp.,on which he liveil till his death, 
in 1850. .Siunuel lived under tlu? parental 
roof until his marriage, Jan. 27, ]Xi'i, to Kuth 
Watson. She died Jan. 7, 1840, leaving four 
children , two of whom are living — Perry IJ. 
and William H. Tlu! eldest is practicing 
me<licine in liellefonlaiiie, and the youngest 

is living on the ho stead. Feb. 7, 185ti, he 

united fortunes with .Margaret Bea<'om. She 
died Dec. il, 18.5(1. leaving an infant cliild — 
Sarah A. lie was again married .March lil, 
IH5;j, to Sarah ^Vatson. By this union si.\ 
children have been horn; three are living — 
Eliza M., Fanny B. and Laura A. He owns 
over two hundred acres of land, KiO of which he 



himself has cleared; this being the third farm 
he has tluis improved. He was once a Demo- 
crat, but is now a Prohib tionist. 

J^V.MAX DOW, |)liysiciaii and surgeon; 
Belle Centre; is one of the best known and 
thoroug-lily respected men in this township, 
although he has been among us but a few 
years; he was born in this county Aug. 21, 
18413. His father, Peter Dow, was born in 
Scotland, and emigrated to this country when 
12 years of age; he was married to Sally 
Cani])l)ell, a native of Washii-.gton Co., O., 
and always followed farming- until 1855, when 
he moved to Bellid'outaiiie; he was engaged 
in the drug business for some time, but is 
now living- a retired life; he is one of the 
School Examiners for this coinitv, and has 
held that pi sitioii many years. Lynuin com- 
menced clerking in the drug store in 18(11, 
and at the same time studied medicine; he 
graduated at the Cin<-innati Medical ( 'ollege 
in March, 1805, and immediately enlisted In 
the C S. N. as assistant siugeon; at the close 
of the war he commenced practicing in Belle 
Centre, and renuiined two j'ears, when he en- 
gaged in the drug business at Bellefonta'iie, 
and tliiMi at Wooster; he returned to this 
place in 1875, and has built up a good i>rac- 
tice; he was married May 17, 18tj(j, to 
.Martha ,1., daughter of J. B. and Hannah 
McCracken, of I rbana. Their union has been 
blessed with six (hildren — .lames A., Jess'e 
E., Samuel W., Nellie A., Charles T. and 
Sallie H. Both he and wife are members of 
the Presbyterian Church. He has always 
been a Republican. 

LEWIS T. EMKi;V, fanner; P.O., New 
Richlanil; is one of the most promising and 
eniMgetic young farmers of this township, and 
was born Dec. 11,1850, in Lancaster Co., Pa. 
His father, .lames Emery, was born in that 
county and married Eliza A. E:igle, a native 
of Chester Co. Farming has Ijecn his only 
occupation, and in .March, 1854, he moved to 
this county, settling in Harrison Tp., where he 
lived until 1878, and lias"siii<t' been in Melle- 
fontaine. He owns several farms in this 
county, which are comhu-ted by his sons. His 
wife died Sept. 2(1, 18G7, and he has since 
married .\larv .1. Arrowsmith. Lewis gradu- 
ated at Eastman's Business College .March i'i, 
1872, and refused several business positions 
for the more congenial pursuit of (arming. 



^ 




EICHLAND TOWNSHIP. 



801 



Lewis was married Oct. 7, 1875, to Columbia 
A., daughter of Jacob and Eliza (Laiiey) Horn. 
She was born Aug. 11, 1856, in this county. 
Their union has been blessed with one child, 
Nellie E., born Aug. 25, 1879. He and his 
brother own the farm on wliich he lives, and 
this he manages as well as tiie farm adjoining 
wliicii belongs to his father. He and his wife 
are members of the Presbyterian Church, and 
he also belongs to the Knights of Pythias, 
Inilepcndent Order of Peil Men, Connnercial 
Council and Patrons fif Husbandry. He has 
always iieen a Republican. 

.JAMES K. ELDER, farmer; P. O., Hunts- 
ville; is one of the prominent and rising 
young farmers of Richland Township, and is 
a son of Robert J. and ilartha (Keers) Elder. 
He was born April 27, IS-tO, in McArlliur Tp., 
and has always been a resident of tliis county. 
His father's a son of Abraham Elder, Sr., men- 
tioned elsewhere in this work, and was born at 
Somerset, Perry Co., in 1818. When 10 years 
of age he came to this county with his parents. 
He was reared to and has always followed 
agricultural pursuits, and his oidy capital 
when he commenced in life was willing hands 
and a determination to succeed. The results 
show for themselves, as he now owns two 
good farms, the product of his own industry 
and oood management, besides other pos- 
sessions that make him comfortable for life. 
Ml . Elder lost his only daughter — Mar\' E., 
February 7, 1876. She was a gifted and 
much esteemed young lady, and her premature 
death, undoubtedly hastened the departure 
of her feeble mother, who died the following 
March. Mr. Elder resided at Huntsville at 
the time of this double affliction, but now 
lives alternately with his two sons. .James 
Iv. worked out by the month in early life, but 
for a number of years has been farming for 
himself. He has already Secured a pleasant 
little farm, and is one of the lai'gest and most 
successful grain growers of the tounship. He 
was married .Jan. 19, 1871, to Anna C, daugh- 
ter of .John AV. and Eli/aJ)etli Dyche. She 
was born Sejjt, 13, LS.j;;, in Morgan Co., now 
West Vir;^inia. Her parents lived here a 
short time, but are now in Kansas. Three 
children have blessed this union — Mary L., 
James K. and Robert F. Both he and his 
wife are members of the United Presbyterian 
Church. Mr. Elder has always been a stal- 



wart member of the l^epublican party, and 
takes an active interest in their proceedings. 
He is a gentleman of decided worth, and 
whose purity and integrity of character are 
above reoroach. 

PRESTON O. ELLIS, retired merchant ; 
Belle Centre, is the oldest of a family 
of twelve children, and was born July 31, 
1822, in Greene Co., O.; his father, Samuel 
Ellis, was born in the year 1800 in what is 
now West Virginia, and when 9 years old ac- 
companied his parents to this State, where 
his father bought 1500 acres of military iand, 
being one of the first settlers of Greene Co. 
He has never left the county of his adoption, 
but was there married to Elizabeth Oglesbee, 
who was also born in Virginia, in the year' 
1802, and came to this State at an early day 
He has always lived on the old homestead, 
which has grown dear to him as it has slowly 
but surely changed from its primitive state to 
a beautiful and highly cultivated farm. His 
earthly companion departed this life more 
than forty years ago, but he is still living 
in the full possession of all his faculties ; 
was united in wedlock Feb. 3, 1844, to 
Lucv A., daughter of Hiram and Henrietta 
(Crow) Dakiii ; she was born Dec. 28, 1824, 
in Clinton Co., O. They lived successively 
in Greene, Clintou, Warren and Franklin 
Co's, but most of the time in Warren, an I 
for perhaj),^ sixteen years he was engaged in 
lumbering, and previous to that was a farmer. 
In 1866 he bought a I'arm of 700 acres east 
of Belle Centre, partly in Hardin and partly 
in this county. It was a large forest and on 
that he ran a saw-mill for two years, when he 
moved to Belle Centre and engaged in the 
mercantile business which he followed ten 
years with fair success ; he now su])erintends 
the 300 acres of land, which he yet retains, and 
is a contractor on pikes. By his marriage 
four children have been born — Mary E., 
Elizabeth A., Lewis M., and Edwin F. All 
are married. He has held the offices of 
Treasurer, Mayor, and Councilman, and has 
been Republican since the organization of 
that ]iartv. 

ADAM C. GOSSARD, retired farmer; P. 

: O., Belle Centre; is the eldest of a family of 
ten children, anil was born in Ross Co., O., 
May 1, 1816. His father, Jacob Gossard, was 

! born in Geiinany and came to th;s country in 






) 'fy ' 



!> V?" 



HI2 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



his boyhood. Farmiiig was his only occupa- 
tion and support in lil'o. He was married to 
Mary Calar, a Virginian by birth, and lived in 
Ross Co., four years after marriage, when ho 
moved to Fayette Co., and bought a farm of 
military land, which he iin])roved and resided 
on till death. Adam was entrusted with all 
his fathei's business from the time he was 10 
years old and displayed remarkable business 
tact. May 11, is;?(i, he was married to .lane, 
diughter of William and Marganst McGowen. 
She was of Irish descent and was born 
May 17, 1814, in Butler Co., Penn. In 
1845 he moved to Hardin Co. and 
bought over 300 acres of military land 
which he improved and lived upon for 
many years. His wife died (3ct. 11, 1800, 
having borne him lour childnm, one died in 
infancy — Francis .1. was lost in the late war 
at the battle of Franklin; William H. and 
Nancy J. are yet living. Both are married, 
the son living on the old farm. In 1873 Adam 
retired from the farm and moved to Belle 
Centre, where he has since lived. He was 
married Oct. 1, 1874, to Sophia E., daugh- 
ter of Christian and Sarah Cocklin. She was 
born Jan. 14, 1840, in Cumberland Co., 
Penn. He has beeu Trustee and Treasurer, 
and a member of the Masonic Order over 
thirty years. He joine<l the M. K. Church in 
182.") and was connected with that deiKxnina- 
tion till 1878; since that tiim; \m and hiswifc^ 
have been members of the Presbyterian 
Church. 

UICHARD A. GH.MIAM, merchant; Belle 
Centre; is the eldest son of the family, and 
junior member of the firm of Hanisey & Gra- 
ham; was born in Bloomfield, Coshocton Co., 
O., .March 19,1848. His father, Robert W. 
Graham, was born in the Emerald Isle, and 
emigrated to this country when 8 years of 
age; he came direct to Coshocton Co., where 
he has ever since lived; he was married to 
.Mary Ramsey, a nntive of that county, and for 
some lime he was engaged in business in 
Bloomfield; he manufactun-d boots and shoes, 
ke|»t store, and owned a mill for a few years, 
but is now living on a farm. His wife died 
in .lune, 18.5"(!, leaving three small eliildren for 
him to protect and rear to maturity. When 
1.1 y(!ars old Richard came to Bi'lle (Jeiitre, 
which has ever since been his home; he 
clerked for W. & A. C. Ramsey, attended 



college one year, each, at Berea and Hayes- 
ville, O., and was in a hardwiire store at 
Brooklyn, la., for one J'ear; in 18U'J he suc- 
ceeded A. C. Ramsey in the store, and has 
since been in business for himself; he was 
married April 19, 1877, to Emma R., daugh- 
ter of Uanicl and Phebe A. Mackinnon. She 
was born June 1, 1854, at Huntsville, in this 
county. By this union one child has been 
born — named Fred. His wife belongs to the 
Presbyterian Church. He is a miMuber of the 
Masonic Fraternity, and is a Re])\iblican. 

THt)MAS HOSACK, farmer; P. ()., Belle 
Center; was born March 34, 1819, in .Mercer 
Co., Pa. His father, Thomas Hosack, Sr., was 
a native of Adams Co., Pa., and served as a 
Colonel in the war of 1812, he and Colonel 
Christy commanding Fort Erie. He was 
married to Margaret Johnston, and soon after 
movinl to Mercer Co., where he farmed and 
ran a mill. His wife died after having borne 
him ten children, and he then married to 
Susan Bainbridge, of Crawford Co., Pa. He 
died in 1852, being burned in his own house, 
and having considerable money by him, foul 
]>lay was suspected. Thomas came to this 
county when 19 years old, and work(!d at the 
carpenter's trade for several years near Rich- 
land. He was mar.-ied Feb. 23, 1843, to 
.Mary J. AFcClure, a native of Indand and a 
resident of this country, after she was 7 years 
old. They lived in Richland till 1848, when 
he bought a half interest in the mill south of 
Belle Center, and after runtiing it four years 
moved on the farm on which he now lives. It 
was all heavy forest, and he now has (JO acres 
cleared, good buildings an<l other improve- 
ments to make it attractive and valuable. 
Their union has been blessed with seven chil- 
dren, five are living, Robert .M., Elizabeth .1., 
Martha H., William J., anri Ebenezer W. 
The four eldest are married; all the family are 
members of the of the R. P. Church, except 
the (ddest son, who belongs to the Pnisbvle- 
rian denominatiim. 

T. NEWTO.X HARROD, druggist; Belle 
Centre; is the eldest of a family of four 
children, and was born .March tl, 1838, in 
McArthur Tp.; the Harrods were the first 
Sftllersin .McArthur Tp.. two brothers com- 
ing thi-re with their families from KtNitucky, 
and settling on the very land on which the 
Cherokee Imlians were then living; it was 



EICHLAND TOWNSHIP. 



803 



there that Sanford Harrod, the father of 
Newton, was born and reared to his maturity, 
and in early life became inured to the trials 
that beset the first pioneers of a new country. 
He was married to Sarah .7. Piatt, whose 
parents were also very early settlers, and in 
1845 he moved to a farm of new land one 
mile east of Belle Centre; this he cleared 
and improved as fast as possible and lived on 
it most of the time until 1872, when ho sold 
it and moved to Terre Haute, Ind., and en- 
•>aared in srardenina: and the small fruit busi- 
ness; he followed that until the death of 
his wife in 1876, and has since been traveling' 
in various parts of the great West; Newton 
commenced business for himself when 25 
years old, and first bought the mill south of 
Belle Centre, which he conducted for two 
years; he sold that and engaged in the grocery 
trade at this place, doing a good business for 
one year, when ho quit and soon after went 
into the drug business, in which he is yet en- 
gaged, keejiing the largest and most complete 
stock in town; he was married P^eb. 11, 1804, 
to Margaret J. Smith; th'ir union has been 
blessed with eight children, including three 
pairs of twins, one of each couplet being 
dead; the living are — Orion L., Elmer H., 
Theo. C, Grusta B. and one unnamed. He 
was in the service a short time, and has served 
several terms asTownship Treasurer and Coun- 
cilman; is a member of the I. O. O. F., and 
has always been a Republican. 

URIAS HOVT, retired farn>er; P. O., 
Belle Centre; was born Sept. 4, 1808, in 
Stillwater, Rensselaer Co., N. Y.; his parents 
were natives of Westchester Co., that State; 
his father's name being Jesse and his mother's 
maitlon name Sally Weed. His father was a 
shoemaker by trade, and died in that State in 
1855. Urias learned the trade with his 
father, and when 18 years old commenced for 
himself; he followed '"jour." work till 1839, 
and then had a shop of his own in connec- 
tion with a store; he lived in Michigan seven 
years; one year he was a circuit minister, and 
six years was engaged in clearing and im- 
proving a farm; he has also lived two years 
in Illinois, where he was engaged in the mer- 
cantile business, and irom there he moved to 
Urbana, and after a residence of two years 
he secured a farm in Hardin Co., on which he 
lived until April, ISSQ, when he moved to 



Belle Centre, to secure that freedom from 
care that a lifetime of usefulness has surely 
earned. He first married Dec. 39, 1831; this 
wife died April 29, 1808, having borne one 
child that died when 17 years old. He was 
married Oct. 15, 1808, to Mrs. Sarah A. 
Weaver, whose maiden name was Sloan ; she 
was born Jan. 5, 1830, in Ireland, and emi- 
grated to this country- daring her childhood. 
By this union two children have been born — 
Joseph U., born Sept. 3, 1869, and John J., 
April 10, 1871. Both he and wife are 
members of the M. E. Church, in which he 
has been local preacher forty years, and also 
an Elder. He has been Justice of the Peace, 
and was Postmaster at Walworth, N. Y., for 
seven years: has alwavs been a Democrat. 

R. H. JOHNSTON, farmer ; P. O., Belle 
Centre ; is one of the energetic and reliable 
farmers of this township, and was born in 
Harrison Co., March 2, 1832 ; his father, 
John B. .Johnston, was one of the most prom- 
inent and inttuential men in the township. 
He was born in 1802 in Indiana Co., Pa., 
and worked on the farm and at the tanner's 
trade till 21 years old ; desiring a good edu- 
cation he attended college at Cannonsburg, 
Pa., and then at the Theological Seminary at 
Pittsburgh City. He received license to preach 
and was soon after married to Sarah Bruce, a 
lineal descendant of that renowned Scotch 
family. He moved to Logan Co., in 1833 
and was the first pastor of the Old Miami 
Congregation at Northwood ; he was the 
founder of Geneva College and manifested a 
warm interest in the success of that institu- 
tion of learning. He was one of the first 
advocates of abolition and held many sj)irited 
debates in different parts of the county. In 
1859 he moved to St. Clairsville, Belmont 
Co., where he has been Postmaster most of 
the time, and until lately preached in the 
United Presbyterian Church. Hamilton com- 
menced for himself when 23 years old, and 
has always been a farmer. He farmed in 
Michigan two years, and then went to Iowa 
and bought a home ; he returned to this 
State for a housekeeper and was married Oct. 
13, 1857, to Hannah M. Clyde ; she was born 
April 12, 1835, and is the daughter of Joseph 
and Anna (Jameson) Clyde ; her jaarents 
moved to Belle Centre in 1857, lived there 
ten years and have since been in Iowa. 



^ 



804 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



Hamilton lived on his western land a short 
time and has since lived in this county where 
he has cleared up a srood and valuable I'arm. 
They Imve five children — R. Clyde, E. Hruce, 
Elmer B., Minnie (). and John B. Both are 
memliers of tlic^ K. P. Cluircli. 

CORNELIUS JAMES( )N, retired farmer; 
P. O., Belle Centre; was born March 8, ISOl, 
in rjji-onier Valley, Indiana Co., Pcnn. His 
father, William .lameson, was born in Scot- 
land, and was brought to this couiitrj' when 
4 years old; he always nuide farmiiifr his 
oeeujiation, and was married to Mary Hutchi- 
son, a native of Peinisylvania. They lived in 
Indiana Co. until lS3"i, when they moved to 
this State, and ever after lived in Crawford 
Co. Cornelius commenced for himself when 
married; this was March 8, 1825, to Miss 
Phebe Davis, a native of Connecticut, but 
raised in Pennsylvania. He farmed five years, 
and then taught school two j'cars at Blairs- 
ville, having taught during every winter sea- 
son for nine years previous; he came to this 
State in 1832, and lived five j'ears in Craw- 
ford Co., and has ever since made this county 
his home; he owned a tan-yard near (Cherokee 
for three years, and kept a lK)arding-liouse 
and store at Northwood for the same length 
of time; he has owned two different farms near 
Belle Centre, but is now living a retired and 
(piiet life. His wife died Aug. 8, 1848, leav- 
ing eight children, seven of whom are now liv- 
ing — Eli/abe(h, .Mary, Sylvia, Emily, Martha 
B., Louisa and Eunice A. lie was nuirried 
Sept. 18, 184'.i, toChristiana .McClure, a native 
of Ireland. She died Se|)t. 2(), 18(jl, leaving 
two children — Phcibe IJ. and L'lric Z. Nov. 
20, 1802, he united his fortunes with those of 
Mary J. Carter, wid<jw of Dr. John Carter. 
She was born in Harrison Co., and had one 
ciiild. Both he and his wife are mcmbi-rs of 
the Heformc.'d Pri-sbyti-rian Church, of which 
he has been riding Elder thirtv-two years. 

WILLIAM JOILN.^roX, "farmer; P. O., 
New Hichhind; was born -July 7, 1810, in 
Beaver Co., I'a. His father, who also answered 
to the same name, was born in Co. Antrim, 
Ireland, ami accompanied his jiarents to this 
country when II j'ears of age. He was mar- 
rie.l Feb. .'>, 1 ?!)'.), to .Mary .M. Shearer, a native 
of Pennsylvania, and lived in Beaver Co., 
until 1 81 :{, when they moved to M'ayne Co., 
in this Stat(!. In 1832 they moved to Logan 



Co., and settled in this township, where thev 
improved a large and valuable farm. William 
lived under the parental roof until 25 years of 
age, assisting his father in clearing the farm 
and attending to the comforts of the family. 
He was married Dec. 10, 1840, to Elizabeth, 
daughter of R<ibert and Sarah (Fulton) Scott. 
She was born March 15, 1811), in Licking Co. 
Her father served in the war of '812, an<l was 
one of the first settlers in this township, com- 
ing here in 1824. Having no children of their 
own, William and wife have at dillerent times 
taken children into th(;ir kind and tender care 
imtil no less than six are under grateful obli- 
gations to them for the benetits ac([uired in a 
Christian home. They have always lived on 
the saTue farm since marriage, and both are 
members of the R. P. Church, which they 
joined near 1840. 

ALEXANDER KING, farmer; P. O., 
New Richland; is among the early pioneers 
of this township, who have seen the heavy 
forests rejilaced with beautiful and valuable 
farms, and has taken an active part in the 
giowth and development of this county; he 
was born in Cwnberland Co., Pa., Oct. 14, 
171)8; his fatiier, Janiet, Ring, was a native of 
Irelanil, and there married Nancy (Jass; they 
soon after emigrated to this country and lived 
in Peinisylvania until 1810, when lliey came 
to this State; they lived in Trumbull Co. 
seven years, and ever after in Licking Co.; 
his father was a wheelwright by trade and 
made it his chief occupation, although he 
owned a farm. Ale.xander learneil the trade 
with his father, and commenced doing for 
himself a short time before marriage; 
this occurred March 24, 1824, her name being 
Margaret Fulton; in 182'J he movtsil to this 
eountv and settled on the farnj on wliicii he 
now lives; the only improvements were a 
log-cabin and a few acres of partly-cleared 
land; he worked at his trade five years after 
coming here, and has since been a farmer; 
he now owns ni'arly 300 acres of land in this 
t<>wnslii|) and has valual)le |)roperty in the 
far west; his wife died .luly 2'.». 18:{:{, leaving 
three children — Nancy (i., Sarah L., and 
Margaret G. April tl, bSljri, he uniied his 
fortunes with those of .Mary, daughter of 
William and Mary .lohnstoii; she was born 
April 20, 1808, and has l)orne him seven chil- 
dren — James, .Martha J., .Mary E., William, 



1' 



RICHLAND TOWNSHIP. 



805 



Lovina, Marion A. and Benjamin L. The 
eldest was killed in Utali, where he was em- 
ployed on the railroad. His wife and daugh- 
ters are members of the United Pre?hyterian 
Church ; he has been a Republican since the 
oru'aui/ation of that party. 

ASBEKY F. LYI.E, merchant; Belle Cen- 
tre; is the youngest son of John and Mary 
Lyle, and junior menilier of tlie firm of Lyle 
& liro. ; he was born May 6, 1858, in Mus- 
kiiig-um Co., O. ; he worked on the farm until 
his father engaged in the mercantile business, 
when he commenced clerking in the store. 
His father soon withdrew from the business, 
and he has since been a member of the firm. 
May 25, 1876, he joined his fortunes with 
those of Frovolia G. Porter, daughter of J. C 
and Elizabeth Porter. She was born No- 
vember 15, 1855, in this county. B}' this 
ha])py union two children have been born — 
Franklin O. and Elmer W. She is a con- 
sistent member of the Disciple Church at this 
place. He has so far been identified with the 
Democratic party. 

JOHN W. LYLE, merchant; Belle Cen- 
tre; is one of the prominent and enterpris- 
ing citizens of the town of Belle Centre, and, 
ahliough he has lived here only a short time, 
has rapidl}' advanced to the front, and is now 
among the foremost business men ; he is the 
second of a family of ten children, and 
was born March 28, 18-12, in Muskingum Co., 
O. His father, John Lyle, a native of that 
county, was born in 1^12, and his mother, 
Marj' (Baird) Lyle, was born in 1814; his 
father was a farmer by occupation, but man- 
ufactured stoneware for ten years, and worked 
a coal bank for fourteen years. In 1872 he 
moved to Logan Co., and bought a farm one- 
half mile east of Belle Centre, on which he 
lived five years, and then engaged in the 
mercantile business with his son for two 
years, and has since lived a retired and quiet 
life. His wife died June 17, 1879. John 
commenced for himself when of age, but 
worked at his fathers business till 1872, 
when he moved to Hardin Co., and engaged 
in farming. The following summer one of 
his legs was crushed in a horse-power, and 
was amputated in March, 1874; he removed 
to Belle Centre the following fall, and kept 
grocery two years, when he went into partner- 
ship with H. M. Cline, keeping a general 



stock. After one year's business he with- 
drew, and kept a grocery at Roundhead for 
nearly two years, when he returned and has 
since been in the mercantile business at this 
place. Lyle & Bro. keep a good assortment 
of groceries, dry goods, boots and shoes, hats, 
caps, notions, etc., and have a large and rap- 
idly increasing trade. He was married April 
15, 1867, to Hester A., daughter of Henry 
and Prudy (Ranibo) Thomas; she was born 
in Muskingum Co., March 13, 1850. Six chil- 
dren are the fruits of this union — Lily V., 
Addie B., Myrtie M., Florence M., and the 
twins — Harry Earl and Gracie Pearl ; he was in 
the war a short time, and is now a member 
of the L O. O. F.; he has always belonged 
to the Democratic partv. 

OLIVER LIGGITT, farmer; P. O., Belle 
Centre; is one of the energetic and promis- 
nr farmers of this township, in which 
he was born April 4, 1847. His father, .fohn 
Liggitt, was born in 1813, in York Co., Pa., 
and accompanied by his mother and two sis- 
ters settled at an early day on that historic 
piece of property known as the "Solomon's 
Town" farm. He married Susan Core, who 
was born in Favette Co, in 1822, but was 
then living with her grandparents at North- 
wood, her parents having died during her in- 
fancy. By industry aaid energy he soon pos- 
sessed one of the best improved and most 
valuable farms in the township. He died 
May 31, 1848, in the very prime of his life, 
leaving four children, of whom, Oliver was 
the young-est. The widowed mother was 
afterward married to James McClure, a na- 
tive of Ireland, with whom she lived till her 
<leath, Nov. 11, 1875. Oliver commenced for 
himself when 18 years of ag-e and has always 
followed farming in this township, except two 
seasons, he was with his uncle in Clarke Co. 
He was married Sept. 5, 1871, to Catharine 
J., daughter of Robert and Jane (Torrence) 
Shields. She was born Jan. 3, 1847, in this 
county, and has borne him four children, the 
three youngest of whom are yet living — 
David A., Robert J. C, and John W. He 
owns nearly 100 acres of well improved land, 
and for several seasons he and his father-in- 
law have run a threshing machine with good 
success. Both he and wife are members of 
the R. P. Church. 

T. CLARK LAUGHLIN, farmer; P. O., 



IK" 



^: 



806 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



Belle Centre; was horn in this township Aug. 
i:i, 183-1. His father, Hujrh Laughlin, was 
born in Erie, Penn., and was brought to 
Guernsey Co., O., in iiis infancy. He was a 
farmer by oceu])ation, and married Maria 
(_"hirk, a native of Beaver Co., Ponn. A few 
years after marriage they moved to this town- 
ship and cleared up and improved a good 
farm. She died in 1857, and lie is now living 
with his youngest son in Rushcreek Tp. Clark 
lived with his father till 28 years old, working 
on the larm, and t(;aehing school during the 
winter for several years. He then commencd 
doing for himself on the farm on which he now 
lives. It was all timber, and he has changed 
its appearance greatly, having cleared over 
100 acres of heavy forest and erected beau- 
tiful and commodious buildings. He was 
married April 2(j, 1804, to .Martha .lelVers. 
She was born in Pennsylvania and raised in 
this State; she died March 12, 1805, leaving 
one child — Hugh C. Feb. li, 1868, he was 
married to Fannie Henry, a native of Cham- 
paign Co., where she was born Aug. 18, 18-14. 
15v this union five children have been born — 
.Margaret M., .June K., Hhiula H., Edna G. 
and Carrie M. He has been Township Clerk, 
Assessor, and was Eanil .\ppraiser in 1.S80. He 
is a member of the .Masonic Order, arul has 
always been a warm adherent of the Rcpidili- 
can party. 

.lOSIAH R. LATUHILIN, farmer; P. O., 
Belle Centre; is one of the jinmiinent fanners 
of this township, owning a large farm, on 
which beautiful and coirimodious buildings 
have lieen constructed, making a convenient 
and tasty home; he is the second child of 
Alexander and Sarah (Rolie) I.anghlin, both 
of whom are still living on a farm in Guernsey 
Co., where they were born. His father is the 
eldest of a family of seven children, all of 
whom are living, the youngest being near (Jo 
years old. .losiah lived under the |)ariMital 
roof until his marriage — Oct. 20, 1S.">4 — to 
Martha, daughter of .John ami Mary (liurns) 
.IdIimsoii. .Shi- was born Sept. 1, l.s;U, in 
what is nciw Noble Co., O. He? followed 
farming in his native county until IHtil}, wIkmi 
he moved to where he now lives. Bv their 
marriage seven children have lieen l)ori: — 
Robert J.. /\inu» .M., Sarah A., Edwin . I., .Jen- 
nie A., William, and Clara .M. The eldest 
graduated at Wooster in 1878, and is now 



attending the Theological Seminary at Prince- 
ton. The second has lately linislu^d a course 
at Geneva College, in this county. Their 
third child — Sarah Alice — was most fnully 
murdered near r^ewiston Reservoir, in 187-5, 
by James Shell. He paid the penalty with 
his life, being taken from the jail soon after 
by a body of enraged citizens and hung to 
the nearest tree. The parents and the three 
eldest children are members of the Presby- 
terian Church, in which he has been Elder for 
several years. He takes little interest in po- 
litical affairs, and so far has been a Democrat. 
SAMUEL I>AMBAR1), farmer; P. O., 
Belle t'entre. This hardy pioneer was born 
in Augusta Co., Va., Aug. 18, 1804, and of 
eleven children is the only living representa- I 
tive of the family. His ])arents were natives 
of Augusta Co., and were German descent ; 
his fathers name was Abraham and his moth- 
er's maiden name was Barbara Hamaker. 
His father was a farmer by occupation and 
manufactured his own implements of hus- 
bandry. He enn'grated to Ohio, in 1815, and 
settled in Ross Co., where he li\ nd one vear 
and then moved to Fayette Co., leciiring a 
fartn in what was termed the "l^.ew Pur- 
(■hase;" this he cleared and impro i*d till 
1832, when he sold it and came to Logai. Co.; 
h(^ bought nearly 300 acres of new lai.-l. 
which he divided among his three children 
then living, letting each one clear and im- 
prove his own home. Samuel has ahviiys 
been a farmer and commeiiced doing for him- 
self as soon as married, although he m-ver 
left his father's farm. He was married Ajiril 
18, 1820, to Learna H., daughter of William 
aud Rebecca Dickey ; she was born Jan. 18, 
1800, and liveil in Fayette Co., when married. 
Her father was a I'resbyterian preacher ; by 
this union eight children were bom, only 
three of whom are living — .lames R., Rebecca 
J. and Mary E.; they are married, the eldest 
living on the old homestead, the second in 
Missouri and the daughter in Chain|iaign Co. 
His wife died .liilv 13, 1X40, ami .lune 25, 
1847, he was marrieil to Ellen, widow of 
William Edmiston ; she had two children — 
David and .Mary, who are now marrie I and 
living in Clinton, 111.; she was born .lune 15, 
1812, in York Co.. I'emi. To them three 
children have been born, one is living — John 
W., who is engineer on a railroad and lives 



M 



RICHLAND TOWNSHIP. 



807 



at Grand Island, Neb. The whole family be- 
long to the Presbvteriaii Church. He has 
always been a Democrat, and cast his first 
vote for .lackson. 

JOSEPH LILES, farmer; P. O., Belle 
Centre; has been living in this county since 
his childhood, and was raised on the farm on 
which he now lives. He was born Aug. 19, 
1826, in Ross Co., O. His father, Lemuel 
Liles was born in North Carolina near the year 
1780, and when 12 years old moved to Ten- 
nessee, where he lived till 1812, when he en- 
listed in the army, and served nearly two 
years, and was at tlie battle of Sandusky, and 
received his discharge when at Sackett's Har- 
bor. He walked from there to Beaver Co., 
Penn., and stop|ied for the purpose of replen- 
ishing ills purse; while here he became warm- 
ly attached to a young lady by the name of 
Hannah Deringer; her parents were opposed 
to their marriage, but love surmounts all ob- 
stacles, and they started on a wedding tour 
down the Ohio river in a " dug-out " canoe, 
which contained their worldly eft'ects, their 
objective point being Tennessee. They 
stopped in Ross Co., to visit an uncle, and hav- 
ing only 87 in money, they were induced to 
make that place their home. He leased a 
farm for a number of years, but sold his lease 
in 1831, and moved to Logan Co., where he 
bought 100 acres of military land, on which 
he lived till his death, in 1870. He helped 
each of his children to a home, and was for 
many years a licensed preacher in the Metho- 
dist Ejiiscopal Church, which he ji lined soon 
after marriage. Joseph learned the mason 
trade when l-t yearsold,and followed it for near 
14years,when he relinquished it, and has since 
made farming his chief occu|)ation. In 1865, 
he bought the mill south of Belle Centre, and 
controlled it till 1878, when he and his son 
built a large and commodious structure in the 
town, and moved the machinery to that place. 
He was married March 16, 1878, to Anna, 
daughter of James and Rebecca (Tucker) Far- 
out. She was born Jan. 6, 1826, in Cham- 
paign Co. By this onion three childreTi have 
been born — George W., .John B. and Osmun. 
The two eldest are married — George W. liv- 
ing in Hardin Co., and John B. in Belle 
Centre, superintending the mill. Has been 
identified with the Republican party since its 
organization. 



ALONZO C. McCLURE, farmer; P. O., 
New Richland; is one of the enterprising 
farmers of this townsiii]), and was born Oct. 
18, 1839, near Detroit, Mich.; his father, An- 
drew McClure, was liorn near Belfast, Ire- 
land, where he learned the trade of shoe- 
making; when 19 years old he came to 
this country, and after a short residence in 
York State he went to Canada, where he was 
married to Samantha A. Crandell, whose 
father had served in the war of 1812. Being 
of an impulsive and patriotic disposition he 
was captain of a com|)any in the " Patriot 
war," and to escape cii])ture fled to Michigan; 
he soon returned to Canada, however, where 
he remained until 1855, and then returned to 
Michigan and was the first Justice of the 
Peace in Gratiot Co.; he was engaged in 
various kinds of business during his life 
and for many years was a heavy dealer in 
marble, followed farming, and died in 1873. 
When 12 years of age Alonzo left home to 
live with his uncle, William McClure, and 
remained with him until 1860, in the mean- 
time learning the shoemaker trade; he clerked 
in a store, kept a shop of his own, and during 
the war enlisted in Company I), 3-l:th O. V. I., 
and served until the close of the war; he has 
since been a farmer and now owns the old 
" Solomon's Town " farm, which he has 
brought to a fine degree of cidti vation ; he was 
married Sept. 25, 1862, to Sarah J. Liggitt, 
daughter of .John Ligi;'itt; she died April 7, 
1873, leaving four children — M. Cora, Eva C, 
Nathaniel, James L.; March 2.3, 1876 he 
was iniited to Adella C. Johnston, daughter 
of James S. and Mary (Hyudnian) .lohnston; 
they were among the first settlers of this 
township and are now living at Northwood, 
where Adella attended colleg'e; this union 
has been blessed with two, children-Frank W. 
and Mary A. Mr. McClure has always been 
astalwart Republican and is now Trustee; his 
wife is a consistent member of the R. P. 
Church; they have a l)eautiful and interesting 
home, and we bespeak for them a happy and 
prosjjerous future. 

JOHN McKlRAHAN, farmer; P. O., 
Northwood; is the seventh of a family of 
thirteen children, nine of whom are living, 
and wa? born Feb. 13, 1843, in Belmont Co. 
His father, .John McKirahan, Sr., was born in 
Washington Co., Penn., in 18U6, and came to 



808 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



Boliiioiit Co., O., wlicti 5 years old. He 
l(?ariuHl the slioeniakci's trade at which lie 
worked in early life, but has made fanning 
his eliief oecupalion. He was married to 
Eliza Porterfi(>Kl, a native of Lancaster Co., 
Penn., and a resident of Ohio since her child- 
hood. He moved to this county in 1SG4 and 
has since lived in Northwood. When only 
18 years old .John enlisted in Company D, 
25th Regiment, (). V. I., and served nearly 
five years. He was wounded at the second 
battle of Bull Hun and again at Gettysburg. 
On receiving his discharge he came directiy 
to Northwood and has since been farming. 
He was married Dec. 31, 1874, to Mntilda, 
daughter of Isaac and Jane Downs. She was 
born July 10, IS.ilJ, in MiMcer Co., Penn., and 
came here in 18(J4. They lived in Rushcreek 
Tp. three years and have since been at North- 
wood. Hy their union three children have 
been born — Ida Ethel, Prank P. and \\'alter 
W. He owns 90 acres of land adjoining the 
village, and he, wife and parents are members 
of the United Pnisb.terian Church. He has 
always been a Republican and his father has 
been identified with that party since its or- 
ganization. 

JOHN M. McKlNl.KV, drugixist; lielle 
Centre; is among the most promising busi- 
ness men this town affords, and already- has 
built up a good trade, although he has been 
in business but a short time; he is the eldest 
of a family of three children, anil was born 
Nov. 12, 1S.')T, in Adams Co., Ohio; his 
fatlu-r, David S. McKinley, is a native of the 
Emerald Isle, came to this country during his 
childhood in comjiany with his ])arents; thev 
settled ill Adams Co., where he was married 
to .Mary J. Iliiiiphill, a native of Philadel- 
phia. He fiillnweil fanning till ISO,"), when 
be uioveil to Belle Centr(>, and engaged in 
mercantile business for some three years, and 
lias since been keeping a tin and stove store; 
his wife has been engaged in the millinery 
business since they came here, having, no 
doubt, the best trade in the town. John re- 
ceived a good coiiinion school education, ami 
in 1.ST7 he secured a half interest in the drug 
store he now owns. Dr. Wilson, of this 
place, was his partner for two years, and 
since then he lias been sole ])roprietor; he 
keeps a good assortment of drugs, school- 
books, etc., and is kind ami oliliging to all. 



thus securing hosts of friends. He has al- 
ways been an advocate of the principles of 
the Republican party. 

AI.E.KANDEK P. McCONNELL, har- 
ness maker ; Belle Centre ; is the eldest of a 
family of four children, and was born June 
'ir>, 1841, in Greene Co., O.; his father, Adam 
McConnell, was born and raised in .Mleglinnv 
Co,, Pa. On arriving at manhood he came 
to this State, where he soon after married 
ilary E. F'oster, a native of Greene Co. He 
worked at the carpenters' trade most of the 
time, and at the death of his wife in 184'), he 
placed the children in care of his mother-in- 
law, and started for the gold fields of (jalifor- 
nia wh.^ro he soon after died. Alexander 
lived on the farm most of the time till ISCil, 
whiMi he commenced the trade of hariiess- 
nuiker with Jacob Earick at Belle Centre ; he 
remained with him till the fall of 18(12, when 
he enlisted in Company K. 12Jst Reg., O. V.. 
I.; was at the battles of Periyville, Chick- 
amauga, Resacca and other engagements, and 
was wouiuled in the heel at Chickamauga, 
and in a skirmisii near Avonsborougli, X. C, 
his knee was shattered which resulted in 
ainputati in. (Jn receiving his discharge he 
returncil to Greene Co., and worked at his 
trade ; the next spring he went to Musking- 
um Co., and set up a shop of his own which 
he kept two years, when lie came to North- 
wood and ke))t grocery. In 1873 he came to 
Belle Centre and soon after went to work at 
his trade and is doing a ijood business. He 
was married Nov. 15, 180G, to .Matlie E., 
daiiirhter of Robert and Eliza J. Wylie ; she 
was born in .luiie, 1842, in this township. 
By this union three childri'ii have been iiorn 
-^.Mary E., Ada B. and Hoberl P. He and 
wife are members of the Reform Presbyterian 
Church. 

JEHHV McAl.EXAXDEK, livery slalile; 
Belle Center; is the youngest living meiiib.'r 
of a family of twelve chililren, and was born 
Nov. 27, 18.50, in Champaign Co., O. His 
father, David McAlexander, was a native of 
that eJiinty, and was in.irried to Elizabeth 
Idle, who was born in Virginia an<l lived in. 
Champaign Co. after she was 10 years old. 
They had only 7.") centsvvith which to commence 
housekeeping, but by hard labor and economy 
they acipiired a valuable jiroperty. He owned 
over 2tl(l acri's of land at his death, in 1S(J4, 



A'- 



_S>-. 



ft^ 



RICHLAND TOWNSHIP. 



809 



his wife having died three years previously. 
Jerry commenced for liimself at his father's 
death, and lived the two first years in Indiana. 
He returned and worked on a farm till his 
marriage, Sept. 14, 1870, to Melissa J., 
daughter of John and Mary Goslee. She was 
born Nov. 20, 1849, in Hardin Co. Her 
mother was a cousin of the famous Simon 
Kenton, and died when Melissa was quite 
small. From that time till her marriage she 
lived with an uncle, the last ten years being in 
Champaign Co. They lived in that county 
five years and then moved to Hardin Co., 
where he followed farming four years and has 
since been in Belle Centre. He owned the 
bakery and restaurant one j-ear, and has since 
kept livery stable, owning no doubt the best 
and most complete in the town. They have 
one child, a girl named Oro. His wife be- 
longs to the Disciple Church. 

CHARLES MAINS, lumber dealer; Belle 
Centre; is one of the most iironiineiit and 
well-known citizens in this county, and was 
born March 12, 1824, in Washington Co., Pa. 
His lather, Edward Mains, was a native of 
Ireland, and enn'gratcd to this country after 
he arrived at manhood; he settled in Wash- 
ington Co., Pa., and was soon after married 
to Margaret Young, of Brooke Co., Va.; he 
was a farmer by occupation, and in 183z he 
moved to Richland Co., O., the mother riding 
on horseback and carr3-ing the youngest child; 
he died Dec. 24, 1835, and from that time 
Charles took care of himself. He lived on a 
farm until 1839, when he commenced the trade 
of carpenter at Mansfield; he soon quit and 
went to Reynoldsburg, O., where he drove a 
team on the National road a short time, and 
then walked back to his old home; he fol- 
lowed variovis occupations for sev(n'al years, 
and then secured a place with a railroad con- 
tractor at Shelby; in 184.5 he came to Kenton, 
and had only 25 cents whoTi he arrived at 
that place; we soon find him furnishing tim- 
ber for the construction of the old Mad River 
& Lake Erie R. R., now known as the C, S. & 
C. R. R. ; he followed this business on difl'er- 
ent roads until his marriage, in December, 
1850, to Frances Zaiiller, of Hardin Co.; he 
soon settled in Belle Centre, and engaged in 
the mercantile business, and dealt in stock, 
grain, timber, etc., until 1861; he went into 
the army as Captain of Comiiany E, 82nd 



Reg., O. V. I.; was unfit for military duty, 
and soon returned, and joined the Squirrel 
Hunters at the defense of Cincinnati; he 
moved to Hardin Co., where he lived until 
1870, an! has since lived at this place; he was 
agent for an agricultural firm nearly three 
years, and has since dealt in lumber, doing an 
extensive business. Two of his children died 
in infancy; four are living — Edward H., John 
C, Charles R. and .Munson L. He belongs to 
the Masonic Order, has been Justice of the 
Peace, and for two years was Director of the 
Reform School for Boys, being Chairman of 
the Board the last year. He is a strong Dem- 
ocrat, and leader of that party in this township. 

M. M. McINTIRE, hotel; Belle Centre; is 
the eldest of a family of four children, 'and 
was born Mav G, 1850, in Roundhead, Hardin 
Co., O. Hisfather, Edward D. ^Iclntire, is a 
native of this State, and many years ago was 
milted by marriage to Melinda Oldaker. He 
has worked at the carpenter's trade, but of late 
years has paid most of his attention to farm- 
ino-, livino- in Hardin Co. Miller was married 
Dec. 29, 1878, to Samantha, daughter of John 
and Mary Lj'le. She was born Sept. 28, 1856, 
in Muskingum Co. They commenced house- 
keeping in Belle Centre, and for a while kept 
a boarding-house, and in April, 1880, he be- 
came the manager of the Belie Centre Hotel, 
the only public house in the place. Their 
union has been blessed with one child — Osta 
Blanche. His wife belongs to the Disciple 
Church. He is a member of the Democratic 
paity. 

E. E. NAFUS, carriage and buggy manu- 
facturer; Belle Centri-; is one of the most 
enterprising and energetic business men to 
be found in this township, and, although he 
has lived here but a few years, he has built 
up a good and rapidly increasing trade; he 
he was born June 15, 1849, in Sunbury, O.; 
his father, Joseph S. Xafus, was a native of 
Luzerne Co., Pa.; was born near the scene of 
the Wyoming massacre, in which some of his 
relatives were killed; he came to this State 
during his boyhood, and learned the trade in 
a wagon and buggy shop at Delaware,©.; 
he was married to Mary A. Ports, and owned 
a shop at Delaware, and then at Sunbury. 
In 1850 he moved to West Liberty, this 
countv, and resided there eight years, when 
he came to Huntsville and conducted a good 



^ <i 



:f^ 



810 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



business, till his death, in 1867. Ed. learned 
the trade with his lather, but at his death, 
the bright vision of a classical education and 
a professional career vanished like mist be- 
fore the risinn; sun, and he immediately be- 
came the business manager; he followed the 
trade three years, and then sold out and went 
to Kansas; he soon returned to lluntsville, 
where he lived one year and then moved to 
Louisburg, Chanqiaign Co.; he was engaged 
in manufacturing buggies and carriages at 
that place with Levi Warner, and in 1HT3 he 
moved to Belle Centre, where he has since 
lived; he was marrii^l March 17, 1871, to 
Martha L. Anderson; she was born Nov. :23, 
1847, in this townshi)). Her father, .John B. 
Anderson, was one of the early settlers, and 
a very prominent man; he was .Justice of the 
Peace twenty years. They have one child 
living, Mary Gertrude; their twins died in 
infancy. Both he and his wife are mend)ers 
of the Methodist Illpiscojial Church, and he 
has been Superintendent of the Sunday School 
four years; has served as Township Clerk 
several years, and is elected each year with 
an increased majority; he is the presiding offi- 
cer of the I. O. O. F., and corres|Kinds for 
the Bellefontaine liijuililinui and Cincinna- 
ti Dailj/ Uuzctti', and has always takc-n an 
active jjart in the proceedings of the lie- 
publican party, of which he is a stalwart 
member. 

WILLIAM REED, f.irm(.r; V. O., Now 
Ricliland; was born Nov. S7, ]8'2;3, in Lan- 
caster Co., Pa.; his latlu'r, Robert Rued, was 
a native of the Emerald Isle, and in his 
youthful days learned the trade of weaver; 
he was married to Mary Ann (iilison, and 
was blessed with two (thildren; ho emigrated 
to the New Worhl; this was in 1818, and 
their first pern)anent home was in Lancaster 
Co., from which they moved to near Pitts- 
burg; in ]8;ilJ they moved to Guernsev Co., 
Ohio, where the wife and mother d(>parted 
this life in 1K4."); her companion remained 
thereuntil 18.j(), when ho moved ;o Iowa and 
died in IS.")'.). William connnenced lor him- 
self when ■■!() years old, anil has always bec'ii 
a tiller of the soil; Oct. 13, 18.")3, he took 
unto himself a helpmeet in the person of 
Mary J. Gray, who was born Aug. 25, 1.S31, 
in Belmont Co., (J.; her parents were natives of 
Ireland, and lived in this country several years 



before their marriage; her father's name being 
.lames and her mother's maiden name Ellen 
Walkinsliaw; thej- moved to this townsliij) in 
1837, and settled on the farm on which his son, 
Robert Gray, now lives; after marriage 
William lived in Guernsey Co., until 1802, 
when he moved to this township, wliere he 
now owns nearly 200 acres of land in a good 
location and an attractive home; nine chil- 
dren have blessed this union, two of whom 
died in 1874, one being an accomplished 
young lady, the other a sprightly youth; those 
living are — Sarah E., Mary A., Li/zie N., 
Robert G., Lydia J., James R. and I^(jra E.; 
the first four children have attended Genijva 
College; the parents and three eldest daugh- 
ters are members of the R. P. Cluuch. 

WILLIAM RAMSKY, merchant; Hille 
Centre; is one of the most successful and en- 
terprising business men this town contains, 
and has contributed much to its advancement 
as an important tiading point. He is the 
eldest son of a family of six children, and was 
born Feb. 5, 1831, in Keene, Coshocton Co., 
O.; his father, Henry A. Ramsey, was born 
in Ireland where he learned the trade of cabi- 
net-maker. On reaching man's estate he 
emigrated to this country, and soon after was 
married in (iuernsey Co., O., to .Margaret 
Cullen, daushter of William and .Mary Cul- 
len ; slie was of Irish birth and came here 
when quite young. They always lived in 
ICeene, where he was engiiged in the mercan- 
tile business, and where he ilietl in 1840. At 
the age of l."» William left luime and com- 
menced clerking in a store at Kilbuck, in 
Holmes Co.; he reuuiined there two years 
and then came to Belle Centre and clerked 
for Reuben Tousley two years, when he enter- 
ed into ])artnerslnp with Charles Maines in 
the grocery business, they soon enlarged their 
stock and kept dry goods, hardware, etc.; 
ii(!alt in grain, live stock, staves, hoop-jioles, 
furs and nearly everything that was olfered 
for sale. AfU>r ten years of business Mr. 
Maines withdrew, and was succeeded by A. C 
Ramsey, who in turn yielde<l to H. A. Gra- 
ham in" 18(J'J. Ranisey & (iraliam do a large 
business, kee))ing a full stock of dry goods, 
groceries, hats, caps, boots, shoes, notions, 
ready-made clothing, etc. He was nuirried 
.June 15, 1858, to Nlargaret E., daughter of 
William and Polly Wallace ; she was born in 



ft^ 



RICHLAND TOWJfSHIP. 



811 



this county in 1834. Their iniion lias been 
blessed with six children, four of whom are 
living — Robert G., Helen A., Earl W., and 
William B. He owiw a farm near town and 
has land in the west; he was Postmaster over 
sixteen years, and is a member of the Masonic 
Fraternity. Politically he is associated with 
the Republican party. 

JACOB SESLER, farmer; P. O., Belle 
Centre; is the only son now living of a family 
of ten children, and was born July 2.5, 1836, 
in this township. His father was a native of 
Fayette Co., and came here shortly after his 
marriage to Nancy Carter; he was always 
identified with the best interests of the 
county, and did his part toward developing 
and improving it; he cleared a farm of new 
land, on which he lived until his death, on 
May 9, 1806. Jacob commenced for himself 
when 3.3 years old, and has always followed 
farming in this township; he was married on 
Dec. 31, 1800, to Rebecca, daughter of John 
and Mary McCoy. She was born July 19, 
1840, in Clermont Co., and when 10 years old 
her parents moved to this place, where thev 
lived one year, and then went to Hardin Co., 
where her mother died; she lived with an 
aunt three years, and from that time until her 
marriage made her home with the persons lor 
whom she worked. They have one child dead, 
and seven living — Mary, John M., Agnes, 
Scott, Jessie, Bertie and Freddie. He has 
always voted the Democratic ticket. 

AVn^LlAM M. SCOTT, farmer; P. O.. 
Belle Centre; is the third of a family of eight 
children, and was born Oct. 31, 1835, in this 
township, upon the farm on which he now 
lives. His father, Robert Scott, was born 
.Jan. 4, 1800, in Kentucky, and when 10 years 
old accompanied his mother to Fayette Co., 
this State, and engaged in farming. He was 
there Tnarried to Jane McKee, who was born 
in Pennsylvania, June 22, 1802, and while 
yet young was taken to Kentucky, where she 
lived eight years, and then came to Fayette 
Co. Soon after their marriage, while they yet 
had only one child, they moved to this county 
in a wagon, and settled on the farm on which 
part of the family now reside. This was in 
1833, and a more inhospitable and dreary 
place would be hard to find than near the 
" slough " where they located. By years of 
patient toil, in which he was nobly assisted 



by his ever faithful wife, he succeeded in 
transforming the dense forest into a beautiful 
and valuable farm, on which he erected goorl 
buildings as fast as he was able. He died Oct. 
1, 18.58, and his companion is still living on 
the old homestead, her kiiul children minister- 
ing to every want. Burning; with indignation 
at the insult to his country's fiag,William enlis- 
ted in Company D, 66th O. V. I, and hastened 
to the field of action. He was first wounded 
at Port Repulilic, and shortly after at Cedar 
Mountain, but at the ever memorable field of 
Gettysburg he received a bad face- wound on 
the last day's fight and was discharged the 
following December. He now superintends 
the farm, and is a very prudent business man- 
ager and well respected citizen. He has al- 
ways been a Rej)viblican, and cast his first 
vote for .lohii C. Fremont. 

ROBERT J. SHIELDS, farmer; P. O., 
Belle Centre; is the only son of David and 
Catharine (McBeth) Shields, who were among 
the first settlers of Liberty Tp.; his father 
was a native of Kentucky, and came to this 
State after he arrived at manhood; he served 
in the war of 1812 under Capt. Black, and 
owned 200 acres of Government land, on 
which he lived till his death, near 1826; his 
wife was then married to Henry Fulton, and 
they lived in Ijiberty Tp. till 1851, when they 
moved to Northwood; they resided there 
about five years and then moved to Michigan, 
where she died in 1800. Robert lived under 
the parental roof till his mariiage, December 
12, 1842, to Jane, daughter of Joseph and 
Jane Torrence: she was born May 24, 1824, 
in Philadeljjhia, and lived in this township at 
the time of her marriag<-; Robert farmed the 
old homestead till 1853, when he sold it and 
moved to Adams Co., where he remained 
thirteen years; he was niduced to invest in a 
store at Belle Centre with J. B. Torrence, 
and soon after moved to this place to help 
conduct the business; he was not adapted to 
mercantile life, and three years after he again 
commenced farming, which he has since fol- 
lowed; this marriage has been blessed with 
nine children, five of whom are living — 
Catherine J., Martha L, Nancy E., Mary R. 
and Amand L. ; the two eldest are married, 
and the third is a successful school teacher; 
the two eldest children aiid the parents belong- 
to the R. P. Church. 



i \> 



812 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES : 



HAlUilSON SPENCER, farmer; P. O., 
Iluiitsvillc; is the fourtli child of Thomas 
and Mary (Roberts) Spencer, and was born 
Oct. 39, lh!"2G, in Clinton Co.; his ])arents 
moved to tliis county wlien he was 1 j'ear old, 
and he was reared to manhood in a pioneer 
home subject to the privations of all the first 
settlers; he was fond of the chase, and the 
country bein<j full of game, his desires were 
easily gratified, many a deer falling before 
his trusty rifle; he lived under the parental 
roof until his marrriage in Jan. 1850, to Ellen 
Hill, when he commenced doing for himself. 
He has always been a tiller of the soil, and 
for many years has been imjjroving the farm 
on which he now lives, having cleared nearly 
TO acres himself; his wife died in Feb. 181)0, 
leaving six children, four of whom are liv- 
ing — .fohn, Franklin, .Jami^s and Lincoln. In 
March, 1809, he wa-s married to Nancy Wag- 
ner, a native of Clarke Co. By this union 
two children have been born — Bertie and 
Clara. His wife belongs to the Disciple 
Church. He owns nearlv -^OO acres of land, 
and has alwavs been a Rc|)ublican. 

WASHINGTON SPENCER, farmer; P. 
O., New Richland. Among the early pio- 
neers of this county, we tak(' pleasure in nam- 
ing the Spencer family, who came to this 
township in 18"/ii, and settled on a farm of 
heavy forest land, which afterwards devel- 
oped into a valuable jiroperty, under the 
aggressive strokes of ths woodman's ax. 
Thomas Sjiencer, the head of the family, had 
an erratic disposition when a young num, and 
visited most of the imjiortanl ]ilaces of inter- 
est in this country; he served in the war of 
1812, as also did his father, William S]>encer, 
who was one of the Revolutionary heroes. 
After the war Thomas settled near Cincin- 
nati for a short time, and was married to Ellen 
Johnston, who ilied in Clinton Co., after bear- 
ing him eight children; he was then united to 
Mary Roberts, a native of Adams Co., who 
accompanied him to this county; he died in 
184k, and his wife two years later. Wash- 
ington was horn in Clinton Co., Oct. 21, 1822, 
and iH-ver left the family liresi(l(>; at the <leath 
of his parents his sister kept housi; for liliii, 
and on Oct. 21!, IK.'ili, hi' was married to lOilen 
Ha/el, daughter of NN'illiam and Hannah 
Hazel. She was born Oct. 20, I8;{5, in this 
county, to which her father came from Mary- 



land, when 10 years old, his only relative 
being a younger brother. Eight children are 
the fruits of this union, six of whom are liv- 
ing — Allen, Eva, Horatio, John, Mary and 
Willis. He has been Trustee many years, 
and is identified with the Democracy. He 
owns 141 acres of land near Richland, on 
which he is j)lacin«- ffood buildings. 

ROBERT B. SIMPSON, farmer; P. O., 
New Richland; is the eldest son of a familv 
of seven children, and was horn May 24, 1824, 
in Ross Co., O.; his father, Matthew Simpson, 
was born in Huntington Co., Penn., and ac- 
comjianied his ])arents to Ross Co. while yet 
in his boyhood; he served as a dium-major 
in the war of 1812, at which time he was living 
in Ross Co.; he was married to a lady by the 
name of Elizabeth D<'an, who was Ixirn in 
Peimsj'lvania; having h^arned the blacksniith's 
trade he moved to Fayette Co. and t'i)llowed 
that business for six vears, when he returned 
to Ross and engagetl in farming; in the fall 
of 1837 he moved to this county and bought 
a farm consisting mostly of heavy forest, 
which yielded slowly but sm-ely to his sturdy 
blows, in which he wasal^ly assisted l)y his son 
Robert; he died Sejit. ;3(l, 18.59, and was fol- 
lowed by his wife in March, 1871; Robert 
was married March 13, 1848, to Deborah 
Thompson; she was born Aj)ril 8, 1823, in 
Guernsey Co., and was a daughter of James 
and Mary (Carothers) Thom|)Son, who moved 
to this county in 1831; her mother died soon 
after their arrival, and the children ke|it house 
for their father until his death in Octol)er. 
1809. In 18.")1 Robert commeiiceil working 
on the railroad, first as a fireman and then as 
engineer; he followed this five years, when he 
relinquished it for farming, which is more 
congenial to him; by their marriage five 
children have been born, the yomigest dying 
in infancy; those living are — James H., who 
is married and living near home; William S., 
now at Leadville, Col.; Matthew Franklin, 
who still lives at home, and John I,., who 
lately joined his brother at the West; Robert 
and wile are members of the Presbyterian 
( "hureh; he and Frank belong to the .Masonic 
Order, and has been a Republican since the 
orgaui/alion of that |)artv. 

JA.MES S. SIMS, farnn-r; P. O., Hunts- 
ville ; was born Fel). 19, ISll, in Clarke Co., 
O. His father, Jeremiah Sims, was born and 



*7 



RICHLAND TOWlSfSHIP. 



813 



raised in Virginia, where he learned the 
trade of blacksmithing, and was there mar- 
ried to Sarah MillhoUen. They emigrated 
to this State in 1801, settling in Clarke Co., 
where thev soon secured a home of new land, 
and on this they lived till death ; making im- 
provements and beautifying their surround- 
ings. He served in the army of 1812, having 
a captain's commission, and paid his whole at- 
tention to his farm after coming to this State. 
He died Jan. 12, 1824, and his wife in 1839. 
James lived on the old homestead until the 
death of his mother when he moved to this 
county ; he cleared dift'erent farms, but since 
1855 has been where he now lives, on which 
he has cleared more than 50 acres. He was 
married Aug. 12, 1832, to Jane Sides ; she 
was born Oct. IT, 1813, in Maryland, and died 
Oct. 2, 1854, leaving seven children — William 
R., Jeremiah T., Peyton S., Sarah F., Mary 
A., James M., and Joseph I).; all lived to 
maturity and married ; .Jeremiah and Mary 
are dead. William, Mary and Joseph have 
all taught school, the first being- now mail 
agent on the railroad, and James is Post- 
master at Bethany, Mo.; Joseph D. gradu- 
ated at the Ohio Wesleyan University, and 
has been a minister in the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church six years. He was again married 
Oct. 3, 1857, to Jane Lewis, who was born in 
Gallia Co., in 1816 ; one child has blessed 
this union — Adelia B., now dead. He and 
wife are members of the Jlethodist Episcopal 
Church. He has been Justice of the Peace 
fifteen years, and was Assessor when this was 
in McArthur Tp. He has lieen a Republican 
since that i)arty was organized. 

THOMAS C. SPEER, carpenter and joiner, 
North\\ood; was born Nov. 13, 1828, in 
Lawrence Co., Pa.; his father, Thomas Speer, 
was born in Ireland in IT88, and when he 
was four years old the family emig-rated to 
North Carolina, where they lived fourteen 
years, and then came to the county above 
named; he served in the war of 1812 and 
was married to Mary Shields, of Westmore- 
land Co.; he was a farmer by pursuit, and 
died after a life of usefulness in his 80th year, 
his companion dying some eight years later 
in her 86th year. Thomas C. left the parental 
roof when 18 years of age, and came direct 
to this township, where he had a brother, and 
with him learned the carpenter's trade; he 



has ever since lived in this county, e.xcept 
one summer that he was at his old home, 
and has worked at his trade all the time ex- 
cept four years that he was interested in a 
saw-mill; he was married May 28, 1850, to 
Nancy Wylie, and Jinie 12, 1865, she died 
leaving four children — .lohn W., Mary M., 
Elizabeth M. and Adelia J.; these children 
have all attended Geneva College, the 
eldest having graduated, and was professor 
of mathematics in that institution last year; 
Mr. Speer was married to Mary J. Downs, 
Nov. 13, 1866, and less than two years later 
she was taken from him by death; March 22, 
1870 he secured a companion in the person of 
Mrs. E. J. Love, a native of Butler Co., Pa.; 
he owns a pleasant little farm convenient to 
the village of Northwood, and all are mem- 
bers of the R. P. Church, in which he is ruling 
Elder; for twenty-two years he was treasurer 
of the second Miami Congregation, and has 
been a delegate to the Synod on two occa- 
sions, and five times a delegate to the National 
Ri'form Convention. 

JOHN B. TEMPLE, undertaker and fur- 
niture; Belle Centre; is tlie second of a fam- 
ily of five children, and was born Aug. 8, 
1836, in Westmoreland Co., Peun. His pa- 
rents were natives of that county and lived 
there till their death. His father's name was 
Samuel W. Temple, and his mother's maiden 
name was Nancy Boyd; his father always fol- 
lowed farming, and died there in I860, and 
his mother died Aug. 15, 1873. John lived 
on the farm till 1855, when he came to this 
State and attended college at Geneva; he was 
here two years, and then he returned to his 
native State, but while here he became quite 
strongly attached to a young lady by the 
name of Martha B. Jameson, daughter of Cor- 
nelius and PlHKl)e (Davis) Jameson. Oct. 15, 
1857, he married her and took her to his East- 
ern home, where they lived one year, and then 
returned to Belle Centre, which has since 
been their home. He taught school for nine 
years, mostly in Hardin Co.; he has taught 
in the villages of Roum.head, Dunkirk and 
Richland. He sold goods one year for Tor- 
rence & Shields, and was in the array a short 
time; on his return he taught school for two 
years, and then worked at the carpenter's 
trade till 1877, when ho went into his present 
business with Ulrich Z. Jameson. They have 



n^ 



\ 



814 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



also kept stoves and tinware. In June, 1880, 
Jameson willulrow, and the business is now 
conducted by Mr. Temple. By their marriage 
two chihlren have been born, the eldest <lied 
in 1870, and would soon has'e graduated at 
Geneva College, where the youngest, Harry 
W., is now in attendance. Both are members 
of the R. P. Church, of which he has been 
deacon twelve vears. 

ELIZA K. f K.MPLETON, farmer; P. O., 
Northwood; was born April 7, 1830, in 
Rochester, N. Y. Her father, James Keers, 
was a native of Ireland, and there learned the 
trade of weaver; he was married to Elizabeth 
Young, and in 18"2S emigrated to this coun- 
try, aiul setth'd at Hociiester, where he 
worked in a mill; in 1840 he moved to this 
county, and bought a farm of new land, ui\ 
whicii he lived until IS.jU, when he traded 
jiroperty with .John Archer, near Bellefon- 
taine; he lived on that one year, and then 
moved to this towhshij). His wife died .\pril 
25, 1858, and he then married .Monemia .Max- 
well, a native of I^ivingston (."o., N. Y.; he 
died at Northwood, Dec. 4, 1878. Eliza 
taught school si-veral years in this countj-, 
and on May 1, 181J2, was married to Samuel 
Templeton, son of Alexander and Mary A. 
(Wallace) Teiiipleton. He was born Sept. 
20, 1824, in Perry Co. They lived on a farm 
in Auglaize Co., until his death, on Nov. 7, 
18(i7, and she then returned to this township. 
She lived in Northwood nine years, and has 
since been on a farm. She has two children 
— James A. and .Sarah A. She belongs to the 
Reformed Presbyterian, and he was a mem- 
ber of the Presbyterian denomination. 

JOHN J. WUitiHT, restaurant and bakery; 
Bellf t'entre; was hoin ( )ct. 17, 1S44, in Clarke 
Co., < ). His father, .John Wright, was born in 
Massachusetts, an<l there learned the trade of 
shipcarpenter at which he worked several years 
after reaching his majority; from there he 
came to Clarke Co., and sijttled on a farm and 
was soon after married to Julia Garfield, of 
N'lTinont. At the tender age of eight years 
.lohn left the parental roof and went to work 
for a farmer for his bnanl and clothes. He 
remained with him three years, when his father 
died and .lohn returneil to the home to com- 
fort and contribute to the fauiily support. 
They soon moved to Belle Centre, and altera 
residence of three years moved to Kenton. 



Being of a patriotic and impulsive nature, 
John was one of the first to fly to the defense 
of his country, starting the next day after the 
President's call for volunteers. He enlisted 
in Co. I), 4th O., an<l June 6, 18G1, re-enlisted 
for three years. After serving 18 months 
he was transferred to Co. A, 4th U. S. Art., 
and when his time expired again re-enlisted 
for three j'ears more, in the same company. 
He was in seventeen regular engagements and 
nineteen skirmishes, and never rode in an 
ambulance wagon or slept in a hospital during 
his entire service. He received his discharge 
Feb. f<, 181)7, at Ft. Washington, Md. and six 
days after he was married to Johannah Calla- 
gaii, a native of Ireland, who had lately i>ni- 
igiated to this country. He innnediately re- 
turned to Belle Centre, and has since been 
engaged in business at this jilace. For sev- 
eral years he kept livery stable, and was pro- 
]irietor of the Belle Centre hotel, but has 
lately been engaged in his present business. 
By his marriage three children have been 
born — George H., Mary A. and Lily B. He 
l)elongs to the order I. O. O. F., and has held 
township and municipal offices. He has al- 
ways been a staunch supporter of the Repub- 
lican party. 

MOSES D. WILSON, physician ana sur- 
geon; Belle Centre; was born near the forks 
of Yougli, in Alleghany Co., Pa. His parents 
were natives of that county. His father's 
name was Isaac, and his mother's maiden 
name was Cassan<lra Devore. He was a farnii-r 
by occupation, and lived in that county until 
]S5;!, when he moved to Iowa. Moses com- 
menci'd for himself when 17 years old, and for 
several years he taught and attended Svhool ; 
was at Alleghany City and Concord one year 
each, and during the winter of 1S.')() and 1S51 
he attended the .lefferspn Medical School at 
Pliiladidphia; he then practiced in Greene Co. 
two years, when he went to the Medical School 
at Ann Arbor, and graduated in 1854; he 
practiced at Northwood over one year, and 
lias since been at Belle Centre, cxceijt a short 
time that he was in the Jeft'erson General Hos- 
jiital near Lcmisville; he was married Jan. 10, 
1 S55, to Lvdia C, daughter of John and Eliza- 
beth (Wilkin) Pollock. She died June ii, 
1875, leaving three children — Lizzie C, Mag- 
gie S. and Jessie O. The eldest is married to 
William F. Kuhn, Superintendent of Schools 



^- 



KICHLAND TOWNSHIP. 



815 



at De Graff; the second is teaching, and the 
youngest is attending school at Ann Arbor. 
Oct. 12, 1876, he was married to. Mary E., 
widoiv of William McLain, by whom were two 
children — Bunyan A. and Edgar M. She was 
born Jan. 4, 1833, in this county. He belongs 
to the Reformed Presbyterian and she to the 
Presbyterian Church. 

JAMES WOODS, farmer; P. O., New 
Richland; is the ekiest of a family of nine 
children, and was born in Ireland in 1817; 
his father, Samuel Woods, was a mason by 
trade, and was married to a lad\- named 
Martha Mathais; in 1834 the family emigrated 
to the New World and lived one year in 
Canada, and then came to Rochester, N. Y. ; 
in 1840 they moved to this State and settled 
in Logan Co., where he died in 1841 and his 
wife in 1840. James learned the blacksmith's 
trade in Rochester, and worked in some of 
the large Western cities, but soon after his 
father c ame to this State he relinquished it 
and has since been a farmer; he was married 
May 8, 1S54, to Eliza J. Young, a native of 
Palmyra, N. Y., and daughter of .John and 
Eliza •]. (Galbreath) Young; twelve children 
have blessed this union; eleven are living — 
Sanniel, John, James, Andrew, Martha, Wil- 
liam, Renwick, Joseph, Matthew, Charles and 
Martha J.; he owns nearly 150 acres of land, 
all of which is self-made property; he has 
been a Repulilican since tliat party was or- 
ganized. 

WILLIAM C. WALLACE, farmer; P. O., 
Belle Centre. Among the first settlers of this 
townshi]) who battled bravely and successfully 
with the elements of nature, none deserve 
more favorable mention than the Wallace 
family, who moved here in 1830. The familj' 
consisted of husband, wife and two children, 
and the onlj' improvements were a log cabin 
and a small piece of partly cleared land. 
William Wallace, the head of the family, was 
born in Kentucky in 1T9(), and came to this 
State in 1814, settling in Fayette Co., where 
he learned the tr.ide of a wheelwright; he 
was married in 18"2G to Polly Campbell, who 
was also born in Kentucky in 1803, and came 
to Fayette Co. during her childhood. He 
always followed I'aruiing after marriage, and 
at his death, on Dec. 2.'), 18T8, he owned a 
large and valuable farm, which had been 
brought to that condition by his own labor 



and care; his marriage was blessed with six 
children; the four eldest are yet living — An- 
drew J., Joann, William C. and Elizabeth M. 
All are married and settled convenient to 
the old homestead, where they can visit 
their aged mother, who is living with her son 
William. He was born Aug. 24, 1831, in this 
township, and has always been engnged on 
the old farm, except a short time that he was 
in the service, being in the 132nd Reji., O. 
N. G.; he was married Mnrch 17, 187G, to 
Cordelia A., daughter of William and Martha 
Ritchey. She was born in this county on July 
5, 183y. He has always been a Republican, 
owns over 300 acres of laiul, including the 
old homestead, and paj's his chief attention to 
the rearing of cattle and Iiol's. 

ALFRED H. WINDHAM, farmer ; P. O., 
Huntsville; is One of the largest and most 
successful fiirmers in this township ; he was 
born July 10, 1818, in .Montgomery Co., Md. 
His father, Aquilla Windham, was a native 
of that State, and was married to Mary How- 
ard. He served in the war of 1812, and made 
farming his chief occujjation through life. 
While Allred was yet in his clnldhood his 
father died, and he went to live with an aunt ; 
he soon after learned the blacksiinth's trade 
with his uncle, Leonard Howard, and after 
serving his apprenticeshi[) he worked in 
Berkeley Co., Ya., where he was married to 
Nancy .lohnson, daughter of .Joseph and Bet- 
sey (Murphy) Johnson. They lived there 
until the conunencenient of the war, when 
they moved to this county, and he has ever 
since been a farmer. He now owns over 600 
acres of land, most of which was acquired by 
his own industry and economy. Their mar- 
riage has been blessetl with nine children, 
eight are yet living — Thomas H., James P., 
Joseph A., Nancy A., Aquilla S., Emma C, 
Lucety v., and George ^V'.; all are married 
but three. Hi' has rilwavs been a Democrat. 

THO.MAS YOUNG, s'aloon; Belle Centre; 
is the fourth child of Archibald and Nancy 
(Hoey) Young, who were natives of Ireland, 
his faiher coming to this country when 17 
years old, and his mother was born on the 
the p:issage; his father was a farmer by occu- 
pation, and lived in Lancaster Co., Pa., till the 
death of his wife, when he moved to Chero- 
kee, in this county, where he died in 1864. 
Thomas was born in Lancaster Co., Dec. 4, 



^ 



^pv 



*j, a_ 



816 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES : 



1834, and lived under the parental roof till 
15 yoars of ag-e, wlieii he comtnenced doing 
for iiiiiist'lf; he worked on a farm one year 
and tlien commenced work on a railroad, 
which he followed for seven years; he soon 
after came to tliis State and lal>ored at 
various occupations till the fall of 1801, when 
he enlisted in the 13th Reoimciit (). V. I., 
and served nearly one year; Shiloli, Corinth 
and Stone River were among the battles in 
which he was engaged; he was captured 
twice hut got away both times; he returned 
to Bellefontaine and Dec. , 24, 1802, 



he was married to Susan Duckson; he 
•went on the railroa<l again and remained 
over two years, when he moved to .Hello 
Centre: he was engineer for six years, watch 
at Kenton one year, and then went into the 
grocery trade; he followed that a short time 
wiien he went into the saloon business; his 
wife died Jan. 30, 1,S|1, leaving one child — 
Robert; .April 2T, 1S72, he was married to 
Martha Murphy, who has borne him iwo chil- 
dren — Odis M. and Munson C; he is not a 
strong party man, but is generally Rejiub- 
lican. 



McARTHUR TOWNSHIP. 



r.\TII.\RlNK AIKIN, farnxr, P. O., 
Norlliwudd ; was born in April, 1S25, in 
County Donegal, Ireland ; her father, William 
McKinley, was a farmer by occujjation, and 
there married a lady by the name of Frances 
Manlseed. In 1830, with his family, which 
then consisted of eleven souls, he eu)igrated 
to this country, and settled in Adams Co., O., 
near AN'inchester. Never having worked in 
the timber, and despairing of success in the 
dense forest, he bought SO acres of the best 
improve<l land he could hnd. He liv<>d on it 
until lS(i4, when (his sons having endjarked 
for themselves, and not wishing to rent to 
strangers), he sold it and came t(j Xorthwood 
where he died in ISO!), and his wife in No- 
vend)er, 1874. Catharine was married Dec. 
], 18.54, to .lames, son of .Fames and Hannah 
Aikin ; ho was born in Ireland, and in 1832, 
being then 15 years old, came to this country 
with his parents. They lived in Rhiladelphia 
one year and then in Beaver Co., Pa., until 
1830, when they came to this township and 
bought 80 acres of land. .James supported 
his parents until their death, and made all the 
im])ri)vements that are now to be seen on the 
farm, as it was tlien a dense forest. He was 
first married to Maria Irwin, and two children 
are now living who are the fruits of that 
union. .Mrs. .\ikin is the mother of five 
children — Sarah A., William .).. -Mary, Fannie 
.1., and David S.; all have attended Geneva 
College, the eldest graduating in May, 1878. 



Mary taught school one term and then was 
married to Dr. Kennedy, who is now located 
at .Mansfield. Mr. Aikin died July 31, 1873, 
and lie and wifi! belonged to what they term 
the original Covenanters. 

Wlij.lAM W. 15EATTY, attorney; 
Huntsville; was born Sept. 12, 1820, in 
I.oudoun Co., \'a.; his father, John H . Beatty, 
was a nativ(> of that state, and served in the 
war of 1812; he was married to Elender 
Sutherland, and worked at the trade of ear- 
])enter and joiner through life; in 1833 the 
family moved to this Stale and settled peinia- 
n(Uitly in Moorelield, Harrison Co., where 
they remained until 1844, when they moved 
to this county ; the mother died at Bellefon- 
taine, and the father at this pla((! in 1873, be- 
ing then in his 80tli year. The sul)ject of 
this sketch received a fair, common school 
education, and learned the trade v.ith his 
father and worked at it some time after their 
removal to this county; however, he coni- 
meiiced the study of law with Allen C. 
Turner, at Cadi/, before coming here, and did 
most of the studying a Iter com pie ling his days' 
labor; he studied eighteen months with the 
above named gentleman, and after coming here 
entered the law office of Judge Lawrence, 
from which he was admitted to the liar; he 
moveil to Belle Centre in 1850 and lived 
there five years, when he cami? to this place. 
Besides his profession he has several times 
engaged in mercantile speculations, and each 



^ 



Mc ARTHUR TOWNSHIP. 



817 



time retired with loss until taught by ex- 
perience; he now devotes his entire time to 
his chosen profession; in 1874 he was elected 
to tlie Legislature from this county, and two 
years later to the State Senate; he is a stal- 
wart Republican, and cast his first ballot for 
Gen. Harrison; in 1838 he was married to 
Mary Wi.kins, who bore him four sons and 
and one daughter. The sons were all in the 
service of their country, and one, David W., 
of the 1st Oliio, was killed at Mission Ridge; 
but one of these sons, .John H., is living, he 
being in tiie mercantile business in Kansas; 
the (laughter Kate is married and lives at 
Kenton; he was afterwards married to .Jane 
Vansickles, and their union lias produced 
three children — Mary M., Alice and Charles 
F.; the daughters are married; the family be- 
long to the Methodist PJpiscopal Church. 

CHRIST B. BRESTLE, merchant; Hunts- 
ville; IS one of the most energetic and thriv- 
ing business men in this town, and is, witlial, 
quite a remarkable man. He was born Sept. 
16, 1835, in Middletown, Penn., and when 
scarcely 2 years old the family moved to 
Tiffin, in this State. His father, .John Brestle, 
was a tanner and currier by trade, and mar- 
ried a lady named Catharine Witz. When 
13 years old Christ took •' French leave" of 
the old home, coming to Urhana and working 
in an eating house for John Gump. He had 
been witii him about one year when a show 
came through the place, and then it was that 
Christ threw up a good jjosition to follow 
their varying fortunes. Being naturally adapt- 
ed to this kind of business, he soon took a 
conspicuous place among the curiosity men, 
and traveled extensively through this country 
as well as Mexico and the British Dominions. 
He took the first curiosity troupe into Califor- 
nia, and from there wont north over-land to 
Sitka, returning by vessel to Portland. He 
came to this place on a hunting trip in the 
fall of 18T3, and liking the ])lace he d^ter- 
miiied to make it his future home. He kept 
hotel and livery stable two years, when he 
<|uit the former and went into the groccrj- 
business; he had less than $20 cajiital, and 
from that has grown the large stock he now 
carries, doing a large and ra])idly increasing 
trade. He was marriel while in Grass Valley, 
California, to Zobedia Lu.i, who was born in 
Russia July 1.5, 1846, and is said to be the 



first " Circassian beauty" ever exhibited in 
this country, having been brought here by 
Barnum. She is highly educated, and can 
readily use seven dift'erent languages. They 
have three children living — Lulu, Tena and 
Christ B. 

BL'RRELL S. COLLINS, farmer ; P. 0., 
Huntsville ; was born Oct. 37, 1830, in Per- 
ry Co., O.; his father, James Collins, was 
born in Miflin Co., Pa., and when near his 
maturity came to Perry Co., and was there 
married to Catharine Mills, of Virginia birth. 
He was a wheelwright and chairinaker bj' trade, 
and worked at these until 1833, when he 
moved to this county and engaged in farm- 
ing ; he located at Cherokee, part of the 
town being on the land that once belonged to 
him. His wife died in .June 1835, having 
borne him nine children, and in April 183G he 
was married to Mrs. Mary Mahan ; he died 
in 1849. Burrell lived under the parental 
roof until his marriage, Oct. 31, 1843, to Mar- 
garet Mahan, and has since lived on the farm 
where he resides at present ; she was born in 
Franklin Co., and died Nov. 13, 1850, leaving 
two children — Mary and Isabella ; the first 
is married to John C. Brown and the other to 
.lohn M. Graybeal, and both are living in 
Missouri. Mr. Collins was again married to 
Eleanor, daughter of David and Margaret 
(Beatty) Ghormley ; she was born March 15, 
1839, in Fayette Co., and came here a short 
time previous to her marriage. Their union 
has produced eight children, seven of whom 
are living — James B., David G., Sarah, Emma, 
Alma J., John B., Olive A., and Anna E.; 
the eldest is married and David is attending 
college at Wooster, O. The parents and five 
eldest of these children are members of the 
Presbyterian Church, in which he has served 
as Elder since 1849. Is now a Republican, 
and voted first for Henry Clay. 

MATTHEW K. COVINGTON, farmer; 
P. ()., Huntsville; is the only child born to 
Matthew P. and Mary Covington, and was 
born in this county Jan. 7, 1850; his grand- 
father, Henry Covington, was a native of Ire- 
land, and after coming to this country served 
in the war of 1813; he was a Dunkartl by 
faith, and married Anna Kavanaugh. She 
was born in Kentucky, and accompanied her 
folks to Chaiii])aign Co., in this State, at a 
very early day, there being only two houses 






818 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



in Cinciimati when they crossed the Ohio 
river at that i)oint. Some tiTuc after tlieir 
marriaj^e they moved to the vicinity of Levv- 
istown, in this county, and boufjiit a tract of 
Government land, l)ut after a short residence 
traded it to Jud{>e Shelby for a farm in Lib- 
erty Tp.; on this he died in 18.-)(), and his 
faithful wife in 1874. Matthew P. was born 
in 1823, wliile they wore yet in Champaign 
Co., and remained under the parental roof 
until his marriage to Mary Stiles, when he 
settled on a portion of the old homestead. 
She was born in Athens Co., and is of New 
England descent. Shortly after their mar- 
riage the vigorous young husband was taken 
from the bosom of his family. Mrs. Coving- 
ton was afterwards married to William 
Cooper, and bore him three chililrcn. Mat- 
thew, the subject of this sketch, commenced 
for himself when 17 years old, and farmed on 
the olil homestead until the fall of 187!), ex- 
cept one year that he kept livery stable at J)e 
Graff: he now owns over 100 acres of land in 
this townshi|); he was married in October, 

1870, to Mary E. Guthrie, and on May 9, 

1871, slie died; he united his fortunes with 
those of Catherine Brown April 5, 1878. She 
was born Aug. 24, 18G2, in Union Co.; is a 
daugiiter of John and Rebecca (Cooper) 
Brown; her parents died when she was quite 
young, and from the time she was 1 1 vears 
old until marriagi! she was a hired girl. TliiMr 
happy union has been blessed with one child 
— Charles F. lie belongs to the .Masonic 
Fraternity and Ancient Order of N\'orking- 
nien. lias alwavs beena Democrat. 

THOMAS C<)OK. .Jr., farmrr; 1'. ()., Belle- 
fontaine; was born April 7, ISIil), in Knox Co., 
O. His father, Thomas Cook, Sr., was liorn in 
Harrison Co., ()., in iMl], and alwavs fnllowed 
farming. Ho was there married to .lane White, 
who was born in Ireland in 18(10, and came 
to this country when 10 years old, her father 
dying in New York two weeks after their ar- 
rival. Thomas Cook lived in Harrison Co. 
until the year 1825, when with his family he 
moved to Knox Co., and resiiled there until 
the fall of 18:jl{ when he moved to this county 
and bougiit 12.5 acres of land, mostly forest. 
He was captain of a militia company, and lived 
but a short time after coming to this countv, 
dying in February, If<li8, leaving a family of 
six children, the eldest of whom was only 14 



years old. The widowed mother reared these 
all to a useful and honorable \\^\^, and is now 
living with her eldest daughter in Iowa. 
Tluimas, .Jr., was married Dec. 20, 1849, to 
Jane, daughter of Peter and Sally (Campbell) 
Dow. She was born near Bellefonlaine April 
IG, 1830. After marriage they lived on a 
farni one year and then moved into Belle- 
fontaine where Thomas worked at the carpen- 
ter's trade seven years, when he traded his 
town property for the farm on which he now 
lives; this he has improved and cleared, until 
it bears but a slight resemblance to its former 
appearance. He now owns nearly 250 acres 
of land, forming a model and ])roduclive farm. 
Their union has produced seven children, live 
of whom are living — Charles C, Marv I>., 
Nannie .!., Thomas J. and Orrin L. D. The 
eldest daughter is married to James E. Mc- 
C^raeken; L'harles K. and Nannie are among 
the succ(!SsfiU school teachers of this country. 
Mr. Cook has served as Trustee and Assessor 
and is a mend)er of the Agricultural Society. 
Hi' has always been a Republican, and cast 
his fust vote for John P. Hale. The whole 
family belong to the U. P. Church. 

CHAHLES W. COOK, farmer; P. O., 
Bellefontaine; is the seventh of a family of 
eight children born to Thomas and Jane Cook, 
and first saw the light of day Nov. 23, 1S33, 
on the farm on which he now lives. The 
father departed this life when Charles was 
only 4 years old, and he was early inured to 
the toils that beset the ])aths of )>ioneer chil- 
ilren. His education was meagre, but the de- 
ficiency was in part supj)lied by a coTn])lete 
knowledge of clearing, and the other branches 
that accotnjmnied that essential art. He was 
married Nov. 1(3, 1854, to Martha, daughter 
of Isaac and Elizabeth (Hosack) i'atterson. 
She was born March 11), 1834, in this town- 
ship, to which her parents moved in 1S3(I, her 
father being a native of the; Emerald Isle, and 
marrying the above named lady in Pennsyl- 
vania. Charles did not leave the old farm at 
his marriage; and although he possessed but 
a single gold dollar after the ceremony was 
])erfcjrmed, he .soon after bought the old home- 
stead, rclj'ing on his own efforts for success. 
He now owns 100 acres of laiirl, on which he 
has erected large and beautiful buildings, and 
has one of the neatest and most tasty houses 
I in the township. He was in the service, 



^ 



McARTHUR TOWNSHIP. 



819 



being in Co. C, 132d O. V. I. His marriage 
has been blessed with eight children, six of 
whom are living — Mary A., Anna M., Thomas 
H., Ida B., Ira E., Charles K. The second 
daughter has attended Geneva College, and 
taught school several terms, with good suc- 
cess. The parents and the four eldest chil- 
dren belong to the U. P. Church, of which 
Mr. Cook has boon Deacon. He has always 
been a i e]iul)lici'.n, and cast his first vote for 
.lolin C. FiiMnont. 

JOSEPH P. CRETCHER, farmer; P. O., 
Hunlsville; is the youngest of a familv of 
eleven children, and was born Oct. 12, 1832, 
in this county; his lather, Jabez Cretchcr, 
was a native of Kentucky and there married 
Nancy Pollock; in 1813, when there were 
only four members in the family, they moved 
to this county and settled near Lewistown; 
they lived there only a siiort time, however, 
when they moved to Champaign Co. and 
bought a farm ; five years later thej' again 
came into this county and bought "240 acres of 
land in Miami Tp., on which Mr. Cretcherand 
sons found ample scope for their energies for 
many years; he died Jan. 28, 1872, and his 
companion Feb. 19, 1874, having lived to- 
gether over sixty-one years. Joseph lived 
under the parental roof until his marriage, 
March 25, 1858, to Catherine L., daughter of 
Paul and Mary (Carothers) Huston; she was 
born June 28, 1836, in this county, to which 
her parents moved as early as 1829; her 
father died April 13, 1868, in his 82nd year, 
and her mother some four years later. Joseph 
lollowed fiinning until 1868, when he moved 
to De Giaff and worked at the harness trade, 
and afterwards manufactured lirick; in 1874 
lie moved to where he now lives, owning a 
farm of 100 acres; six children have blessed 
thiir marriage, whose names are — ^Yilliam 
H., Jabez McLaine, Paul Clarence, Homer G., 
Frank Burton and .fosephO.; Mr. Cretcher is 
a member of the Masonic Fraternity and of 
the Patrons of Husbandry; both he and his 
wife belong to the ilethodist Episcopal 
Church; he has been a Democrat since the 
beginning of the war. 

M. DUDLEY DITZLER, physician and 
sursreon; Huntsville; is the fourth of a fnmilv 
of five children, and was bom Oct. 12, 1853, 
in this township. His lather, .lohn Y. Ditzler, 
son of David and Anna M. Ditzler, was born 



in Adams Co., Pa., March 14, 1815, and reared 
to the occupation of farming; he studied med- 
icine, however, and graduated from the .lef- 
ferson Medical College, and many years after 
at the Sterling Medical College, at Colum- 
bus, O.; on receiving his first diploma he 
came ^Vest, seeking a location, and stopped 
first at Kenton, and then at Marseilles; he was 
married April 25, 1843, to Jane Dudlej', and 
soon after came to this place, where he ever 
after lived; he had a large practice, and was 
loved and respected by all with whom he came 
in contact; he died .lune 26, 1878. Mr. Dud- 
lej' clerked in the drug store, which belonged 
to liis father, and there studied medicine; he 
graduated from the Cincinnati Medical Col- 
lege in June, 1876, and is now practicing his 
chosen profession; he was married Oct. 11, 
1877, to Ida M., daughter of J. H. and Emma 
Harrod. She was born Oct. 23, 1855, and is 
now conducting a millinery store at this place. 
One child has blessed their union, Ida M. 
He is a stalwart Republican, and cast his first 
vote for R. B. Haves. 

CHARLES DEAN, farmer; P. O., Hunts- 
ville; is the eldest child of Linsy and Nancy 
(^Yeaver) Dean, and was born June 12, 1842, 
on John Warwick's plantation , near Lynch- 
burg, Va. According to his will, all were 
made free at his death, and in 1849, they were 
brought to Stokes Tp., this county, and col- 
onized on a large tract of new land w-hich was 
purchased for them. The Dean family con- 
sisted of the father and three children, the 
w.fe and mother having died in Virginia. 
The father was again married, and is now liv- 
ing at Springfield, O., and works at the car- 
penter's trade. Charles enlisted in the army 
and helped make up the quota of Massachu- 
setts, serving in Co. E, 55th Infantry. After 
the close of the war he returned to this coun- 
ty, and was married Dec. 9, 1865, to Mrs. 
Sarah Jane Harvey. He has devoted his 
whole attention to agricultural pursuits, and 
now owns a home of his own. He has a fam- 
ily of six children — Mary Alice, Ida Rosa, 
Elrena, Maggie, Harvey and Nancy. Mr. 
Dean and I'annly belong to the United Pres- 
byterian Church. He has always been a Re- 
puliliraii. 

.rOHX DENNY, farmer; P. O., Huntsville; 
is the eldest chdd and oidy son of three chil- 
dren, and was born July 14, 1802, near 



■*^^ 



^k^ 



820 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



AUei^hany City, Penn. His father, Dennis Den- 
ny, was born in county IJoncgal, Irt^land, and 
Was there married, and after havinir l)een 
blessed witli two cliiidren lie eniiirrated, in 
1T8-1 to the Xew ^\'orM, w-ith the intention of 
sendiii!^ for his family, if favorably imiiressed 
with the country. His wife soon dietl, how- 
ever, and he returned and brought over his 
two sons. He was here married to Eunice 
McLauirhlin, a native of the Emerald Isle, 
and in Its 14 moved to Warren Co., O., where 
he lived five years, and then came to Clarke 
Co., where he died Oct. 29, 1820. The motli- 
er and one sister always made their home 
with John from that time, and he supported 
them until their death; the mother de- 
jjiirting- this life Au<j;. 18, 1844. He bou<jht a 
fai in there on which he lived until 1837, when 
he came to this county and bought a tract of 
land, mostly new. He has from time to time 
added to this, and also bouirht in other locali- 
ties. Ho has not neglected improvements, 
aiul, without doubt, has the finest liouse in 
this part of the county, as well as other valu- 
able and tasty buildings. He; was married 
.Jan. 1, 183:i, to Lucinda .lames; she was born 
Nov. 12, 1810, and died .May 24, 1845, having 
borne si,\ children, oidy two of whom are liv- 
ing — Dennis, who is married to Sally A. 
Nichols, and is living on the old homestead; 
and J^arah, now the wife of William McKin- 
non. Mr. Denny was married Sept. 18, 18.3G, 
to Mrs. Hcl)eci;a IJobcrtson. She died April 
2.3, 18.50, an<1 he has since been a member of 
his sou's family. He is a member of the 
.Methodist Episco])al ("hurch, in whii-h he held 
the iillii'i- of .Steward for forty years. He is a 
Hc-))ublican, and cast his first vote for lleiirv 
Clav. 

AM1?.\IIA.M KI.DKIJ, Jn., physician and 
surgeon ; lluiitsvillc ; is the oldest practic- 
ing physician in this ])laco, and has a large 
and lucrative practicir ; he was born April 
20, 1821, in Somerset, Perry Co., O.; his 
father, Abraham Elder, Sr., was a native of 
Lancaster Co., Pa., and was there married to 
•lane .lohnston (he served in the war of 1812), 
and moved from there to this State, and lived 
a while in Perry Co., and came here in 1S3I3 ; 
he lived one year in Hellefontaine and then 
moved on a farm near Huntsville, where he 
died in 1H45. He had always been a heavy 
dealer iu horses, taking them to Philadelphia, 



and bringing back goods, which his son sold 
in Bellefontaine. He was Associate .Judge 
from the time he arrived until his death. 
Abraham comnien'^ed for himself when 21 
years old ; he and a brother buying a farm 
which they condiu'ted two vears. During 
this time he was studying under Dr. .Main at 
Richland, and then went into the jiiercantile 
business in Hardin Co.; while there the U. & I. 
11. K. was completed, and he built the first store 
room at what is now known as Uidgeway ; he 
kept drug store there, his partner being Dr. 
McCandless, with whom he studied until he 
entered the Starling Medical College, from 
which he graduated in 18.54 ; he practiced 
two years at Uidgeway, and since at Hunts- 
ville. He was married JIarch 11, 1845, to 
Mary A. Wallace ; she was born May 13, 
182C, in Pennsylvania, and came here when 
10 vears old ; by this union si.\ children have 
been born, four of whom are living — Arra, 
Caroline, Vada, and Wallai-e. He and wife 
are consistent members of the United IVesby- 
terian Church. He voted first for Van IJuren 
on the Free Soil ticket, and has since been a 
Kopublicaii. 

WILLIAM EDMISTON, dealer in wool, 
grain and lumber; Huntsville. Among the 
first settlers of this township, wdio were oliliged 
to forego the advar.tages of an older and more 
advanced county l)y emigrating to one com- 
paratively unsiUtled, was the Edmiston fam- 
ily, which consisted of l{(jbert and Hebi-cca 
Edmiston, with their family, and came here 
from Ross Vo. at a vi-ry early day, and settled 
on the farm now owned by 1). IJ. Harrod. 
One of their children, whose name was also 
l{obert, was liorn in ISIU, in Ross Co., and 
was yet in his bovhood when he came to this 
county; he learned tiie trade of a coojier, and 
besides working at this, ho also cotiducted a 
farm; he was united in iiuirriage to Xarcissa 
Herren in 183(i. She was born in 1818, in 
Queen Anne's Co., Md., and came to this 
county a short time previous to her marriage; 
in 1800 she was depriveil of her earthly coni- 
])anion by the hanil of death, leaving her with 
a family of five sons and three daughters, all 
of whom are yet living. The (dilest son en- 
tered the service from this ])lace, and when 
his time e.xpired eidisted in the 2(lth Illinois, 
and for meritorious service was promoted to 
the office of Major; he was at Andersonville 






■4 '- 



McAETHUR TOWNSHIP. 



831 



a short time. William, the subject of this 
sketch, was in the l;33nd O. N. G.; he was 
born April 19, 1845, and was the oldest son 
at home at the time of his i'atiier's death; for 
several years he conducted the farm, and iti 
1867 came to Huntsville, where lie soon en- 
gaged in business for himself; he was in the 
grain trade at first, and in 1872 went to 
Franklin Co., where he had a large wood con- 
tract, and remained there two j-ears; he then 
returned to this place, and has been dealing 
quite largely in grain and wool, and has lately 
been doing a good business in lumber; he was 
married March 10, 1868, to Esther, daughter of 
James Gassil. Her father was one of the early 
settlers, and for many years was Justice of the 
Peace and Postmaster. William's marriage 
has been blessed with three children, but one 
of wliora is living. Her name is Maliel, and, 
being of a buoj-ant and lively disposition, 
brings sunshine into their home. He is a 
member of the Masonic Order, and a Republi- 
can in politics. 

SIDNEY B. FOSTER, merchant; Hunts- 
ville; is one of the principal business men of 
this town, and is well and favorably known 
throughout the township. He was born in 
Orange Co., N. Y., Feb. 8, 1826, and in 1828 
his father moved to what is now Rochester, 
where Sidney passed his eai'ly life. His father, 
Forris Deayre Foster, was a native of New 
Hampshire, and did not come to York State 
until several years after his marriage. He 
was a book-keeper, and worked several years 
in a printing office, and engaged lor some 
time in the drug business. In the latter part 
of his life he lived with his eldest son at 
Grand Rapids, Mich., dying there in 1871, 
being 88 years old. That son was none other 
than the Hon. Wilder D. Foster, who died 
during his second term in Congress, having 
first been elected to fill the unexpired term of 
Ferry, who was elected to the U. S. Sen- 
ate. Sidney learned the trade of tinner, and 
in 18-16, came to this State, working in sev- 
eral cities for two j'ears, when he went into 
the business for himself at Sandusky. From 
there he came to Fremont, and in 1850 to 
this place, where he has since lived. He at 
first followed his special business, but in 1861 
commenced dealing in dry goods, and has 
since added drug and clothing departments. 
In the meantime he studied law, and was ad- 



mitted to the bar, but has paid most of his 
attention to the management of private busi- 
ness. He has held the office of Justice, and 
is now Mayor of the village. For several 
years he has been a strong Prohibitionist and 
an active worker in that cause. He was 
married in March, 1851, to Mary E. Dix, a na- 
tive of Medina Co., where she was born Dec. 
13, 1830. Their union has been blessed with 
nine children, six of whom are living — Har- 
riet, Ovy, Fannie, Wilder D., Lama and Sid- 
ney; the eldest is married, and the parents 
and eldest children are members of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church. 

JOHN S. HUNTER, farmer; P. O., 
Huntsville; was born Nov. 15, 1826, in what 
is now Noble, but was then Morgan Co., O.; 
his parents were natives of Westmoreland 
Co., Pa., his father's name being James and 
his mother's maiden name Martha Marshall; 
his father was of Irish descent and accom- 
panied his parents to this State when near 16 
years old, and after helping clear his father's 
arm, bought one for himself in the immediate 
vicinity; he always followed farming, and 
died there in Sept., 1866, his companion 
having died fourteen years jirevious. John 
lived under the parental roof until his mar- 
riage, March 14, 1850, to Mary L., daughter 
of Robert and Rebecca (Wallace) Barton; 
She was born in 1827 in Washington Co.. Pa., 
and came to this State when 10 years of 
age; after his marriage John worked in a saw- 
mdl five years, and then in a flouring mill the 
same length of time, in the latter of which he 
owned a half interest; he has since been a 
farmer, and in Sept., 1865, bought the place 
where he now lives; his marriage has hoen 
blessed with eight children — Rice V., Con- 
stance L., Ella G., Jennett R., Anna T., 
George C, Arthur and Martha; the eldest 
graduated at AVooster in 1877, and is now at 
the Theological Seminary at Alh'gliany City; 
he was tutor in the college at M'aveland, In- 
diana, for two years before going to the 
Seminarv; the two older davighters are also 
teachers; the whole family belong to the 
Presbyterian Church. Mr. Hunter is a well- 
respected and esteemed citizen, and one of 
the earnest temperance men of the town- 
ship. 

JOHN H. HARROD, postmaster; Hunts- 
ville. The history of Logan Co. would be 



«^ s r- 



a) ^ 



822 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



incomplete without the subjoined sketch of 
the Harrod family, who were undoubtedly tlu' 
first permanent settlers of JleArthur Tp. We 
shall first notice Thomas Harrod. wlio was 
b. -I Feb. 10, 1T(!0, in the "Old Dominion," 
and was married Jan. 13, 1785, to .Jane 
Bowen, and the 17th of December of the same 
year John w-s born. Samuel was born Feb. 4, 
1788, and June 17th, 17!n, the mother died. 
Mr. Harrod remained unmarried until June 5, 
1798, when he was united to Esther Templin, 
who bore hin) two children — .fane, born Sept. 
24, 1800, and Mary, Feb. 10, 1803. He was 
one of the first pioneers of Ohio, coming to 
Ross Co. in 17!IG, and securing a farm in the 
prairie below Chillicothe. He was a man of 
worth and influence, and was elected Captain 
of a military company, and usually went liy 
the name of Captain Harrod. Mnv 20, 1803, 
some hunters discovered his dead body in the 
field in which he had been working. He had 
been scalped and tomahawked, and while some 
blamed the Indians for the heinous act, others 
doubted their guilt. His younger son Samuel 
was married March 10, 1811, to Elizabeth 
Carder; she was born Oct. 10, 170.5, in Fay- 
ette Co. Mr. Harrod was a private under 
Gen. McArthur in the war of l.Sl'^, and a few 
years after its close himself and brother, with 
their families, moved to Cham|>aignCo. Hav- 
ing j)urthased 400 acres of military land in 
this township in 1820, the following year 
Samuel and lamily moved thither, and the 
brother came si.\ numths later, being accom- 
panied by his two sisters. They all lived in 
the same house at first, but their families be- 
coming larger and rather too n\nnerous for one 
pioneer honu', they divided the farm in 1832, 
and each went to himself. Samuel died May 
5, 18.J2, and his loving companion N(jv. 17, 
185!). Both of thi-se pioneers were liigh'v 
esteemed and respected, and left an interest- 
ing family of children — Nancy, born .Ian. 4, 
1812, who nuirried H. Sutherlaml; l{a<hcl, 
horn Dec. 25, IK14, and died when young; 
Jane, liorn June 21, 1S17, and married to A. 
Patriek; .Mary A., born June 21, 1H22, and 
who marrieil John Piatt; Sanford, born April 
18, 1824; Phebe A., born Dec. 27, 1827; 
John H., born Feb. 10, 1H32, and James S., 
born Sept. 21, 1834. Only two of this family 
are living — Sanford and John H. Rachel 
was buried at Bloom ingsburg; Phebe A. at 



I Covington, Ind., and the ashes of the other 
four repose in the old " Harrod Cemetery." 
The subject of this sketch taught school in 
the winter of 1850 in what is now termed the 
old Dutch College, and the following year in 
the Harrod school. He clerked most of the 
time from that until 1850, when he began 
business on his own account. He was Rail- 
road Agent at Huntsville, and at the same 
time was engaged in the mercantile and grain 
business, and was Postmaster under Lincoln's 
administration. He was Captain of Co. C, 
132(1 O. N. G., and in 1804 was apjiointed 
Railroad Agent at Kenton, where he remained 
seven years, during which he was Express 
Agent most of the time, and then filled the 
same position for three years in Illinois. He 
returned to Huntsville, and is now Postmas- 
ter. He was married Feb. 13, 1855, to Emily 
M. Lewis, daughter of l^r. Lewis, deceased. 
She has borne him thrve children — Ida M., 
married to Dr. Ditzler; Willis E., who has 
been on the railroad in the far West for six 
years, and a son deceased. He has always 
been an energetic business man, and is Re- 
publican in politics. 

DAVID H. HARROD, farmer; P.O., 
Huntsville ; is one of the much respected 
citizens of this township, in which he was 
born Nov. 5, 1831 ; he is a son of .John and 
Phebe (Carder) Harrod, and was married 
Feb. 19, 1855, to Sarah E. Lewis ; she was 
born in what is now Wyandotte Co., Nov. 1, 
1831, and is a datighter of John and S ley 
(Sweet) Lewis ; her father was a native of 
Virginia, and a blacksmith by trade. In 1820, 
at which time he was residing at Springfield, 
O., he was ai)])ointed smith for the Indian 
trifes at l'])|)er Sandusky; accepting the 
position, he moved there with his wife and 
only child, and was the second white man 
that came to the ])lace to live. He remained 
in the G(3vernment employ for twelve years, 

I and then relin(piished the trade and settled 
on a farm near by, which commands a view 

' nf the spot made memorable by the burning 
of Col. Crawford. He died Oct. 28. 1841, and 
then the family moved to this county. After 
his marriage Mr. Harrod continued to live on 
the old homestea<l until ( )ctober 1S09, when 
himself and brother dissolved ])artnership, in 
])art, and he came to whore he now lives, al- 
though they still conduct much of their 



"Tlo 



- !., 



:^r 



McARTHUR TOWNSHIP. 



828 



busiaess jointly. By bis marriage he has four 
cbildrnn — Frank W., Stella, Guy, and Jay. 
Mr. Harrod belongs to the Patrons of Hus- 
bandry and considers their princi])!os to be 
for the improvcm'.'nt of the condition and 
elevation of the farm ; he joined the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church when young-, and has 
always l:een a consistent member as well as 
an ardent supporter of the Sabbath Schools, 
which he attends closely and is one of the 
teachers, most of the time ; his wife and 
daughter are also members of the same church. 
He served in the 132nd, O. N. G. ; has always 
been identified with the Republican party. 

RANDOLPH HAMPTON, farmer; P. O., 
Huntsville; is the only surviving member of a 
family of seven children, and was born April 
15, 18-10, on John Warwick's plantation, near 
Lynchburg, Va. His father, Lot Hampton, 
was born in Rockbridge Co., now West Vir- 
ginia, and when only 11 years old was sold 
from his family to John Warwick, on whose 
plantation he lived and labored until the mas- 
ter's death, when he received his liberty. 
This occurred in ISiO, and the ne.\t year he 
became a member of the colony in Stokes 
Tp.; he was married in Virginia to Clara Har- 
vey, and since her death, in July, 1878, he has 
lived with his only son — "Uncle Lot," as he 
is commonly called; he worked at the black- 
smith's trade in Virginia, but has been a 
farmer since he came here. Randolph served 
as Corporal in Company E., 55th Mass. V. I., 
and was wounded at James Island, near 
Charleston, S. C; he returned near the close 
of the war, and was married Oct. .25, ISOG, to 
Catherine Payne. She was born Fob. 15, 
18-15, in this county, and has borne him three 
children — named Ella M., Walter Bnnyan and 
Clara Leotji. Mr. Hampton and wife are 
members of the Baptist Church. He has al- 
ways been a Republican. 

DAVID HARTZLER, farmer; P. O., 
Huntsville; one of the most intelligent and 
respected citizens of this townsliip, is sur- 
rounded by many friends; he was born Aug. 
4, 181f3, in Mifflin Co., Penn., the youngest of 
a family of ten children born to David and 
Mary (Yoder) Hartzler; his parents were na- 
tives of Berks Co., but came to Mifflin soon 
after their union, and resided there till their 
death, the father dying in 1856, and the 
mother June 35, the following year. David 



commenced for himself, when of age, and has 
always been a farmer; he came to Fairfield 
Co., this State, in 1841, and Dec. 2, the same 
year, was married to Barbara, daughter of 
Jacob and Nancy Yoder; she was born May 
22, 1822. in Huntington Co., Penn. Mr. 
Hartzler lived in Fairfield Co. until the fall 
of 1853, when he moved to Noble Co., Ind., 
and there developed a farm, and after resid- 
ing there twenty-one years he moved to 
where he now lives; he owns a farm of 160 
acres of land, and isciuite pleasantly situated; 
his union has been blessed with eleven chil- 
dren, eight of whom are living. They are 
Joseph, Mary, Jacob, David, Jonathan, 
Christian, Nancy and Menno. All are mar- 
ried but two. Mr. Hartzler has been a min- 
ister in the Mennonite Church since 1848. 
His whole family are membprs of that de- 
nomination, and his son Jonathan is a minis- 
ter. Mr. Hartzler cast his first vote for Har- 
rison, and is now a Repulilican. 

JOHN HARROD, farmer; P. O., Hunts- 
ville; is one of the jxipular and intelligent 
farmers of this townshi|), in which he was born 
April 8, 1825. His father, John Harrod, Sr., 
was horn Dec. 17, 1785, in Virginia, and was a 
son of Capt. Thos. Harrod, of whom appropri- 
ate mention will be given els(^where. He was 
married to Phebe Carder, who was born in 
Virginia. Her father served in the Revolu- 
tion with credit, and while Phebe was yet in 
her childhood he emigrated to Kentucky, 
where he lived a few years and then came to 
this State, living successively in Ross aTid 
Fayette counties, in the latter of which she 
was when married. He served with credit in 
the war of 1812, being an officer, and his his- 
tory is substantially the same as that of his 
brother Samuel, which is given in this work. 
He was kind and hospitai)le to the needy and 
deserving pioneers who came here in more in- 
digent cii'cumstances than himself. He died 
Oct. 14, 184(1, and his amiable and exemplary 
wife March 24, 1874. The subject of this 
sketch was married in 1859 to Sally Johnston, 
a native of Pennsylvania. She died in March, 
1865, leaving two children — Carrie J. and 
Ralph L. Mr. Harrod was married in No- 
vember, 1866, to Minerva J. Donnell, who 
was born in Clarke Co., O. This union has 
been blessed with two children — Mamie E. 
and Addie M. He served in the 132nd O. N. 



- 19 

r 



^1 



£.t 



831 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



G. during the late Rebellion. He is a mem- 
ber (if the Masonic order, and Patrons of Hus- 
barulry, in which he is wanuly interested. Mr. 
Ilarrod has an interesting family, and is devo- 
ted to liis home interests. His integrity and 
judgment may be estimated fiom the fact that 
lie has been Trustee of the Township most of 
the time since he arrived at legal age. Ho is 
a lie|jublican, and stands high in his party, 
and cast his Krst vote for Gen. Taylor. 

JAMES E. JU.MP, harness and .saddlery; 
Huntsvillo; was born May 3, 1819, in Queen 
Anne's Co., Md., but lived most of the time 
in the county of Kent. His father, Samuel 
Jump, was a native of that State, and was 
a native of that State, and was tiiere married 
to Kesiah Husick; hi; served in the war of 
1.S13, and died in 1S3S, having always lieen a 
tiller of the soil. Tlie mother was left at the 
head of a family of six children, of whom 
James E. was youngest but one; she was mar- 
riccl to David Herren, and several years later 
they came to this county and settled near 
liuntsville, where she died in Sejitember, 
1853, having borne him two children. James 
came here in 1838, and, after a residence of 
two years, he returned to his native State; 
he came back, however, in the spring of 
1841 and commenced working at the harness 
trade, which lie has since followed, in this 
township, with good success; he was married 
Oct. 3(), 184-1, to E. S. Wright. She was born 
A])ril 22, 1823, in Fauquier Co., Va., and 
came here in the fall of 1837, living till mar- 
riage near East Liberty. Two children have 
blessed this union — Columbia and .Mary E. 
Tilt! eldest married Rev. J. W. Husk, and 
after a few years of hajipiness, both died, 
leaving a young chihl to the care of her par- 
ents. The younger became the wife of .loseph 
(irahain. Both of these daughters attended 
thi- Seminary at Delaware, O. lie has been 
Treasurer of the (Corporation, and also mem- 
ber of the School Hoard. 

.JOIIX X. KEHI{, ])hysician and surgeon; 
liuntsville; is one of the rising |)rofessi<)nal 
men of this township, and during his brief 
residen'e here has built up a good and grow- 
ing practice; lie was born in Harrison Co., 
<)., Sept. 3, 1852; his father, John C. Kerr, 
IS a native of that coiinly, and owns the saw, 
flour and woolen mills at L'nionvale, a village 
near Cadiz; he also owns a farm, which he 



superintends along with the other business; 
he has been Representative to the Legisla- 
ture two terms, but now devotes his whole at- 
tention to his jirivate allairs: he was niarri<Kl 
in early life to Mary Henderson, who bore 
him three children, and after her death he 
was united to Sarah Newell, a native of 
Washington Co., Pa.; by their union eight 
children were born, the subject of this sketch 
being the second son living; his mother died 
Sept. 5, 1802, and when he arrived at the 
proper age he attended college, first at the 
Hopedale Normal School, and then at Athens. 
He was Sujierintendent of the schools at 
Harrisville, (), one year. He studii^l 
medicine with Dr. Beadle, of Cadi/, and from 
th(!re went to the Starling Medical College, 
where he completed the cour.se in March, 
ISTi", standing high in all his classes and re- 
ceiving one of tlu! ]irizes. Before graduating 
he practiced one summer at .Midwav, Pa., but 
came to Harper immediately after receiving 
his diploma, and in .Tanuary, 1878, to this ])lace; 
ho was married Nov. 3, 187'.l, to Emma H., 
daughter of Samuel and Margaret (MiCrack- 
en) Hover; she was born Aug. 14, 1854, in 
this township; both are members of the 
Presbyterian Church, to which he has be- 
longed since he was 11 years old. He is a 
Republican, and cast his first vote for R. B. 
Haves. 

Alex. C. miller, farmer; P. ()., 
Huntsvdle ; is the eldest child born to David 
and Esther (Cassell) Miller; he was born 
Jan. 7, 1832, in Washington Co., Pa.; his 
father was a native of that .Stale, and there 
learned the blacksmith's trade, but failing 
health induced him to take a sea voyage and 
he was soon engaged as a sailor ; he followed 
the sea for .several years, and when he <)uit 
was one of the officers. He was married Feb. 
2, 1831, and in 1834 moved to this county and 
bought a farm of partly improved land on 
which he lived until his death Oct. 7, 1853, 
and his wife July 28, 18(!8. Alexander went 
to Iowa in 1857, and was soon engaged in the 
saw-mill l>usiness and returned to this State 
in ISiil, on business of a private character. 
Wliih; here he enlisted in Coiii])any A, 2iid. 
O. v. 1., and served for three years ; he was 
woiindetl at the liattle of Hoover's (»ap, and 
from that time was in the invalid cor])S. He 
fanned until 18G1(, when he became interested 






McARTHUR TOWNSHIP. 



825 



in a saw-mill and followed that business until 
quite recently, when he rented it and moved 
to his farm. He was married Aug. 31, 1S70, 
to Xauey M., daughter of Thomas and Naomi 
Ale.Kander ; she was born in Carroll Co., and 
was living in Hardin Co. at the time of her 
marriage. Their eldest child died, and those 
living are — Naomi Ann, and Laura Edith. Mr. 
Miller and wife are members of the United 
Presbyterian Church. He is a Republican, 
and cMSt his first ballot for John C. Fremont. 
HENRY MERCHANTELL, farmer; P. 
O., Huntsville; is the otdy son of a family of 
six children, who were reared to maturity; he 
was born Dec. 14, 18.34, in Hesse Cassel, 
German}'. His father, Dietrich Merchantell, 
was a miller and millright by trade, and his 
father owned a fine mill projierty which was 
confisc.ited and destroyed during the " Seven 
Years' AYar." Henry was apprenticed to a shoe- 
maker when 14 j'ears of age, and served him 
three 3'ears, and after working for another 
party nearly two years, induced his ]iarcnts to 
let him come to America, as he wished to 
escape service in the regular army. H ■ landed 
at New Orleans in December, 1853, with only 
^3 in his pocket, and as soon as possible 
returned the price of his passage to his par- 
ents, who had paid it for him. The following 
March ho came to Cincinnati, and stayed 
there otdy six months, when he came to 
Greene Co., and lived there until 1805, when 
he moved to where he now resides. He 
worked at his trade in Greene Co., and did a 
very good and successful business, keeping as 
high as eight hands during the busy season. 
He worked at it, also, after coming to the 
farm, but has paid most of his attention to the 
improvement and cultivation of his land. It 
was a dreary and desolate looking place, and 
many predicted that the " Dutchman would 
starve to death." And although he knew 
nothing about farming, he jjaid strict atten- 
tion to his business, and has now one of the 
most valuable and interesting homes in the 
township. He was married Sept. 11, 1856, to 
Martena, daughter of Samuel and Emily 
Thatcher. She was born Oct. 17, 1838, in 
Greene Co. They have two children living — 
Etnily M. and Lucy .1. He is a member of 
the Patrons of Husbandry, and of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Chinch, and for many years 
has been well coimected with the Sabbath 



School as Teacher and Sirperintendent. He 
has been unfortunate in his family relations, 
and a man of less will power would have 
broken down financially as well as morally. 
But he has been remarkably successful, and 
is now wealthy. He has always been a Re- 
publican. 

EBENEZER MILROY, farmer; P. O., 
Northwood; was born July 9, 182'2, in Liv- 
ingston Co., N. Y. ; his father, James Milroy, 
was born in Scotland, and bred to the occu- 
pation of farming; he was married to Mary 
Mc.Jerrow, and about the year 1819 emigra- 
ted to this country with his family, which 
then consisted of five members, and settled 
in the above named county. The country was 
quite new, and they endured many privations, 
which mere incident to early settlers in that 
country. Ebenezer remained under the pa- 
rental roof until the fall of 1847, when he 
started West for the purpose of securing 
himself a home; he traveled by water to 
Milwaukee, and after rambling through parts 
of Wisconsin and Illinois, he returned to this 
township, intending to spend the winter with 
a brother who had come here several years 
previously; receiving intelligence of his 
lather's sickness, and desiring to reach home 
as soon as possible, he bought a horse and 
made the trip on horseback, but did not ar- 
rive until alter his father's burial; Sept. 28, 
1848, he was married to .Mary A., daughter 
of David and Mary A. (Ross) Morrow; she 
was born in Wyoming Co., N. Y., Sept. 20, 
1840. After marriage they united witli the 
Reformed Presbyterian Church, and then set 
out for Wisconsin to establish their own 
home. After years of patient labor and in- 
dustry they accumulated a handsome property, 
but wishing to be more convenient to a 
church and school, they moved to this town- 
ship, in June, 1870, and bought a farm con- 
venient to both. Mrs. Milroy died March 2, 
1877, having borne si.x children, the four eld- 
est dying in 1864, all within six weeks. Those 
living are Ebenezer and Mary Agnes, named 
for their parents. Mr. Milroy has already 
made a vast improvement on his farm, hav- 
ing built a beautiful and commodious house, 
besides other buildings of a convenient and 
tasty character, and now surrounded by his 
family of intert>sting children, he can look 
forward to a happy future. 



,|^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



WILLFAM M( KINNON, farmer; P. O., 
Huiitsvillo; is one of tlie most ptospcroiisand 
woll-kiiowii fanners in the township, and a 
descendant of one of the early setth^rs of the 
State. His grandfather, Daniel McKinnon, 
was a native of Pennsylvania, and was there 
married to Nancy Harrison, a cousin of Gen. 
Harrison. Mr. McKinnon was a close con- 
nection of Col. Crawford's, and moved to 
Kentufkv, where he lived a short time, and 
then came to what is now Clarke Co., when 
there were only two houses, where now is 
Spriiijffield, O. ; he settled on Buck's Creek, 
and served as Sheriff, wlien his territory em- 
braced several of our present prosperous coun- 
ties. His I'lilest son, William H. McKinnon, 
was there married to Kittic Foley, a native of 
Rockingham Co., Va., and who was brought 
to that county when in her cliildhood. Wil- 
liam served in the war of ISl'i, was an officer, 
and liel|)cd l)uild several block-houses in the 
present limits of Logan Co.; he moved here 
in 1839, and was ever after a resident of the 
county; he sorveil as Astiociate Judge of the 
Court of Common Pleas, and was also Justice 
of the Peace, an office he had held in Clarke 
Co. for tw(!nty-four years; lie died in J SGI, his 
wife having died in 18.")."). Their son, who is 
the subject of this sketch, was born Jan. l(j, 
ISvO, and has done for liimsilf since his ma- 
jf)rity ; as a farmer and stock dialer he has been 
uniformly succi-ssful, and now owns over 500 
acres of land, altluuigli he has decreased his 
real estate nearly one-half during the last few 
years; he was marrieil March i:i, 1856, to 
Sarah, daughter of .lohn Denny. She was 
born Dec. I'J, 1837, and has been a wise and 
efficient helpmeet to him. Their union has 
been blessed with eight children, six of whom 
are living — John D., Lucinda, Dennis, Faimie, 
Willie G. and Carrie. The eldest three have 
attendt.-d college at Delaware, O. The pa 
rents and three children are members of the 
MetliodistKpiscopal Church, and the eldest son 
is a nn'mlier(jf Ihe Presbyterian Chur.'h. Mr. 
.\IcKiMnon is identified with the Ki-publican 
J)arty. 

JOHNSON MOUKIS, farmer; P. (J., 
Huntsville; is one of the prominent farmers 
of this township, and comes of a highly 
respected family. His grandfather, Joseph 
Morris, was born in .Maryland, and although 
raided to funning pursuits, when yet young 



commenced preaching in the Old School Bap- 
tist denomination, which he followed through 
life, but did not relinquish farming. He Wiis 
married in New Jersey to Levina Drake, and 
came to Kentucky soon after, where he lived 
many years, and then came to Clarke Co., O., 
and entered a piece of Government land, on 
which he lived until his death, having reared 
a family of fourteen children. One of these, 
James, was there married to Martha Henry, 
who was born in Kentuck;-, and came to that 
county the same year as the Morris family. 
He always devoted his attention to agricultu- 
ral pursuits, and died there April 11, 1846; 
his comj)anion, who yet survives him, lives on 
the old homestead. They were blessed with 
eleven children, the eldest of whom is the 
subject of this sketch, and was born Jan. 12, 
1825. At his father's death he became the 
chief supporter of the family, and did nothing 
for himself until his marriage, Feb. 3, 1851, 
to Rebecca, daughter of Jesse and Polly (Mor- 
ris) Dairy niple. She was born Sept. 11, 1827, 
and two years after their marriage they moved 
to this county and bought a farm in Wash- 
ington Tp., on which they lived until Octo- 
ber, 1871, when they moved to their present 
home. Their union has produced four chil- 
dren — Martha E., James K., Mary Minerva 
and Alli(; B. The eldest is married to J. B. 
Collins. Mr. Morris owns over 300 acres 
of land. He is a member of the Agri- 
cultural Society, and is now serving his hfth 
year as Trustee. He served in Co. C, 132d 
b. N. G., and is identified with the Republi- 
can ])arty, having cast his first vote for (ien. 
Taylor. 

S. KKNTOX MILI.FR, farmer; P. O., 
Belletontaine; is a son of James and Jane 
(Harrod) Miller, and was born April 16, 1835, 
in this comity. He is a self-made man, and 
now owns over 200 acres of land, obtained by 
his own industry and good management; he 
ran a threshing machine for many years, and 
has dealt ijuitc largely in stock, although he 
was never a shi])per; has always been con- 
nected with farming, and, in 1862, he and a 
brother-in-law rented tlu; James Stewart farm 
for three years, which proved a paying ven- 
ture. He was married April 24, 186G, to 
.Sarah K., davighter of Klias Shawver. She 
was born .(une 15, 1846, in this county. They 
have been blessed with four children, three 



-■f — *- 



-^ 



McARTHUR TOWNSHIP. 



827 



of whom are living — Udora L., William Ar- 
thur and Luther B. He and his wife are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
He has always been a Democrat, and voted 
first for James Buchanan. Mr. Miller has a 
jjleasant home and a fine farm on which he 
has erected commodious and convenient build- 
in n;s. 

ROBERT MILLER, farmer; P. O., Hunts- 
ville; is one of the prosperous and energetic 
farmers of this township, and is a thorough 
business man; he was born March 2li, 1829, 
in Champaign Co,; his father, James Miller, 
was reared in Kentuckv, and came to Ohio at 
an early day and settled in Champaign Co.; | 
he was married, however, in this township, 
to Jane Harrod. This was the first marrige 
in this township, and he took his wife back 
to Champaign Co., where they lived for sev- 
eral j'ears, and about 1835 he moved to this 
county, which was ever after his home. He 
did not buy a farm, however, until some ten 
years later, and then bought a tract of new 
land in the northern part of Harrison Tp., 
on which he died in May, 18T!); his wife died 
in 1838, an<i he was then married to Mrs. 
Amelia Thompson, wiio survives him. Robert 
commenced working out when quite young, 
and by the time he was of age had secured 
a team, and then connnenced farming and 
running a threshing-machine, the latter of 
which he drop])ed some five years ago; he 
has now more than 200 acres of land herS, 
besides Western property, the result of his 
industry and economy; he was married 
March 1, 185.5, to Martha Ann, daughter of 
James and Dorothy (Tillis) Mcl'herson; she 
was born July 3, 1834, in this county, and 
has borne six children, five of whom are liv- 
ing — James A., Alice J., Ida May, Lottie A. 
and .lohn R.; Mr. Miller is a charter member 
of the Patrons of Husbandry, and is identi- 
fied with the Democratic i)arty, having oast 
his first ballot for Franklin Pierce. Mr. and 
Mrs. Miller have a pleasant home, which is 
surrounded with many attractions, and their 
acquaintance and friendship, as well as that 
of their childicn, is cherished by a large 
number. 

WILLIAM McCLEARY, farmer ; P. O., 
Huntsville ; was born Oct. 26, 1821, in Perry 
Co., O., and is the youngest sou of a family of 
seven children ; his father bore the same 



name, and was a native of Chester Co., Penn., 
where he was married to Mary Steele. He 
was a farmer by occupation, and went to the 
defense of Baltimore in 1812 ; he moved to 
Perry Co., this State in 1814, and bought a 
tract of new land on which he lived until his 
death, July 13, 1828, having imjiroved it as 
fast as possible. Two of the children died 
about the same time, and the mother cared for 
the otiiers until the sons were able to conduct 
the farm. In the spring of 1852 William 
came to this county and bought the farm on 
which he now lives, and in the following Sep- 
tember he and his mother moved to it. He 
was married Nov. 4, 1852, to Mary J. Arthur; 
she was born in Jefferson Co., July 12, 1833, 
and has helped to render their home attract- 
ive and valuable ; his mother died at their 
house May 8, 1868. Mr. McCleary is Deacon 
in the United Presbyterian Church, of which 
both he and his wife are consistent members. 
He cast his first vote for James K. Polk, but 
has ever since been united to the opposite 
partv. 

LANFORD PRATER, physician and sur- 
geon; Huntsville; was born Aug. 1, 1840, in 
this county, and is a descendant of one of 
the early settlers; his grandfather, Newman 
Prater, was born in Virginia in 1745, and was 
there married to Nancy Robinson; he was a 
farmer by occupation, and although an old 
man, served in the war ol 1812, receiving in- 
juries from which he died; the family, which 
then consisted of wife and six children, soon 
after started fV)r this State, moving all the 
way on pack-horses, and four of them were 
obliged to walk the whole distance; they 
settled permanentiv in this comity and the sons 
went to work for different parties, in order to 
support the family; .lohn, the youngest but 
one, was born .Ian. 1, 1800, and has always 
been a tiller of the soil; he was married to 
Mary Pope, who was a native of North Caro- 
lina, and came to this State the same year as 
the Prater family, and lived five years in 
Highland Co. before coming here; he retired 
from the farm in 1876 and has since lived 
with his son, losing his earthly partner Feb. 
4, 1880. Lanford taught school several terms 
in different parts of the county and served 
with credit in the war, being in different 
regiments, and having four discharges in his 
possession; he graduated at the Indiana 



"Tv" 



-^ e 



,|^ 



828 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



Medical College in 1871, and practiced in Grant 
Co., that State, until October, 1879, whei\ he lo- 
cated at this place; he was married March 5, 
1803, to Isabel, diiui;hter of .Iose))li and Eliza 
Watson; she was horn ])oc. 18, 1844, in Ty- 
rone, Ireland, and emigrated to this country 
when 8 years old; by their union six 
children have been born — Charles, Harriet, 
Charlotte, Eliza J., Mintia and I^anford; th<! 
family belong to the Methodist Episcopal 
Church; he is a member of the I. O. O. F., 
and has always Ijccn a Republican. 

SIDNEY A. PRATT, druggist; Iluntsvillo; 
was born March 14, 1837, in Sheflield. .M:iss. 
His father, Martin Pratt, was a native of the 
above State, and was married to Harriet Beach, 
a native of Connecticut. He was the ownerof 
large woolen mills, and di-voted himself exchi- 
sively to that business. \\'lii-n Sidney was six 
3'ears old the family moved to l.itciiKeld, (jonn. 
and in 1S47 the father died le.iving a family of 
II childn^n, of whom Sidney was the seventh. 
From that time he has done for himself, and 
for several years was employed at farm labor. 
He worked at the ear]i('nterV trade for three 
years, ami then entered Colt's Armory, where 
he was employed at the cf)mmencement of the 
war. Bring of a patriotic disposition, he left 
a i)aying |)osition and enteri'd the service. He 
eidisted in Co. E, 20th Heg., and served three 
years, ])assing through all the various hard- 
ships endured by tliat reginient. When dis- 
chargiMl he went to L(;wistown, Pa., and re- 
mained tiiere one year, and then came to 
West Liberty in this county, lie was during 
this time engaged in the notion trade, being 
most of the titm- on the road. But in October, 
1878, he came to Huiitsville, where he has 
since been engaged iti the drug business. He 
was married in January, 18(;.5, to Melinda, 
daughter of John and Agnes Miller. She was 
born in June, 183.5, in Waj'ne Co., O., and 
was living in West I^iberty at the time of her 
marriage, when^ her father was engaged in 
the notion business. Two children have 
blessed this union — Mary I. H. and Harry 
M. The daughter is married to William .(. 
Still, and residi-s in Franklin Co. Hi' belongs 
to the .Masonic fratcrnitv, 1. ( >. < ). F., and In- 
depi-niliMit Order uf |{ci| Men. 

DAVID I'.VTTKKSON, farmer; P. O., 
Iluiit.sviile; is one of the early settlers of this 
townHhi)), to which he moved more than half 



a century ago; he was born May 15, 1810, 
near Belfast, Ireland. His father, Abraham 
Patterson, kept store until the breaking out 
of the Irish Rebellion, in which he serveil as 
Captain; he was married to Martha Gouiley, 
who bore him nine children, and in 1818, with 
his entire family, emigrated to the Xew 
World, settling in Mercer Co., Pa., where they 
lived until 1830, when he moved to this town- 
ship; he and two sons bought 500 acres of 
military land, which they divided equally; he 
was an ardent believer in the doctrines of the 
Reformed Presbyterian Church, and the first 
one of that denomination in this community; 
he helped build the first church, and attendi'd 
Ciiurcli Synod at Pittsburgh on horsi'back; he 
died in 1855, aged 89 years, his wife having 
died three years previous, aged 80 years. Da- 
vid cleared his father's farm, doing most of it 
himself; he woidd often go five miles to rais- 
ings and log-rollings, and often went thirty 
days during one sprino;; he has never left the 
old homestead, but brought his wife there 
when married, Jan. 9, 1837, to Jane, daughter 
of John and Betsey Wylie. She was born 
April 5, 1810, in Beaver Co., Pa., and came to 
this county in 1834. Their union was blessed 
with three children, one of whom is living. 
Believing in the aiiolition of slavery, he helped 
many of them on their way to the North, otwe 
g<iing as far as Sandusky; he lost his earthly 
companion Nov. 5, 1874, and now lives with 
his son, A. Gourley, who serve i a short time 
in Comjiany C, lo-.'nd O. V. I., anil marrieil 
Sarah E. Gray, who has borne him six chil- 
dren. They are mendjers of the Kcformed 
Presbyterian Church, to which Mr. Patterson 
has contributed financially as well as s))irit- 
ually; he owns nearly 300 acres of land, which 
has <'hangi'd from a dense forest to a vahuible 
and beautiful ])roi)ertv through his industry. 
JOHN H. HENICK, fanner; P. O., Hunts- 
ville; was born .Ian. 4, 1804, in Clarke Co., 
O. His father, Robert Renick, was a native 
of GreeTd)rierCo., Va., and was there married 
to .Mary Hamilton. She was of Irish descent, 
anil her father, William Hamilton, served as 
Colonel in the Revolutionary war. In the 
s]iiing of 1799, Robert came to Clarke Co., 
tins State, and raised a cro|), and the follow- 
ing winter moved his family, which then con- 
sisted of his wife and three children, to his 
new home. He died there Oct. 23, 1828, and 






McARTHUR TOWIsyHIP. 



829 



his wife, April 4, 1814. When 16 years old, 
John commenced working out, and for six 
years f;ave his earninors to his father. He was 
married Dec. 18, 18:38, to Elizabeth Rea, who 
was born in Kentucky in 180(), and was 
broug:lit to this State the same year. He 
came to this county in 1833, and bought a 
farm of new land near Lewistown, on which 
he lived until the spring of 1872, when he 
moved to where he now lives. His wife died 
Oct. 12, ISrC, having borne him eight chil- 
dren, four of whom are dead. The eldest, 
Jami's H., died in Cleveland, where he was 
eng-agiMl in the stave business, and Robert H. 
from disease contracted in the army. Those 
living are — Nancj' J., Mary E., Louisa I, and 
John R. All are married, the son living on 
the old homestead. He was again married 
June 28, 1871, to Mrs. Sarah Stevenson, widow 
of William Stevenson. She was born May 
IG, 1828, in Licking Co., being a daughter of 
Alexander King-. Mr. Renicli has served as 
Trustee and Treasvirer, and he and his wife 
belong to the United Presbj-terian Church, in 
which he has been Elder many years. He is 
a Republican and cast his first vote for 
Henrv Clay. 

ROBERT A. REID, farmer ; P. O., Hunts- 
ville ; was born Nov. 1, 1838, in Clarke Co.; 
his fatiier, Robert Reid, was born in Green- 
brier Co., Va., in 1791, and was of Irish descent; 
his parents came here a short time before his 
birth. In 1801, the family whicli then con- 
sisted of mother and eight cliildren, moved to 
this State and secured a quarter section of 
Government land in Clarke Co., which was 
cleared and improved by the united labor of 
the sons. Robert, Sr., served in the war of 
1812, and was soon after married to Miss 
Snodgrass. He bought a tract of new land 
and commenced carving out a fortune for him- 
self and family, but death robbed him of his 
companion, and a few years later of his only 
daughter, ^"arah Jane, who had then reached 
maturity. He afterwards was united to 
Louisa Rea, who was born in that county in 
1809. In 1853 he moved to this county and 
bought 480 acres of land near Lewist(iwn, a 
part of the section given to James McPherson 
by the Government, according to their treaty 
with the Indians who wished to reward him 
for serving them ; he lived on the farm until 
the spring of 1865, when he moved to where 



the sons now live, having acquired all his 
property by his own exertions and wishing to 
retire from active labor. He died July 15, 
the same year, and his faitliful wife some five 
years later. They reared four sons — \\'illiam 
J., John T., Robert A., and Joseph G.; all 
but John were in Company B, 88th, O. V. I., 
and served nearlv three years ; the eldest son 
died in 1867, and the other sons are conduct- 
ing the farm jointly. Robert was married 
June 1, 1876, to Josephine Ditzler, daughter 
of one of Huntsville's most respected physi- 
cians ; she was born April 18, 1850, and has 
borne two children — Rea D., and Ivo. Polit- 
ically the family have always been Demo- 
cratic, although they supported Lincoln dur- 
ing the war. 

JOHN B. RUDE, mill; Huntsville; is the 
youngest of a family of seven children, and 
was born Jan. 11, 1831, in Hamilton Co., O. 
His father was born in New Jersey, and when 
11 years old he came to .Cincinnati, with his 
parents, the place then consisting of a few 
rude houses, being notliing more than a mili- 
tary post. He learned the trade of shoemaker, 
and for— many years did a large business in 
the boot and shoe trade. Failing health in- 
duced him to relinquish a successful business 
for that of farming, and he settled in that 
county, where be died in 1864. His wife, 
whose maiden name was Mary Laughlin, and 
a native of that county, died in 1859. John 
worked at the carpenters' trade two years, 
and when of age went to the far West. 
He was in Mexico, Oregon and California 
about four years, but spent most of that time 
in the latter State, where he was engaged in 
mining. He then returned to his native home 
and was married to Rebecca A. Brown. He 
moved to Darke Co. in the spring of 1860, and 
remained there four years, working at his trade 
most of the time; he has since been engaged in 
the mill and lumber trade in several ditferent 
counties, and located at this place in 1866, 
where he has since lived. His wife died soon 
after he came here, having borne five children, 
three of whom are living — .Jennie, Anna and 
Laura. The eldest is married to Morgan 
Solomon, and lives at Springfield. He was 
married Jan. 2, 1819, to Ainia E. Richardson. 
He has been quite successful in business, and 
has done much toward the improvement of 
this town. He is a member of the Methodist 



y\z 



830 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



Episcopal Church, and his wife of the Uni- 
ted Presbyterian Uiiurch. He has always 
been a Deinocrat. 

ROBERT S. REED, retired; HuiitsvilR-; 
was born Feb. Ki, 1S'21, in Uniim Co. O.; his 
fatiier, Thomas Reed, was born and raised in 
York Co., Penn., and was there married to a 
Miss Robinson; he was a cooper by tra(h', and 
soon after his marriage moved to this State, 
and settled in the above named county. His 
wife died, and he was united to .TaiK^ Snod- 
jrrass, and sec-ured for this marriaire the first 
marria<^e license ever issued in Union Co., as 
it hail just been oroanized. She lias three 
brothers that have eelel)rated their ydlden 
weddin;js, and have always lived in Unicin 
Co. .Mrs. Reed <lied near 1S27, leavin>>- five 
children, of whom Robert S. was the eldest. 
.Mr. Reed was afterwards married to Hannah 
tiraiiam. a native of York Co., Penn., and 
near 1S;5U moved to Greene Co. He <lied 
Ajjril 14, 1S58, in tliis county, to wiiich he had 
removi'd some vi'ars previous. Robert was 
a)>preiiticed to a wool manufacturer when in 
liis ITth year, and remained witli liim over 
three years, learning to "full cloth" while 
there. He then went to S])rinirfieid and 
worked some four years. March 4, 1845, he 
came to this covinty and bougiit a saw mill, 
which he conducted for eiglit years, and then 
wont to farming. He has develojx'd a fiiu> 
farm from the dense forest, anil his iiealth l)e- 
ctnning (juite jioor, he moved to Huntsville in 
187<'i, to ol)tairi (piiet and rest, although lie has 
|)erfornieil no hard labor in the last twelve 
years. His marriage was solemnize<l N'ov. Ri, 
]84o, the other jiarly being Martlia, a daugh- 
ter of George aii<l Mary (Moore) Hoover; slie 
was born Mav 10. IH'i'i, and has borne seven 
children, three of whom are living — Mary J., 
wife of I), (i. \Valla<-e; George (". and Rob- 
ert tiill. .Mr. R'cd has been comiecled with 
township olliees. The wholi- family belong to 
the I'nited I'resbyterian Church, in which he 
is Elder, and held the oflice of ])<'acon some 
fiftei'u years before hi' was elected Polder. He 
hu.-f so fa r been a Repul>lieaii. 

SANH'EL G. ROGERS, farmer; P. < )., 
Xorthwood; was born .lune 14, 1817, in High- 
land Co., O. His father, known as Col. 
Thomas Rogers, was born in Loudoun Co.; 
\'a., and when 7 years old the family moved 
to Kenluiky; when 18 years of agi' In- and a 



brother came to this State, and the same 
sjiring put out a croj). They heljied erect the 
tliiiil log cabin iu (Jhillicothe, and the year 
following their arrival x\w rest of the family 
moved to this State and settled in Ross Co., 
on the farm on which the State Mills were 
built. Thomas was there married to Polly 
McCoy, and soon after moved to Highland 
Co., where his father liatl bought a large tract 
of land; by years of patient toil he at length 
cleared ujj a handsome home from the wild 
and primitive forest; he served as a Colonel 
in the war of ISVi, and surrendered with Hull 
at Detroit; he died at Greenfield in June, 
18^."), in his 9)rd year, having reared twelve 
i^liildren to maturity. One son, \Villiani, was 
a missionary to India ten years, and three 
others served in the late war. Samuel, tiie 
subject of this sketch, lived under the pa- 
rental roof until his marriage, in 1840, to 
Ann Eliza Ghonuley, who was born in Fay- 
ette Co. in 18"^:5. in April, 1844, he moved 
to Stokes T]i., in this county, and bought a 
small tiact of slightly improved land; he kept 
adding to it until Oct. 1, 18G3, when he moved 
t<} where he now lives; he cleared nearly 100 
acres there, and cast the first ^Yhig vote in 
that township; he has an interesting family of 
children— Maggie X., William C, David "P., 
lA'vi?iia J., Robert Shepherd, Thomas A., Os- 
car, Mary A. and (/'larence. Three of these are 
inarrii'd. O.scar was shot accidentally a few 
vears ago. The jiarents and children arr 
members of the United Presbyterian Cliimli. 
He cast his first Presidential ballot for Har- 
rison, and is now a liepublican. 

RACHEL SHELBY, Huntsville. The liis- 
torv of this counlv would be incomplete 
without mention being made of the Shelby 
family, who are well known throughout the 
whole county. The head of the family, 
John, but better known as Judge Shelby, was 
born in Pennsvlvania, Aug. 9, 1783, and was 
of Welsh descent; his father, David Shelby, 
served with credit iu the Revolutionary War, 
and in 1794 moved to Pickaway Co., O., ami 
followed farming; he represented the jieople 
of that district in the Legislature for eighteen 
vears, lieing in the Senate most of the time. 
John lived at home until his marriage in 
180('> to Elenor Morris, who was born Aug. ">.', 
1786, in Pennsylvania, and came to this State 
in ]79."i; in the spring of 180!l he came to 



ll^ 



McARTHUR TOWNSHIP. 



831 



this county and bought a farm, and having 
put out a crop he returned and brought his 
wife and two small children to his new home; 
he traded that for a farm near Lewistown, 
and when he had improved it he owned one 
of the best stock farms in this county; 
he sold it, however, in 1854, and moved to 
this place and bought a small tract of land, 
as he wished for a retired life; he died Oct, 
1, 1862, and Logan Co. thus lost one of her 
honored and respected citizens; he had 
served in the * Legislature, being several 
terms in each branch and was there at the 
same time his father represented Pickaway 
Co.; for many years he served as Associate 
.Judge, and was a Democrat of the most pro- 
nounced character; he was the father of a 
family of seven children, only two of whom 
are living', the eldest son having been in Iowa 
many years, and Rachel, the fifth in number, 
is livino- with and takino- care of her aged 
mother; she was born in this county Dec. 14, 
18"20; the familv have always been identified 
with the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

SAMUEL STEWART, mill; Huntsville; 
is one of the most widely known and univer- 
sally respected citizens of this township; he 
is a son of James and Mary (Dallass) Stewart, 
and was born Dec. 23, 1814, in County Ty- 
rone, Ireland; his father was a farmer by oc- 
cupation, and in 1820, with his family, which 
then consisted of seven persons, emigrated to 
America and settled in Champaign Co., O. 
In the spring of 1830 lie moved to this coun- 
ty, where he had previously bought 025 acres 
of military land, mostly prairie, and alt '.n this 
township; he paid personal attention to the 
farm during his life-time, although lie built 
the well known " Stewart's mill," in 1836, but 
had no knowledge of the mill business and 
did not learn it; he died in 1856, and his 
companion died several years later. Samuel 
worked on the farm until the mill was built, 
when he entered it and has been connected 
therewith ever since, excejit a short time that 
it was owned by Jacob Austine. In 1873 he 
bought the mill built by Jonathan ^^'ood- 
ward, and ever since he and his two young- 
est sons have conducted them, doing a large 
custom trade besides filling their many whole- 
sale orders. He owns a large farm, also, 
which is conducted by the two oldest sons; 
he was married in 1839 to Nancy Liggitt, 



who died nearly one year thereafter, and in 
1845 he was united to Clarissa Stevenson, at 
Kenton. She died in 1846, having borne one 
child, Cj'nthia A., now the wife of John M. 
McCracken; he was afterward united to Miss 
Nancy King, daughter of Alexander King; 
she died Dec. 4, 1878, leaving six children — 
James D., William A., .John K., Samuel L., 
Mary C. and Flora M.; William and Flora are 
married. Mr. Stewart is a member of the 
United Presbyterian Church, in which he is 
a Deacon. He is a Rc])uhlican, and cast his 
first ballot for Henrv Clav. 

THOMAS SCOTT, .lu'., farmer; P. O., 
Northwood; among the first pioneers <.)f this 
township, we take jjleasun- in mentioning the 
Scott family, as among the prominent and 
well known. The head of the family was 
Thomas Seott, Sr., who was a native of Mary- 
land, and from there moved to Pennsylvania, 
residing successively in three different coun- 
ties, and in 1810 moved to J^ieking Co., O., 
where the subject of this sketch was born, 
March 15, 1812. In August. 1822, the family 
moved to this township, and settled in Chero- 
kee, moving into a rude and hastily con- 
structed cabin, and soon after their arrival, 
Sanuiel Scott, Thomas's father, tiled, being the 
first white man to die in this township. The 
spring following their arrival the township 
was organized, and the first election held, 
there being only thirteen voters. Mr. Scott 
was unanimously chosen .Justice; an t)tfice he 
held about twenty years. About the year 
1841 he moved to Allen Co., and lived there un- 
til his death, Feb. 18, 1852, except a short tune 
that he retiu-ned to this county. Thomas, Jr., 
received most of his education before he came 
to this county, as there were no schools for 
several years after his arrival; the settlement 
being too sparse to su])port a school. He re- 
ceived a thorough drilling on the farm, how- 
ever, and at his mother's death, when he was 
17 years old, he comjnenced working out. 
Having a piece of new land, and wishing to 
improve it, he first secured a helpmeet in the 
person of Agnes, daughter of Abraham and 
Martha Patterson. Their marriage occiu-red 
Dec. 23, 1830, and both are still living. They 
have four children — Maitha .J., Tliomas M., 
Sarah A. and Abraham P. Three of these are 
married, the youngest farming on the home- 
stead. Both sons were in the service, and the 



~^': 



■t. 



832 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES : 



parents and tliree yoiiiifi'cst childipn aii» nicin- 
bers of the United Pieshyterian Cluncii. He 
is tlie discoverer of wliat is known as the 
" Scott " wheat, coinnn'iiciiifj; with three heads, 
that lie found while rea|)in<i', and l)y care lie 
profhiced tlie jnstly ceh-hrated variety that 
bears his name, lie was a \\'iiit;in early lile, 
hut after the election of Harrison voted the 
P^ree Soil ticket, until the orijani/ation of 
the Repuljlican party. He often assisteil run- 
away slaves on their way to Canada: he now 
possesses the first clock ever hrouji^ht to this 
townshi)); it lu'lonjri'd to his father. 

GEORGE SIHCK, farni.'r ; P. O., Melle- 
fontaine ; is the eldest of a faniily of ten 
children and was born July 'i, 1830, in Car- 
roll Co.; his father, William Shick, was born 
ill I.ciudoun Co., Va., in lS()(j and is a child of 
line (if the heroes of the war of ISl'-J. About 
j the year 1814 the family, which llieii cdii- 
! sisted of six souls, came to Carroll ('n., in a 
wau'on and entered a jiiece of Military land. 
William was there married to Catlcirine 
Shawver, one of a family of fourteen chihlreii, 
all of whom jrrew to maturiiy and were mar- 
ried. They lived in that county until 1830, 
when they moved to wh(>re they now live, in 
Lake Tp., and bouijht a quarter section of 
land, the only improvement being a partly 
built cabin. The ])rivations were not few, 
and George, being the eldest son, was com- 
pelled to work when young, and therefore, 
received only a meager education ; his par- 
ents are both living, having enj<ived morn 
than a half century's com|)anioiishi|i. On 
reaching maturity he connnenced wmking at 
the carpenter's trade an<] follow<Ml it seven 
years, when he commenced faiiiiiiig, but dur- 
ing this time hi' has conducted a saw-mill for 
twenty- two years, as well as the farm. He 
j has lieen quite successful in business, now 
owning nearly 3.">() acres of land, nearlv one- 
third of wliii-li he has cleared himself; he 
was married March 111, |S.">7, in Cham|iaign 
Co., to .Mary Ai>ple ; she was born there 
Feb. K, 1.S3H, and is a daughter of Solomon 
and Catharine .Apple, who came there at an 
early day ami secured a farm of military land, 
which is yet in the family's possession. One 
child died and two are living — Catharine and 
Margaret A. Both he and his wif(! joined 
the Lutheran ( 'hurcli before their marriage. 
He has always been a Democrat. 



JOHN M. TEN EYCK, jihysician and sur- 
geon; Iluutsville; is the youngest but one of 
a fainilv of nine children, and was born Jan. 
•>r>, 1849, in Wayne Co., Ind. His father, 
also named John, was a native of New Jersev, 
and was a veterinary surgeon by jirofession, 
but farmeil some occasionally; from there he 
went to Montgomery Co., O., and then to the 
county before mi^itioned, where he was mar- 
ried to Louisa Pegg, a native of North Caro- 
lina, then residing in Indiatia; he die<l in 
18,")7, and his wife in 1878. John commenced 
reading medicine with Drs. Penningtt)n and 
Sweney, of Milton, Ind., in 18011, and gradua- 
ted at the Eclectic Medical College at Cincin- 
nati in 1874; he jiracticed at Ricldand a short 
time, and in 1875 came to Huntsvi le, where 
he has a good and increar-iiig ))ractice; he w:is 
nuirried Aug. 5, 1870, to Marv, daughter i<\' 
.lames and Clarissa (Cromer) Funk. She was 
liiirn .Ian. 18, 18.")3, in IJoss Co., O. He has^ 
always been a Itejiublican, and cast his first 
vote for I'. S. Grant. 

WILLIAM W. TEMPLETOX. farmer; 
P. O., Iluutsville; is the third of a fain- 
ilv of six children, and was born Sept. 
21, 1828, in Perry Co., Ohio; his father. 
Alexander Templeton, was born in Union 
Co., Pa., and was married to Mary A. Wal- 
lace, of lirooke Co., Va.; he was farmer by 
occuj):ition, and came direct to Perry Co., 
when married. In 1831 he moved to this 
county, and ke])t a store in Bellefontaine on(^ 
year, when he moved to Roundhead, in Har- 
din Co., and lived there until his death, in 
1S04; Ik' was there engaged in the mercan- 
tile business, and also in farming; he was 
(Hie (if the first UKMnbers of the Associate 
I'resbvlerian ( 'liuri'h, organi/eil at Bellefon- 
taine, and held the otiice of Elder there, and 
also at Roundhead, after an organization was 
elfeeted at that place. William received a 
good common school education, whicdi he <()m- 
|ileted at Franklin College, New Athens, 
Ohio, ami then took the course at the T.heo- 
logical Seminary, at Xenia, Ohio, from which 
he iMuerged in 1850; he was married May 
I'i, 185!l, to Mary, daughter of Rev. James 
Wallace; she was born in this county, Aug. 
10. 1834, and has been a loving and 
faithf"\il helpmeet to him. They have 
lived in this township since marriage, except 
a few years spent in Hardin V,a. Both are 



^^ 



McARTHUR TOWISSHIP. 



833 



members of the United Presbyterian Church, 
in which he is Ehler. Mr. Templeton has 
served as Justice of the Peace, and has so far 
been identified with the Republican party. 
He cast his first Presidential vote for John 
P. Hale. 

DANIEL WONDERS, farmer; P. O., 
Bcllefdiitaine; is fine of the most successful 
and wt'll-kriown farmers in the county, and 
was born Sept. 10, 18"29, in York Co., Pa.; 
he is a son ol Jacob and Christiana (Lease) 
Wonders, both of whom were born in that 
county; his father followed teaming in early 
life, and was detaileil as a teamster in the war 
of 1812; after his marriage, however, he went 
to farming, and in 183G, u)Oved to this county, 
where he resided eighteen months, and then 
went back to Venango Co., Pa., where his 
father had bought a large tract of land for 
the purpose of giving each of his children a 
farm. Jacob sold his in 1844, and came to 
this county and settled in Zane Tp., where he 
died in 1877, and his wife one year previous. 
Daniel went to the blacksmiths' trade when 
19 years old, and after an apprenticeship of 
two years returned to his father's, where he 
worked at tiie trade and on the farm for two 
years, and then commei'.ced dealing in stock; 
he followed that, together with farming, with 
the best of success for many years, and by 
his own exertions has accumulated a hand- 
some property, owning two good farms, and 
has built good and substantial buildings; he 
has not dealt in stock of late years, preferring 
a quieter life; he was married Sept. 13, 1853, 
to Elizabeth, daughter of Richard M. and 
Margaret (Henry) Dickinson; she was born 
April 5, 1826, in this county, her ])arents be- 
ing among the first setth^rs of the county, 
aiul are both yet living, having lieen married 
sixty-two years. Daniel's marriage has been 
blessed with three children — Margaret M., 
George M. and Mary C; tlie eldest is married 
to Wallace Jameson. He has been a member 
(jf the Agricidtural Society for nine years, 
and he and wife and tw(> eldest children are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church; 
he was a Democrat in early life, Init has been 
a Repviblican since the organization of that 
party. 

JANE WRIGHT, Huntsvillc; is the eldest 
of a family of 13 children, and was born April 
28, 1798, in Kentucky. Her fath9r, Thomas 



Irwin, was a native of Pennsylvania, and 
went from there to Kentucky, where he was 
married to Mary Thompson. In 1800 he came 
to this State and settled in Champaign Co. 
He served as a guard at McPherson's lilock- 
house during the war of 1813, and died near 
Bellefontaine. Jane was early inured to hard 
labor, and worked in a dairy eleven voaro. 
She was married to Joseph T. Wright March 
1, 1827. He was a son of William ami Jane 
Wright, and was born .Inne 10, 1803, in 
Adams Co., O. After marriage they lived in 
Champaign Co. until 1835, when they bought 
a quarter section of land near Quincy, for 
$300, and on Christmas moved on their farm, 
the house having no door, window, chimney 
or chinking. In this they lived until the fol- 
lowing summer, when it was made more com- 
fortable. Mrs. Wright assisted her husb.ind 
in the duties of the farm, and for many years 
j took in weaving. In 1858 they moved to 
I Quincy, and in January, 1805, sold their prop- 
j erty and came to Nortliwood, where he died 
Sept. 18, 1808. Their union was blessed wit.i 
j two children — Mary J. and William. Both 
have taught school, the son graduating at (Ox- 
ford College, and studied theology there, re- 
ceiving license to preach in 1853. He was 
principal of the schools at Xenia, and at 
Richmond, Ind., one year each. He died in 
March, 1873, at Grand Rapids, ( )., where he 
was teaching school and- preachina-. The 
whole family became identified with the Uni- 
ted Presbyterian Church many j-ears ago, Mr. 
Wright serving as Elder about 25 years. 

DAVID G. WALLACE, farmer; P. O., 
Huntsville ; is a son of Rev. James Wallace?, 
deceased, and was born July 3, 1839, in this 
township ; his lather was born in York Co., 
Pa., Nov. 10, 1801, and was son of D.ivid and 
Mary Wallace ; he was reared to the occupa- 
tion of farming, but having embraced religion 
in eai-ly life, he determined to devote his 11 le 
to the ministry, and alter attending school at 
various places he graduated at Jefferson Col- 
lege, Cannonsburgh, Pa., in 1827 ; he re- 
ceived license to preach in 1830, and his first 
appointments were embraced in the Caro- 
linas. In 1832 he was called to the Darby 
and Bellefontaine congregations, and as a 
majority of the members lived in the vicinity 
of Cherokee, he liought a tract of new land near 
by which he cleared and improved, besides 



>y' 






834 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



attending to his professional duties. His 
latter vears were devoted especially to the 
Iluntsville charge, iVom which he withdrew in 
1861. He was married Sept. 30, 1833, to Jane 
Pollock, of Washington Co., Pa.; she died 
Sept. 14, 1803, having borne five children, 
the eldest of whom, William P., was fatally 
wounded at Knoxville, Tenn., and is sleeping 
in a Southern ccsnieter}'. Mr. W'allace was 
married in 1S66 to Mrs. Mary A. McKce, and 
died Nov. 30, 1878. David is living on a 
])art of the old homestead, and has always 
heen a tiller of the soil ; he served in the 
132nd, O. N. G., and was married Nov. 1, 
18li'J, to Mary .1., daughter of Rol)ert S. and 
and Martha (HoverJ Heed ; she was born in 
this countv Aj)ril 4, 1847. Their union has 
produced si.\ children — Nellie I., William R., 
James T., Martha J., Edward R., and Salina 
A. Both he and wife arc members of the 
United Presbyterian Church, of which he is 
Deacon. He has always l)een a Republican. 
MARY A. WATS()N, Huntsville; was 
born July 7, 1817, in Hartford Co., Md.; her 
father, John W. Crawford, was a native of 
that county, and was thorr married to Rebec- 
ca Rogers; he was a lilacksuiith by trade,and 
in 18'-i4 moved to this State and locat<Ml in 
15elniont Co., and engageil in farming. Some 
ten years lati'r he came to this c'ounty and 
secured a j)artly develojied farm in the south- 
east part of this townshi]), on which he lived 
until his death, A])ril 14, IKIi]. Mary A. 
was married .Vpril 14, 1840, to William W. 
^\'ats<ln, one of the energetic pioneer farmers 
of this county; he was born Jan. 13, 1S13, 
in Fayette Co.; his parents, M'iiliani and 
Ruth Watson, were natives of the Knierald 
Isle, and came to this country in 1804; lived 
u short time in Pittsburgh, and then coming 
to Fayette Co., in this State. In 1820, 
with his family, he came to this township, and 
secured a (piarter-section of military land, 
which he develojM'd as early as possible, but 
being unused to such business, the heavy part 
of it devolved on the son. After his nuir- 
riage, William settled on a ]»ortion of the old 
liomestead, and, at his father's death, he 
bought out the other heirs and si-i-ured the 
whole projierty, which had bi'come dear to 
him through onl associations. He died Dee. 
15. IS^O; his wife still survives him. Their 
h»])py union was blessed with six children — 



the youngest daughter, Mary K., died Aug. 
21, 1876. Those living are, Caroline,- who 
was married April 24, ISOO, to Elisha I^ock- 
hart, and after his death to Robert W. Jor- 
dan, F'eb. 12, 1874; John C. nuirried March 
25, 1874, to Mantie E. Elder; she died April 
15, 1878, and Jime 17, 1880, he was united to 
Callie Weiser; Rebecca C. is still living with 
her mother; W. Parker, who united his 
fortunes w'ith those of Ilattie Foster Dec. 31, 
1874, and Georgiana, who celebrated her 
nuptials with Harry Whitworth, April 9, 
1 8*8 

JONATHAN WOODWARD, farmer; P. 
O., Iluntsville; is one of the most prominent 
and well-known men in this township, and has 
contributed as much towards its ra])id ad- 
vancement as any ])erson now living; he was 
born May 16, 1801, in Chester Co., Pa., and 
his ancestors were among the early settlers of 
the " Keystone" State, buying their land of 
Penn's agents. His father, whose given 
name was George, was a miller by trade, and 
was married to Miss Alice Burtington, who 
was born <m the day the memoral le battle of 
Brandywine was fought, her parents living 
within a few milesof the scene of action. -Mr. 
"Woodward served a short time in the war of 
1812, and for many years conducted his busi- 
ness in Del 1 ware, and also in Pennsylvania; 
in 1S33 he moved to this State, and located 
in Champaign Co., where he died in 1S42, and 
his companion in 1851. Jonathan learn 'd the 
trade of a millwright in early life, and 
worked in diflerent parts of York State, as 
well as in the city of New York; he also fol- 
lowed this business along the Schuylkill and 
Brandywin(! rivers, and in a mill on the latti'r 
stream learned the trade of miller; in 1S35 be 
came to Cl)am])aign Co. and rented a mill, and 
the next year bought 27 acres of the Mahin 
heirs in this township; its impnivenients were 
a log cabin and a badly wr.'cked saw mill, 
which he " lixed u]) "' as sjieedily as jxissible, 
and commenced sawing lumber for tin' pur- 
pose of erecting a grist mill; this lie com])let- 
I'd, and connnencod ruiniing it .May 1, lS3'.t, 
and he has the honor of packing the lirst bar- 
rel of flour in this township, although his was 
th<' third mill erected; in IHliO he sold his 
mill, and has situ-e resided in the suburbs of 
Hunl^ville, where he has bought a farm; he 
was married in 1S34 to .Mrs. .Sarah RobiiiRon, 



--f ® w?" 



PLEASANT TOWNSHIP. 



835 



widow of John J. Robinson. She was born i\ug. 
25, 1804,111 the State of Delaware, her father 
being Holton Yaniall; she had two children 
when married to Mr. Woodward, one of whom 
is living — the widow of the late Dr. Lawson, 
a jirofC'ssor in the Cincinnati Medical College. 
This happy union has been blessed with four 



children. Those living are — Charles C, a 
miller at Westminster, O.; George, who is a 
physician at Oak Harbor, in Ottawa Co., 0., 
and Sarah A., wife of James A. Coulter, of 
Huntsville. Mr. Woodward is a Democrat in 
politics. 



PLEASANT TOWNSHIP. 



GEORGE K. HILL, farmer ; P. O., Tile- 
ton ; horn in Clarke Co., 0., in 1815, where, 
he remained till IS years of age when he 
removed with his father to Logan Co., in 
1833 ; his father, John Hill, entering 240 
acres of canal land, required the services of 
his son Crcorge till he was 24 years of age and 
then gave liiu 40 acres of land, all a dense 
forest, which he still owns ; he then bought 80 
acres in section 32, and then selling it in 1851, 
he bought 1(30 acres in the same section, 
which was all a wilderness of woods, but with 
his own hands lie soon cleared it and made it 
a handsome farm ; since he has been in the 
country ho has cleared abovit 250 acres. He 
is a self-inade and self-educated man ; his 
early days were spent in the woods assisting 
his father, and all the opportunities he had for 
school was a few weeks in the winter by trav- 
eling five miles through the woods, and this 
being a subscription school and he being 
])oor, he had to work by the day to earn the 
money to compensate the teacher for what 
little time he did attend. He is now one of 
the most jirominent and well-to-do farmers in 
the vicinity ; out of debt, and has a jiroperty 
valued at least at $15,000. He with his father 
was one of the first settlers in the western 
part of the township, he heljied cut and make 
the first road running west from the river 
through this township. His father was al- 
ways j)oor until George became large enough 
to assist him, and then all moved cm with 
greater pros])erity ; his father, before his 
death had bought and owned 480 acres. 
When he lived at home they hauled their 
grain to Portland, a distance of 110 miles re- 
quiring from nine to seventeen days to per- 
form the journey and then received but 53 



cents per bushel for their wheat. His mother 
spun and wove and made their own clothing ; 
their shirting and summer wear they mostly 
made from flax. In 1834 the squirrels came 
and took all the corn in the country ; his 
brother David being a great hunter saved 
their little patch by constantly guarding it. 
George K., killed about twenty-five doer in 
his day. He was marrircl to Jane Gish, in 
1837, who was born in Virginia and moved to 
Logan Co., in 1834 ; she has been a faithful 
consort of Mr. Hill for nearly half a century, 
and is still enjoying good health. They have 
six children — Sarah J., Xancy, Mary, Louisa, 
Katherine, and John, all of whom are married 
except the latter. Mr. Hill is now 65 years 
of age, and carries on his own farm, makes a 
hand everywhere he works ; last winter he 
worked forty-three days in the county ditch, 
being in mud and water abo%'e his knees most 
of the time. He has a beautiful farm, well 
improved ; has about 1,000 rods of tile to 
drain it, and good improvements to adorn 
it ; he commenced a poor boy, helped his 
father get a start in the world, and then, by 
patient labor and hard blows, he has niiido a 
handsome fortune for himself, and still he 
him plowing with a single 
persjiiration flowing in 
He has held the office 
for several terms. In 



toils, ibr we found 
shovel ])low, the 
streams from his iace. 
of Townshii) Trustee 



politics he is a Re])ublicaii. 

DAVID H. HOSTETTER, farmer; P. O., 
DeGraflf ; born in Lancaster Co., Penn., in 
1824, wherj his father and mother were born 
and raised, and died; he remained at home 
till 20 years of age, when he commenced the 
world for himself, and till he was 25 he trav- 
eled and worked in five different states, his 






--^[^ 



836 



BIOGEAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



principal object beiiig to survey the country 
anil select a |)lace to invest liis means; in 1S51 
he came to Clark Co., ()., where he lioujrht a 
grist mill and successfully followed the mill- 
ing professicjii for about fifteen years; in 18U3 
he solcf his mill and purchased the farm he 
now occupies in Logan Co., of 100 acres, for 
wliiih he i>:iid ^(j,-l:()U; in four years after he 
purchased sixty-tive acres of Mr. Strayer, and 
some time after purchased ninety acres in 
Shelhv Co.; he now owns 1518 acn^s of well- 
improved land, for which he has been ofTered 
^80 per acre; his land is one mile from De- 
(iralf; he has tine buildings located on a 
beautiful rise of land that overlooks the en- 
tire country around; his iniproveniciits are 
valued at $U,00(); he was married in 1800 to 
.Miss Catherine Forry, who was born in 1841, 
in I.ogan Co., Harrison Tp.; they have three 
children — I-innie C, Annie B. and .Mary M.; 
.Mr. llostctter springs from a rich family; his 
father was worth about ^■^5,000, and his grand- 
fat her about ;J!.jO,OtlO, and he himself is probably 
worth what they both were, for he is thoroughly 
a business man; he rents his land and tries 
to live a retired life, but he finds that his 
laljor and continual oversight is necessary to 
keep the improvements up and the farm in 
order; he has about l.jO acres under good 
cultivation through which meanders a beauti- 
ful stream; he has a line, large grapery and 
fruits of all kinds in greatabundance; he is a 
cliini'h meudier; in jjolitics he is neutral; he 
liii> not voted for th(! last twentv-five vears. 

.l.V.MES 1". IIOXE, farmer; I'. ( )., Logans- 
ville; born in Franklin Co., ()., in 1840, and 
canM> to Logan Co. at '-i years of age, and 
lived in liloomfiehl Tp. with his parents un- 
til 1801, when he enlisted in the •■lUlh O.V". L, 
ami served till disahhMl by sickness and hard- 
ship, when he was honorably discharged after 
fifteen months' service; he fought in tin- liattles 
of Pittsburg Landingand Ft. Donaldson, in the 
fornicT witnessing the most terrific part of the 
battle, and |>articipating in the hottest ]>art 
of the light. In ISO'-i he commenced farming 
for liinisidf in Blooudield Tp., on SO acres of 
land given to him by his father-in law; in 
1805 he sold out ami bought 104 acres, which 
he now (ici'upies. His father-in-law then gave 
him, in 1H7S, :?.5 acres more. Mr. Hone then 
purchased "il acres more, making hiui in all 
159 acres, which constitutes his present farm, 



which he has nicely im|)roved. It borders on 
the east side of the Miami River, and is con- 
sidered the best soil in the county. He was 
married in 1803 to Jennie Dickson, who was 
born in Logan Co. in 1844, where she was 
brought up and has always lived. They have 
had six children — Alice A., born .April 13, 
1804, and died Aug. 'iO, 1804; .lohn, born 
June 24, 1805; Willard E., Jan 5, 1808; 
Jijssie, June 1"-J, 1870; Ossie, April 15, 
1872, and died Dec. 25, 1872; Winona, 
born Sept. 20, 1879. Mr. Hone has been 
Township Assessor for nine successive years, 
and holds the olfice of Real Estate A;s<>!-sor 
for 1880. He is a member of the Christian 
Church; also a Democrat. His land furnishes 
a beautiful building site upon which his lunis'.> 
now stands, and where he contemplates build- 
ing a sp;u-ious house next vear. 

SA.MUEL K1N.S1NGER. farmer; P. O., 
DeCiraff; born in Cundjcrland Co., Penn., in 
1828, and remained .there till 1847, and then 
renu)ved to Ohio, and in the following fall of 
1S4S he moved to Losran Co., oiu! mile east 
of DeGratl', where his father had purchased a 
larm. His father, George K., was born in 
Philadelphia in 1793; he commenced a poor 
and penniless bov, ¥50 in debt, having to pur- 
chase his time from a niiin to whom he was 
bound out as an apprentice to learn the shoe- 
maker's trade, and at his death owned 050 
acr(!S of well improved laml, a handsome prop- 
erty, which he by earnest and honest lalioi- 
had ai(|uired. His wife was born in Penn- 
sylvania in 17114; her father was a veteran in 
theRevolutioiuiry War. .Mr. Samuel Kinsingcr 
commenced busini!ss for himself by entering- 
a ])artnership with his brother and rcMiting 
their father's farm, and contiiuu.'d at that t II 
1850, when he married Martha E. Turner, 
who was born in 183') in Logan Co., where 
she was brought up and has always lived; her 
]);irents, Joseph and Rebei'ca Turner, were the 
oldest settlers of the township, coming here 
in 1808. .Mrs. Turner was born and brought 
up in the State, and Joseph Turner at 10 
years of age spent most of his tinn- for six 
years with the Indians in I,tigan Co., (-ating, 
sleeping, and constantly assocuiting with 
them. He started for himself at 22, with but 
25 cents in money, and a yoke of oxen; he 
rented 100 acpc-s of Congress land, getting the 
deeds bearing President Jackson's own. 



T^ 



— ' — ( 






PLEASANT TOWNSHIP. 



837 



signature. At his death, which occurred in 
1855, lie owned TdO acres of hind, which he 
had earned and improved by his own patient 
industry. Mr. Samuel Kinsinjier, after his mar- 
ria<^'e, moved on the present farm of 240 acres, 
where he has farmed it ever since, land valued 
at $T5 per acre. He has 160 acres under good 
cultivation; his home is beautiful as well as 
comfortalile; he has made many of the im- 
provements himself, valued at 'S3, 000. A 
spring of cool water gushes from the banks at 
the rear end of his house, which greatly adds 
to the convenience of his faim. Mr. Kin- 
singer has mostly fenced over his farm, build- 
ing house and barn, and paying *;l,50u to heirs 
of the family; he helped haul the logs from land 
DeGraff now occupies, which was long before 
the railroad passed through it. His grand- 
father, Mr. Brindle, preserved an eight dollar 
bill of British currencj' of 1774, and a thirty 
shilling script of Continental currency of 
1776, which Mr. Kinsitiger now has in perfect 
preservation. Mrs. Kinsinger's grandfather, 
John Turner, was one of the first voters of 
the township, and also served in the war of 
the Revolution. They have five children liv- 
ing — George T., Samuel A., Albert .!., Daniel 
K., John R., (who died at 9 years of age) and 
EllaF. He and his wife and two oldest bovs 
are members of the Methotlist Episcopal 
Church. In uolitics he is a Republican. 

JOHN R." LONG, miller and lawyer; 
Logansville; born in Pennsylvania, in 1827, 
and lived with his uncle till 14 years of age; 
then he went to Seneca Co., Ohio, and farmed 
there one year, from whence he moved to Lo- 
gan Co., in the winter of 1843, driving the 
entire distance with a team. His uncle rent- 
ed a farm in Bloomfield Tp., and he remained 
with him three years; now being of age, he 
started in life for himself; he commenced 
surveying and working at the carpenter's 
trade, mastering both arts by diligent indus- 
try, without the aid of a teacher. In 1846 
he began teaching at §8 per month, and he 
taught during the winter for si.x or seven 
years following, and worked at carpentering 
and surveying through summer. In 1854 he 
married Elizabeth Quick, who was born in 
Licking Co., Ohio, in 1836; he followed his 
regular business till 1862, when he purchased 
the grist and saw-mill, which he still owns 
and is running. It is located on the " Biff 



Miami River." He saws about 150,000 feet 
of lumber and grinds from 1,000 to 2,000 
bushels of grain annually. Mr. Long is of a 
philosophical turn of mind, and possesses a 
natural skill at machinery'. He makes and 
repairs most everythina: pertaining to the 
machinery of his mill. Tlu-y have four chil- 
dren — Marco W., Viola, Minnie V., Edwin 
Grant; one child, Jessi • A., died, aged six 
months. Mr. Long has held the office of Su- 
pervisor two years, Township Clerk ten years, 
and has been School Director and Justice 
of the Peace. He was a Democrat till 1854, 
when he swung into the Rei>id)lican ranks, 
and has stood there ever since. 

ISAAC N. MOORE, farmer; P. O., Logans- 
ville; born in Logan Co., on the banks of the 
"Big Miami River" in 1823; owns and lives 
upon the farm upon which he was born. His 
father, .lames Moore, came to Logan Co. in 
1805, and bought the farm which Isaac N. 
now owns. It was then all a ])athless wood; 
the Indian camp-fires gleaming- along the 
banks of the Miami was all that could be seen 
of human activity. One evening he counted 
thirteen from his cabin door. ilr. Mathews and 
Mr. Dickson were his only neighbors; he and 
Mr. Dickson purchased of the Government 
400 acres of land, of which he got 106 acres. 
The first year he cleared 8 acres. For many 
years he and his wife raised their own flax 
and wool and spun and wove the material for 
their own clothing. He marketed his pro- 
duce at Sandusk}', which required from eight to 
ten days to make the journey, and then they 
received but 50 cents a bushel for their wheat. 
He gave the ground for the first graveyard in 
PleasantTp. In his log cabin the first preaching 
was done, Messrs Stephenson and Goodridge 
being the ministers. He and George and 
Peter Connors were the principal hunters of 
the locality, as the forests abounded in deer, 
bear, wolves and wild turkeys. Young Isaac 
recollects going with George Conners, when 
but a small boy, and bringing a whole wagon- 
load of deer. He also helped l.uiid the first 
log schoolhouse in the township, which was 
located abcmt one mile east of his residence. 
In this rude pioneer schooHiouse, with its 
log benches, Isaac was educated; his first 
teacher was William Skooler, who he remem- 
bers gave him his coat for a pillow when he 
became weary and sleepy, as he was only a 



838 



BIOGRAl'lIICVr. SKETCHES: 



boy of six or seven j'ears of age, a mark of 
kindness which he has always remembered. 
He also built the first grist mill in tiiis part of 
the county, where the Indians often ])uri;liased 
ilour, oft<Mi as high as a thousand pounds at one 
time. James Moore tiled wiien hisson Jsaae was 
]1 years of age. He and his two elder lirothcrs 
carried on and improved the farm. I'liey 
bought out their sisters' interests arul sup- 
ported their aged mother. When they divided 
up Isaac N. received for his sliare l(l."> acres. 
]n 1845 he married Susan DiUon, wIkj died 
in 1811. They had ten children in ail — .Mil- 
ton, Melissa, Franklin P., Detniis D., Isaac 
N., Jasper, Annie and Albert, twins, .\lfar- 
etta, Lydia M., of which Fraidvlin P. ami 
Isaac N. are dead; he married Mrs. Lydia J. 
Nickle, his second wife, in 1874, who was 
born in Ohio in 1840. He bougiit, in ls,58, 
;30 acres of his brother, afterwaids 38 more; 
Then bought 100 acres of .lohn Uardon for 
*5J,5(I0, and sold .50 for *!l,4(H». They after- 
ward bouirht 80 acres of John Dickson, and 
then !l acres at *]00 per acre. He now owns 
2S'i aen'S of land, including the old home- 
stead, valueil at ^iS |)er acre. He does a 
thriving l)usini'ss in farmiuir; he has dealt 
largely in slock for the last tilteen years; he 
deals jirineipally in hogs, cattle and sheep; he 
has driven in one week to I5cll<'l'(iritaini' Tiil) 
head of hogs, and still is buying and ship])ing. 
He is a l)i'n\ocrat. 

W. D. PII'KIJ, fanner; P. ()., l.ogan.sville; 
born in Kentucky in ISOS, and at 1(» years of 
age he moved with his father to Logan Co., 
which then was a part of Champaign Co.; his 
father, Alexander, commenced fur himself a 
poor and penniless youth, and made a nice 
property in Kentucky, which he sold with a 
vii'w to c(jming tu Ohio, but the man he sold 
to ]>rf>ved to be a rascal, anil <lii-ate<l him nut 
of *:5,."iUU, nearly all he had. lie tlu-n com- 
menced anew, anil came U) Ohio, and the first 
year he lost five horses, one vidiieil at ijiUlO. 
He came here when the country was an un- 
broken wildi-rness, (-leareil and im])rov.Ml Si) 
acres of land, which he owned at his death. 
This farm is now known as the .Moore farm. 
Mr. \Y. I). Piper at 'il years of a^re entered a 
partnership with his father, and continued till 
he was --li'i years of age, when ho punlia.sed 
the farm of 80 acres which he still occupies; 
it was all timber, and not a furrow jtlowed on 



it; in 1840 he purchased 80 acres adjoining 
it on the west, which was also all timber; he 
has owned 270 acres, but has let his children 
have all but 75 acres, which he values at !i!75 
per acre. He has lived on his present farm 
since the fall of 18;K); he purchased land in 
the midst of a wilderness of trees ad brush, 
has cleared it, and nicelv improved it. He 
was married at 'ii> to Miss Jane Urunson, who 
was born in Kentucky in ISH, and died in 
1852, and Mr. Piper, through the love and de- 
votion which lie cherislieil for his first wife, 
has never married a second. They had the 
following children — Alexander, who died at 
i'i; Elizabeth, .lohn, Mary E. and .Martha 
Jiine (twins), William J. and Sophrona. Mr. 
Piper'.s early education was very limited, go- 
ing to school in all about three months, and 
that was in a rude log schoolliouse, the first 
that was built in the townshiji, east of the 
|nesent site of LogansviUe; but by h's own 
diligence he eihicated himsidf by the fireside 
of his own cabin, for at that time there were 
no newspa])ers in the cmuitry, and l)ut few 
books to interest the youth, and he studiously 
ein])loyed his leisure hours over his le.\t 
books; he is in every sense a self-made man; 
has held the ofUce of Assessor of the Town- 
ship for fourteen years, and in politics has 
alwavs been a Republican. He never has had 
a lawsuit in his life, and lived in harmony 
with all his neighbors, and is revered and 
respected bj' all who know him. When he 
came into the county there were no houses 
except Indian huts between his present resi- 
dence and Wajiaucaiiata, a distance of twen- 
ty-five miles. Tliey then marketed their 
grain at the Lake, getting mostly trade in 
exchange, rarely but little money. Those 
were "times tluit tried men's souls." 

.M.\UT1N L. HOllK'KK, fanner; P.O., Lo- 
gansviUe; was born in Champaign Co., O., in 
1K;}5, where he remained initil 21 years of 
age, when he removed to Logan Co., and pur- 
chased )t08 acres of land located on the west 
bank of the .Miami river, of which land he 
now owns 2()8 acres, valued at ^7'> \nT acre; 
he has cleared the most of it by his own labor, 
and nicely improved it, and has selected a 
nice rise of land overlooking the river for the 
location of a new house, which he has already 
begun; the most of his land is what is called 
"second bottom," very productive as well as 



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jH® 



PLEASANT TOWNSHIP. 



839 



valuable; he hauled his first load of grain in 
this county to DeGraff, which consisted then 
of but few dwellings, hastily built, among the 
stumps and brush; he was married in 1855 to 
Miss Laura Deppe, who died in 1860, leaving 
three children — Sarah E., born Mav 1 5, 185G; 
Mary. Jane, born April 30, 1858, and Daniel, 
born Nov. 26, 1859. He married his second 
wife, Katherine Moore, in 1862, who has been 
an invalid for the past six years. She is a 
member of the Christian Church at Logans- 
ville. They have had three children — Louis B., 
born June 26, 1864, who died Jan. 16, 1865; 
Anna A., born Jan. 23, 1866, and Naomi L., 
May 12, 1868. Mr. Rohrer is a member 
of the Baptist Church at Nettle Creek; he 
has held tlie office of Township Trustee for 
eleven years; is now serving liis second term 
as Town Clerk. His mother, Sarah Rohrer 
Snvder, died in 1874, at his residence, in her 
60th year; she for fifteen years had been an 
exemplary member of the Baptist Churc'h at 
Nettle Creek. Mr. Rohrer is a man of exten- 
sive information, and is widely known as an 
inilueiitial citizen. 

R. J. SMITH, teacher and farmer; P. O., 
Logansvillo; born in Pleasant Tp., in 1832, 
and remained at home till 18 years of age. 
He worked by the month on the farm the fol- 
lowing summer, then attended select school 
at Lewiston; he worked eighteen summers 
for Mr. Dickson, at Logansville, teaching 
school during the winters; he taught his first 
term of school when 18 years of ag-e, in 
Bloomfield Tp. Mr. Smith started life for 
himself at 21, with nothing but his ein])ty, 
bul willing hands, his father claiming all his 
earnings until he became of age. He pur- 
chased a team and for a time rented land. In 
18T1 he ])urchased what was called the .John 
P^llis farm; fanning that till 18i(i, he sold out 
and purchased 80 acres in Washington Tp., 
which he still owns; he rents the Dickson 
farm, and teaches school through the winter. 
As a teacher he has been a grand success, 
teaching twelve terms in District No. 1, and 
six terms at Logansville. Mr. Smith is a 
member of the Masonic and Odd Fellow 
Lodges; he has held the office of Town 
Clerk for ten consecutive years, and is now 
serving his fifth year as Township Treasurer; 
has traveled through Pennsylvania, New York, 
Virginia, West Virginia, Indiana, and Illi- 



nois; visited the great Centennial Exhibition 
at Philadeljihia, in 1876. Politics, Democrat. 
Mr. Smith has worked his own way in the 
world, and now stands on solid footing-. 

WILLIAM J. SMITH, farmer; P. O., De- 
Graff ; was born in Clarke Co., O., in 1830, 
and at 1 year of age came to Logan Co.; his 
father, William, was born in Clarke Co. in 1803, 
and remained there until 1831, when he 
moved to Logan Co., where he remained till 
his death, dying at the age of 71, or nearly 
that; he started in life a poor boy and with 
empty hands began life's toil; he accumulated 
a handsome little property, owning at one 
time 338 acres of land; his wife, Sarah Stock- 
well, was born in Highland Co., O., in 1813. 
William J. Smith started life for himself at 
21 bj' renting his father's farm for two v. ars, 
and then bought 150 acres in Miami Tp., 
farmed that, and commenced stock-raising. 
In 1855 he was married to Evelin'! Strayer, 
who died eh>ven ujonths after; in the sjiring 
of 1859 he married his S(!cond wife, Sarah ,1. 
Raredon, who was born and brought up in 
Logan Co.; Mr. Smith then moved on the 
farm he had previously purchased, of 150 
acres, and then renewed farming and com- 
menced stock-dealing; in 1865 he moved 
from his, farm and rented 178 acres of his 
father, at the same time keeping the stock on 
his own place; two years after he bouglit the 
farm he was renting-, which, in 1832, was 
purchased by his grandfather, John Smith, 
who had seen it dining the war of 1SI2, as 
he was a solilior in frontier service, stationed 
near the present site of Logansville; in 1878 
his wife inherited 100 acres from her father's 
estate, which they annually rent. Mr. Sndlh 
spends most of his time raising, buying and 
shipj)ing stock; he deals largelj' in cattle, 
sheep and hogs; is now feeding 110 head of 
hogs; he buys considerable grain in the course 
of a year to feed his growing- herds; he is now 
breeding- principally blooded stock, sliort-horn- 
Durham in cattle, Marino shee]) and Poland 
China hogs; at the county fair last year he 
received the first premium for presenting the 
finest hog, and also the first premium on a 
blooded cow, and second premium on a 
blooded bull, which clearly shows that he is 
raising some of the finest stock in the county; 
he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and has always voted the Republican -, 



840 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



ticket; they have five chil'lren — Alma Fran- 
ces, p](iwiii.'^ee(rar, Kva Floreiioe, Luclla .May 
and Wilhcr Lorain. Mr. Smith commencied 
in the world with hut iS300, and is now rec- 
Ofinized as one of the most profrrossive and 
influential citizcMis of the (•onmiunity. 

KI-ZA ST()("K\\'ELL, drugjvist;" Lotrans- 
ville; born in Pleasant Tp., ()., in 185.5; he 
remained at home and worked on the farm 
till 'i'S years of a<^e, when he started business 
for himself in DeGratF. After continuiiiir 
there for a time he returned home, and 
remained till .July 3, 1.ST8, when he eom- 
menced business in Loa^ansville, in which he 
he is still prosjjerouslv eii<;;ai^ed. He mar- 
ried in July, 1879, Miss Sarah K. Barnes, 
who was horn in Ohio in ISol). They have 
had one child, which is dead. 

HP:NRY Y(JU\G, farmer and merchant: P. 
()., Lojransville; horn in Stark Co., ()., in 1813, 
where he resided till of anje,' when he started 
out for himself with but 50 cents. He was mar- 
ried in 1833 to .(ulia Ann Koulk; lie worked in 
the harvest field after his niariia<re to pay for 
his wedding clothes; he then removed to 
Seneca Co., where he remained three vears, 
having but two or three neighbors within a 
limit of twenty miles, exce|)t the Indians; he 
afterwards removed to I )cla ware Co., where for 
eighteen vears he followed the carpenters' 
trade, building about forty of the largest 
bams in tliat vicinity. He spent two years 



in Shelby Co., farming and working at his 
trade. In 1855 he came to Logan Co., and 
purchased 116 acres of land at !t!l7 per acre, 
now valued at %75. In iXVri he built a large 
two-story brick house, making the brick and 
burning the lime himself. He has been a 
contractor on the gravel pikes, building ^I'.i,- 
800 worth of road; he owns one half of a 
store and stock, and dwelling house in Lo- 
gansville, where his son carries on business; 
he held the office of Constable eight ye:irs in 
Delaware Co., and has been Postmaster at 
Logiinsville for twelve years, and is still hold- 
ing- the office. There are nine children in the 
family — Lucinda, born May 3, lSI>t: Samuel, 
Dec.aO, 1835, and died Sept. 10, 1S51, being 
instantly killed by the horses running away at 
Ashlev; Sallv. born Sept. 18, 1837; .Jacob, Jan. 
I), 1840; Leah, Sept. 1, 184rl. and died Oct. 
'iU, 1S55, from the effects of injuries rec ived 
by falling from the stairs in the night, being 
called by- her father, she became bewildered 
and fell; Harvev.born May 31. 1.844; .Maramla, 
.March 3, 1S45; .Julia Ann, .Ian. •>, 1847; Juli- 
ette, Oct. -,'8, 18.10. Mrs. Young lo.st the use 
of her hand at 7 years of age, but has always 
done her own work, and for many years spun 
and wove their own cloth, besides making 
much for others. Mr. and Mrs. Young are 
now living quietly and retired, comfortably 
situated, and nicely located, to enjoy the re- 
maining years of their lives. 






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